Chapter 2
Courtney - POV?
We finally made our way to what was once a wrap-around porch, but now it was sagging in so many places with rotten boards and missing pieces, it was definitely going to need to be replaced.
The walls were covered in vines, dirt and in some places large cracks split the stone.
The double front door would need to be restored, but it was a massive sized piece of artwork, with its hand-carved display of beautiful swirls and flowing lines, which gave the cottage its fairy-like feel.
The windows were surprisingly in good shape, but if they were as old as the house seemed to be, then all of them would have to be replaced; and there were a lot of windows.
Floor to ceiling windows covered the entire back wall of the house, several large ones were placed in all the walls, even with a few circular ones to fill the spaces.
It was what sold me on the house, all the natural lighting that would fill the home making it feel warm and cozy while showing the amazing view of the outdoors.
I stepped inside keeping a firm hold on Ava and the stick, just in case something popped up, and we went exploring. We did a quick run through to make sure nothing had made its home here and that the floors were not rotted before we returned to the front entrance.
As much as I hated that the house was not move in ready, a growing part of me was excited to see the potential of the place, the possibilities of what could be here.
And isn’t that what I wanted for both Ava and I, a place to start over, to make our own? What better way to do that, then to create it, restore it, to make it with our two hands?
“Okay, sweet pea, let’s walk through again, but this time, let’s really explore.” I set Ava down to look around on her own as long as she stayed in the same room as me, and we took our time going through each room.
Just ahead of the entryway through a hallway was a large staircase that split the house in two, so we headed to the right side to find a large room.
The room was huge, with a large stone fireplace sandwiched between two windows on either side that perfectly balanced the room.
Looking towards the front wall was another window, although this was a cozy bay window that would be perfect for reading and watching snow fall come winter.
On the opposite side of the room was a floor to ceiling bookcase that had the same flowing wood designs as the front door, displaying a craftsmanship that was nearly impossible to find nowadays.
Next, we headed across the hallway towards the kitchen with its deep counter space, open shelving, and massive center island.
I was happy to find that the countertops were in wonderful shape and with some serious cleaning would show the white and grey veining like new.
There was plenty of storage with the bottom cabinets, island cabinets and several top cabinets – more storage than I knew what to do with and that’s not including the decent sized pantry that Ava had found tucked away in a corner.
Right off the kitchen towards the back, there was an eating area that was plenty big for Ava and I to enjoy some homey meals and maybe do some crafts. It had a half wall that opened up into another room behind it and I was shocked to find a massive sunroom.
The entire room had windows from the half stone wall on the bottom, going all the way up to form the wall then over to make up the ceiling.
It needed to be cleaned, of course, but I could see this room filled with plants, reading chairs and possibly a daybed just so we could lounge around and watch the day go by.
We crossed the hallway again, going behind the stairs to the right side of the house to find that there was a powder room located under the staircase and another room that was behind the bookcase. It was a large master bedroom with a small private bathroom that I could make into an office.
“So far, so good, huh?”
“I’s like it Coco!” Ava smiled. “I’s like all the light,” she said, hopping from one sun patch to another.
“Me too.” I looked around the bottom floor, noticing that there was one room off the dining area that we missed, but Ava was already heading up the stairs. “Be careful, okay, and hold onto the railing.”
“Os'kay.”
I wanted to pick her up, but I thought about everything that had happened over the past several months and I felt that the more independent she was with the things she could do, the stronger it would make her feel in the things she couldn’t do.
So, I waited for her little legs to carry her up the stairs and when she finally – finally – made it, she turned to me with a dazzling smile. “I’s a big girl.”
I laughed and picked her up, kissing her all over her dirty face, “yes, you are! I am so proud of you, sweet pea.”
“Me's too!”
“Alright, I think that up here should be the bedrooms, yeah?”
She hopped along as we went into one room that had a jack-and-jill bathroom with another identical room next to it. Across the hall, there was another room that was far larger than the bedrooms, but it didn’t have a bathroom, so maybe it had been used as an upstairs den.
Down at the other end of the hallway, past the stairs was a much bigger bedroom with a master bathroom, huge closest and a small balcony that overlooked the backyard.
“It’s so big,” Ava whispered-yelled.
“Yes, it is,” I said, crouching down to pick her up so she could see over the railing. “See that big tree,” I pointed to an oak tree that looked like it belonged in a fairy-tale book, “I bet that would be the perfect tree for a swing.”
“A swing!”
“Yep, and maybe we can find someone who could build you a playhouse to sit right beside it.”
“I’s want that,” she said, clapping her hands. “And I’s can have flowers too.”
“Ohh, flowers, that’s such a great idea! We can have a veggie garden in the back and a pretty flower garden at the front with a walkway that leads to your playhouse that we can plant flowers all around.”
“Yeah!”
I walked us back down the stairs, listening to Ava talk about the color of flowers she wanted to plant as I headed to the one room we missed.
There was a small corridor that led to another set of double doors.
Carefully pushing them open, I gasped at the sight of the room.
It had skylights that let the sunlight in, even though the windows desperately needed to be cleaned, large windows were dotted along the room, standing like centurions, large and imposing.
The room had a step-down floor right in front of a massive fireplace that looked identical to the one in the living room.
But, towards the back of the room, facing the backyard was a large crack down the wall that had vines growing through it, stretching towards the ceiling.
Setting Ava down, I inspected the wall and found that to be the only crack, but honestly, I had no idea what I was looking at. I would need to call someone out here to look over the property and give me a list of things that needed to be repaired and an estimate of how much it was going to cost.
I had enough money to do repairs because of the inheritance, but if I was told that it was a tear down or if major renovations were needed, then I wasn’t sure what I was going to do.
Some money was going to be spent to find another place to live because there was no way for us to live here during renovations. Ava was going to start school come August, so that was another cost, not to mention the daily expense of just living.
I hoped that we could find someone local to help, but I might have to go into the city to find a professional and again, that was going to cost money.
“Come on Ava baby,” I called, holding my hand out for her to take, “we are going to go into town and see about finding a place to stay.”
“Not here?”
“The house isn’t fixed up and it needs to be cleaned first. So, we will find another place to stay while we get it ready.”
I picked her up, gave her my phone to hold onto as I held the stick and headed back outside to the truck.
I walked carefully down the porch steps, through the tall grass, but I felt the excitement grow.
The area was beautiful in a wild, untamed kind of way and I definitely did not want to change it, but find a happy medium where we could fit in.
It was mid-afternoon now as we headed back down the winding road, the same way we came in, but this time I turned towards the town of Once Again. It was closer to the house than the city, so I sent up a silent prayer that the town had people there that could help me fix the house.
It took a few minutes to make our way down the slope, pass the huge, ornate sign that said ‘Welcome … Once Again’ and then as we turned a corner, the woods fell away and opened up to reveal the picturesque town of Once Again.
It was like one of the postcards you would buy just because no one would believe how beautiful, how magical the place looked. I slowed down at the top of the small hill and pulled off to the side just to take in the view of the small town and the looming Mountain of Happily After behind it.
With a name like Once Again and Happily After, I felt like this was the perfect place to start again and yes, maybe find our happily ever after.
From here it was easy to see how spaced out the town was built, the streets oddly oversized, most of the buildings were free standing with small patches of grass and flowers dotting the landscape to the center of town where I could see long rows of buildings that must be a part of Main Street and
what I hoped would be a hotel that we could stay for a few days.
We drove into town, the oversized streets now made sense as there were lots of people out walking, pushing strollers or pulling wagons filled with kids, many shopshad little tables and chairs out for people to sit and enjoy the sunny day while eating and drinking.
“Look Coco!” Ava screamed. A man sitting on a horse with a little boy in front of him waved at us as we sat at the stop light. “It’s a horsy!”
The little boy had a smile so big on his face, he was nothing but teeth. I rolled down the windows so Ava could see the horse a little bit better, and I could talk to the cowboy.
“Excuse me,” I said, lowering my arm out of the window so I wouldn’t spook the horse.
The man tugged on the horses’ reigns and guided him closer to our truck, much to Ava’s delight. “Could you tell me where there is a hotel or inn we could stay at?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he pointed straight ahead, “just go through two more lights and take a left. At the end of the road is the dollhouse.”
I laughed, “dollhouse?”
He shrugged, his shoulders stretching the t-shirt tight across his chest, before he adjusted the little boy better in his lap. “You will understand once you see it.”
I smiled and waved them both off as the light turned green and they went towards a little bakery shop, while I followed his directions and made our way to the dollhouse.
It was an apt name. The place looked like one of the frilly Victorian dollhouses with intricate gable work and decorative trim all around the house, it was almost painful to look at.
Pulling the truck into a parking spot, I noticed that we were the only ones here, so I hoped that meant they had a room with a bath available. After trekking through the jungle and the dusty, dirty house I wanted a bath, some food and a quiet place to call the realtor.
“Come on Ava baby, let’s see if they can help us.”