Love Unleashed

by Natalie Brunwick

  And as I stood under the canopy with one toe in the past and another in the here and now, I found myself wanting to run back into those woods again. Not as an adult hiding from the work I had to do but the childhood I’d unknowingly left behind.

  Realizing my memories would be a great way to push the sale of the Baker house, I took a deep breath, then stepped back into the present, making my way back to my car but not before pausing outside Kris’ home.

  It wasn’t as large as the Baker place, but it was still cute. As a small corner house in an odd cul-de-sac, it reminded me of a tiny dollhouse more than anything else. All that was missing was the white fence and flower boxes under each of the windows.

  No doubt Kris didn’t have the funds to fence in the yard for Duke, so whatever time he got to have outside was constantly supervised. My heart went out to them, it truly did, but with my own bills to pay, I had other things to worry about. Like selling the Baker house.

  “Maybe the Parks will reconsider,” I mused aloud, shoving my hands in my pockets as I slowly made my way back up the street.

  If the Parks knew about the wooded area, maybe they’d consider visiting the house one last time. They seemed interested in the place until Duke messed up the backyard, so maybe the addition of a wooded trail would be just enough to close the deal.

  I could only hope.

  Chapter Four

  That night, I couldn’t sleep. My thoughts kept circling back to everything I’d learned about Mr. Baker and the parties he held for everyone else. I’d been to a few block parties in the past, and every single time, friends spoke with other friends and rarely talked to anyone else. They were a good idea but poorly executed. Granted, my standoffish attitude didn’t help.

  Aside from work, the only places I went were to the grocery store, to visit friends when our schedules lined up, the office, and the houses I was asked to show. In other words, I ate, slept, and breathed my work. Considering what Kris had said about her own business, I wasn’t the only one.

  “When’s the last time you went out for fun?” I asked myself as I got ready for bed, brushing out my wavy brown tresses before finally turning off the light to the bathroom.

  The last time I remembered going out for drinks was for a friend’s bachelorette party, but that was… three years ago? Had it really been that long? Surely I’d gone out since then.

  “There was that one fundraiser,” I mused aloud, turning down the covers before crawling into bed. But how long had it been since I went out for myself?

  I honestly couldn’t remember, and no matter how long I lay there staring at the ceiling, nothing came to mind. House showings, fundraisers, meetings outside of work… they were formal and nothing like me at all. During the day, I pulled up my hair, put on some of my best clothes, shoved my feet into those uncomfortable heels, and did what I did best. But as soon as I got home, the yoga pants immediately come out of the dresser.

  I really had to get out more, but with work taking up most of my time, I didn’t have the energy for much else.

  That is until today. Today, I went for my first walk in what felt like ages. Sure, I walked around whatever house I was showing at the time and did my share of steps, but that wasn’t the same thing. What happened this afternoon, even after all of the stress and everything I had yet to clean up, was a blessing. It was a blessing because it helped me realize just how much I missed it and how important it might be to a potential buyer.

  My heart skipped at that. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to sell the Baker place. I did. However, now more than ever, I was determined to find the right family.

  And I had the perfect one in mind.

  “Thank you so much for meeting with me again,” I said a week later as I guided the Parks through the kitchen and into the foyer.

  “We’re in love with this house,” Mrs. Parks said, standing in awe at the intricately carved archways between the foyer and living room.

  “It’s pretty much all she’s talked about since we left,” Mr. Parks added with a laugh, running his hand along the smooth railing leading up the steps to the second level of the house.

  The hand-carved spindles caught my eye, just as they’d done so many times before. Of all the places I’d sold on the market, I loved this one most of all. Not because of the amount of work my team had put into it but because of the man who sadly passed away almost a year before.

  Everywhere I looked, I imagined Duke running up and down the stairs or skittering across the hardwood floors whenever Mr. Baker went into the kitchen for a snack. If I listened closely, I could almost hear the doorbell ring, announcing Kris’ arrival. And just like with Duke running all over the house, I could easily see the three of them sitting in the living room with Mr. Baker taking up the wingback chair as the afternoon sun streamed in through the large bay window.

  Kris would take up one side of the couch, of course, and Duke would probably lay at Mr. Baker’s feet. She’d laugh at one of Mr. Baker’s jokes, the same beautiful laugh I heard her use days before. I’d do anything to hear that laugh again.

  There’d be coffee as well, a strong brew made just for Kris.

  Standing in the doorway, I couldn’t just imagine it, I could see it. Like an old memory, the scene played out before me in vivid detail. Kris had pulled back her hair, a tendril of it coming loose as soon as Duke jumped up on the couch to join her. The afternoon sun was warm, causing the living room to be on this side of bearable as the three of them sat and talked about their day.

  I wondered then what Kris might’ve talked about. She did say she was focused on her work, but they were good friends as well. So would she talk about an upcoming deadline or something else entirely? What about Mr. Baker? Did he like to play around in the yard or did he spend his afternoon dozing off and reading the paper?

  The more I learned about Kris and her relationship with Mr. Baker, the more I wanted to know. It was unusual, to say the least, and had me looking back on what could’ve been instead of what currently was. It was then I realized putting the Baker house up for sale was out of necessity, not because Kris wanted to.

  And that’s what made this sale the hardest one of all. As the Parks busied themselves looking at the intricate carvings and archways, a small part of me didn’t want to give the place up.

  But it isn’t yours, I chided myself. It didn’t matter. Somehow, between my walk with Kris and my morning with the Parks, the house and its history had become more intimate and far more personal than I’d ever expected.

  Time stood still. The Parks vanished completely as I stepped back in time, back to a time when all that mattered was a man and his dog. Releasing an uneasy breath, I shook myself aware when Mr. Park asked about the fireplace and stone mantelpiece.

  Knowing the house’s history was a huge help, but it also made the sale of the Baker place that much more difficult for me to handle. The Parks really were the only family I could think of that would treat the house with the respect and care it deserved.

  As I went over the details of the house once more, my stomach churned. The house itself had a warmth to it that I’d never felt before. It took me back to my childhood, back to a time when I sat in the living room by the fire. It was a simpler time and one I found myself looking back on more and more.

  “Leah, are you all right?” Mrs. Park asked, gently touching my shoulder. When I met her gaze, she smiled. “You left us there for a moment. Is everything okay?”

  I opened my mouth to say something but thought better of it. Fighting back my nerves, I forced a smile, then gestured at the stoop right in front of the fireplace. “My folks used to have one just like this. Nothing beats the feeling of a warm fire and sitting right in front of it until your back turns hot.”

  Mr. Park nodded in agreement. “It becomes the heart of the house.”

  “It really does.” Unlike most families that gathered in the kitchen or dining room during dinner, mine gathered in the living room once all of the dishes were clean. A lot of rea
ding and board games happened in that room.

  It was odd, I realized, for the Baker house to bring back so many memories from when I was young. Strange and… terribly unexpected.

  “Anyway,” I began, clearing my throat to get the air moving from my lungs again. “The chimney’s been cleaned and the outer bricks replaced. There was a bad storm a few years back that left some damage, but it’s all been restored.” The same could be said for the shingles over the master bedroom, but I didn’t have to tell them that. Now that I knew the person responsible for covering all of the repairs before putting the house for sale, I was determined to close on the house.

  Fixing up the Baker place mustn’t have been easy for Kris. The way she spoke, I had a feeling she probably dipped into the little savings she had just to get by. And she did, at least for a little while. But with Duke terrorizing the place and the market being what it was… she’s selling the house for the wrong reason. She shouldn’t have had to sell the place at all.

  You’re making this personal, a small voice in the back of my mind said. It couldn’t be helped. The more time I spent in the Baker house, the more I wanted to keep it for myself. But a house isn’t anything like a dog you pull off the streets and adopt later on, I told myself as I rambled on about the furnished basement and all of the ways it could be used.

  Autopilot had set in, and as I went over things I’d gone over a dozen times before, I half-considered owning a place like this someday.

  It wouldn’t be easy, especially with taxes being the way they were. Kris wasn’t joking when she said it would be close to impossible to cover two houses. Living in the area had gotten extremely expensive over the years, but I’ve lived here my entire life. I wasn’t willing to move away without a fight.

  “This would make a wonderful playroom,” Mrs. Park said, pulling me from my thoughts once we entered the basement. “We could put a small television over there, a few shelves here on this wall, oh, and a sofa over here.”

  I couldn’t help smiling at her enthusiasm. “You said your son was…”

  “Six,” Mrs. Park offered. “He just started school and has never had a real room of his own. Not like this. He has his bedroom, of course, but… I’m getting away with myself here.”

  “Like I said,” Mr. Park said with a laugh, “she’s been going on about this house for the last two weeks. Every time we come back, there’s something new to see.”

  “Small treasures,” I said with a nod. “Which brings me to my next point. There’s a wooded area all around this place with an open trail just down the street. Someone was kind enough to show it to me the other day and it would be a wonderful place to walk. The trail’s clear of branches and there are benches in a few choice spots.”

  “Are there other children in the area as well?” Mrs. Park asked, her eyes lighting up until she was overflowing with excitement.

  “The elementary school is just up the way and I’ve seen a few of the kids running around on the weekend.” It may have been brief, but there was no mistaking the sound of a child’s laughter as they ran around their own backyard.

  “I’m sold,” she said, turning to me. “If we signed today, when could we move in?”

  “Easy hon. You don’t want to overwhelm her,” Mr. Park said, placing a hand on his wife’s arm. “Our old place was only ever meant for two people, you see, so it’s getting rather cramped. It isn’t too good for Curtis, either. He can’t have play dates because we simply don’t have space for a playroom.”

  “Oh, but this would be the perfect spot for one,” Mrs. Park said, gesturing at the room surrounding them.

  “We’d have to get a few things on file,” I told them both, heading back up to the kitchen where I’d left the paperwork. “That said, once we do, you can move in at the end of the month.”

  “Which will give us a few weeks to pack,” Mr. Park said with a nod, joining his wife on the other side of the island so we could work out the details.

  I’d taken pride in every single one of my sales, so why didn’t this one make me feel any better? There was excitement, of course, but it was accompanied by an uneasy feeling as well. It was an uneasiness I’d never experienced before.

  It was almost like I regret handing them the papers at all, and they were the only family I could think of when it came to selling the house. There was no one else to give the house to. The perfect family was standing right in front of me.

  The sale itself was bittersweet and didn’t feel like the victory I’d hoped for at all. Considering Duke lived right down the street, I’d started to worry about him as well. Kris promised to keep him out of trouble and to have him inside as much as possible, but that wasn’t good for a dog.

  He needed a place to run, lay out in the sun, and play. Kris did her best, but walks could only do so much. Duke needed more.

  Even so, it wasn’t my place to get in the way of a family and their new home. As the Parks signed the forms, I did whatever I could to calm the chaos in my mind.

  “Wait until Curtis sees this,” Mrs. Park said once they finished with the paperwork. “He’ll be thrilled.”

  “As thrilled as his own mother,” Mr. Park said, shaking my hand to finish the deal.

  I managed a smile and placed the paperwork back in the folder I’d brought along with me. “I’ll be in touch. You’ll get the keys in two weeks. Once you do, we can go from there.”

  “Thank you so much. This place is perfect,” Mrs. Park said, taking one last look inside the kitchen before making her way to the front door.

  “It truly is,” her husband agreed, walking her out. “Two weeks?” he asked me once his wife was out of earshot.

  “Give or take. I’ll see what I can do.” It didn’t take much for me to see how anxious the Parks were to get out of their old place. Considering what they’d told me about their living arrangements, I couldn’t blame them.

  Still, there were a few things I had to do before they moved in. Things like meeting with Kris to give her the good news and having a long talk with Duke when it came to the Baker house not being his home.

  Assured everything was in order, Mr. Park waved his thanks, then continued down the sidewalk to where he and his wife had parked their car. As they got in, I thought Duke might run up the street to greet them. Fortunately, it never happened, though a small part of me wished it had.

  The sale of the Baker house, while difficult, felt a little too easy. It was almost as though the sale had come too soon.

  I might not have felt this way a few weeks ago, but now? Now I wished I could show off the house one last time, just in case there was another family that might fit better than the Parks did. There is, my heart cut in.

  No, I quickly corrected myself. There was no way Kris could afford to keep the Baker house, no matter how good business may have been.

  Even if keeping the Baker house would’ve made Duke happy, there was one person the house would’ve had an opposite effect on. That’s why I hated handling sales whenever family was involved. I knew better than to meet with a family in grief, and if I’d realized just how close Mr. Baker and Kris had been, I never would’ve joined Kris on her walk in the first place.

  But I did, and with the sale of the Baker place in sight, the best thing I could do was deliver the good news in person.

  Chapter Five

  Compared to the other houses in the neighborhood that were painted in various shades of beige and brown, Kris’ stuck out like a sore thumb. There was no way I could miss the blue siding with its white trim. The place was right out of a fairytale. No doubt the house had been that way before Kris moved in and she hadn’t had the time to repaint it yet.

  Still, there was something about it that made me smile. Perhaps it was because of how different it looked or how rebellious the previous owner must’ve been in order to paint it in such a way. There was a story behind it for sure, same as the Baker house.

  You aren’t here to put it up for sale. No, I was here to give her the good new
s. Only now, as I stood on the edge of her property line, I started to second-guess myself. My doubt worsened the moment Kris opened her front door.

  “It sold?”

  The surprise in Kris’ voice was unmistakable, and as she held Duke back to keep him from running out the door, my small moment of pride was replaced with a sadness that hadn’t been there before. Usually when a house sold, it was met with happiness or relief. The same couldn’t be said for Kris. The hint of a smile graced her beautiful face, but it was clearly forced.

  “Not exactly,” I said quickly, petting Duke on the head once Kris invited me inside. “The papers are signed but they still have one week to reverse their decision.”

  “And do you think they will?” Kris asked, her voice wavering as she made her way toward the kitchen. “I was about to make a fresh pot of coffee. Would you like some?”

  “Yes, please.” I could never turn down a good cup of coffee, and with Kris not handling the sale as well as I’d hoped, a part of me didn’t want to leave. Not yet. Not until I knew she was okay. “Are you working on another deadline?” I asked as silence fell between us.

  “Just finished, actually,” Kris said with a smile, glancing back over her shoulder as I took my place at the round kitchen table. “Now I need to wait and see what the client thinks.”

  “The job isn’t done upon delivery?” I’d worked for hire in the past, but most of what I did included fluff pieces and news articles. I couldn’t imagine what it was like working as a graphic designer.

  “It depends on the designer,” Kris said matter-of-factly, pausing to pour two mugs of coffee before setting the sugar and cream in the middle of the table. “My contracts allow for revisions if necessary, but only to a point. I still have the artistic right to decline a client’s wishes if I think it might hinder their business.” She blew out a long breath and took the seat across from me, smiling when Duke sat beside her and placed his chin on her lap. “He’s like this constantly. I wish I could explain everything to him.”