The Selling Point Page 22
“Gross,” Jade muttered but didn’t get any closer.
“It happens,” Taylor said, moving to peek in. She scrunched up her face as she confirmed the same green shag from the living room was on the bathroom floor as well. “I bet the floorboards are shot from years of moisture being trapped against them.”
A full-body shiver ran through Darby. “All kinds of moisture.”
“Ew,” Taylor said and visibly cringed. She skimmed the walls, painted the same lime green as the window trim in the living room, up to the cracked ceiling. “I don’t know about this one, guys. There could be serious structural issues here. I think this might be too much work.”
“You’ve said that about every house we’ve looked at,” Darby said.
“Because I’m the one who’s going to be doing the work,” Taylor countered. “Your job is to make it pretty. My job is to make it habitable. That’s going to be a big challenge in this place.”
“The price is right,” the agent offered from behind them, keeping plenty of distance between himself and the icky bathroom. “The owner passed away, and her son wants out from under it. We’re three blocks from the beach, ladies,” he added. “That’s going to up the price quite a bit once you’ve completed renovations. Whether you resell or do a seasonal rental, you’re going to make your money back. Easy.”
“Easy, he says.” Darby nudged Taylor, who rolled her eyes and turned away. Darby looked to Jade, who shook her head. Clearly she wasn’t sold on this house either.
“If it was easy,” Taylor muttered, “he’d buy this dump and make the money himself.”
Taylor was probably right. The project was going to be a lot more work than that cutie pie real estate agent was letting on, but she wasn’t scared of the work. She had seen what Taylor could do. Taylor could take this place and make it a freaking palace in a matter of weeks. Okay, it might take longer than that, but she could do it. She could turn this lump of coal into a diamond. And Darby could make that diamond shine. They could resell this house and make a profit.
The rest of the house wasn’t much better, however; one bedroom was decked out in blues. That must have been where the woman’s son had slept. The one sanctuary from the inexplicable love of green. After exploring the inside, they moved to the overgrown backyard. The fenced-in space was larger than many yards this close to Chammont Lake. The city had squeezed as many houses into the vicinity as they could. This lot had been owned long enough that the boundaries hadn’t been broken up when others were split. That would also add value to the resale price.
Darby’s heart fluttered. Okay, so this place needed work, but even Taylor had to see the underlying value. However, Darby’s hopes faded when Taylor began a speed round of asking how old things were, when stuff was updated, and other things Darby didn’t care about. What Darby cared about was digging in and making this old house beautiful.
She wanted to pick paints and flooring. She wanted to choose decorations. She wanted to make something lovely. And this house was about to become a blank canvas. Yeah, Taylor was responsible for the bigger part of the project, but she had to see how awesome this place could be. This would be a great home for someone or a perfect rental property if they went that route. Darby looked to Jade, but she was too hard to read.
Darby could practically see how the little house would look with mostly neutral coloring. Mostly, because no matter what Taylor said, people did like pops of color, and if Darby knew anything, she knew how to bring color together. She could already imagine little turquoise and orange accents mixed with off-white walls and light blue furniture. Tame but colorful. Not boring but still within the confines of what most would see as normal.
Excitement filled her, and she nearly squealed out loud. She could hardly wait to start buying paint and décor and knickknacks. “Guys, this is going to be amazing,” she whispered.
“Shh.” Taylor hushed her and urged her toward the door.
“We’ll talk about the pros and cons and get back to you,” Jade said to the real estate agent.
She’d said that about every house they’d viewed because Taylor was still being a Debbie Downer about the entire thing.
Darby was certain as soon as they got into Taylor’s truck, she’d say no. She’d list off all the reasons the house wasn’t worth investing in and start the process over. No way. That wasn’t happening this time. And Jade would be wishy-washy, and they would want to look at one more house, and then the cycle would start all over again. They were driving her crazy!
Darby was going to dig her heels in this time. For once she was going to push Taylor to jump into something and drag Jade along. She was going to strong-arm some spontaneity out of her friends if the effort killed her.
“We’re doing it,” Darby said as she buckled up. She sat back, waiting for Taylor’s excuses to start rolling. The wait was short, only a few quiet seconds.
“I have to price—”
“We’re doing it.” Darby wasn’t going to take no for an answer. She wasn’t going to sit by and wait for Taylor to worm her way out of something she clearly was excited about. If she’d learned anything about her friends in the last year, it was that Taylor would do about anything to not try something new and Jade would be passive and indecisive until she was ready in her own time. Darby wasn’t going to let them back out, not on their new business. “This is the one. The location is perfect. You heard the real estate agent. Even if we can’t sell the house for a profit, we can rent it to cover the cost. We’re doing this.”
Taylor shoved her key into the ignition and turned until the engine kicked to life. Another long silence drew out before she continued her list of reasons why she might back out. “I have to price the supplies, Darby.”
“We need an inspection,” Jade added.
“Taylor,” Darby stated in an unusually calm tone, “even if we have to replace the carpet, paint the walls, and clean up the landscaping, we can sell this place for more than it’s listed. You know we can.”
“Darby,” Taylor said in an annoyingly mocking, calm tone, “if we buy this house and don’t bring the electric, plumbing, and everything else up to code, we can’t sell anything. We can’t even try.”
“Okay, if we find out the house is that bad, we have the structure torn down and sell the lot.”
Jade chuckled. “I admire your ambition, Darbs, but we’re not buying anything until we know exactly what we’re getting ourselves into.”
Darby sank back in her seat.
“Since I’m already pissing on your parade,” Taylor said, “let me remind you about the rules we set about mixing business and pleasure.”
After blowing out a long raspberry, Darby shook her head. “He’s cute, but…I have a date with Noah Joplin next week.” She jolted and sat taller. “I can’t believe I said that. I have a date. With Noah Joplin.”
Jade laughed. “Oh, good! You guys are going to have a great time.”
“Boys are gross,” Taylor said. “I don’t know why you want to date one.”
“Sex,” Jade and Darby said in unison.
Taylor shrugged. “Yeah. There’s that. But…how are you going to have time to help me remodel a house if you have your head up some man’s ass?”
“I absolutely will not have my—” Darby gasped as she looked at Taylor. “Are we doing this?”
Taylor turned in her seat to look at Jade. “What do you think?”
After one more glance toward the green house, she shrugged. “Yeah, let’s do it.”
“I guess we’re doing it,” Taylor said.
Darby clapped her hands and bounced. “Yes! This is going to be amazing!”
The End
Acknowledgments
Thank you to Shelly Stinchcomb for all the hard work you have put in behind the scenes. Your efforts are very much appreciated.
Coming Soon
The Breaking Point
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Book #3 of Chammont Point Series
Also by Marci Bol
den
Chammont Point Series:
The Restarting Point
The Selling Point
The Breaking Point
A Life Without Water Series:
A Life Without Water
A Life Without Flowers
A Life Without Regrets
Stonehill Series:
The Road Leads Back
Friends Without Benefits
The Forgotten Path
Jessica’s Wish
This Old Cafe
Forever Yours
The Women of Hearts Series:
Hidden Hearts
Burning Hearts
Stolen Hearts
Secret Hearts
Other Titles:
California Can Wait
Seducing Kate
The Rebound
About the Author
As a teen, Marci Bolden skipped over young adult books and jumped right into reading romance novels. She never left.
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Marci lives in the Midwest with her husband, kiddos, and numerous rescue pets. If she had an ounce of willpower, Marci would embrace healthy living, but until cupcakes and wine are no longer available at the local market, she will appease her guilt by reading self-help books and promising to join a gym “soon.”
* * *
Visit her here:
www.marcibolden.com