CHAPTER TWELVE – mostly filler

Thankfully because Charming is so small we've stopped and made the hotel booking for Cam and Al, found temporary storage for my stuff, which I can't get access to till Sunday and we're still pulling into the lot behind Charming Real Estate only 20 minutes after leaving Donna's house.

Walking through the crystal clean door of the agent's office I giggle at the theme that seems to be painted around Mandy's office. With her walls covered in scenes from fairy tales it looks like a bedtime story and an office block threw up at the same time. The dull grey filing cabinets look odd set between a picture of a pumpkin and a castle painted onto the walls. I look at Donna and can just tell she's as thankful as I am that we don't have to come to this building every day.

"Sarah, wow. I heard you were back, but I guess now I have to believe it." Mandy calls from behind us.

I remember Mandy, when she was the stuck up 'It's Amanda' the girl who looked down on anyone who didn't have a brand new car and shoes that cost more than the monthly mortgage payment most of the adults in town made.

She seems to be a lot more down to earth now, standing in front of us in a pair of dark jeans and a button up white shirt and, most shockingly, no shoes. She laughs at the gobsmacked expression that seems to have found a home on my face before ushering Donna and I into her 'office' which in actual fact is just a desk behind a (fake) ivy covered screen.

Plopping down in her desk chair she turns her computer towards me and picks a pile of manila folders off her desk. "Right, do you want electronic first, or old fashioned paper?" I can just see by the way her hand is moving the folders closer that she wants me to pick them, so I grab the top on off the pile, noting thankfully that there are only about half a dozen.

Donna and I flick through the pile, eliminating all bar 2 of them as being dumps that would be better off being demolished then sold. Mandy shoves the discarded folders back into a draw, pushes the monitor further around and says, "Charming being so old school, we're only just getting to the online real estate now, so I only have a few more on here. But, you'll be happy to know that all of the properties digitally captured are empty so you can do a walk through today if you want."

"Now, Donna didn't tell me how big you wanted, where you wanted or how much you were willing to spend, so you have access to all of the current sales I have. However, I can see that you've picked 2 of the larger houses currently on the market. There are only 3 here. One is a 2 bedroom which I'm thinking will be too small?" She looks at me questioning and I nod. There is no way 2 bedrooms will be big enough for me and Doj let alone all my cooking gear that will, hopefully, be rolling into town later that day.

"Right then. One of these has 4 bedrooms, 2 living. The other is 6 bedrooms and 3 living, but with it just being you I'm not sure you really want something that big."

I'm not worried about buying a house that's too big, my connection to the Sons means that extra bedrooms can always be used for out of town charters or Nomads. I almost eliminate the first house when I see the kitchen is the size of the desk we are all crowded round, but Mandy points out the option to demolish walls and extend out if I want, which makes my instant dismissal become a 'can I look at it in person?'

Within 30 minutes of arriving Mandy has pulled out the keys to the four properties that I want to look at, getting the okay from the owners of the 2 occupied houses that it's okay to do a look around.

Travelling in her car I take the drive time to relax and enjoy being a passenger. I hear her and Donna talking about High School, Mandy was there for our first 2 years, but she remembers Donna and I and the trouble we used to cause.

"Right, number one. This place is empty, and has been for at least a year, but the owners have had a cleaning company coming in every week, and someone stays every weekend...a cousin from Lodi I believe. Anyway, this one is 4 bedrooms; it's got the shitty kitchen though."

The weekly cleaning isn't helping the fact the carpets need replacing; they have holes worn where furniture has been repeatedly rearranged. The walls look like they are going to crumble if they are touched, but not wanting to knock it, Donna and I spend about 15 minutes looking around before I walk back to Mandy and say, "It's nice, and I could easily remodel, as it is I'd have to strip the house to its bare bones to make it liveable."

The second property we stop at I don't even bother getting out of the car, "Sorry Mandy, I don't want to, and couldn't, live here."

She shrugs, having really expected it. In a town as small as Charming there aren't many bad areas, but the last place I want to end up living is anywhere near where Darby lives, "I can understand why the couple that live here are having trouble selling. No one really wants to live near here, but they brought before he moved in and now they are stuck."

I'm not sure what to say, but Donna saves me, "Next house, before someone notices 2 women who are associated with the Sons hanging out near Darby's." I smile at her, knowing she'll get the silent 'thank you' for still linking me with the club that I'm not sure will still want me around, after Tara's lies.

The third house looks a little more homely then the first one, but opening the door we can all see it's been badly treated, and someone has used it as a party house. The wall coverings have been ripped off and there is an awful smell of vomit in the air. Mandy slams the door closed and makes a note to herself before throwing the keys in her bag.

Driving to the last house Donna looks a little confuses as we pull up at a house that's at the other end of the block from hers.

Pulling into the driveway of the final property, I'm not sure if I want to get out, looking at what seems to be 6 months' worth of garden growth I can't decide if I want to see what the inside of the house looks like, the trees that are hanging over the driveway and have brushed against the car make it feel horribly dark.

Mandy takes note of my expression and starts with her sale pitch, thankfully there isn't much of one. "We will get a crew in to clean and do the gardens before you'd take possession. But you might need some good imagination to see past the dust inside. This house hasn't had many views due to its size so we haven't kept the weekly clean going."

I look at the house, it's got a fully fenced yard, which is a bonus with the dog, and it has an attached double garage.

She unlocks the door and pushes open and lets us know she's going to organise the clean and garden while we look around.

Walking through the door I can see immediately what she means by needing a clean, the dust that's on the ground swirls around as we step inside, but Donna grips my arm, so I don't run away screaming.

Directly in front of me is a staircase, the carpet appears to be a deep red, or black. The dirt makes it hard to tell. Donna and I link arms and head towards it. The first step makes me cough as more dust flies into the air but Donna starts giggling. I know Donna would love me to live here, but I'm not sure hard work and cleaning products could make this house liveable

Throwing caution to the wind I take off running up the stairs in front of her, stopping when I get to the top, for some reason, maybe gravity, maybe the breeze that seems to be brushing past me, there isn't as much dust up here. The doors are all closed, but both Donna and I throw them open.

After spending 30 minutes exploring the house that neither of us is sure we found the end of we head back towards the front porch where Mandy is leaning against the railing smoking a cigarette. She snorts at the dust that seems to cling to the bottom 6 inches of our clothes and says, "Okay, cleaning crew will be in next week if you'd like to have a look at it when it's clean."

I nod, liking the house, but still not really being able to get past the dirt and dust that feels like it's embedded itself in my skin.

Heading back to her office she lets me know that if anything else comes up she'll ring me. Then, and I'm amazed her curiosity has lasted this long, "Why aren't you going to Jacob for this?"

I can't help but smile, Donna snickers and replies "Jacob would try and sell her something that he thought she needed, something that reflected well on him and wouldn't show her more than one place, but try and get her to buy a cookie cutter house...you know, one of those development houses where they all look the same."

Mandy nods and we make a time to look at both houses again in a week, to give me time to think, and the cleaning crew time to discover the house under the dust.