Chapter 13
After Faye’s decision, announced to him at Christmas, Charlie’s life was leaping ahead.
After years of not dealing with their situation, his whole life revolved around those changes now.
It felt like a free fall at times, but he was handling as much of it as he could.
He put the house in Atherton on the market at the beginning of January, and there were open houses every weekend.
Only qualified buyers were invited, and the most important realtors.
At the same time, Charlie was looking for a smaller house for himself and Liam, whenever he would be home.
Despite all the details he had to attend to, there was something invigorating about the process.
He felt as though he were being swept on the tides to better times.
With each day, he realized that they should have done this years before.
Dealing with it now was like clearing away the deadwood in his life, getting rid of the old, and finding a new place to live.
The big house made no sense anymore, and like everything else in their marriage, had made no sense for years.
He wanted to stay in the same area, with grounds similar to what they’d had, and he didn’t want to undertake years of remodeling.
He wanted to find a house he could move into now, and transition quickly.
By the time Liam came home for another visit, Charlie wanted to be settled in their new home, to give him a sense of continuity.
Charlie reported to Faye on any progress and consulted her on decisions that affected them both, since they were joint owners of their current property, but she seemed happy to let him handle all the details and do the heavy lifting, which was nothing new.
She was used to delegating, and she was more than happy to do that from a distance, and let Charlie do all the work.
There was a lot of interest at the first open house, and two offers after the second one, both of which were lowballs, which were of no interest. Charlie knew both prospective buyers and that they could go considerably higher and were just trying to take advantage of the circumstances, but he and Faye were a united front on that.
They wanted top dollar for their beautiful home, even if it meant waiting for a while for the right buyer to show up.
He was sure there was one, especially with all the young tech families in the area.
In the last week of January, after three open houses, and ads in all the best decorating and architectural magazines, thanks to their realtor, a young family came to see it for the second time.
They had four children and the husband had just sold a very successful startup, and had money he had no idea what to do with.
The house he purchased was going to be their first important home.
They went over every inch of the house, and brought an architect with them, which the realtor said was a good sign.
Charlie was in the house, in his home office, in case they had any questions, but he didn’t interfere.
The couple wanted to know if he would be interested in a fast all-cash closing, and he said he wasn’t adverse to it, if he found the right home for himself, and he would have to discuss any offers with his ex-wife as well.
Unlike many divorces, Faye and Charlie were on good terms and agreed on what they wanted for the house.
It was a lot of money, but they had no pressing need financially.
Unlike many people who were getting divorced, where it became a battle, the Taylors’ position was simple and clean.
On the first of February, Charlie’s realtor showed him a house that was coming on the market, and not listed yet.
It belonged to a venture capitalist in Boston, who owned the house but didn’t live there, and had only used it when he came to Silicon Valley to work on deals.
He had sold his business and was retiring, and he and his wife were moving to Tuscany and had no use for the house anymore, and their children were grown and scattered everywhere from London to Dubai to New York.
The house looked brand-new when Charlie saw it.
There were two wings and a fairly large central body of the house with rooms to entertain, including a big, beautiful living room with high ceilings and skylights that looked out on several acres of natural woodland.
There was a large glassed-in dining room with walls that rolled back and opened into the garden.
One wing held the master suite and the other two large guest bedrooms. The owner had built a small golf course at the back of the property.
There were tennis courts, and a fairly large pool.
Everything was state-of-the-art—spa, sauna, a big kitchen with gleaming equipment.
The owners had bought the house and hardly used it, and the location was even better than that of Faye and Charlie’s current home.
Charlie liked the fact that Liam and his friends would be at the opposite end of the house.
And there was a barbecue area and patio area where Liam could hang out with his friends, near the pool but far enough from the master suite that they wouldn’t disturb Charlie.
There was a neatly built shed near the pool with two dressing rooms, a pool table, and a Ping-Pong table.
It had everything that Charlie could have wanted.
The house was only five years old, so everything was barely used.
It was kind of an indoor-outdoor space for good weather with retractable walls, and it was three miles closer to his office than their current home.
He was shocked at how reasonable the price was, and was suspicious of it at first.
“Is there something wrong with it that I don’t know about?” Charlie asked his realtor. “A train that comes by every hour somewhere on the property, or a poisoned well?” The realtor laughed.
“No, they’re just very reasonable people.
They don’t want to hang onto it for years.
They don’t need the money, and they want to be free to start their new life in Tuscany, without having to maintain a house here, now that he has sold his business.
He wanted to sell it to the people who bought his company as part of the deal, but they love the house they’re in, they have five kids, and they don’t want to move.
The one handicap for most people is that it’s really an adult home, with the master suite and only two other bedrooms. Most families in this area want at least four bedrooms, and they’re one shy.
” But it was perfect for Charlie and Liam, at opposite ends of the house.
Liam could have a guest stay when he came home, or Charlie could have guests when Liam was away, which was most of the time now. It was almost too easy.
“What kind of closing do they want?” he asked.
“Whatever you want. They’re ready to hand a new buyer the keys. I think a thirty-day closing would be fine, if you’re anxious to move.”
Charlie smiled at him. “Well, Jack, I need to check it with Faye, but if she’s amenable, it looks like the family buying our house could have their thirty-day closing, and everybody gets what they want.” The realtor was thrilled with the transaction.
Charlie called Faye as soon as he got home.
“That’s fantastic, and I think it’s a fair price for ours, don’t you?”
“I do.” Their house was in perfect shape, and so was his new one. “I don’t see the point of haggling for another twenty or thirty thousand dollars. We’re getting the right price and I love the one I just saw. What about you when you come back to work here?” he asked her.
“I’ve thought about it a lot. I want a condo, I don’t want a house.
I have a house here, and all I do is come home to sleep when I’m in Palo Alto.
I don’t entertain, and I don’t want to deal with high maintenance and headaches.
I’ll look for something the next time I’m there, and I can rent in the meantime. ”
“It looks like we have a deal then,” and a very respectable amount of money to split in the divorce, and he loved the home he had just seen for himself and Liam.
He called the realtor after he spoke to Faye, and they agreed to the prices on both homes, with thirty-day closings on his sale and the new purchase.
It couldn’t have been simpler or smoother.
“I won’t have an excuse for my lousy golf game anymore with six holes on the property to practice with, except that I have no time to practice.
You’ll have to come over and try it out with me sometime. ”
“I’d be delighted.” It was one of the best days he’d had in years. Both homes had sold easily to the right new owners, people who loved them. And Charlie sent Liam a text, “You’ve got your pool.” He sent him photos of the property by text, and Liam called all excited when he woke and saw them.
“When do we move, Dad?”