Fourteen
Sally opened her work locker and fumbled inside her handbag for her phone. She was on tenterhooks waiting for Fiona to get back to her regarding her offer. It transpired that there was now only one Altshott brother and he’d been the one keen to sell the land for development. The estate agent had called her on Saturday morning to advise that he was still trying to play hardball and upping the price but she’d reminded him of the covenant on the land, that the new lord of the manor would definitely not lift it and given how run-down the property had become over the years, the cost required to renovate it would far exceed any value he hoped to make.
They were now playing the waiting game.
Sally was prepared to up her offer if she absolutely had to but she was keeping this to herself. While she may be able to afford to do so, it didn’t mean she was prepared to throw her money at someone who was being greedy.
Just as her hand closed over her mobile, it began to vibrate and when she pulled it out, she saw Fiona’s name on the screen. She hesitated for a couple of seconds while her nerves twanged in anticipation before drawing in a deep breath and swiping to answer the call.
‘Hi, Fiona, how’s things? Any news yet?’
‘Hi, Sally, yes, there is. Mr Altshott just got off the phone… he’s accepted your offer!’
Sally felt herself go lightheaded and dizzy and she had to quickly grab the door of her locker to help steady her.
‘Hello, Sally? You there?’
‘Err, yes, Fiona, yes. Sorry. Just letting the good news sink in for a moment.’
‘It’s great news. Apparently, he spoke with his family over the weekend and they told him to grab the offer because goodness only knows if they’d ever get another one. I’m guessing they saw the pound signs and didn’t want the hassle of trying to offload an even more derelict property in later years. I also think you being a cash buyer swayed them.’
‘Thank you, Fiona, for your effort, I really appreciate it.’
‘Hey, all part of the service. So, now, if you can ask your solicitor to contact me, I will pass on the seller’s information and we can get this ball rolling. Typically, now that he’s accepted, Mr Altshott wants the sale to go through as quickly as possible.’
‘Well, he’s not the only one. Leave this with me, I’ll see if I can get an appointment with my solicitor this afternoon. Thank you.’
Sally hung up and pulled out a chair from a nearby table and sat down heavily on it. This was it. Time to change lanes. She’d been crawling along on the hard shoulder since Steve’s death, now she had to summon up the wherewithal to rejoin the motorway of life.
That night, while sitting on the sofa with Herbie by her side, Sally began to make, and check off, her latest to-do list. She’d read through the email Fiona had sent over with some pertinent issues relating to the sale which included needing to clear any change of use with the current lord of the manor for whom she’d also provided an email address for her to write to. Sally had already begun to compose a draft of her proposal for the property. As she had no intention of actually farming the land at any time, she hoped the landowner would be amenable to her intentions otherwise she’d just bought a large beautiful house in which she’d be rattling around on her own.
She’d also been to the bank and had gone through the authorisation required for a large cash transfer. All that was required now was to drop in on completion day and show them the paperwork from the solicitor who’d, fortunately, been able to squeeze her in with a late appointment. Given the circumstances, he’d agreed to expedite her case and had advised that unless anything untoward came up on the land searches – which could take approximately three to four weeks tops although he would make an enquiry about fast-tracking them – they could be all clear to exchange and complete within about six weeks. Less if the searches came back sooner. As there was no chain involved, she was happy to exchange and complete on the same day.
Satisfied with the number of ticks on her list, she placed the rapidly being filled A4 pad by her side and looked around the little sitting-room while pondering on what to do with her current home. The mortgage had been paid off after the lottery win so there was no need to sell, which was a blessing as she didn’t think she could bring herself to sell it. Not yet anyway. The obvious solution would be to rent it out but she wasn’t sure if she wanted strangers living in her home.
Sally let out a sigh at her quandary and lifted her hand to stroke Herbie, hoping the action would soothe her like it usually did.
‘What do we do, Herbs, what do we do?’
The cat let out a small miaow before jumping down and walking over to sit in front of the glowing fireplace to groom himself.
‘I guess I don’t need to make a decision right away…’
She sat for a few minutes, staring at the flickering flames across from her, before picking up her mobile phone and swiping through and hitting the call button. As she’d known it would, the call went straight to voicemail.
“Hi, you’ve reached Stevie Eeeeeeeeeeeeee, leave me a message and if it’s a good one, I’ll call ya back!”
Tears pricked her eyes as she hit “end” and redialled. She did this three times before finally placing the phone down on the coffee table, picking up her to-do list and adding a line along the bottom.
“Cancel Steve’s mobile.”
It was time to say her last goodbye.