Lauraine Snelling (7 page)

FIVE

W
hat’s this?” Gil asked.

Maria glanced over from squeezing orange juice. “The newspaper?”

“No, this?” Gil pointed to the page laid on top. The headline read
Horse Country
in twenty-point type. “And what’s that?” Now he pointed to the blue nylon harness hooked over the back of a kitchen chair.

“Eddie bought that yesterday, used his own money. He says our new house is in there.” She nodded at the page in Gil’s hand.

“All right, Maria, what is going on?”

“You ask Eddie.” She set his regular plate of scrambled eggs with two strips of bacon, no toast, in front of him. “More coffee?” She paused and gave him one of her looks
.
“Decaf.”

Gil frowned. Ever since she’d read that he should cut back on caffeine, she served him one cup regular, the second and third decaffeinated. Sometimes he wondered who was the boss.

“Hey, Dad.” Eddie spun his lightweight all-terrain style wheelchair into the kitchen. “Maria.”

“Buenos días, chico.”

“Hey yourself. Where’s Bonnie?” Gil asked.

“She went back to bed,” Eddie answered.

“On your bed?”

“Of course.” He stared at his father. “She always sleeps on my bed.”

Hearing her name, tri-colored Bonnie trotted into the kitchen, tail wagging, nails clicking on the tiled floor. She parked herself by Eddie’s chair where he could reach her head easily, gazing up at him, adoration in her sad Basset eyes. Bonnie was trained as an assistant dog, fetching things for Eddie when he asked. A small cloth bag on the inside of the arm of his wheelchair held her favorite kind of dog biscuits. They’d all learned early on that Bonnie would do just about anything for treats.

Eddie wheeled his chair into his place at the table and flipped the napkin open to lay in his lap. “Are you home all day, Dad?”

“I’m not sure, why?”

“Well, I thought you might want to go out and look at that property.” He pointed to the ad now laying on the side of the tabletop.

“Eddie, why would I want—?”

“We—I really want to see it too.” Eddie shrugged. “Sorry, I interrupted you.”

“What’s wrong with this place? We have it just the way we like it.”

“You know you said you need more office space if you are really going to run your business out of the house. Right?”

Gil stared at his son whose face wore such guilelessness he might have adopted it from the angels. “True.”
This boy is going to make either a terrific attorney or a highly successful politician
.

“The lots are forty acres, plenty of room to build office space if you want, and only two miles from a major freeway. Plenty of room for my horse. Of course, we’ll need a barn too, but not a big one.” He forked scrambled eggs into his mouth from the plate Maria had set before him. “I’m thinking two horses.”

“You need two horses to ride?”

“No, one is for you.”

“Wait a minute. Who said I wanted to ride?”

“You said you wanted to spend more time with me, and you said I needed to be outside more so . . .”

“So is that why you bought the halter?”

Eddie took a long swallow of orange juice. “You think we could have a couple of orange trees too?”

“The halter?”

“Oh, remember you keep saying to write your goals down and then act as if you already have them?”

Gil nodded. Hung again by his own tongue. True, he listened to a lot of tapes and had been to many seminars on goal setting and success, the training he needed to be at the top of his field. Along the way he tried to impart the same knowledge to his son.

It looked like it was working.

“Do you have any idea what a place like that—if we actually liked the first one we saw, which is entirely not likely—will cost?”

“I think so. I went online and looked at houses. One site tells you what a house will cost in your area so I typed in our zip code.” He leaned forward. “Did you know that building houses in California is more than twice as expensive as say, North Dakota?”

Gil looked at Maria whose face, just beginning to show lines, glowed with pride. Since she’d never married, Eddie was the son she’d never have. Looking from her to his son, he realized anew how much he owed this woman. Granted she’d come to him as an illegal from Venezuela, but at his prompting she’d taken advantage of the amnesty offered, studied and gotten her citizenship papers. It was at her insistence that he’d made the decision to move his office home. She’d been right. His son had been growing up without him. It was thanks to her that the boy was open to him at all. But the years of seventy-hour weeks had paid off, and now he could afford to relax a little.

“Would you want your office in the house or in a separate building?” Eddie’s question broke into his father’s thoughts.

“More coffee?” Maria stood next to Gil.

“Only if it’s leaded. I need caffeine this morning to answer all his questions.”

Marie studied his face for a moment, then brought the carafe over. “Just for today.”

Gil looked heavenward as if praying for patience, but the slight smile made Eddie laugh.

“You might as well give up, she won’t change her mind.” He slipped a piece of his toast to Bonnie who’d been eyeing every bite that went into his mouth but never made a whimper. Wiping his mouth on his napkin, Eddie watched his father.

Gil picked up the advertisement. “Forty acres, eh. I don’t see that we need forty acres.”

“They have some smaller ones, like twenty.”

“Do you know how big twenty acres is?”

“Half of forty?” Eddie’s eyes danced. “How long does it take to build a house?”

“Depends on the size, but usually six months to a year.” Eddie had been a baby when he and his wife went through the construction of this house. Getting the house built took up a lot of Sandra’s energy, but taking care of a baby who required repeated surgeries, only to finally realize their son would never be normal, was what really made her run.

Gil looked up to see Eddie watching him, one hand stroking his dog, the other tracing patterns on the place mat on the table. A sign that he was more concerned than he let on.

All he wants is a horse, for crying out loud. He’s not asking for the moon. But what if he gets hurt?

That was the real question. While Gil had not been home much of the time, he made sure Eddie had everything he needed and was protected as much as possible. A gated community, a private school, all the gadgets any kid could desire, and now, his father’s attention.

Guilt whispered,
His son didn’t ask for much
.

Reason responded,
It isn’t the money, it’s the time. It’s always been the time.

“Get your backpack and I’ll meet you at the car. Maria, you come too, please. But keep in mind, it takes a long time to find a house that you like. Don’t get your hopes up.”

They turned off the freeway at the designated road and followed the signs to Horse Country, entering under a squared arch of golden peeled logs. Local rock walls flared out to the sides with a bed of shrubs that hosted a rearing horse of bronze on each side. The paved road wound before them, going on either side of the guard shack in the middle. They stopped to greet the guard, and he handed them a map, showing the sales office with the already sold lots colored green. The developer had left many of the California oaks and Jefferson pine trees in place, clearing out the underbrush so it looked more like a park than a housing development. They headed back toward the entry and stopped at a model house with a Sales Office sign in a nicely landscaped yard. After Eddie wheeled out of the van, they made their way to the glass doors in what would eventually be the garage.

As they entered the office/house, a dark-haired woman motioned she’d be right with them, finished her phone call, and came around the desk with a smile as bright as the noonday sun. “I’m Francesca,” she said, extending a well-manicured hand. “Welcome to Horse Country.” Her voice was as smooth as her taupe pants, silk shirt, and modern art scarf.

Gil introduced himself, Eddie, and Maria and explained what their needs would be. “We drove around the development, and it seems all the level lots are already sold.” As if twenty and forty acre parcels could be called lots.

“Strange that you should say that, as a house that might meet your requirements just came on the market today. The owners were transferred and have to sell their nearly finished home. Let me acquaint you with the amenities of Horse Country and then we’ll go look at it.”

As they left the building, Francesca got in her car and headed for the house. Eddie grinned up at his father. “She’s hot, isn’t she?”

“Eddie!”

“She likes you.”

“Eddie. What do you know about some woman liking a man?”

“I watch television. My legs might not work but my eyes do.”

“Yeah, well . . .” Gil shook his head. Whatever else would this kid come up with? “Don’t go setting any dates up for me, all right?” Eddie had not asked about his mother in years. Perhaps it was time to talk about her. Most likely it was past time. He wondered what Maria had told the boy, other than the party line of they just didn’t love each other any more and so they divorced. Never ever did he want Eddie to learn that his mother had deserted her son—and his father. He’d put all the safeguards in place. But they’d never been tested. At least not that he knew. Maybe moving was a good idea after all. “Now, let’s go over this again. House hunting takes time. You have to see what you like about each house and then decide what you want. No hopes up on this being
the one
, okay?”

“Sure, Dad,” Eddie said serenely.

They parked in the driveway of a single-story house with construction vehicles lined up along the curb. As Eddie’s lift groaned into place, Gil studied the stucco exterior. The open double doors to the entry beckoned them. Three steps finished in slate curved around the recessed doors.
We’d have to make a ramp
, he thought, although he was pleased with the entrance.

Francesca joined them and chatted with Gil while Eddie unloaded.

“How close to finished is it?”

“They’re hanging the cabinets in the kitchen, fixtures need to be installed, perhaps some more painting, and of course the landscaping. While the footings are poured for the barn, they haven’t begun the construction, and I don’t think the pool is quite finished either.” She waited while Gil backed Eddie’s wheelchair up the stairs. “I think it would be easy to change one side of the steps into a ramp.”

“It would.” As they entered the house, the high ceilings of the great room caught Gil’s attention. All on one level, no sunken living room. French doors on either side of the fireplace on the outer wall invited them outside.

“There are three bedrooms, each with a private bath, and a den.”

Gil nodded and glanced at his son. The doors were wide enough for his wheelchair so even those wouldn’t have to be changed. “What do you think, Eddie?”

“This one would be my room, right? And Maria could have the other.”

“Or we could turn part of that monstrous garage into a private apartment for you, what do you think?” he asked Maria.

Maria nodded and shrugged at the same time. “What about your office?”

“The den would work until we could build a separate building.”

They followed Francesca outside on an unfinished patio and backyard. “It needs to be fenced yet and will look so much better when the landscaping is in.”

“How soon would we be able to move in?” Eddie’s voice squeaked.

Francesca smiled at him. “It would take a month for escrow to clear.”

“Title clearance is in place?” Gil heard himself ask, while at the same time he kept telling himself,
It takes a long time to find a house you want.

“Of course.”

“Could we move in before escrow cleared if we wanted to?” He could feel Eddie watching them, gazing back and forth, like he was watching a tennis tournament.

“That would be a possibility.”

“Sprinkler systems are in?” Gil tried to think of all contingencies.

“I’d have to check on that.”

“How big is the barn?” Eddie asked.

“I’m not sure, but I can show you the plans back at the office.”

“What are they asking?”

She told him and he nodded. The amount wasn’t out of sight for this place. Under Eddie’s scrutiny, he made plans to call the saleswoman tomorrow.

As they walked back to the car, Eddie turned his chair and looked back.

“What is it?”

“Just thinking what it will be like to live here.”

Great. Gil watched the Realtor drive off. The sound of hammers and a drill motor came from the interior of the house, while a concrete saw whined from the backyard.
Up the street children laughed
. A car drove by. Ravens complained from the California oak trees scattered about the field. Twenty acres was a lot of land to fence. The three of them studied the property.

“The brochure said there were trails for riding.” Eddie looked up at his father.

“The drive to school will be longer.”

“Bonnie will have more room to sniff,” Eddie countered.

Gil tried to think of all the minuses. “It will be farther to shopping, Maria.”

“So I shop bigger at one time.” She smiled at Eddie.

“No view like we have now.”

“Eddie and his horses playing in the field is a good view to me.”

Once they were ready to go, Eddie caught his dad’s gaze in the mirror. “Did you like the swimming pool?”

“I guess. It’s bigger than the one we have. Why?” He watched his son in the mirror. “Oh, you’re thinking about getting in and out. Don’t worry, we can fix that before it’s finished.”

“She said we could move in a month?” Eddie asked.

Before school started, but at least Eddie wouldn’t be changing schools. He’d been enrolled in a private Christian school for prekindergarten and been there ever since. Gil had never regretted it. Although they weren’t every Sunday in church, Gil made sure to contribute both time and money to the school—more time this last year than all the other years combined, but who was counting. Other than perhaps Eddie.