Chapter 25: Chapter 25
“Well, Mr. Rogers, what is it exactly that you are looking for?” Jennifer Morris asked, releasing his hand and offering him a seat in her office.
“Please, call me Brady,” he insisted, sitting down across from her as she took a seat behind her desk. “For now, I just need a place I can get into to rent right away. Beyond that, I am looking for a nice home that will be big enough for a family someday. Three or four bedrooms, two or three baths.”
Jennifer took some notes on a notepad. “And is there a reason you want to rent first?”
“I just want to be able to get out of my friends’ house soon. They’re getting ready to have a baby, and I feel like I’m in the way.”
She nodded and jotted that down. “Do you know what sort of architecture you prefer? Do you like a more modern look or something more historical?”
He thought for a moment. “I think I like historical houses, something with character. But for a rental, I don’t really care. As long as I can get into it within the next few weeks.”
“Do you have a preference on bedrooms for a rental?”
“No,” he said. “Although… it would be nice if it were pet friendly.” The idea that he could potentially still adopt Pooch was still in the back of his mind, even though he knew he shouldn’t let it be. Noelle had probably already found him a new home since she would have been able to list him as soon as the neighbor woman left the shelter the day before.
Jennifer turned to her computer and typed a few things in. Brady couldn’t see what she was doing, but when she tipped her head to the side and leaned back in her chair, she had him intrigued.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“Yes, everything is fine,” she said with a smile. She was a bubbly woman with dark hair and a kind smile. While she was dressed professionally, she sort of reminded him of a kindergarten teacher in a nice, but comfortable dress, not the sort of realtors he was used to seeing in the big city who rivaled supermodels. “It’s just… there’s a brand new listing this morning that I think might work perfectly for you. It literally just came on the market a few minutes ago.”
That had Brady’s attention. “A new listing?” he repeated.
She nodded. “I don’t know much about the property. It’s an older home, a Victorian on a couple of acres on the edge of town. Four bedrooms, three baths. I have no idea what shape it’s in or anything, but… would you like to go look at it?”
Brady stared at her for a long moment, not sure. It seemed sort of odd that the house had just come on the market and seemed to fit the criteria he’d just told her. Perhaps there was something wrong with it. It could be run-down. Or maybe it was way out of his price range. She hadn’t even asked about that. He did have some savings, but he was planning on working for a while before he bought a house, trying to save up more to put down.
“Can I see the listing?” he found himself saying.
“Certainly.” Jennifer pushed a few buttons and then turned to pluck a few pages off of the printer behind her. “Here you go.”
She slid it across the table to Brady, and he took a look at it. The house was gorgeous. It was a Queen Anne, with a large wrap-around porch, a turret on one side, and beautiful gingerbread trim. The yard in the pictures was covered with snow, which made him think the photographs had been taken recently.
Then, Brady looked at the price. His mouth fell open. He shifted from the paper to Jennifer and then back again. “Is this… accurate?”
“It is,” she said with a smile. “I’m not sure if the price is indicative of work that needs to be done, or if perhaps the seller is just in a rush to sell it and move. We can go look at it, if you’d like. If there’s nothing structurally wrong with the house, at that price, it won’t last long.”
It was tempting. The house was priced so low, he thought he might be able to buy it with the amount of money he had in savings already serving as a large down payment. His mortgage shouldn’t be that much at all.
But then, the paper indicated that the home was built in 1910, which made it well over a hundred years old. A house of that age was sure to need work. “How long… might it take to actually get into a house like this, if I were to buy it, rather than to rent?”
“It all depends,” Jennifer said with a shrug. “This time of year, the closing company usually isn’t too busy. Most people aren’t looking to move during the holidays. That being said, it all depends on how quickly the seller is ready to accept a contract and move out. Judging by the pictures, it looks like the house is empty, so that makes me think they’ve already moved. If they’re in a position where they have two mortgages, they might be willing to close more quickly than the standard thirty days.”
Brady took that all in. He’d never bought a house before, only rented apartments. Most of the time, he was able to move right into them as soon as he wanted to. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to go look at it.” Instantly, he thought of Pooch, how he’d left the shelter the day before because it was too uncomfortable for him to be with the dog when he was growing so attached to him. What if he went to the house but wasn’t able to close on it soon enough? Or what if he fell in love with the house and then found out it had thousands of dollars’ worth of work that needed to be done? Was he setting himself up for heartache by getting too close to the house when he might not be able to have it, the same way he was with the dog?
“All right! When are you available?” Jennifer asked with a friendly smile.
Brady checked his calendar. He had several meetings scheduled with council members so they could talk about the potential Christmas events, and he did want to try to make it to the shelter, if he could. He felt like he owed Noelle an explanation for his hasty exit the day before. He’d hoped that she would call or text him after he left, but she hadn’t. He wondered if Pooch would even still be there by the time he went. If she’d put an ad up for him, chances were, he wouldn’t be.
“Would two o’clock work for you?” Brady asked the realtor
She had her calendar pulled up on her phone as well. “Yes, I have an opening in my schedule then. That will be perfect. I can just meet you there, if you’d like. The address is on the top of the paper there.”
Brady looked at the address and almost laughed. “Christmas Tree Lane?” he repeated.
Jennifer’s face brightened. “Oh, yes. A lot of the streets in the older part of town have holiday themed names. Back when the town was first founded, Christmas was a huge part of everything around here. Now, it’s not such a big deal, unfortunately.”
Arching an eyebrow, Brady took in her expression. She looked disappointed, perhaps melancholy, that things were not the way they used to be. “We’re trying to change that,” he said, thinking he may as well get one citizen on board if he could. “I have some meetings with the council members today about bringing back the tree lighting, the craft fair, more decorations, lots of events to bring the holiday spirit back to Holiday Hills.”
The realtor’s smile brightened. “That’s amazing!” she said. Clutching both hands to her heart, she said, “I can’t tell you how happy that makes me. I would absolutely love to help in any way that I can. You know, the real estate company has lots of Christmas decorations in storage from when we stage houses to sell this time of year. We’re kind of a jack-of-all-trades sorta shop. If you wanted to use them to decorate.... we’d be happy to let you.”
Brady could hardly believe his ears. “Are you serious? That would be amazing.”
“Sure! It’s no problem at all. Whatever it takes to bring the Christmas spirit back to Holiday Hills, my husband and I would love to help, and I’m sure the other realtors who work here would be as well.”
With a smile so wide it had to match hers, Brady stood and shook her hand. “Thank you, Jennifer. I can feel the tone of the town changing already. I’ll see you at two.”
She shook his hand, and Brady left, wrapping his scarf around his neck as he went. Whether or not the house she showed him turned out to be his dream house or not, Brady was glad he’d gone in to speak to Jennifer. He had a feeling she was going to make a huge contribution to increasing the Christmas spirit in a way Holiday Hills desperately needed.