Page 25

CHAPTER 25

ETNA

Our real estate agent is Albrecht Holleran, with the Van Doren Real Estate Group. I was a little hesitant to go with a company from the Van Doren Empire that’s basically taking over the world but, on the other hand, not only were they ranked top in the area but everyone I spoke to around Phoenix said Albrecht was the absolute best.

When we first talked to him a month ago and were planning to list both of our houses, we did so via video chat. He works primarily out of the Flagstaff office or from his home office. He only comes down to Phoenix for a couple days, every month or so.

Apparently, he’s in the office today, so we get to meet him. My first impression is that he’s a rich boy from a rich family. It’s in the way he dresses and the way he holds himself. There’s a certain quality of clothing that stands out in a crowd, which is what Albrecht is wearing.

I’m a little surprised. Yes, I saw some of his shirts over video calls that might have given me the impression he’s a rich boy, but I wrote it off because he was so… nice. Down to earth and understanding of what we’re looking for and how we want to sell.

Every time I’ve spoken to him on the phone, I didn’t get the impression that he was… arrogant. Which I suppose is an unfair assumption about the wealthy. But… is it?

He’s not entirely what I expected of him, though. Even after having met him online several times now, seeing him in person is different. He’s tall with messy brown hair and vivid brown eyes framed in black-rimmed glasses.

His shirt is open to a point where it might be considered inappropriate in a work environment, but somehow, he seems to get away with it. He’s wearing a small wooden pendant and a leather charm on a black chain around his neck.

He smiles when we walk in and offers his hand as he approaches. “Thanks for coming in,” he says.

“Thanks for selling my house,” I counter.

His smile widens. “It’s a nice house. We might have been able to sell for a bit higher if we held off for another couple weeks, but this was a solid cash offer and I didn’t want to miss it.”

“No, I appreciate it. I’m looking forward to getting it off my hands.”

Keno’s looking around the office but turns back when there’s a short lull in conversation. Then Albrecht offers his hand to a smiling Keno as well.

“Just so you know, I think I have a buyer lined up for your house when you’re ready. They don’t even care what you’re asking for it,” Albrecht tells him.

“Really?” Keno asks.

Albrecht chuckles. “Yes. I told them the chances of the toys staying are slim, but they don’t care.”

“Then let’s see what you found for us,” Keno says.

Albrecht gestures for us to follow him. He leads us to an office in the back with big windows. The plaque on the door reads ‘Van Doren,’ as if that’s his name plaque.

“How long have you been with Van Doren?” Keno asks, giving the plaque the same curious look I did.

My eyes snag on a picture of him and another guy sitting on a tall bookshelf. Beside it is a group picture of him with four guys and a girl.

“Pretty much since I graduated college,” Albrecht says. There’s amusement in his tone. “I started with a local agency in Tucson, training under a great guy who’s been all over the place selling real estate. But a couple of my friends married some Van Dorens, and that took us away from Tucson to northern Arizona, where their… home is.”

The way he hesitates in saying home has me glancing at Keno. He meets my eyes with the same interest.

“I think it’s only been eighteen months with Van Doren, so not long.”

I’m surprised by his answer. “How are you already one of the top agents in the area? I’m not even going to tell you how many people recommended you by name.”

He grins. “My mentor says I have a knack for sales. Also, I enjoy it, and I think that translates into what I’m doing. It also doesn’t hurt having the Van Doren name association.” He rolls his eyes good-naturedly.

“You don’t meet many people who enjoy sales,” Keno says as Albrecht sets an envelope in front of me and opens it, offering me a pen.

“I agree. If you’d have asked me five years ago whether I wanted to be in sales, I’d have laughed. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m good at it or because I enjoy researching houses and seeing different layouts and how people use spaces, but I do enjoy it. I like being a part of making good things happen and, generally speaking, buying or selling your house is a good thing.”

“A step to something better,” I say.

Beside me, Keno grins.

Albrecht smiles. “Exactly. Okay, just sign at the lines where I’ve put the stickies. It’s a typical closing—thirty days. Inspection by the buyer to come within that time. Just to reiterate, there’s nothing we should note about the house?” He picks up the paper reporting any disclosures as he asks.

“No. It’s a perfect house. I had the foundation fixed as soon as I moved in, and I replaced the entire roof when I vaulted the ceilings. Since the HVAC system was twenty years old, I also replaced that. Honestly, if they come back with anything at all, they’re full of shit.”

“I agree,” Albrecht says. “In which case, we have several more offers to consider, which I know the buyers are aware of.”

Once I sign, Albrecht excuses himself to have someone send the paperwork over to the buyer’s agent and returns with another folder. “Okay, here we go. I have one house on the opposite side of the same lake I think meets all your wants. It’s a little smaller than you’re looking for, but you’re probably aware of the zoning around the lake that says you can expand by 30% and have a roof pitch of twenty feet in the lifetime of the property, neither of which has been done. If you’d like to expand, you can.”

He hands us a sheet of paper for us to take a look at the specs. Then he turns a tablet our way and we watch a video tour of the place. When the six-minute video is over, Keno asks, “It’s just missing a bedroom and a bathroom from what we were looking for, right?”

“Correct,” Albrecht confirms. “There are a couple options I think would solve that. If you’d like to expand. You can build upwards, move the guest rooms to the second floor with a full bathroom to share. Then you can combine the three bedrooms downstairs into one large primary suite with the walk-in closet and ensuite of your dreams. That also consumes one of the full bathrooms but leaves one for guests downstairs as well, which you could convert into a half bath since the shower wouldn’t be necessary.”

“And this other building on the property?” Keno asks.

“A bunkhouse,” Albrecht explains. “It was built as such and therefore grandfathered in. It needs a little love, but it could definitely serve as guest sleeping quarters without major construction on the big house.”

“I don’t hate this at all,” Keno says and looks at me.

“Before you make a decision, I have another two listings for you to consider. These are further north on the other side of the city. These properties are very reminiscent of Florida living on canals. The houses are very close together. However, you’re right on the water and there are houses matching what you’re looking for exactly. You have full canal access and can play in the water all you like.”

“Wow, those are stupidly close,” I comment when he shows us the first listing. “They’re practically on top of each other.”

“Yes. This one also gives you a pool in the backyard and it’s surrounded by mature trees to give you some privacy.”

“Well, I don’t hate that one,” Keno says. “I actually like how it’s practically the only one with a black roof on the entire canal system.” I lean over to look at the overview Albrecht provided so we can see which houses he’s showing us and where they’re located.

“It also looks like the one with the most privacy from the green life around it,” I note.

“The roof has lots of fun geometric angles,” Keno says, smiling and turning the sheet to look at it from the side. “I like that.”

“If you’re available tomorrow, I can set up appointments to tour all three houses or just one. Whichever you like.”

“You said the lake one isn’t on the market yet?” I ask.

“It’s not, but it’s a friend of mine who’s selling it, so we’ll be able to get in.”

“Tomorrow sounds good.”

“Morning? Say, nine we meet at your house since it’s close to the other lake property?”

Keno nods. “Sounds good.” He looks at me. “We have an appointment in the afternoon, so that’s perfect.”

“Excellent. I’ll get everything set up and let you know if the times don’t work. Otherwise, I’ll meet you in the morning. You’d like to see all three?”

Keno and I look at each other and nod. “Yes. Why not?”

Albrecht sees us out with the three listings in hand so we can further review them.

“I’m really excited about this,” Keno says as we get in the car. “This is going to sound ridiculous, but buying a house together for real makes this whole thing feel…” his voice trails off.

I rest my hand on his thigh as I wait for the traffic to clear so I can pull out of the driveway. “It is real, Keno. Everything about this is real.”

He sighs. “Yeah, I know. I’m not sure why it feels so much bigger right now.”

“Bigger than getting married, huh?” Glancing down, I see the ring on my finger. I look at it often to remind myself this is really happening. I’m marrying my best friend.

Keno laughs. “I said it sounds ridiculous.”

“No, I get it. Sometimes I think this is a crazy dream that we’re going to wake up from and laugh about, born from our friends teasing about being an old married couple.”

“I know they never meant anything by it, and I was never offended, but yeah. That’s probably why I feel the same way. It feels so surreal.”

Just then, our phones go off with the same notification. Which means it’s from our combined calendar. My stomach flips in anticipation because I know we don’t have anything out of the house today for wedding stuff. We finalized our wedding invites and put a rush on them, so they’ll be here before break is over. To simplify things, we got our guest’s addresses be printed on labels and tracking says they’ll be here tomorrow. We ordered a stamp with our names and a PO Box address since we weren’t sure about our living situation and didn’t want something to get lost in the mail.

Today we’re searching for vendors and sending out more inquiries.

“Rimming,” Keno says.

My nose scrunches. “Okay, man. I’m not going to lick your ass hole. Maybe I’ll be there in the future, but your balls in my mouth is where I’m drawing the line.”

Keno laughs. “No, same. Besides, I think our fingering needs some work.”

We experimented yesterday between my naps and yep, it’s weird as fuck. We spent quite a bit of time laughing while we finger fucked each other. It’s not a sensation that you get used to right away.

“Then let’s go home and practice. I could totally get off today.”

Keno grins. “I like the sound of that.”