“What do you think?” Jackson came up behind me and put his arm around my waist.
“I think it’s beautiful and something we could possibly afford five years from now, but this is certainly no starter home.”
“Why don’t we look around before you jump to any conclusions?” He smiled proudly and walked toward the front door.
I followed him up to the large porch that held a couple rockers and small tables. Little pots hung empty from the eaves where beautiful flowers bloomed in other seasons. The white railings and boards looked recently painted and well maintained. The oak front door had two rectangular stained glass windows and a polished brass knob and knocker. Jackson knocked on the door while I gazed around at the massive view of the surrounding homes of a similar sort.
A gentleman slightly older than my father answered the door. “Mr. Chandler, welcome. Your father said you would be coming by this evening. I apologize for the limited timeframe, but business is growing with each rail laid.” He smiled and stepped aside to let us in.
“Good evening, Mr. Tanner. Please allow me to introduce you to my fiancée, Ms. Jocelyn Timmons.” I curtsied politely and Mr. Tanner lightly took my hand and kissed it gently.
“I am very pleased to make your acquaintance, Ms. Timmons.” His bushy mustache was tweaked in a fashionable style.
“Thank you, Mr. Tanner. You have a very lovely home.” I stood uncomfortably in the oversized foyer.
Mr. Tanner gave us a personally guided tour of his beautiful very modern home. He proudly boasted that not only did the house have indoor plumbing in the kitchen and baths, it also had hot water. The oil light fixtures throughout were a gaudy bright brass, the rugs were multicolored in various styles that matched the colors procured to each particular room. Although I had never been in a brothel in my life, the interior of this home was exactly what I would have imagined one looked like.
Despite the fact that the outside appearance and the structural foundation of the home was exactly what both of us desired, the mere cost of having to replace the wallpaper in every single room seemed disheartening. I was suddenly thankful that the house was out of our price range. Yet, Jackson and I followed Mr. Tanner and listened to him boast and brag about the expensive décor that his wife had requested shipped back from Paris. I glanced over at Jackson and I knew we were both thinking the same thing . . . that explains a lot.
We finally returned to the foyer where Mr. Tanner handed Jackson a folded piece of parchment. “Here is the list of everything I covered plus some particulars on the home in general. If you have any questions please feel free to wire me or send me a letter. I wrote all my contact information on that sheet.”
“Wonderful, thank you again Mr. Tanner for personally taking the time to show us around your beautiful home. We truly appreciate it.” He shook his hand again.
After several more exchanges of pleasantries by all we finally stepped back to the carriage. Jackson wrapped the quilt over me and Eddie began trotting us away from the outlandish palace. Safely away, Jackson and I exchanged a look and both of us burst into unbelievable laughter.
“I am so sorry, I had no idea.” He joyfully wiped the tears off his cheeks.
“Was that a brothel or a home?”
“I am not sure. I cannot wait to tell Father. I am sure he had no idea the Tanner Estate held such furnishings. I have never seen so many colors under one roof in all my life,” Jackson proclaimed.
“It looks so normal from the street.” I took out my handkerchief and dabbed my cheeks. “What does it say on the paper?”
Jackson unfolded the paper and looked it over for a moment. “He wrote down a listing of all the room dimensions, the overall square footage of the house, the property, carriage house, and the modern updates along with the price he is asking.”
“How concise. What is his price?”
“Five thousand.”
“You must be kidding?” I had no idea what the cost of a house was but that seemed more than a tad out of our reach. “And do you feel that is reasonable?”
“Reasonable? Yes, I would say so. Actually, he could easily get more.” Jackson’s brow furrowed in thought.
“The cost of redecorating the entire place would surely not be worth it, do you not you agree?” Fear ceased hold of me that he was possibly considering undertaking such a deed. I was up for purchasing a home that I could decorate to my taste with a few changes here and there but such a massive undertaking was simply beyond my scope of consideration.
“I am not sure. I fear the price is so low because he is an old friend and client of my father,” Jackson said as a matter of fact.
“What sort of business does Mr. Tanner do that he can afford for his wife to ship furnishings all the way from France?”
“Railroads. He is part of the group that is expanding the railroads to the west and around the south. He’s very wealthy and travels a great deal. This home is one of many that he owns around the country.” He rubbed his chin briefly. “I wonder why he is selling it now. It is less than ten years old.”
“Perhaps he is building a new one or his business is requiring him elsewhere,” I suggested.
“Maybe . . .” He shrugged. “Did you like the structural aspects of the home? Looking beyond the hideous décor?” Jackson turned serious.
“Are you saying you are considering it? We have such a short time before the wedding and not nearly enough to redo the entire home. Not to mention it is entirely too large for just the two of us even if we have help,” I reasoned.
“Between our mothers, I am sure the home could be livable by the time we are married.” He smiled and placed his hand over mine, which I did not find comforting at all.
“Can we afford such a place?” I had no idea what his salary was at his father’s firm. Finances were never discussed between us.
“I believe so.”
“But the cost of fixing the walls, purchasing rugs, and furniture to fill the place would simply be more that we could spare.” I glanced up at him with speculation.
“Do not worry, I will take care of everything.” He kissed me lightly on the cheek as the carriage came to a halt at my front porch.
***
Jackson and I had missed dinner in the dining room with the rest of the family and Elizabeth by the time we had returned. She was already across the street with Emily for her fitting. Therefore, Jackson and I went to the kitchen to search up some dinner.
Sarah was thoughtful enough to put aside something for us. We both took a seat in the small nook and chatted happily with Mimi and Sarah about the bizarre home we had just encountered. Luckily Jackson never mentioned anything more about undertaking the task of remodeling the ghastly estate.
CHAPTER 17
Friday, December 11, 2009
THE GYM WAS PACKED full of parents, students, and teachers anxiously waiting for our boys to hit the court. The cheerleaders were dancing around on the center court absent one Taylor Perry. Dakota glared in our direction as the six of us made our way over to the bleachers.
“Isn’t she sweet?” Jenna laughed and nodded towards Dakota.
“Very,” I giggled.
“Knock it off you two,” Kyle warned with a grin.
We found a vacant spot about three-fourths the ways up and climbed over a half dozen people to claim the space before anyone else could. Cody and Kyle separated Hilary and Caitlyn from Jenna and me. making it difficult to talk over them. Finally, Coach Minnick announced the team and the boys came running out onto the court to run through their warm-up drills.
As I watched Jackson make an easy lay-up I noticed Ethan’s eyes continually scanning over the bleachers. I figured he was probably searching for our parents yet they were sitting in the third row behind the bench . . . pretty hard to miss.
After the second time Ethan missed his cue to take off for a lay-up, Zak leaned over and said something in his ear that immediately caused Ethan to refocus his attention. I knew that despite being an immatu
re goof off the court, as co-captain of the varsity team with Jackson, the game was of the upmost importance to him and Zak demanded the same of his teammates.
“What’s wrong with E?” Jenna leaned over and asked.
I shrugged, having no clue myself. In doing so I glanced over at Jenna and noticed that Kyle was smiling in a way that said he knew exactly what was going on.
“What?” I leaned across Jenna and asked him.
“Over there.” Kyle looked down at the lower section on the right.
“Who?” Jenna, clearly as lost as I was, stared in the direction of the overcrowded section below.
“Liang Chi,” Kyle moved towards us and whispered.
Both our eyes quickly landed on the petite junior sitting amongst her friends with her eyes following my brother’s every move.
“You’re kidding,” Jenna stared.
“Since when?” I couldn’t look away either.
“I don’t know,” said Kyle, who gave us a look that told us this was clearly not an area discussed between guys.
I watched Liang for several minutes, curious at what my brother saw in her. She was not someone I knew but rather just knew of. I was fairly certain she had a couple classes with Ethan but I couldn’t recall him ever mentioning her other than in passing.
She tossed her long black hair over her shoulder and I realized for the first time how beautiful she really was. She had amazingly dark brown eyes, a gorgeous olive skin tone, and a waist that could bring any woman to tears. And to make matters worse, she was maybe all of five foot three inches tall.
I wasn’t sure what to think of her, but as I watched her throughout the game I saw that every time my brother was on the court, the two of them continually stole little looks just as Jackson and I regularly did.
The victory was an easy one for our boys and everyone was bustling about in the hallway after the game waiting for them to emerge from the locker room. I was killing time talking with Hilary about going to the mall on Sunday when Jenna elbowed me in the ribs.
“Who do you think she’s waiting on?” She smirked in the direction of Liang and her friends.
“Who?” Hilary looked confused.
“Apparently my brother.” I was surprised by the hostile tone of my voice.
“Are they dating?” Caitlyn joined in.
“I’m not sure,” I responded, not taking my eyes off the giggling girl who stood several yards from us.
“She’s really sweet. She was in my journalism class last spring.” Hilary still looked baffled at my obvious displeasure with the girl.
“Wonderful, I’m sure she’s precious.” I turned back towards Jenna.
“What is wrong with you?” Jenna whispered.
“Nothing, I’m fine.”
Jackson and Zak emerged from the locker room followed directly by Ethan.
“Hello, gorgeous.” Jackson immediately wrapped me up in his arms and kissed me lightly. “How’s my girl?”
“Much better now.” I melted into him and rested my head against his chest.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Ethan standing beside Liang with his arm draped loosely around her waist. He was smiling at her and she was laughing at something he’d said.
“Are we ready to go?” Zak piped up from beside Caitlyn.
“Sure. Where to?” I asked our group.
“Cody’s postgame party, I guess,” Jackson said as we all made our way out to the parking lot.
Everyone dispersed into their respective vehicles but I paused next to Jackson’s CRV while he stood there holding the passenger door open for me. Across the lot I saw Ethan and Liang climb into the backseat of Kyle’s car. Jenna caught my eye and gave me a look that told me this was not her idea.
We pulled out of the parking lot and followed the line of cars to Cody’s house. I wasn’t exactly in the mood for a party and I really couldn’t understand why Ethan’s new interest bothered me so much. I didn’t really know anything about her.
“Do you care if we stop and get some coffee?” I turned down the radio a bit.
“Sure.” Jackson made the next right turn. “So, what is bothering you?” He was still looking straight ahead. Damn, it bothered me sometimes that he knew me so well.
“Did you know Ethan was interested in Liang Chi?”
“Yes, he has been for a while.”
“No one ever told me.”
“I just found out tonight when Corbin was teasing him before the game. He certainly did not mention it to me but then again, he and I are not exactly friends any longer.” He rolled his eyes.
“Well, join the club. He doesn’t like me either,” I laughed as we pulled into Starbucks.
***
We arrived at Cody’s shortly after ten. We pushed our way through the front door and wove our way through the crowd until we finally found Hilary in the kitchen. She was fixing herself a plain soda and looking more than a little upset.
“Hey, what’s going on?” I asked, approaching her holding Jackson’s hand.
“Guess who’s here?” she sneered. “And looking for you?”
“Who?”
“Taylor,” she replied.
“So?” I shrugged. “Why should I care?”
“Because she’s only here to cause trouble,” Hilary stated.
“Then perhaps we should just leave.” Jackson leaned in closer to me.
“Why should I leave? I have no intention of getting into another fight with her.”
“Because you are the better person.” Jackson gave me a quick peck on the cheek.
“Well, of course I am. We already know that,” I smirked. “Don’t worry, I will behave myself,” I told them.
“Hey, I am so sorry. Are you mad at me?” Jenna slid in between Hilary and I.
“For aiding and abetting?” I playfully narrowed my eyes at her.
“It wasn’t my fault. Kyle offered them a ride. What was I supposed to say?” Jenna shrugged.
“How about no?” I replied.
“That would have looked real sweet on my part.” She rolled her eyes at me.
“Why don’t you like Liang?” Hilary played with her drink. “She’s great.”
“It’s not that I don’t like her. I don’t know her. It’s just the way Ethan’s still being an ass to us and everything he does right now I find annoying.”
“You two need to make peace. You’ve always been so close.” Jenna looked down at her hands.
“We will as soon as he grows up and stops acting like a baby.” Jenna rolled her eyes at my remark. “Don’t be judgmental, you have no idea what it’s like living in a house where both your brother and your mother refuse to speak to you and walk out of a room every time you enter it.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“Hey, why so serious? This is supposed to be a party,” Hilary piped up in a much louder tone.
I saw Ethan and Liang dancing in the living room with a large group of our peers and instantly felt sick to my stomach. I fought the little devil who sat upon my shoulder that had the urge to storm over there and smack him across the face. After the way he’d been behaving towards Jackson and I, the last thing I wanted him to be was happy.
“I am not feeling very well. Would you mind terribly if we left?” I turned towards Jackson.
“What is up with you?” Caitlyn looked at me funny.
“Pray tell Ms. Jocelyn, do not leave us amiss,” Jenna mocked.
“Oh stop, I have a headache.” I tried to quickly backpedal.
“Since when?” Hilary piped up.
“Of course,” Jackson nodded towards my friends with a coy smile. “Good evening, ladies.” I knew he was mocking them right back just as I was positive they thought he was only playing. For a brief moment I saw in him the Jackson that only danced in my nightly dreams.
“They spend way too much time together. She’s starting to sound just like him,” I heard Jenna remark as we walked away.
***
The moon and sta
rs shone brightly over the night giving everything it touched a luminous glow. Light snowflakes began to glide through the air and fall gracefully upon us. I held onto Jackson’s arm and pulled my jacket closer around me.
“Nice little slip up back there,” he teased.
“I know. The words fell out before I even realized it.” I felt so foolish. “At least they didn’t realize it.”
“You would be surprised how little people notice something right before their eyes.” He unlocked the passenger door and held it open for me.
We pulled out of Cody’s neighborhood before Jackson spoke again. “So, why do you not like Liang?”
“I never said I did not like her,” I protested. “Why does everyone keep assuming that?”
“Probably because you look at her like a bug you want to squash,” he said with his eyes still on the road.
“I do not,” I denied, even though we both knew it was true.
“You did this evening.”
“It is not her. It’s him. Ethan just makes me so mad. I am so sick of the way he’s been acting towards you.”
“I’m a big boy, I can take it.” He kept his eyes forward but I saw a slight smile slide across his shapely lips.
***
I flipped on my iPod dock and turned up Foster the People before I sat down at my vanity. I pulled the towel off my head and shook out my hair when someone knocked on my bedroom door.
“Yeah,” I hollered, picking up my brush.
Ethan casually walked into my room and sat down on the corner of my bed. “What was up with you tonight?”
“Nothing, why?” I continued brushing out my hair looking at him only through the mirror.
“Because you were glaring at me and Liang in the hallway after the game and at Cody’s.”
“No, I wasn’t.” But I knew I was. I just hadn’t realized he had noticed.
“Whatever,” he muttered under his breath. “Liang has done nothing to you and she doesn’t deserve you to treat her like that.”
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