House number 2
House number 2
Stepping out of my Jeep I looked at the huge mariner blue modern farmhouse I had followed Vi to. It had cape cod style siding with bright white accents. The columns that lined the front porch were ornate as was the railing that enclosed the porch. Obviously, a new build since the trees were barely more than saplings, the gridlines of the sod were still very visible. A quick psychic look around revealed nothing of interest. If ghosts hung out in these parts, I couldn’t feel them. While I was doing a psychic look, VI went ahead on it to the house. Once I made it up the long walk, the front door had been left open.
“Hello?” I called as I walked through the marble floored foyer. The walls were lined with bright white wainscotting while the walls were white as well. Vi’s voice came from the left. Following it took me though a formal sitting area that had dark hardwood flooring and more white on white. A few chairs had been placed to show potential placement. Finding a hallway, I wandered around to the back of the house where VI was in the spacious kitchen. White shaker cabinets lined the wall. Marble tile was on the floor and backsplash. In the middle of the room an island took up most of the floor space. Vi was on the floor looking at the storage space available in the island. As I walked to her, I noticed the countertops were also marble.
“What do you think?” Her tone didn’t indicate which way she was leaning. I decided to stay neutral.
“I think it’s a blank slate. Very neutral.” My tongue clicked a few times as I looked around. Curious, I opened a door on the far side. Found the pantry. Definitely huge. Not surprising since the house was five thousand square feet. “A lot you could do with it.”
Vi looked at me before sticking her head in the pantry. “Hmmm. Not enough room for a big deep freezer. I’ll have to check if the laundry room has space for one. How did it go with ghost hunting yesterday?”
Wandering around the house trying to locate the laundry room I filled her in on my Saturday. She snickered when I made the comparison between my mother-in-law and the ghost. “Another reason to be thankful for my divorce. No more mother-in-law. At least yours never sent Jesse links to reddit posts about abusive wives and offering to help him escape your clutches.”
“No, mine just tried to setup my fiancé at a town fair.” I scoffed. Finally, we found the laundry room. It was on the back side of the house at the end of a hall that had the downstairs master and den off it.
“I remember that.” Vi’s giggle echoed off the white marble tiled walls. “Isn’t that when you scarred that poor girl?”
Shrugging I refused to answer while snickering. Soon after Jesse and I had gotten engaged his little hometown had its annual chili cook off. While I had stopped off at the ladies’ room my lovey mother-in-law to be was introducing my newly minted fiancé to the cute new girl. She had met the girl in line at the grocery store shortly after she had moved to town. When I joined the group, the cute little brunette was batting her eyes at Jesse. Quickly I introduced myself to the girl wearing a Depeche Mode concert tee. Interestingly he was Jesse’s favorite band at the time.
“Oh! Gloria mentioned you. You’re his sister, right?” The girl was cute. Her brown hair spilled past her shoulders in a riot of curls. Hazel eyes glinted with interest when they flicked back to my man. Clearly Gloria wanted to play dirty. Challenge accepted.
“Sweet of her to mention me.” I planted a kiss on Jesse that should have been x rated. I heard the new chick gasp. I turned to look at her beside Gloria. “What? Family gets first dibs right?”
“Not nice mom.” Jesse admonished his mother. He lifted my left hand to his mother’s preferred girl. “Holly is my fiancé. We are not related.”
“But will be soon. I know how excited Gloria is to be my new mommy.” Death glares shot from my eyes as Jesse drug me off to find a funnel cake.
Vi shook her head as I finished my story. “Was that also when you barked at her the whole trip?”
Snorting, I opened the door in the master bedroom that led to a private patio area. “On the drive home after the fair she accused me of acting like a bitch in heat. So, I only barked at her for the rest of our visit. Still do on occasion just to piss her off.”
As we finished the tour of the house I inquired about her evening with Robbie. They were still dancing when Jesse and I left the bar.
An impish look that made her hazel eyes gleam responded to my question. Just shy of giving too much information she filled me in on our depraved night with the tall, dark, handsome, and apparently inventive playboy. They had gone back to his place in Copell. They had a few glasses of wine. Danced to some Marvin Gaye. A few more drinks. Then played strip uno. Instead of drawing cards, they lost clothing. I stopped her when she got to the part where she was in her undies and he only in his watch.
Her story concluded as we finished the tour for the ground floor. The house had a fancy staircase that the bottom step was about six feet wide, and they narrowed for the next few steps until they became uniformed four feet wide. As we climbed the ornate curving staircase to the second floor, I ran my hand along the polished banister that I could see my reflection in. Chatting about furniture placement and what colors to paint we wondered about the never-ending balcony level of the house. I had begun to feel that the lower level was five thousand square feet and so was the second.
In the family room Vi led me to a door that I assumed was a closet. Opening it she revealed a rod iron spiral staircase. Thankfully I was in flats and not my heels I followed her Pilates perfect figure up the winding steps. At the top we discovered a room that was at least twenty by twenty. Windows covered three walls. The fourth wall had a closet and full bath suite. Excitedly we headed to the window that overlooked the fenced in back yard. The French door opened with ease to the private balcony that was attached. We had a perfect view of the house behind us plus I could see some of the surrounding houses.
“Oh dear.”