Chapter Six
April 2024
Caz’s phone rang. She pushed the trolley with her feet and came out from under a Ford Focus. The blue overalls that should have been covering her arms and torso were casually rolled down to her waist, the arms tied across her stomach, oil drips all down her clothing.
Before she jumped up, Frank handed her the phone.
“Cheers.” She smiled at him, before hitting the answer button. “Hello.”
“Hey, it’s me…listen, there’s a house literally just about to go on the market I think is perfect for us. Pete called from the Woodington office and gave me the heads up. I’ve just got back and it is…perfect.” She barely paused for breath and Caz had to smile at her excitement. “Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, large kitchen, dining room, and lounge, with a small garden and parking for two. It’s in Banbury Hollow. Can you go and look at it?”
“I thought we were looking at Amberfield?” Caz checked her watch. “Grace, you know I’m working till four. I can whizz over then, I suppose.”
“Great, I’ll add you to the diary and have Pete meet you there.”
“How much is it?” Caz asked, pushing herself up onto her feet and strolling over to the bench where a half-empty can of Coke stood going flat.
There was silence for a moment and she swigged the drink, grimacing, but going back for seconds.
“Grace, how much?” She wiped her mouth against the back of her hand and inadvertently smeared grease across her chin.
“Okay, hear me out. It’s over our budget, but I really think we could—”
“Grace?”
“Three seven five,” Grace said, and Caz could imagine her wincing with every word uttered.
“Three hundred and seventy-five thousand of our British pounds?” Caz exclaimed with just an edge of incredulity to her voice. “Babe, we worked this out. With mine and your savings, plus our earnings, we can just about scrape three fifty.”
“I know, but they’re eager to sell and I’m pretty sure they’d take an offer, and Dad said he wants to give us ten grand as a wedding gift.”
“What? We’re not getting married for another year.”
“I know…but he’s happy for us and he wants to help, so…can you?”
“Can I what?”
“Go and look at it,” Grace said impatiently. “And if you like it, tell Pete you want to make an offer and go in with three thirty-five.”
“That’s nowhere near the asking price.”
“Of course not, but we’re not going in with everything we have, there’s a negotiation to be done.”
“Just feels mean,” Caz said, scratching her head before wiping her hands down the front of her white vest.
Frank looked at her and shook his head. She shrugged.
“Right, fine. I will go and take a look after I’ve been home for a shower.”
“That’s all I ask,” Grace said sweetly. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. What time will you be home later? I’ll come over.”
“Finishing at seven.”
“Great, I’ll pick up something for dinner then.” She glanced around and found Dani staring at her, with Ron stood right there too. “Okay, baby, can’t wait to get off…I mean, finish, and see you.”
“Who’s there? Is it Dad?”
“Uh-huh. So, I’ll catch you later, yep, okay…yes, love you, too, bye.” Caz closed the phone before Grace’s laughter became so loud the entire building heard her.
Ron gave her a proud smile and a thumbs up.
“Is this almost done? Customers on the phone,” Dani said, chewing gum like a snapping alligator.
“Yeah, just got to refill the oil chamber and give it a run for ten minutes—make sure the seals are good.”
“Great, I’ll tell her four, then.”
“Okie dokie.” Caz grinned just as her phone buzzed.
Grace: Love you too! Hahahaha
“Git,” Caz muttered before shoving the phone back into her pocket and dropping back down onto the trolley. But she grinned and murmured as she slid back under the car, “My git.”
From the outside it looked nice enough.
There was a red door at the front and to the right of the building, with a little roof to shield you from the rain while you tried to get a key into the lock and open it. To the left of that was a large bay window, with two more windows above.
It was detached, with room for two cars to park out front—exactly how Grace described it.
“So, it literally came on the market this morning. We haven’t even done the photos yet, but Grace had already given us all the heads up on what you guys were looking for.” Pete smiled at her as he pushed the key into the lock and turned it.
“Yeah, she seems pretty excited about it.”
They stepped inside to a long hallway. A set of stairs led up the right side, with wooden flooring all the way through.
Clean, tidy, and potentially perfect.
“Alright, well to the left here is the lounge. Double aspect windows and door through to the dining room. A wood burner in the fireplace is working and all up to standard,” Pete explained, as Caz wandered around the empty room.
“Nobody lives here, then?”
“Nope. Basically, they’re a couple and they both had a property, so, living in the other and selling this one.”
“That’s nice.” Caz smiled and poked her head into the dining room. “It’s not a divorce or…someone died?”
Pete chuckled, before continuing on, “Single aspect window—not the biggest, but certainly sizeable for a decent table and chairs.”
The dining room led through to the kitchen. Nothing fancy, but liveable. Units lined two walls into the corner, a breakfast bar protruded from a third wall, and a door led out to the garden behind it, with another door leading full circle, back into the hallway.
She glanced out of the window and saw a small, tidy grassed area. She imagined Grace out there, looking back at her and waving, belly swollen with a baby, a toddler running around her legs, laughing, and Caz felt a sensation of pride and love rush through her.
“So, all doable,” Pete was saying.
“Sorry, what was that?”
“Oh, I was saying it doesn’t really need much, maybe just change the décor…all doable?” He smiled. “Want to see upstairs?”
“Yeah, I guess…I’m not really an expert, though.”
“No, that’s Grace’s forte. She’s had a definite spring in her step lately, too… All down to you I guess.”
“Oh, well, then I suppose I must have a spring in my step, too, then.”
“Indeed. Shall we go on?”
So far, Caz noted, every wall was either white or a muted pastel, and she quite liked it as it was, imagining Grace’s corner sofa in the lounge and her own TV on the wall. It was easy to imagine them living here, but she didn’t want to get hers or Grace’s hopes up. They were well away, financially.
She followed him out into the hall again, noting a smaller room off to the side of the kitchen with a desk and bookcase, an office of some kind. With a Harry Potter style cupboard under the stairs with room for hoovers and other annoying things nobody wanted to look at, and a tiny toilet and shower room squeezed into a space that backed onto the dining room.
“There are three bedrooms upstairs, though that office space downstairs could also be used as a living space of any kind,” he said, climbing the stairs two at a time.
Caz jogged up behind him.
They’d need safety gates, that was for sure , she thought.
“Okay, single room straight ahead, then the first double to the left of that, bathroom with full suite and shower, and then the master bedroom to the front.”
She moved easily into each room, imagining her bedroom in one, Grace’s room in the other, and a child sleeping soundly in the small room.
Grace was right; there was nothing not to like.
“So, where do we stand with the buyers? Grace said they’re looking for a quick move?”
Clasping his clipboard to his chest, Pete nodded sagely. “Yep. They’ve found a property abroad they want to buy as a holiday home, but there are time constraints. So—
“A deal is to be made?”
“Precisely.”
“Okay…so, I can make an offer now and—”
“I will call them up and let them know, then it’s up to them to agree or not. What figure were you thinking?”
Caz puffed out her cheeks. She hated dealing with money, especially when it felt a bit underhanded, but Grace was the expert so she trusted the process.
“What about a cheeky three three five?” She tried to sound confident and make sure she looked like she knew what the game was.
Pete grinned and pulled his phone out. “I’ll give them a call.” He was already walking away, phone to his ear. She heard him exuberantly say, “Hey, Kathy, yes, it’s Pete from Osgood’s, uh-huh, yes, I do—”
Caz walked to the back of the house and looked out of the bedroom window into the garden. It had a nice patio area where a table and chairs could sit, maybe a barbecue. They’d have their friends round and sit out in the sunshine with a paddling pool.
“Okay, so they’re going to have a think about it,” Pete said, coming back into the room.
“Not a no, then?”
“I’ll be honest, I expect a no, but the fact they’re thinking about it tells me we might not be too far off it.”