Page 22 of Fake-Off with Fate (Love in Maple Falls #1)
JAMIE
I have two appointments to see houses with a realtor today. She originally had five places to show me, but three of them backed up against the woods. As I’m not willing to risk life and limb living near bears, I passed on those.
As soon as I’m safely in my car, I call Ashlyn. “Any chance you want to look at some houses?” I ask.
“Are you renting or buying?” she wants to know.
“Does it matter?”
“If you’re buying, I’m coming.”
“But not if I’m renting?” I’m confused.
“Buying is a bigger commitment, and I could have some insights you might need. If you’re renting you’re not liable for problems so it’s not such a big deal.”
“What kind of insights?”
“For instance, I don’t want you buying a house where some horrible crime took place.”
She’s making me nervous. “Are there many of those? Because that is not the way Maple Falls was sold to me.”
“There’s a house on Church Street that’s for sale. I got my first kiss there,” she says.
“And that was a crime somehow?” I’m eager to hear this tale .
She laughingly tells me, “Yes it was, because I never got a second one from Billy Trinkle. After kissing me, he developed a mad crush on my friend Melissa and started dating her.”
“Right up there with treason then, huh?”
“Exactly. And as your fake girlfriend, you really can’t support that kind of offense.”
Ashlyn is adorably funny, and the more I get to know her, the more I’m surprised some smart man hasn’t seen what a catch she is and begged her to marry him. “But if it had worked out with Billy,” I tell her, “You might not have been single today to be my fake girlfriend.”
“Correct,” she says. “So, you see why you can’t buy that house.”
Not at all, but I don’t say that. “To answer your question,” I tell her, “I’m planning to buy so I’m going to need you. Want me to come in and get you?”
“That would be great. If anyone asks what you’re doing here, tell them you have an appointment with the mayor.”
“Anyone other than Phillip giving you a hard time about your dad’s disappearance?”
“Not yet. I either tell people they just missed him, or I send them on a wild goose chase to the coffee room. So far, so good.”
I reach for my jacket and put it on. “Sneaky. I’ll see you soon.”
Peering out the front door, I look to see if I have any company. Sure enough, I spot the male bear standing to the left of the porch. It’s like he’s on constant sentry duty and that’s his assigned post. Well, shoot, I can’t leave now.
Going into the kitchen, I search the cabinets for something I can throw to divert him. I know Ashlyn said not to feed the bears, but food is the only thing I can think of that might buy me a few moments of safety to get to my car. I grab the first thing I see which is a box of granola.
Once I’m on the porch, I chuck the whole thing into the trees behind the bear. As soon as he turns, I run to my car and get in. I really need to find a house today. One that’s far enough removed from any wildlife that’s bigger than I am.
After parking on the street, I go into Town Hall and follow the signs to the mayor’s office. There’s no one in the waiting room, so I call out, “Ashlyn, are you there?”
“Coming!” I hear in the distance. Moments later, she walks out of the back room. “Hello, boyfriend,” she greets. She’s got the cutest little smirk on her face.
“How’s my girlfriend today?” I ask. Ashlyn looks positively stunning in her silky burgundy shirt and form-fitting slacks.
“Frazzled.” She puts a finger in front of her lips before adding, “I’ll tell you in the car.”
We pass a woman in the hallway as we head toward the elevator. To help Ashlyn keep up her ruse, I loudly announce, “That was so nice of the mayor to meet with me.”
Her mouth quirks into a faint smile. “My dad is nothing if not happy to talk to the citizens of Maple Falls.” Once we’re in the elevator and the doors close, she starts to laugh. “I almost missed my cue and asked you what you were talking about when you said you’d just met with my dad.”
Shrugging, I tell her, “Just doing my part.”
Once we’re in my car, I ask her, “So, what’s going on?”
“I talked to Jeremy Hunt this morning.”
“Alexander MacDonald’s lawyer, right?”
“Yeah. I asked if Mr. MacDonald might be willing to let Maple Falls buy the property back from him.”
“What did he say?”
“He said that out of a sense of familial devotion, Mr. MacDonald wants to connect to his ancestor’s land in some way.”
“So, that’s a no to selling it to Maple Falls?” I ask nervously. Now that I’m settled here, I really don’t want to have to move to another town before the season starts. And if I don’t move, that would mean a commute. I’m no longer sure I should bother looking at houses .
Ashlyn shakes her head. “He wouldn’t come right out and say either way.”
“So, all we can do is try to raise the money and hope for the best.”
“But without an assurance that it will be accepted.” She does not sound encouraged.
Trying to soothe her nerves, I tell her, “The guy didn’t even know he was related to one of your town’s founders until recently. How much family devotion could he possibly feel?” Instead of waiting for her to answer, I add, “I have a suspicion the almighty dollar is what he’s really after.”
She exhales loudly. “I don’t know. I looked the guy up on the internet and he’s already got mad stacks of cash. He certainly doesn’t need our money.”
“Don’t give up,” I tell her while I pull out on the street and follow the directions the realtor gave me to the first property. It's on a street called Maple Trail. As I search for the house number, I tell Ashlyn, “There are a lot of streets with the name Maple in them.”
She snorts before itemizing, “There’s Maple Farm Road, Maple Falls Road, Maple Harvest Lane, Maple Leaf Drive, and Maple Orchard Place …”
“It’s like the town’s whole identity is built around the maple tree.”
“It could be worse. We could live in a town full of Buddha Belly bamboo trees.”
“Never heard of them,” I tell her.
“They’re native to China but you see them in Southern California and Florida, as well. Can you imagine buying a house on Buddha Belly Bamboo Boulevard?”
“Uh, no.” I tell her, “When I was on vacation in Hawaii, I learned about the Wiliwili tree. I could probably buy a house there on Wiliwili Way.”
“Ever heard of the screaming trees?” she wants to know .
“Are you making fun of me?” I ask as I pull over to a white house with a for sale sign out front.
Shaking her head, she explains, “They get their names because every seventeen years the cicadas take up residence in them. The insects make such an obnoxious sound their temporary homes get dubbed the screaming trees.” Without missing a beat, she adds, “But I could see how you might feel comfortable among them.”
“Nice,” I tell her before getting out of the car. I hurry around and open the passenger door for her and then offer her a hand.
A woman in her forties approaches us. She’s wearing a business suit with tennis shoes. “Abigail Farmer,” she announces. “Are you Jamie Hayes?”
“I am,” I tell her while offering my other hand for her to shake. “This is my … er …” Shoot, I forgot to ask Ashlyn if it was okay to pretend we’re a couple with everyone in town.
Ashlyn comes to my rescue by announcing, “I’m Ashlyn Thompkins.”
“The mayor’s daughter!” Abigail gushes excitedly. “I read the paper. What in the world are we going to do?”
Ashlyn removes her hand from mine before responding, “We’re going to raise money and buy the land back.”
Abigail tells us, “We had a big meeting this morning at the office and made the decision to only represent houses that aren’t on Victor MacDonald’s land. Can you imagine how this is going to affect the real estate market?” She turns and walks up the path to the front door.
Ashlyn leans into me and whispers, “I knew how serious this was, but what in the world are people going to do who own homes on Victor’s land?”
Abigail opens the door. “You have three bedrooms and three bathrooms here. There’s a fully finished basement, and a hot tub on the back deck. Why don’t I let you two walk around and get a feel for the place?”
“Thank you, Abigail,” I tell her .
As soon as we’re out of her earshot, Ashlyn says, “You can’t live here.”
“Why?” I tease, “did you kiss someone here, too?”
She scrunches up her lips. “Ha, ha. No, I didn’t kiss anyone here. Look out the window.” She points to the woods behind the house.
“You think the bears would come out of there?”
She shrugs her shoulders. “They might, but that’s not what I’m worried about.” Before I can ask, she explains, “That’s another preserve, and I think it’s part of Victor’s land.”
“But the house isn’t. Abigail said they weren’t showing houses that could be affected by this.”
“Yes, but if Alexander MacDonald won’t let us buy the land from him, then he can do whatever he wants with that property. He might even build a giant grocery store there.”
“I’m from New York City,” I tell her. “Not only am I used to having businesses in my neighborhood, but I might consider a grocery store right outside my door a desirable thing.”
“Until it brings down the cost of housing and you discover you’ve paid a lot more for your house than it will be worth.” She’s got a point.
The next house we look at is a possibility. But when Abigail asks if I want to place an offer on either of the homes, I tell her, “I’d better wait and find out what’s in store for the Ice Breakers. If we can’t use the arena in Maple Falls, we’ll probably have to move the team.”
Turning to Ashlyn, Abigail says, “I hope your dad knows what he’s doing and can make this problem go away. If not, Maple Falls will be ruined.”
The color drains from Ashlyn’s face as she responds, “I hope he knows what he’s doing too.”