Chapter Thirty-Seven
Ava
July 3rd started like any other day. It was a Wednesday, which meant I was into The Rolling Scone and baking by five that morning. It was also the day before Mrs. McKinley’s party, which meant that Ben and I had a lot of meal prepping to do tonight. Things were chugging along nicely—measure, mix, pour, bake, repeat—until about nine. Most of the baking was done and I was mainly helping the customers, very much looking forward to finally hiring help, when I got a phone call from Gianna. My blood went cold.
Gianna does not call.
Gianna barely texts. She and Viv are somehow even bigger workaholics than me, and I own my own business and run it solo.
Trying not to jump to conclusions, I answered. “Hey, what’s up? Everything okay?”
“I wish it were,” she replied, “but we’ve got some real problems.”
I swallowed. “Look, I know I messed up and Jules is—”
“We’ve got bigger problems than your tiff with Jules,” Gianna interrupted gently. “Honestly, she’s not going to date him and that was in high school, so I think she should let you have him. But also she should be pissed for a while because you totally broke the girl code. Maybe a few weeks, then call it good. But that’s not why I called.”
“Is it the inspection report?” I knew that hadn’t gone well, but no one had officially commented since I’d sent it.
“It’s the appraisal.”
Oh, God. My head felt buzzy all of a sudden. The appraisal happened a few days ago, but we didn’t know when we’d be hearing back because of the midweek holiday.
“What happened?”
“As you know, the mortgage went through fine. But the appraisal came in low.”
“Wait, isn’t that a good thing? That means it will cost less, right?”
“Wrong.”
I sighed. “Explain it to me like I’m five, please.”
Gianna snorted, but her amusement was short-lived. “ We have to pay the same amount we agreed on in the purchase agreement. The bank will pay less. Which means that unless you can sweet-talk your future mother-in-law into reducing the price by almost a hundred thousand dollars, we’re going to have to come up with that on our own in addition to the down payment.”
“Shit,” I hissed.
“Exactly.”
“I’m going there tomorrow for the Fourth. I’ll see what I can do,” I promised. Mrs. McKinley was a kind and reasonable woman.
But that was a lot of money.
That evening, Ben came over so that we could prep most of the food for tomorrow. I’d tossed in a few dozen bakery treats for good measure, too. I didn’t mention the appraisal right away because I knew he was worried about making the day perfect for his mom tomorrow.
The more I thought about it, the less I wanted to actually bring it up at her special party. Ben had gone out of his way to ensure she didn’t have anything to worry about. If I tried to haggle down the price of the house, it would ruin all his efforts.
We’d cleaned and prepped the asparagus before Ben turned to me with a pointed look.
“Were you going to tell me what was bothering you?” he asked gently.
I offered half a smile. “No, actually,” I replied. “I didn’t want you worrying about anything else tonight.”
“Well, thanks to this super hot chef I know, I don’t actually have much to worry about.” He bumped into me sideways while stirring. “Seriously, though. You’re doing all the work here. I’m barely a sous chef, and I couldn’t have pulled this off without you. Let me at least offer a sympathetic ear.”
He was being modest. I was impressed with how much he’d learned in the few short weeks we’d been cooking together. But I knew he wouldn’t let me drop it, so instead I told him about the appraisal.
For the first time since I’d been hanging out with Ben, he let out a rather colorful series of expletives. “How much will the bank give you?” he asked.
“Two hundred and fifteen thousand,” I groaned. “Do you think she’ll lower it?”
“I don’t see why she wouldn’t.” He ran a hand through his short hair, a telltale sign that he was getting stressed. “It’s just been sitting there gathering dust. And I know she was happy it would be going to you guys…” His voiced trailed off thoughtfully and his stirring came to a full stop.
“What is it,” I asked. “You don’t sound sure about it.”
“Mom’s been acting—odd. Not in any obvious sort of way, just little things. Maybe I’m reading too much into it,” he shrugged, “or maybe there’s something going on I don’t know about.”
That took me aback. “How come you haven’t mentioned that before? We don’t just have to talk about my problems, you know. I want to help you, too.”
“It’s not really a problem. Not yet, at least. I thought at first maybe she was planning to move to Ireland with my dad or something and so she was selling off Grandma’s place, but when I asked her about it that was a definite ‘no.’”
I didn’t quite know what to make of it without more details, but I really wanted to help. Aside from touring his old playroom, this was the most upset I’d seen Ben.
“Maybe you should just ask her about it point-blank?” I suggested. “I find most of the time the real answer isn’t as bad as you think it will be.”
Ben’s eyes narrowed and he pulled out his phone. “You know what? You’re right. I won’t be able to relax until we know whether she’ll lower the price, and I know you won’t either. Let’s just get this over with.”
That wasn’t what I’d meant, but at least we’d have one answer.
He dialed her and stepped into the family room so he could pace while he talked. I kept working on the meal prep, doing my best to eavesdrop. He gave her the basic rundown and I felt like he did a good job asking her about lowering the price to reflect the appraisal. He went quiet for a minute, clearly listening to her response.
My heart stopped when he asked, “Why not?”
I strained, as though I would somehow be able to hear what she was saying through his tiny phone speaker a whole room away. I could not. So instead I stirred with needless intensity until he rounded the corner back into the kitchen, his face a blend of shock and confusion.
“She said no.” He fell onto a chair at the tiny kitchen table. “She wouldn’t explain. Just said she couldn’t do it.” He stared numbly into the distance toward me. “I have no idea why she wouldn’t do it.”
Nausea roiled in the pit of my stomach. This was the worst of all the possible problems to have with the sale. But Gianna hadn’t said it was a deal-breaker for her and Viv, and Riley was definitely still in, so maybe I could fix this. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as it felt.
I walked over to sit beside him. “It’s a lot of money, Ben,” I reminded him.
“I know,” he groaned. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know how I can help you.”
My hand found his and I almost laughed at how thoughtful he was, even when he was upset. “I meant it’s a lot of money for her , not me. It could go a long way toward setting her up for a comfortable retirement or whatever other goals she has.”
“But you can’t afford that, can you?”
“No,” I shook my head. “Not alone. But that’s why we all agreed to go in together.” I desperately hoped this wouldn’t change that, but I could manage. Even if it ended up just me and Riley, we could make this work. Maybe.
That thought brought back the pit forming in my stomach. But it would be fine. Everything would be fine.
I pulled out my phone and told the girls the bad news. Gianna started typing a response immediately. I didn’t have to read it to know what it would say, but I watched as her explanation popped into the group chat. Setting my phone down, I turned to Ben.
“They’re out.”