From the
driveway, a flagstone walk led onto a lawn. He peered around the corner just as
Jerry stepped out on one of several large wooden porches and waved. “Here.”
Oddly,
the walkway stopped, and there didn’t seem to be a clear path to where Jerry
was standing, so Gabe struck out across the grass, found another walkway
leading down the side of the hill, and took it to the porch. “Hi. This isn’t an
easy place to find.”
Jerry
smiled. He’d taken off his glasses, but he still wore the beanie. “I’m glad you
found it.” His voice seemed to have dropped half an octave since earlier at the
ImproveMart, and it shivered down Gabe’s spine. “Please come in.”
Even on
the porch, it wasn’t completely clear where a person was supposed to enter the
house. There were doors on two different walls, but Gabe followed Jerry through
the entrance on the back wall of the porch and stopped. “Whoa.”
Spread
out in front of him was a wide-open house with thick plaster walls,
polished-wood ceilings, a huge two-story great room with floor-to-ceiling
windows, and a hand-polished wooden staircase leading to a second floor. The
whole thing was run-down and in need of repair, but what an amazing house.
Gabe
shook his head. “This is fantastic. How did you ever find it?”
“I saw
it online and called the real estate agent.”
Gabe
glanced at Jerry. Apparently in the comfort of his own home, the guy could
actually put an entire sentence together. While you couldn’t describe him as
relaxed, he didn’t appear to be ready to run. In fact he grinned. “Want to see
the rest?”
“Sure.”
He could hardly wait, actually. The place was some marvelous mix of midcentury
and craftsman styles with all the wood details Gabe loved.
Jerry
walked to the great room first—and great it was. A huge fan in the shape of
giant palm fronds was suspended from the center of the soaring ceiling. Gabe
pointed. “Does it work?”
Jerry
shook his head. “No. It needs fixing.”
In the
center of the room, in front of a giant fireplace that Gabe would bet also
didn’t work, sat two plastic camp chairs—all the furniture in the entire room.
Off the
great room was a smaller paneled library. After Gabe looked into it, Jerry led
him back across the big room and up the beautiful staircase to the second
floor. A long hall illuminated by skylights stretched in front of them.
Jerry
laughed, and it was a light, airy sound that bounced through Gabe’s belly like
a swig of champagne. “I think I must get a cat. Can’t you see a cat chasing a
toy down this hall?”
“How many
bedrooms and baths?”
“Five of
each. One bath downstairs. I’ll show you when we go back down.”
Each
bedroom had some kind of damage—peeling drywall, water-soaked woodwork, and
stained carpet. The bathrooms were a particular mess with old, rust-stained fixtures.
Finally,
they got to the end of the hall and stepped into what had to be the master—a
huge room with floor-to-ceiling windows on two walls. Gabe drew a breath. “This
is gorgeous. The light’s magical.”
“Yes.
It’s one of my favorite rooms.”
Gabe
glanced at the mattress lying on the floor covered in mussed sheets directly
under a skylight. Must be quite a view. He swallowed hard.
The tour
went back downstairs, and Gabe saw the wreck of a kitchen. “Does the cooktop
even work?”
“No.”
Several
pizza boxes lay on the large central island.
Finally,
they walked out the dining room french doors to a huge backyard. “How big is
the property?”
“Two and
a half acres.”
“Wow.”
The centerpiece of the back was an enormous pool, not quite Olympic standard,
but it would have served a good-sized community. “At least it’s full of water.
It must not be in too bad repair.”
“No,
it’s pretty good, but the filter equipment is total trash. It leaks like the
West Wing.”
Gabe
snorted. Who dreamed Jerry had a sense of humor?
Jerry turned
in a circle, like he was seeing the mansion for the first time. “It’d been on
the market for years and people were scared off by all the work.”
Gabe
stared at him. Giving the tour, Jerry had put together the most words he’d
spoken end to end since Gabe met him. “And you’re not scared of the work?”
Jerry shook his head and
grinned like a loon. Clearly, this was his baby. “No, I’m not worried.” His
smile lit up his face, making his unusual eyes shine. “Not since I met you.”
