“Most good decisions are.”
Maya finally spoke.
She thought the rental idea sounded sensible.
Derek shot her a quick glance before looking back at me.
Then I introduced the option that mattered most to me.
I wanted to buy them both out.
I hadn’t guessed at the numbers. I’d spoken with my bank, met with a mortgage broker, reviewed my savings, checked my credit, and calculated exactly what I could afford.
It wouldn’t be easy.
But it was possible.
“You want to keep it,” Amber said.
“I want to keep it.”
Derek slowly looked around the kitchen.
His eyes paused on the rooster tiles, then drifted toward the basement door where part of Dad’s workshop was visible.
“Why?”
There wasn’t any hostility in his voice.
He genuinely wanted to know.
I had already thought about my answer.
“Because it holds thirty-two years of who he was,” I said. “Because his workshop is in the basement and his tools are on the pegboard and the tiles are the ones his mother picked. Because I drove here in the middle of the night six weeks ago and sat on the edge of his bed and knew I was not ready for this to be someone else’s house.”
Silence settled over the kitchen.
“I’m not asking either of you to feel the same way,” I continued. “I know this house means something different to each of us. I just want you to understand what it means to me before we sell it simply because it’s the fastest solution.”
Amber studied me for several moments.
“What would you pay us?”
“Fair market value for your shares,” I answered. “One hundred and thirteen thousand each. I will have it appraised independently so neither of you is taking my word for the valuation.”
Derek leaned back.
“Where are you getting the money?”
“A combination of refinancing and savings. I’ve already spoken with a lender.”
“You’ve already talked to a lender?”
“I wanted to know whether it was possible before I brought it to you. I didn’t want to make promises I couldn’t keep.”
He exchanged a glance with Maya.
Maya looked down at the untouched coffee cake.
“I need time to think about it,” Derek finally said.
“Of course. I’m not asking for an answer today.”
Amber agreed she also wanted time.
Her voice sounded warmer than before, though I reminded myself that kindness and agreement weren’t necessarily the same thing.
They left shortly after two.
I stayed behind.
Sitting in Dad’s armchair, positioned at the exact angle that eased his bad hip, I looked around the quiet living room and wondered whether I was truly ready to take on everything that came with keeping this place.
For Derek and Amber, the house had never carried the same memories. They hadn’t grown up here. The creek wasn’t part of their childhood. The rooster tiles were simply old kitchen tiles.
There was nothing wrong with that.
