House on Dreary Lane

Chapter 1

“I can’t take it anymore,” Caroline said as she stormed into the camper. She bashed her knee on the dinette bench for the umpteenth time and screamed in frustration as she hobbled over to the other side to sit opposite her husband. “Well,” she prodded when he failed to look up from the laptop he was working on.

“Well, what?” he asked, his face glued to the screen.

“Aren’t you going to ask what’s wrong?”

Travis sighed and closed the laptop, clasping his hands on top of it. “I’m pretty certain I already know,” he replied dryly.

Caroline narrowed her eyes as she stared at him. “We have been living in this shoe box for over six months. You promised me a real house, Travis. It’s time you made good on that promise.”

“It is not my fault home prices are through the roof, and we’ve been priced out,” he said through gritted teeth. “They keep saying the market’s going to cool down soon; we just have to be patient.”

“They,” she said, making air quotes with her first two fingers. “It’s always, ‘they’ this and ‘they’ that. Who is ‘they,’ and what do they know? Nothing, that’s what, they know nothing.”

He ran a hand down his face. “Look, I know this has been hard on you, but it won’t last forever. We just need to give it some more ti—”

“I found a house,” she interrupted. “A real house, not a bread box on wheels like this thing,” she waved her hand to indicate the camper.

“There was a time when you loved this bread box on wheels,” he reminded her, desperately trying to distract her from what he knew could only be another overpriced house they’d never be able to afford.

“I loved the thought of traveling the country in this thing, exploring places I’ve never been, and meeting new people. I do not love sitting stationary in your parent’s driveway.” She reached over and grabbed his hands, excitement returning to her face. “It doesn’t matter, as I already said, I found us a house!”

“Babe, you know we can’t aff—”

“It’s a foreclosure,” she said, cutting him off before he could start in on that again. “Best part, it’s so cheap we can afford to pay cash!” she beamed up at him, her smile faltering a little when he didn’t smile back.

“There is no way we have enough cash for a house, even if it is a foreclosure,” he protested. He relented when she sat silently and stared at him, storm clouds brewing in her pale blue eyes. “Okay, fine, where is this mysteriously affordable house?”

The smile returned to her face. “It’s a big, two-story house on Dreary Lane, just outside town.”

“Wait a minute,” he said, holding out his hands, palms facing out. “Surely you don’t mean that old decrepit mausoleum next door to the cemetery?”

Caroline rolled her eyes. “Don’t be so cliché,” she drawled. “It is not a mausoleum; it is a perfectly fine house. It just needs a little work,” she huffed.

“A little,” he snorted. “That thing’s been abandoned since before I was born. At least three people have bought that house and tried to fix it up; all three ran off in the middle of the night, never to be seen or heard from again.”

“Really,” she folded her arms across her chest, tilted her head to the side, and gave him her signature, ‘you can’t be serious’ look.

“I suppose those could have been rumors,” he said in an attempt to walk back his admittedly foolish statement. “However, they did move on quickly. Last I heard, the third guy couldn’t find a buyer and has been stuck with the house ever since. Guess he either finally got tired of paying for the place or died,” he said with a wince.

She sat up straight again, but her arms remained crossed. “I don’t care about rumors. I care about a real house with real walls and a real kitchen. All of which this house has.”

“This place has walls and a kitchen,” he replied, pointing to the little kitchenette in the corner.

“You know what I mean, Travis. Are you really going to let a few rumors and superstitions ruin our chance of finally owning a home?”

Sensing defeat, he stood up and slid into the booth beside her, which was no easy feat given the cramped space. He reached up to cup her cheek and gently turned her face toward his. “Honey, I have zero desire to deprive you of a home. I’m just not sure it’s wise to buy a place for no other reason than it’s affordable.”

“By your own admission, you’ve never even seen the place. Can you really claim it’s a bad investment without at least checking it out first?” She looked into his eyes as she pleaded with hers.

Countless emotions crossed his face as his desire to make his wife happy warred with his practical side. With one last sigh, he gave in. “Okay, you win,” he told her. “We’ll go see the house, but you have to promise not to get mad at me if it ends up being a huge waste of time.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she squealed as she threw her arms around his neck. “You’re not going to regret it,” she reassured him.

He wasn’t convinced but decided not to argue. Sometimes, people need to see with their own eyes before seeing reason. This was just one of those times, right? Right?

*I would love to hear your thoughts on my new book, so please leave a comment below!