章 82: Chapter 15. Cherry Season (May)
"What a mess," Lisa said, looking at the charred remains of the back of the house. The front was relatively unscathed, but the back would need rebuilding. "I'm almost tempted to give it to Uncle William. Even if I could afford it, I'm not sure I want to buy it now."
"What do you mean?" Fabian looked at her sharply. "Your grandmother left it to you. Your uncle is about to be brought up on charges -- Dante overheard him hire Carl at The Frog Pond and the Mowerys are witnesses to the shenanigans with the orchard, so there's no way your uncle can contest it. This is your home, Lisa."
She shook her head.
"I've given this a lot of thought, Fabian. If I'm going to stay here, I really should buy it from the Estate. Not because William complained, but because now that I know the true value of this property I'd feel like I was getting something for nothing. But I don't have that kind of money and I can't get that kind of money." She sighed, looking sadly at the house. She held the ruins of Autumn's glasses in her hand; she'd found them at the side of the house. Most of the frames had melted and the rest had been destroyed by someone stepping on them. Chief Lange had already arranged to pay for replacing them, both to thank Autumn for her bravery and as an apology for his son's behavior.
A Pontiac Bonneville in gorgeous condition pulled in to the driveway and stopped in front of the garage. Lisa knew that car.
"Hi, Aunt Mat!" she called, and waved. To her surprise, her mother got out of the passenger side. "The Mat and Maude Show" approached them, looking like cats who had eaten all of the canaries.
"I'm glad you're both here together," Maude said. "Mat has something to discuss with both of you."
"Before we do, Mom ...." Tears filled Lisa's eyes. "My dress is in the bedroom closet. There are some problems with the floor up there and I can't get to it. And it's going to smell awful if we don't get it out and have it cleaned."
"Your dress isn't up there, Lisa," Maude told her. "Maggie has it."
"What? Why?"
"She has it hanging in the eaves where she dries her tea," Maude smiled. "It was supposed to be a surprise for you. Your dress is fine. Now can we talk about the other surprise?"
"Of course. I'm sorry, Aunt Mat. Go ahead."
"Lisa," Martha said, "when you came to see me at Christmas, I believe I told you that your dessert business and waitress job don't bring enough to cover a mortgage of the size you need to buy this place."
Lisa winced.
"Yes, I remember."
"I didn't want to tell you at the time, because I had something in the works. Of course, as it turns out now, William can't touch this property anyway. He definitely won't have the character necessary to challenge the Will. But I know you, Lisa, and I know that you won't be satisfied with the original arrangement."
"We're telling you this so that you can get married next week and not have this hanging over your head," Maude told them. "Also I wanted you to be warned that you will likely not need a gift receiver at your wedding. In lieu of wedding presents, all of the guests and wedding party made contributions to a fund."
"It wound up being more than enough for the rest of the down-payment," Martha added. "Combined with what you've contributed over the years with both rent and work, your monthly payment won't be a lot more than what you're paying now."
"And you'll have the Mowery's rent as extra income," said Maude. "Paul and I decided to deed that to you. You and Dennis are a good team, and he prefers to continue to lease the property. It's the least we could do after what you've been through over the past eight months."
"Wait -- what?" Lisa shook her head, confused.
"All you need to do is sign the mortgage papers and it's yours," Martha told her. "You did it. Even if your uncle wasn't in trouble up to his neck right now he'd have to sign off on the property. He said fair market value and that's what you're paying. Your credit is excellent; you're doing really well with your business loan. So the mortgage is waiting for you."
"This, on the other hand, is here now." Her mother pressed a folded bunch of papers into her hand. Lisa looked at it. It said "Deed" on it.
"But ... what about this?" Lisa gestured to the damaged back of the house.
"That's between you and Abe Wright, dear," Martha smiled. "He's the one with the insurance answers. And your grandmother kept up the fire insurance. I'm sure there will be enough to not only fix it, but to add on."
Fabian smiled.
"That's a thought," he said. "I love this place, and I'd like for Lisa and me to raise a family here, but the house was just too small as is. Let's talk to Abe, honey. Between Abe and a violin contest or two, I think we could fix this up rather nicely."
Lisa groaned.
"Now what?" Fabian demanded.
"Honey, just think of the thank you notes!" she said.
Pablo Moreno has been given the Mills Gazette Medal of Valor for his bravery in saving the life of our Fire Chief Walter Lange. There will be a brief ceremony in his room at the Twin Mills Cottage Hospital.
Adrianna sat anxiously by Pablo's bedside. He'd needed surgery to remove some pieces of the saw that had lodged in his legs and back. One of them had barely missed his spine. A plastic surgeon had been called in to repair the gash on Pablo's face.
"Hey." He woke up and grinned, the bandage on his left cheek making it somewhat lopsided. "What a welcome back to the world. A Gypsy princess."
"Stop it," she said.
"Adrianna, you are the only woman I know who looks gorgeous even with half of her face in bruises."
"Pablo. I need to be serious -- I'm not fooling around. I need to tell you this." Tears were rolling down Adrianna's face. She had treated him so badly. "Pablo, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I was stubborn. I'm sorry I hurt you. I'm sorry for all of it -- especially for being such a bitch since you came to town."
"I deserved it," he said. "I was an awful pest. And I hurt you first. A lot more deeply. I swear to you I forgot all about that carving on my headboard. It was a silly joke from a long, long time ago when I lived in Texas, and I never should have left her do it in the first place. Once she had, I should have either fixed it myself or had it repaired.
"The thing was, I was so giddy and crazy in love with you that I wasn't paying attention to anything. I'd never been in love before, and I got carried away with it. I forgot all about the headboard."
"I should have confronted you with it," she said. "Instead I just felt humiliated and left. We should have talked and I wish we had."
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