5. Chapter Five
Chapter Five
Andre
It only took a full day for Rylee to forgive me for leaving.
Usually it’s three. I don’t know if this is a good thing or not.
I don’t know if I’m ruining my kid and teaching her to accept things she doesn’t want, but I don’t have any other trips planned for the future, so things really can be okay now.
She accepted Bacon J. Ham’s new friend and named the cow Straw Berry. Two words, first and last name. I love how creative and sweet she is. She loves those animals like they’re her own little babies.
The week goes fine, and we settle into our routine of filling the day with things to do around meal times because my mother is strict on meals.
I don’t have a job—well, that’s not entirely true. I do have a job if I decide to go back after my leave is up and renew my contract. But if I don’t go back, I don’t know what happens next.
I’ve never had this much time to myself or with Rylee. It’s hard to fill it with meaningful stuff because I won’t shove her in front of a TV and I limit the amount of time she can be on her tablet.
I take her to the park every day so she can let off some energy, we work on the workbooks I got her to help prep her for school, and each night, she picks a movie for the four of us to watch as a family before we wind down and I put her to bed.
But today is Saturday, and we have special plans.
“Wow,” I say when Rylee comes out of her room dressed in a frilly pink dress and sparkly shoes. Her hair is pulled up in a high ponytail, courtesy of my mother, that falls down over her shoulder in tight curls. My mother walks out after her with a satisfied look on her face.
“Do I look beautiful, Daddy?”
“Of course you do, pumpkin.” I kneel in front of her, tugging on a strand of hair. “You look way too grown-up.”
She laughs. “I need to look pretty so we can get a house.”
I huff a laugh. “It definitely doesn’t work that way, pumpkin. Besides, you should look pretty because you want to. Definitely not for other people.”
“I do want to. That’s why I did it. Duh.” She rolls her eyes, and I look up at my mother, who gives me a that’s your kid look.
“Well, if you’re ready, we can get going.”
“I am,” she says, and heads toward the door.
“Wish me luck,” I mutter.
“For the house or her?” My mother smirks.
“Both.”
We drive around town and surrounding towns to check out different open houses.
Rylee declares she loves each and every one of them, meaning she is no help at all.
And as I step foot inside each place, I realize more and more that I couldn’t give a shit where I live.
I just need a house to myself with my daughter, so I can stop relying on my parents.
These houses all feel the same to me. The only difference is the layout and the schools. But I’d already narrowed down my search to those in the best neighborhoods, so that isn’t helpful in choosing.
Rylee doesn’t seem to fall in love with one over the other. She’s excited the moment she steps into each house and every room inside it.
She didn’t care about the one with the pool more than she cared about the one that would give her her own bathroom. Maybe when she’s older, she’d care about that, but it doesn’t mean much to her right now.
We’re on our way home, all the different layouts going through my head. I should make a decision. Pick something. I could put an offer on any of those houses, over asking, and I’d get it. But none of those houses stick out to me.
There’s nothing wrong with them. They just… don’t feel like home. I wonder if I’ll ever have that feeling again now that Victoria is gone.
I’m turning onto the main road to get back to my parents’ house when I see a sign for an open house. It wasn’t on my list, so I’m guessing it must have just gone up because I don’t remember seeing it before.
“One more house to look at, pumpkin.”
“Okay, Daddy,” she says as she looks out the window.
We turn down the road and pull up in front of the house.
There are three cars in the driveway, but you could fit two more easily.
There is a large tree in the front yard, taking up most of the right side of it.
Just beyond that is a privacy fence with bushes along the bottom, all well taken care of.
The house is bigger than what I want, but something tells me to go in and check it out anyway.
I help Rylee out of her booster seat and take her hand as we walk up the path to the front door that’s open. A woman with a clipboard and a navy blue dress suit is standing there with a big smile.
“Welcome!” she says. “Please, take a look around, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask any of us with these name tags on.” She points to her name tag, which says Cara. “Could I just have your name and number?”
I give her the info, which she writes it down on the paper on her clipboard.
“Wonderful,” she says.
Rylee and I walk into the house, and immediately I hear her gasp. “Daddy, it’s like that movie!” She lets go of my hand and runs to the stairs and starts going up them. I know immediately she means they are like the stairs in Beauty and the Beast. It’s one of her favorite movies.
Is this kid really going to be won over by a staircase?
I follow after her. She’s already run off to the right and found a large bedroom painted in pink with lighter pink butterflies all over the walls and a large sliding door that leads to a deck that she’s already on.
“Rylee,” I call with a laugh. “You need to slow down.”
I make my way out onto the deck and find her sitting on a swing next to a young woman and man.
“I am so sorry,” I say.
“It’s okay,” the woman says. “She’s very excited.”
“I want to stay here,” Rylee says, kicking the floor to swing faster, but it hardly does anything with the other people on it.
“We need to see the rest of the house first. We can come back to the swing later.”
She looks at me with a pout. “Do you promise?”
The woman hides a laugh behind her hand, and the man is smiling.
“Yes, pumpkin. I promise.”
With a huff, she gets up and walks over to me, taking my hand.
“Do you like this room?” I ask.
“Yes! It’s pink and that’s my favorite color.”
“Okay, let’s see the rest of the house.”
The bedroom has a half bath attached, but a large full one right outside the room.
There are four other rooms up here that could be just about anything—an office, guestrooms, library, whatever we want.
From the bannister, you can look down on a good portion of the house.
The kitchen is an open concept, mixing with a sort of foyer, or it could be a living room.
Though, there is a room off to the side that’s set up as a living room.
The house is enormous, but it isn’t filled with a ton of rooms. I like that. I’d rather have space than a million rooms I don’t know what to do with.
We go back downstairs and check out the rest of everything down here.
Aside from the kitchen and living room, there is a formal dining room behind the kitchen, the master bedroom, a sunroom, and a giant backyard that has a child’s playground and an in-ground pool.
There’s something about this one that feels different from all the other houses. It’s lighter. Maybe because of all the windows and the space, but I really—
“I want this one,” Rylee says as she bounces across the patio and toward the swing set. I go after her.
“You want this one?” I call out.
She climbs up the steps and goes down the slide. I wait for her at the bottom, take her hand, and kneel.
“You want this one?” I ask again.
“Yes, Daddy. That bedroom is sooo pretty, and it has a swing!”
“We can put a swing in any house.”
“Yeah, but this one comes with it, and that’s easier. Can I go down the slide again?”
With a sigh, I nod, then turn to look at the house.
It’s bigger than I wanted, but if Rylee wants it, then we should probably get it.
I speak with the woman at the door who gives me an application. I can tell by the way she’s looking at me that she recognizes me.
“Football fan?” I ask with a laugh.
“Oh my goodness, I am so sorry. I wasn’t trying to stare, but I swear you looked familiar and… I’m so sorry about your wife.”
“Thank you,” I say, a pang of guilt and pain hitting my chest.
Unfortunately, the news is starting to trickle out. I knew it would only be a matter of time before the public found out.
“This is a lovely house,” she says. “Perfect for your daughter to grow up in.”
I hand her the paper after I fill it all out. “Let’s just hope my application is enough.”
She leans in close. “I’ll put in a good word.”
I smile my thanks, but don’t say a word. I don’t condone that sort of behavior. I don’t like throwing my name around to get what I want. But we need a house, and Rylee wants this one. So I won’t tell her not to, but I won’t suggest she do it either.
“The owners are looking to sell immediately. We’re meeting with them at five this evening to go over applications, and we will call people first thing in the morning.”
I offer out my hand. “Thank you so much.” She takes it and smiles.
“Have a good evening, Mr. Taylor.”
“Rylee, come on, pumpkin.”
Rylee skips over to me, waves at the woman goodbye, and we head out to the car.
I’m woken the next morning by my phone ringing with an unknown number. Something tells me to answer it, so I do. The woman on the other end tells me that if we still want the house, it’s ours. I accept, and we make a date to meet and go over a few things.
I can’t believe this is finally happening.
I can finally move forward.