Chapter 6
Claire
I had a plan. A plan I wasn’t sure would work, but I had to try. I parked down the street of my brothers and cousins houses. Pulling out the list of addresses from my purse, I studied them. The last address was Carter Kind’s; next to his house was an open area, and then, there was a small house on the other side of that area. I took a deep breath, climbed out of the car, and knocked on the door of the small house. An older gentleman answered.
“How can I help you?” He smiled.
“I know this might sound crazy, but you wouldn’t be interested in selling your home, would you? I was driving by and fell in love with it.”
He laughed. “This old thing? You’re kidding, right?”
“No, sir. I’m not.”
He stared at me momentarily, then invited me inside.
“Crystal, come down here,” he shouted up the stairs.
“What are you screaming about, old man.” An older woman slowly walked down the stairs.
“This young lady wants to know if we want to sell the house. She said she fell in love with the outside.”
“Do you need glasses, honey?” she asked.
“No.” I laughed. “I think it has charm.”
As I stood in the foyer, I scanned the place, and fuck, did it need work.
“Everything has a price, right?” I smiled.
“Come in and take a look around. You might change your mind. By the way, I’m Raphael Aubert, and this is my wife, Crystal.”
“You’re French?” I smiled as I shook their hand.
“Yes. I was born in France, but my parents moved us to the United States when I was ten years old.”
“Claire Monet. My parents moved to the U.S. when I was two. My mother’s name was Genevieve.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Claire. Hell, maybe we’re related somehow.” Raphael chuckled.
“You never know.” I grinned.
They took me on a tour of the house, and I was unimpressed. It was way too small, outdated, and just nasty.
“That piece of property next to you. Is it yours?”
“It is,” Raphael said. “It belonged to my father. Actually, this house was his. We moved in after he passed away.”
“I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thanks, honey, but that was so long ago,” Raphael spoke. “So, now that you’ve seen our home, are you still interested in buying it?”
“I am.”
“I’ll make us some tea, and we can sit and talk.” Crystal smiled as Raphael and I sat down at the table.
“I don’t understand why you would want this place,” Raphael said.
“There’s a certain charm about it. I grew up in a house like this in Connecticut,” I lied. “My mother recently passed away, and I had to sell it.”
“Oh, dear. I’m so sorry,” Crystal said as she set the teacup in front of me.
“Thank you. You’re too sweet.” I softly smiled. “I had to move to Los Angeles for my job, and I’ve been looking for a home like the one I grew up in. When I was driving by yours, I immediately stopped. I couldn’t believe it when I saw it.”
“Truth be told, Claire. We’ve been wanting to move for a long time.” Raphael sighed.
“We’re finding it difficult to do the stairs anymore,” Crystal said. “With Raphael’s bad hips and the arthritis in my legs, it’s hard. We’ve been wanting a ranch-style home, but we cant afford it with the market the way it is right now and our fixed income.”
“Well, we could, but we’d have to tap into our savings, and we don’t want to do that,” Raphael said. “The price we’d get for this house wouldn’t cover a new home for us in today’s market, and the last thing we want is a mortgage. This house has been paid off for years.
I pulled a piece of paper from my purse and slid it across the table. “These are the comps for this area. If you were to hire a realtor, you’d have realtor fees and such. I would hire an appraiser to come and appraise the house. Whatever he appraises it for is what I will pay, plus double. We’d do a private sale so you wouldn’t have to pay any fees. I’ll pay you for the appraised price of the home, and after we close, I will pay you the remaining money.”
“You’re saying you’d pay double what this house is worth?” Raphael asked.
“Yes. That’s how badly I want it.”
“Raphael.” Crystal placed her hand on his arm. “Do you remember what Shaun Kind said?”
I narrowed my eyes when I heard my brother’s name. “Shaun Kind?” I asked.
“He lives down the beach. Super nice guy. He told us to call him if we ever wanted to sell, and he’d buy the house from us.”
“Why?” I asked.
“He’s buying up all the properties here. Starting with that house on the other side of my empty lot is what they call Kind Beach. The entire family lives on that stretch.”
Shit. I was competing with my brother. I needed to step up my game. So, I sat and forced the tears to come.
“Oh, honey. What’s wrong?” Crystal reached over and placed her hand on mine.
“It’s just this house is perfect, and I know it would make my mother so happy to know that I found something like my childhood home—a home she treasured and loved so much. I have her ashes in a beautiful urn that would look perfect sitting on the mantel of your beautiful fireplace.” Tears streamed down my face.
“Oh, dear.” Crystal got up, grabbed a tissue, and handed it to me.
“You know, Crystal. I don’t think Shaun would buy this place for what Claire offered us. Besides, being here would make her happy. With the money, we could afford to get our ranch, and we wouldn’t have to worry about stairs again.”
“You’re right, Raphael. I think the universe sent her to us. She can have the home of her dreams, and we could buy the home we’ve wanted for a long time.”
“But if you made a promise to Shaun Kind.” I wiped the tears from my eyes.
“We didn’t make any promises to him. Claire, if you want our home, it’s yours.”
“Are you sure, Raphael?”
“Yes. Get your appraiser here as soon as possible so we can move this along. We’ll start looking for a new home first thing tomorrow.” Raphael smiled.
We all stood from our chairs. I hugged them both, thanked them, and we exchanged phone numbers.
“I’ll be in touch. Thank you again. You have no idea how much this means to me.”
“You’re welcome, little lady. You’ve made us very happy.” Raphael grinned.
I walked to my car with a smile. Climbing inside, I dialed Richard.
“How are you, Claire?”
“I’m good, Richard. Do you have any home appraiser contacts in Los Angeles?”
“I do. What do you need one for?”
“I just bought a house.” I rattled off the address.
“You’re kidding, right?” he asked.
“No. I’m serious, Richard. It needs a lot of work. I’m talking, totally gutted, and I know just the company that can help me with that.”
“Claire, you have to tell the family who you are.”
“I will when the time is right. I have to go, Richard. Send me your contact’s number.”
Before heading home, I stopped at a small boutique in Santa Monica that I’d noticed when I first arrived, down the street from the Kind Brewhouse. A cute dress in the window caught my eye, and I wanted to look at it.
“Hi.” A pretty woman smiled when I stepped inside. “If you need any help, my name is Piper.”
“Actually, I’m interested in that dress in the window. Do you have it in an x-small?”
“I think I have one left. Let me check,” she said, walking over to the rack of dresses. “Would you like to try it on?”
“Yes, but I’m going to look around first.” I smiled.
“I’ll put this dress in the fitting room. Just let me know when you’re ready.”
“Thank you,” I spoke as I looked around the shop.
As I looked at the clothes, the bell above the door chimed. When I glanced over, I saw Ella walk in with a woman pushing a double stroller.
“Look who’s here.” Piper smiled.
“Piper!” Ella ran over and hugged her.
“We were out and about and wanted to stop in.” The other woman smiled.
“I’m happy you did. I just got in this new wide-legged jumpsuit, which would look adorable on you.” Piper grinned.
“Claire?” I heard Ella’s voice from the side.
“Ella.” A smile crossed my lips. “Fancy seeing you here.”
She grabbed my hand. “Come meet my mom.” She pulled me. “Mom, this is Claire. We met her at Four Kinds the other night. Claire, this is my mom, Sofia.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Claire.” She smiled as she extended her hand.
“It’s nice to meet you too, Sofia.” I lightly shook her hand.
“This is my brother, Nicholas, and my sister, Willow,” Ella said.
I leaned over and smiled. “Hi there. You two are adorable.”
“Oh, and this is Piper. She owns the boutique. She’s married to Gabriel,” Ella said.
“It’s nice to meet you, Piper.”
“Ella told me you met some of our family at Four Kinds the other night,” Sofia spoke.
“Yes. They were sitting at the table next to mine. I recognized Dr. Grayson Kind from Boston. I was there visiting a friend a couple of years ago and was in a car accident. He was my doctor when they brought me into the ER.”
“I hope you weren’t hurt,” Piper said.
“I had a broken ankle. Other than that, I was fine.”
“Are you from here?” Ella asked.
“No.” I leaned over and tapped her nose with a smile. “I just moved here from Connecticut.”
“Welcome to California.” Sofia smiled. “What brought you here?”
“It was time for a fresh start.”
“I can relate to that. I did the same thing when I moved here from New York.”
“I can see things worked out for you.” I grinned as I pointed to the children.
“They did. I’m so blessed and happy I moved here. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have met the love of my life and become a mother to this sweet girl.” She smiled at Ella. “I also wouldn’t have had these little peanuts.”
“You seem like you have a great life.” A smile crossed my lips. “Piper, I’m ready to try on that dress and these few things.”
“Excellent. Follow me.”