Page 11 of See You at the Sunset

Okay, at least it wasn’t a health emergency. Henry’s worst nightmare.

Since when was his grandfather selling his house? Henry tried to remember if he’d mentioned anything the last time they’d spoken. When was that? Henry had called him to wishhim a happy birthday in... March. Fuck, it was June already. He tried to check in at least every couple weeks. But he’d been so focused on work lately, he’d let it slide. Just long enough for Dennis to get into some trouble.

His granddad, Dennis, had a home in Palm Springs, and Henry had spent summers there as a kid. More like he’d been dumped there as his only option for a roof over his head and some adult supervision. But his granddad never made him feel like a burden. He loved over him as much as Henry would allow. In any case, it had been a couple years since he’d visited out there. Even then, the house had shown its age.

But more striking to Henry was how many of the old neighbors seemed to have moved out of the area, selling their homes and letting builders come in, the newer, hipper, more gentrified part of Palm Springs creeping up on their once sleepy, residential street.

Dennis had mentioned possibly wanting to move away from the hustle and bustle of the downtown area, up a few blocks north to the retirement community of Sunset Hills. Henry thought it could be a great idea. Be around more people his age and with the various levels of support the HOA costs provided, it would put Henry’s mind at ease a bit, being all the way on the other side of the country and all.

But he hadn’t realized that Dennis had made the move to do it so soon. And the voice mail was not what Henry wanted to hear. He’d get the realtor’s number, put on his official lawyer voice, and make sure no one took advantage of his granddad.

Henry rubbed his chest where the pain from the earlier panic attack was focused. He was supposed to be managing his stress levels. Work brought enough anxiety into his life. He wasn’t expecting family stuff to pile onto it all. Maybe he’dneed to start taking the meds, along with the brutal side effects, more regularly after all.

“Granddad? Hi, how’s it going? I got your voice mail,” he said loudly and as clearly as possible so his granddad could actually hear him.

“Hi, Hank. Thanks for calling me back. Everything good out there in the big city?”

Henry smiled. His granddad was the only one he’d let call him Hank. Like he could stop him. He’d asked him many times to... not. But he was a stubborn old man. And the only family Henry had. That he cared about, at least. In fact, Dennis was the only person other than himself that Henry paid any mind to period.

“Yeah, all’s good. Why didn’t you tell me you were selling the house?” he asked.

“I thought I did. Maybe I forgot. You know I don’t like bothering you if I don’t have to. You’re too important to be pestered by an old man.”

“You aren’t a bother. And I’m sorry I haven’t checked in in awhile. But it’s important you keep me updated when stuff like this comes up.” Henry felt like he was reprimanding a toddler.

“And that’s why I called. You see, there’s a nice little home down at Sunset Hills, remember the old folks community I told you about? And I wanted to put an offer on it. So the guy selling it said he’d work with me to sell my home too. Some kind of trade or something.”

Henry did not like the sound of this. He wasn’t an expert in real estate law, but he didn’t like someone with competing interests trying to take advantage of his grandfather. How would Dennis even know what kind of offer to make on a house? Hewas exactly the type of trusting person that would get swindled. Henry had witnessed this firsthand when he’d found out his granddad had given a huge part of his retirement away to grifters, otherwise known as his parents.

“Granddad, how far have you gotten in the process with this guy?”

“Well, I didn’t sign anything. You taught me better than that,” he said, laughing.

“That’s good to hear,” Henry said. “So can you tell me exactly what the agent told you?” He’d need to try to pull as much info out of his granddad as he could to get the lay of the land. This was not going to be easy.

“Well, you see, it’s like this. This guy is real slick, ya know? He’s the one that’s been going around trying to convince everyone in the neighborhood to sell. And I guess my and the Billingses’ houses are the last ones standing.”

“Wait, I thought it was the nice lady from your church, Mrs. Hobbs, that wanted to help you sell your house once you were interested.” Henry had had his doubts about this woman and her abilities, but at the very least, he knew she wouldn’t try to screw his granddad over. He just wasn’t confident she could get him top dollar for his home. Sure, it was outdated and needed major upgrading and renovations. But it had strong bones and even stronger memories. And the land itself was what was valuable.

“Some other guy at her office stepped in. Like I said, slick. Not even one hair out of place, and I have never once seen him sweat, not even when it was up in the one teens last week.”

Jesus, just the thought of hundred-and-ten-plus-degree weather had Henry feeling the heat. And Henry knew the slick type. Heck, some might say he was the type.

“And is he pressuring you to do whatever he wants?”

“Yeah, that’s what it feels like. I wanted to see if the price to buy the house was fair. And also the price he was talking about for my home seemed kinda low. I was gonna do some poking around on the Zillow. But he’s saying we gotta act fast or prices and some kind of rates will fluctuate. I didn’t understand everything he was saying. It was stuff they don’t even talk about on HGTV,” he said.

“Yeah, I bet it was confusing. I don’t even know all of that stuff,” Henry said.

“I mean, I know I’m ready to make the move. I just want to make sure it’s on the up-and-up. Plus, I wanna talk to the Billings family and see how they feel about being the only ones left of the old neighborhood. They might get lonely.”

Lonely, sure. But more likely they’d get the pressure put on them to sell and give up the land as the last remaining original resident.

“Anyways, Hank, you know I don’t know about all that smart-guy stuff.”

It was bullshit, and they both knew it. His grandfather was sharp as a knife, despite his hearing and his mobility deteriorating. It was more likely his granddad wanted—

“So I thought if you weren’t too busy, maybe you could come out here and help me work through all of this. Just wanna get myself a nice little home at The Sunset and sell my house for enough to live on until I kick the bucket. Oh, and you can help me move all this stuff to the new place. You haven’t been out this way in years.”