Giving in... Or giving up...

Chapter 55

It has been a week... I was now 12 weeks pregnant and i was driving to the store... I took a different route wanting to see more of this place... I really love it here... I never would have thought i would love the quiet life... I never thought i would love not being in the city but i really do love it here... I feel calm and serene... I feel at home... Small town life had surprised me and i had come to love it... I even started to cook for myself by learning online and to my surprise i liked it... I drive around the corner and i see this house with a for sale sign in the yard... I drive to the store and the house stays in my mind... 

I do my groceries and drive back but not before saying hi to Dotty at the diner and to get myself a milkshake... Dotty and i have been texting back and forth and i really liked her... It was nice to have someone to talk to... Someone who was not intwined with my old life... 

I come up to the house again and while i drive by i can't resist... I need to see it up close... Something about the house pulls me in and turn around and drive back and park in the driveway... The house is abandoned, and it needs work... But were i always sucked in cooking i made up for in my DIY skills... I like to renovate... I did it in my apartment back in New York... I did everything myself... 

I get out of the car and look around... It is a cute house, old and with lots of character... It was a little cottage and i start to wonder what i would be to life her permanently... It was not like i had to be in New York for work or anything... I could work from anywhere... I walk around the house and smile at the swing set in the yard... I imagined my kid running around playing here... I looked through the windows and smiled... But to see it full potential i needed to get inside... I walk to the sign and call the number on the sign asking if someone could come and meet me to walk me through... The guys seemed eager to sell the place and told me he would be right there in about 20 minutes... I walk around the house again and my smile just gets bigger... 

I walk back to the car and indeed 20 minutes later a guy pulls in... He seems friendly nothing like the real estate agents back in New York. He tells me about the house and that the previous owner died and his daughter wanted to sell as she didn't want to come back to life here... 

I try to keep a straight face as we walk through... A real estate agent in New York would never tell you the owner wants to sell quick let alone that people will tell you that it has been on the market long... It gives me room to negotiate... But when he named the price i was shocked... This must be faith... It must mean something... I could only buy a shoe closet in New York for the price of a home here... 

The house is old and dated but it has potential and i could see myself living here... Was i really going to do this... Was i really going to live here and move out of the city... The man gives me some time to walk around on my own and as soon as he is out of sight i smile... I think i am... I dont even have to take a loan... I can just buy it and the big stuff i dont have to do on my own i can pay a contractor for that... It is almost criminal how cheap the house is... When i walk outside the man shows me the outside telling me what all would come with the house... 

I look at him and smile and right then and there i make a decision... "So where do i sign..." I say smiling and he is taken aback a little... He tells me he can have the paperwork for me tomorrow and we decide to meet up at the diner... He gives me the keys with a smile telling me to keep them so i can walk around a little bit more... 

After he has left i walk back inside and smile looking around... "Welcome home..." I mumble to myself and i can't stop smiling... I am really going to do this... I was moving here permanently... This was going to be home... A house with a big yard...  

When i finally arrive at the place i rented i call my accountant to make arrangements to free the money for it... I spend my evening fantasizing about what i am going to do with the place and make a mental note to ask Dotty if she knows a reliable contractor in the area. I was going to strip the house and start new but trying to keep the old features... I was going to keep my apartment in New York for when i had to go to the city for work or visit friends and family...

Just in the last few hours i made more decisions than i had done over the last weeks... But i feel great about it... I had come to love this place... The serene environment and the easy-going people... Since i had met Dotty people seemed to open up more and i came to find out that Dotty was like the mother of this little town... Loved by everyone and i could see why... 

My phone rings and i get pulled back into reality seeing Chris his name on the screen... I dont know if Seb had told him to stop calling but he hadn't... I could answer and tell him but i was still not sure on what to do... Part of me just wanted to start over and do this on my own... That idea got stronger and stronger... But i was going on a book tour... I had made the commitment and there was no way back and i dont know if i could keep my pregnancy a secret... I hadn't even told my parents yet... I was thinking of telling them when i was back in New York... I also would be packing up personal belongings and have them stored until my house here was done... 

My publisher had booked me on two late night shows in New York... I would have 3 days free time in New York after that before i would be traveling around the country... The book was received well by my publisher... Very well... They rushed it through eager to publish it and in 4 weeks i would go on the road... 

I had no idea if i would be showing by then and if i was... Could i hide it with clothes... I was not ready for anyone to know...