Page 41 of Still Afraid

The day had been sunny and warm until about thirty minutes ago. Now clouds were building in the sky. Hopefully, that’s all it was. She was finally less frazzled. Would it be too much to ask for a few more days of calm?

She got out of her SUV and walked to the front door while Jerry and Joann stood back and took in the house from the street. Even though they were particular, they were the sweetest couple. They had recently added two kids to their family via adoption, bringing their kid count up to eight, some biological, others adopted.

Building wasn’t an option, so they needed a place that fit their unique needs or could at least be easily modified to do so.

Once Chloe had retrieved the key from the lock box and opened the front door, she stepped inside to get out of their view. She flipped on a few lights on the first level.

This particular house had only come on the market this morning, otherwise Chloe would have shown them sooner. With a large dining room and separate living and family rooms, it had the living space they were looking for. If upstairs had the bedrooms laid out well, this could fit the bill.

Joann gasped when she walked into the house. “It’s lovely.”

Chloe met them in the entryway. “So far I’m impressed. It’s priced to sell quickly.”

Jerry nodded. “The only thing that brought it down into our price range. I’m a little worried it will stretch us a little thin.”

Exactly what Chloe expected him to say.

She walked around the interior with the couple. Often she kept her thoughts to herself when she showed a house, unless the buyers asked for her opinion This couple had shared so much of their dream with her, though, she could envision what they would do with the spaces.

Upstairs, the bedrooms were laid out in a way that would fit their family. A loft could easily be a playroom or be converted into another bedroom.

Chloe walked over to the large window in the loft that looked over the backyard. Perfect space for kids to play.

Lightning streaked across the sky, followed by a roof-rattling boom.

Chloe jumped.

What if that had struck the house? Was another tornado coming? What if …

She hugged herself.

Was Josh all right? Poirot? What if a tree fell on the house while he was inside?

Thought after thought bombarded her mind so fast she couldn’t think straight. Her chest was tight, as if a ratchet strap was being yanked over and over again.

Another boom of thunder rumbled.

Her mind grew fuzzy as the ratchet strap tightened again.

“Chloe?” Joann’s voice broke into her mind.

Air filled Chloe’s lungs, bringing relief from the pain in her chest and clearing her head.

“Is everything okay?” Joann placed her hand on Chloe’s shoulder.

“Sorry … I … I’m fine.” How could she tell this woman her mind was spiraling out of control? Not that Joann couldn’t have seen that clearly.

Joann stared at Chloe for a moment as if ensuring she wasn’t going to sink back into her panic. Then she smiled. “The storms have been a little crazy this June.”

“For sure.” They walked away from the window.

Jerry gave Chloe a compassionate smile. “This place is perfect. Not huge, but just enough. I can’t believe it’s priced so low. Did they disclose anything we should know about that would explain the price?”

Chloe was grateful for the redirect back into work. They went back downstairs while Chloe explained the owners were eager to sell as they were relocating overseas and didn’t want anything delaying the entire family from moving sooner rather than later.

As they left the house, Chloe told them to text her if they wanted to take the next steps, and she’d get things rolling. This was the last house on the market that was even a remote possibility. They parted ways, darting to their vehicles to avoid as much of the rain as possible. Before Chloe could even start her engine, Jerry texted her that they wanted to put in an offer exactly at asking price. Chloe replied, telling them she would take care of it within the next hour.

She was excited they had found something that would work. Her favorite part of the job was finding the right house that would make a perfect home for a family. It was even more special when the family had unique needs like Jerry and Joann.