by Ann, Natalie
“I will.”
“So how is everything else going?” she asked.
“It’s fine. I think I’m going to start looking for a house.”
“That’s good. You know how we feel about you throwing money away on renting apartments.”
He’d heard it enough, but when he moved out years ago he didn’t know where he’d land, as he wanted to work his way up. He didn’t want to worry about buying and selling. He was here to stay at Troop G in Latham, New York, in his mind. Or at least for the foreseeable future.
He had twelve years of service in right now and could retire in eight if he really wanted to. Not that he would, as forty-three would be too young for him, though many did it and got a second career.
Too early to even consider it.
“I think I’ll start looking online at what is available in the area and go from there. I’m sure I’ll have no problem finding a house.”
“Don’t buy new,” his grandmother said. “You’re handy, find something you can fix up and get some equity in it.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, laughing. His grandfather worked construction and taught him everything he knew. It’d been his plan to find something he could put some work into anyway.
“I’ll let you go eat your dinner then. I’ll see you soon.”
He hung up the phone and opened the oven again, pulled out his dinner and tried not to scowl at the browned top layer on one side.
After he cut a piece, he felt it with his finger and realized the brown side was the only side really warmed up, so he peeled the top layer off and started to eat while he browsed houses on Realtor.com. He wanted to stay within fifteen miles of his headquarters, which really opened up a wide range of places to live.
He didn’t think he was fussy, but he was struggling to narrow in on anything and pictures didn’t give him that good of an idea. Maybe it’d be better if he just had a realtor that could find what he was looking for rather than him sitting here clicking through screens.
After thirty minutes, he found a house that seemed decent and sent an email to the realtor listed. Ruby Gentile. He supposed she looked like a Ruby with her brown hair that looked like it had hints of red in it. Chestnut might be a better description.
Her red blouse and bright smile just drew him in and made him think she was somewhat trustworthy.
Somewhat because he didn’t trust many people in life. Least of all someone trying to sell him something when their profit could be dictating things.
For now, he’d see how it went. It was only one house showing and he didn’t have high hopes, but once he met with her he could tell her more of his thoughts and ideas.
With that pushed from his mind, he cleaned up his dinner, put away the leftovers, and went to go watch TV in the living room. Just another exciting day in his life.
2
What He Was After
Ruby printed off a few listings that she was going to give to Josh Turner when she met with him in less than an hour. He hadn’t really been as specific as she would have preferred when they’d been corresponding back and forth this week on showings.
She knew the area he was open to, his price range, and well, that seemed to be about it. He gave some things he’d like but weren’t deal breakers either. That was great, but she found the simpler someone thought they were being, the harder it really was.
Hopefully after she spent a few hours with him this morning, she’d have a better understanding of his wants, his needs, and his likes.
She had managed to get him to agree to seeing more than one house today, which was how she liked it. She had no problem showing just one, but she’d rather use her time wisely. She had other clients for later in the afternoon, but if she could take advantage of more than one listing this morning, she might learn more of what he was after.
When she pulled into the first address—the one he’d originally contacted her on—she was surprised to see he was alone and so young when he got out of his black SUV.
Tall, muscular, sexy as all hell. Normally she didn’t notice those things about her clients, but with this man it was hard not to.
“Hi,” she said, walking forward. “Josh Turner?”
“That’s me. Ruby Gentile?”
“One and the same,” she said back. His voice sent tingles through her chest while his handshake warmed up her body on this chilly late October day. “Why don’t we go inside and walk around and have a little conversation about the house, what you like and don’t, and we’ll go from there.”
“Works for me,” he said. “I’m new to this. First time home buyer and I know what I don’t want, but not sure about what I do want.”
She laughed. “That’s better than nothing. I’ve got a range that you are looking to spend. Are you firm on that? What have you been pre-approved for?”
“I haven’t been to the bank yet. I’m sure I’ll be approved for more, but that is where I want to be.”
She nodded her head. A lot of people said that but didn’t know until they went through the process. Though she’d have to say Josh didn’t look like the type that would lie and make something up.
He seemed confident, but he also seemed honest.
“What do you do for a living, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“I’m an investigator with the State Police.”
She could see that looking at him. He fit the image in her mind. Cocky on top of it, but yet she didn’t get the feeling he was someone that would throw his weight around either.
“And what do you investigate?” she asked. She’d had other clients that worked for the State Police. She knew enough about plenty of professions in this area.
“Cybercrimes or crimes where computers are related or played a part. It’s my job to go through what they are trying to hide.”
Now that she didn’t expect. She supposed in her eyes she thought of nerds when she imagined people doing what he described. “I would have never guessed that.”
He laughed and man, oh man, the sound shot more than tingles through her body this time. There were tiny explosions making even her toes curl.
“Too many people watch crime shows and think all law enforcement have tech nerds doing that work. Most places don’t.”
“So you’ve got a background in computers?” she asked.
“Not really. I’m good with my hands and tinkering. I’ve taken a lot of classes, got some certificates along the way. Self-taught more than anything, but I get the job done.”
She’d lost track of what he’d said after he made the comment about being good with his hands. “Why don’t we look around the house and you can give me your thoughts.”
He nodded and followed her through the foyer where they’d been standing. “Living room here, through the dining room, kitchen in the back.”
“It’s all kind of small. The ceilings are definitely too low.”
He seemed dwarfed in this house with his height so she wasn’t surprised he’d commented on that. She made a note of it on the pad she was carrying with her. If she’d known how tall he was, she would have made sure some of the houses she lined up today would have fit. In her mind she was crossing them off before they even went to look at them now.
“I printed off some other houses to look at if you don’t like any of the options today. I’ve seen two of them. One definitely has higher ceilings.”
“That’s good. I guess those are the things you were trying to find out?” he asked.
“Yes. I wasn’t trying to be a pain, trust me. But the more I know, the easier it is to narrow down and not waste either of our time.”
“Works for me. Let’s check out the rest of the house and I’ll let you know what I like and don’t.”
“What do you think of this kitchen?” she asked.
“It’s fine. Kind of small, but it’s just me and workable. I don’t cook a lot. Nothing more than heating up food in the oven.”
“So size isn’t a big deal right now?” she asked.
“This is a starter home?”
“Hmmm, guess I should figure that out. I don’t want to move again and I hope to have a family someday so I should consider that. How big is this house? Square feet wise?”
“It’s about eighteen hundred. Not that big for a family of more than three, but plenty of space for one person.”
Of course it was bigger than what she had with her apartment. She’d love to buy her own home, but she couldn’t decide where she wanted to be and every time she found something it was out of her range. She wanted the perfect place and was struggling to find it. Then she wondered if such a thing even existed.
“I already know this won’t work, so I’ll go bigger then with the next ones.”
“The other two I have today are three bedrooms, two baths. Is that enough or do you want more baths and beds?”
“I guess most think of two kids when they think of a family and I’d like to have an office space. So if there is an office, I don’t think I need a fourth bedroom.”
“No worries about a guest space?” she asked.
“No. I don’t have a lot of family. It’s just my grandparents,” he said and walked up the stairs to the second floor where the bedrooms were. “These are pretty small too. I need to fit a king sized bed in the master. That is nonnegotiable.”
She made a note of that too. “Good information. There isn’t much more to this house, so do you want to move on to the next? What do you think of the location and neighborhood?”
“Both are good. No problem with either.”
“So you want to stay in Latham?”
“Nah. I can go to any city or town within my range. Not Albany,” he said. “I want to stay out of the city.”
“That’s helpful. I’ll stick to the outskirts then.”
“I look forward to what you come up with,” he said, sending her a smile that had her wondering if he was flirting with her or not. Probably not. She was just too blinded by his looks and hoped it wasn’t clouding her thoughts.
* * *
Josh had no idea it was going to be so hard to find what he was looking for. Most times he didn’t care much about these things with an apartment because it was always temporary.
But Ruby brought up a good point. This wasn’t a starter home for him. He was sick of moving and should plan on getting something bigger that he could grow into.
By the time they were finished looking at the third house he had a good idea of what he didn’t want and what he really did.
“So you want a master that fits a king sized bed and has an attached bathroom. If you have two floors you want a bathroom downstairs, even if it’s only a half,” she said looking at her notes.
“Yes. High ceilings,” he reminded her.
“I’ve got that written down. A place for an office, and if that is there, then no fourth bedroom?”
“It’s not required, no. I’d like a place for some exercise equipment,” he threw out there. He hated gyms and dealing with people when he just wanted to work out and get it done.
“Finished space?” she asked with her pen ready, her brown eyes eager, a big smile on her lips. She smiled a lot. He was right—she seemed trustworthy. Honest even. She was definitely trying to meet his needs. Even the listings she’d given him earlier, she’d told him to disregard two of them as they wouldn’t work now. He liked someone that was efficient like that too.
“It doesn’t need to be. A clean basement is fine if the ceilings are high enough to run on a treadmill.”
“Is that all you do?” she asked, looking his body over. Yeah, she was flirting and he found he wanted to flirt back for some reason.
“I lift weights too. How about you?” She had one smoking body on her. Average height of about five foot five he figured. Not thin, but toned. Curvy and he loved that on a woman. He liked to have something he could get his hands on without touching bone.
She laughed at him. “Some weights, but not like you. I do kickboxing and yoga. Whatever I find I like on Netflix.”
“Not a gym person?” he asked.
“Never let them see you sweat,” she said and winked at him.
“I like you,” he said back and that had her lifting her head from the notes she was taking.
“The same goes,” she said.
3
Way To My Heart
Driving to see his grandparents, Josh couldn’t get Ruby out of his head.
She was friendly. Flirtatious, but not in your face with it. Eager to please, but not so much it was a turnoff.
She listened to what he wanted, took notes, and was helpful.
Wasn’t that what he really wanted with this search? What he needed?
He’d never been someone to make a fast decision, but it seemed he did this week.
A few things were going wrong at his apartment and, bam, he wanted out. Wanted his own place. He sure the heck wasn’t going to buy the first thing that caught his eye though.
Nothing but Ruby caught it today and maybe that was a sign to slow his roll.
Thankfully, Ruby was good at her job and pointed things out to him. Like this wasn’t a starter home. He wanted something more like forever.
Something he could grow into.
Something he could have a family with because a family was what he wanted.
Something like the house he grew up in before his life had been uprooted.
He hadn’t thought of his childhood home in years. Maybe he was blocking that out of his subconscious. Those horrible memories.
Before his parents’ murder though, there were great memories.
A big development, lots of kids running around all the time. He could walk out of his front door and anywhere he turned there was a kid outside playing and he could join right in.
There was a park in the center of the development that the kids could run wild in. A playground, baseball field, tennis court, and volleyball courts.
He remembered looking at the teenagers and some adults in the summer having parties and tournaments, wondering when they’d let him join.
He pulled into his grandparents’ driveway, parked behind their Buick and got out, pulling his thick flannel shirt closer together to block out the wind. It wasn’t that cold out, but the wind had a bite to it.
“Josh, where are your hat and gloves?” his grandmother asked him the minute he opened the door. The same as she did most of his life between the months of November and March in Upstate New York.
“It’s in the forties. It’s not that bad.”
“Thirty-two degrees is freezing, so not that far off,” his grandmother said, like she always did.
He grinned at her. The charming one that always stole her heart, then leaned down to kiss her on the cheek. “If I get sick you’ll just have to make me chicken soup.”
She winked at him. “I might have some to send back with you.”
“You know the way to my heart.”
“One of these days you’ll find a woman that can do this for you.”
He laughed. “Are you telling me I’m too much trouble?” He was joking, but eyed her hard. He felt she spent too much time still caring for him, but she always argued she had to do it. That she wanted to.
That she liked it.
In his eyes he was thinking it might be time to give back more...if only they’d let him. They were his world and thoughts of them not being in it, losing another loved one, were gnawing at him more lately than ever before and he had no idea why.
“You’ve never been trouble a day in your life and you know it.” Because he didn’t want to be too much of a burden for them.
“Thanks, Grandma. You always know the right things to say too. Where’s Grandpa?”
“Fixing the toilet upstairs. It won’t stop running.”
“I’ll go up and give him a hand,” he said. His grandfather was too old to be on the floor dealing with this stuff and he’d told them a million times to let him take care of things or call someone to fix it.
He too
k the stairs two at a time and stopped at the bathroom at the top where his grandfather was indeed on his knees while he was replacing a handle.
“Let me do that,” he said.
“I can fix a toilet,” his grandfather said. “I taught you how to do this.”
“You did. And you can move aside and let me finish it. I don’t even need glasses for it.”
His grandfather laughed as he held the wall to help himself up, then pulled his reading glasses off his head where they’d been resting. “One of these days you will so you better not bust on my butt too much about it. But since you’re here I might as well take advantage of it.”
It wasn’t like his grandfather to give in so easily. “Yes, you should. Anything else that needs to be done while I’m here?”
“Nothing major.”
“Major or not, give me a list.”
When he was done with the toilet, he went downstairs to see his grandfather sitting in his recliner with a coffee in his hand and his feet propped up. “Grandma has some cocoa for you if you want it.”
He snorted. “I outgrew cocoa years ago and you know it.”
“There’s also a pot of coffee in the kitchen for you while she starts dinner. You’re later than normal today.”
“Sorry,” he said. “I looked at a few houses and it took longer than I thought when I set it up. I figured I was only going to see one this morning and ended up checking out four. What a complete waste of time. None of them will do.”
“Very few people find the house they are looking for the first time out. Grandma told me you decided to put down some roots.”
“It’s time, don’t you think? I’m thirty-five and throwing money away on rent.”
“You’ve been doing it for a long time. Why the sudden change of heart?”
He shrugged. “I like where I am. It’s a nice area. I like the people I work with and I’m sick of waiting for someone else to fix my leaky faucet or broken oven. They don’t want tenants touching anything. It’s frustrating.”
