The Gamble, Book 3

Chapter 26

Reid

I groaned, staring at the pieces of paper in front of Payton and me that were laid out on the coffee table, "why is finding a house so hard?"

"Seems impossible." Payton sighed, her head in her hands with her elbows on the table as she stared wide-eyed at the pile she had, "I swear we didn't have this much trouble when we were renting."

It had been just over a month since Payton and the girls had rung out their last chord on stage and now we were house hunting or trying to at least.

The shop opened a couple of weeks ago, as was already a tremendous success. I guess soon as people learned Payton of Guilty Crown was the owner, people came flocking. They may have rung their last chord, but they were still extremely popular. If anything, now the band was no longer living that life, they'd grown more so.

But she was happy, and that's all I cared about. I'd been worried after a while she might regret her decision and find it difficult to adjust back to a normal life. However, with Michaelson's help, she adapted reasonably quickly without too much stress.

"We didn't." I chuckled.

"What about this one?" Payton held up one piece of paper to me with a picture of a decent-sized house, "I mean, it needs a fair bit of work, but it was nice. Three bedrooms, the garden was a good size too, with a little patio area. Plus, it's halfway between here and our workplaces, so location wise it's ideal."

"Yeah, I liked it, but everything needs redoing." I hummed, my lips screwing up in a small pout, "The Kitchen, bathroom both need ripping out which is going to cost a pretty penny. We can afford it by all means, but I don't want to spend more than we have to. Keep it in the maybe pile for now. We have another two viewings tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, the four-bed over in Truro and the bungalow a few roads down."

"Well, maybe one of them will be the right house." I sighed softly.

It didn't help that it was just a few days away from being November. Right now showed signs of Halloween being only two days away, but the indications of Christmas was pending were creeping in. The agent said this time of year wasn't the best of house hunting because most were not willing to sell over the holiday period and opted to hold off till the new year.

As Payton went to talk, my dad strolled into the living room and laid out a set of keys on top of the papers.

"Why don't you take this house, son? We can easily convert the loft into the workspace you want. You got the garage and driveway for two cars. The garden needs some TLC, but it's big enough to build a small jungle gym for my grandkids to play on. You have three bedrooms, a dining room, a good-sized kitchen. Main bathroom upstairs and then the toilet room down here. It's everything you two need."

"But dad...this is your house." I looked at him, bewildered. This was the house they'd brought, a year before having me, where he'd spent the best part of his life with my mother.

"It was your mother's son." He smiled, resting a hand on my shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze, "She's the one who picked this house and refused anywhere I liked. Stubborn woman. She'd have wanted you both to take the house and raise her grandchildren here."

"What about you though, Derek?"

"Me? Get me an epic bachelor pad, of course! This is a family home, not a home for a single man who's wife has passed and whose son is all grown with a family of his own planned. So please, take this house. It's what Laura would have wanted."

I looked at Payton with a small smile, "I do love this house."

"So do I, and he's right, it's perfect, everything we need is here. And it's not too far from work, or our friends, or the beach. Plus, we've basically been living here and commuting for the last two weeks, anyway."