"Seasons Change"
By Sister Rose
Rated R
Chapter 18
The characters of "The O.C." belong to Fox, and no infringement of those rights is intended in this fictional work.
Thanks to all those who have stuck with me this far.
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Summer had decided to move on with her life. She wasn't sure that riding around in a car with Seth qualified as moving on, but it was moving forward. Sort of. At a completely pokey rate of speed that almost qualified as driving backward.
"Where are we going?" she said. Maybe the details of Seth's prospective investment would take her mind off his complete inability to drive faster than snails could slither.
"I'm looking at a house in a modest neighborhood," Seth said without taking his eyes off the road. "It's a two-bedroom on the edge of an area that's undergoing gentrification. It's in rough shape, but I think with the right renovations, I can turn it over for a little profit."
"That's a risky, high-involvement investment," Summer said. "Are you really prepared to be that hands-on? I mean, you might even have to hold a hammer or a power tool or something for a successful flip. No offense, but that doesn't seem like you."
"Well, I have an experienced carpenter on retainer to do most of the work, and if things get really bad, I'll make Luke help," Seth said.
Summer looked across at him skeptically.
"Do you think he will? He was a little upset with you last time we talked," she said.
"We've had a conversation about that conversation," Seth said. "Upshot is I'm going to tell my dad next time I see him that I have a Big Gay Boyfriend. If he doesn't like it, well, I got along fine without a dad for a long time. I can do it again, as long as I have Luke. Thanks for taking my side, by the way, but I wish you had told me I was being a dumb-butt about Luke. That's what friends are for."
"I kind of forgot about your business after I saw … what I saw," Summer admitted. She shook her head to return to a less sensitive topic. "How are you planning to finance? We're going to need to move some of your portfolio into less risky stocks if you really go ahead with this. Your portfolio needs a healthy balance, and direct involvement with real estate would tip you over from where I'm comfortable with the account going. Of course, it's not my retirement we're talking about."
"I'm hoping to attract a co-investor," Seth said.
"That would certainly spread the risk," Summer said.
"Here are my calculations," Seth said, handing her a folder. "I've got it figured with and without a co-investor. I just want you to take a look at the property and see whether I'm nuts."
Normally, Summer wouldn't have let that straight line go, but she started thumbing through the pages, letting the cold hard numbers talk to her. Dads and boyfriends might come and go, but two and two always added up to four, and a 7.9 percent financing offer always had to be checked for strings. Those were certainties you could set your clock by. Those were the sorts of things Summer liked in her life. Not idiot men. That's the reason she had changed her college major to finance and got a job with numbers instead of emotions.
She barely noticed the streets getting darker and dirtier as Seth drove his green Prius. Summer always felt peaceful when she was shopping or auditing, and this real estate venture was a chance to do both. Maybe she should think about moving from fashion auditing to real estate auditing. She thought about losing her clothing discount and shuddered. No, real estate would have to remain a hobby.
"I see you have your carpenter on for a reduced rate," Summer finally said. "That won't work. If he's worth the price, the pay him the going rate. If not, find someone else."
"This guy is willing to put in some sweat equity for a part of the action," Seth said. "It's there behind Tab C. Plus, he has four years of experience in building houses and three in apartment maintenance."
Summer turned to that page in the loose-leaf notebook, perusing Seth's numbers. He had done a pretty good job of roughing out his proposal, but she could improve it, and a more professional presentation would extend its clout.
"No, I still don't like the reduced rate," she said. "Pay the guy in full, if he's worth the money. It looks better for your tax purposes. If he then chooses to invest, that's his tax problem, not yours.
"We need to set up a limited corporation to make it easier for you to include or exclude other investors, but that shouldn't be a big deal. Do you have a lawyer who can do it for you?"
"Um," Seth said. He sneaked a glance at her.
"Oh, no," Summer realized in horror. "It's Zach, isn't it? There's no one else you would take your eyes off the road for."
"Yeah, it's Zach," Seth said defensively. "I'm sorry. I don't know anybody else I can use on short notice."
"What about your dad?" Summer said. "He's a lawyer, isn't he?"
"Yeah, about that," Seth said. "I'm just not that eager to commingle my business deals with my dad yet. I know I said I forgive him, and I do, but I'm not going to forget, either."
That
sounded sensible to Summer. She let the subject drop, and Seth didn't
pick it back up.
"Here's the neighborhood," Seth said,
slowing as he turned a corner.
"Looks a little …" Summer couldn't think of the right word.
"Horrible?" Seth offered.
"Yeah," Summer said. "Your financial adviser isn't impressed right now."
"OK," Seth said. "You've seen the ugly. Now see the good."
He turned another corner to an apparent dirt pit with some yellow cranes looming over like giant carrion birds. Summer thought that was a pretty apt metaphor for this dead neighborhood. Seth pulled the car over and put it in park. He pointed.
"That high-rise apartment complex will be finished in six months," Seth said. "It's on the new transit line, and when it's finished, it will have giant signs that say, 'If you lived here, you'd be home now' and stupid things like that. You'll notice that across the street, they are pouring concrete for the new light-rail station park-and-ride lot. This neighborhood is about to get hot.
"Two blocks from here is a nice elementary school. It's not new, but it's consistently in the top 20 schools in this district. My proposed flip is two blocks in the other direction."
Seth quit waving his arms and sat quietly, letting Summer think. She appreciated the lack of noise as she ran through the possibilities in her head.
"OK, I'm ready now," she said finally. "This place could tip either way. In a year, that high-rise could be a crack emporium or it could be the hot new neighborhood for up-and-comers. I need to see the actual streets from here to your house to see what prospective buyers are going to be seeing. Drive slowly."
She thought again.
"Never mind," she said. "Drive your usual speed."
Seth stuck out his tongue at her and put the car back in drive. As he drove slowly through the streets, Summer peered out the window for clues like children's bikes, neat lawns or nosy neighbors.
Seth stopped in front of a small bungalow with overgrown trees lining a cracked driveway.
"It goes without saying that I'm going to count on you for interior advice," Seth said. "I mean, it's you or Luke, and have you seen what Luke's wearing these days?"
Summer recalled the tweed jacket she had seen last and shuddered.
"Of course I'll help, even if you ignore my excellent advice," she said. "But what about your mom? I seem to recall she has excellent taste."
"I'm not sure when Mom's going to be out," Seth said. "And …"
He stopped and sighed.
"Did you see her?" he said. "I'm not sure she's going to be up for anything more stressful than picking out clean clothes when she's out. And Dad's not making loads of progress on finding that Lindsay guy. I'm afraid I'm going to have to talk to Grandpa to find out more. Which means another trip to The Big House. Which I'm not prepared for. So we're going to keep on talking about my business and not my family's right now, if you don't mind."
OK. Summer could go along with Seth's denial. It was one of her favorite coping techniques, too.
"What kind of turnaround time are you looking at?" she said, turning her attention back to Seth's proposed flip house, where prospects for improvements popped in her eyes. She could see two windows opening out onto the front yard, crowded by a juniper tree that needed to come out so those windows could let some light in on the family, and the yard needed a fence around it for a little dog to live in. Those were two fast, relatively inexpensive fixes that would improve the curb appeal and upgrade the house value. Seth could do that much in just a month.
"I think I can carry the place for three months," Seth said. "After that, it gets trickier."
"Do you have a pen?" Summer said. She went on without waiting for him, pushing open the car door. "Start a list. 1. Yank butt-ugly juniper tree. 2. Fix cracked driveway. 3. Add fence around front yard and shutters for front windows."
She continued ticking off improvements as she tromped up the driveway, Seth on her heels.
"Most of these are on the list already," Seth said, consulting a piece of paper as he stuck a key in the front door. "My construction guy thought of them, too."
"Really?" Summer grabbed the list from Seth and started going down it. "What's this about ripping out a wall?"
"Do you mind?" Seth took the list back. "It's just part of a wall. It's to create a breakfast bar and open out the space between the kitchen and the living room. And I'd really rather you see the space before you see the list."
He opened the door with a small bow.
"If Madame Adviser would consent to enter?"
She did.
Her first impression was that the dark blue shag carpet was nastier than anything she had ever seen in her life. Her second impression was that Atwood was standing on it, so nothing else mattered.
"Summer, meet my carpenter," Seth said.
