Finding Love in Payton (8 page)

"I don't." She smiled, her face full of good humor.
"I mean, I don't know it like teaching kindergarten.
But I know some from watching Mom all these years.
And after my experience with the money pit house, I
feel an obligation to all family members to help out."

Jeremy laughed. Mary Beth had bought a run-down
home with more problems than the class of cute kindergarteners she taught. Thank goodness she had met
Cameron soon after she moved in. He helped her fix
up the house, and they fell in love soon after. "Thanks
for helping me out."

"You're welcome! I'm glad to help. Plus, it's nice
to let Cam have some time with Maggie."

"What do they have planned today?"

"I think he's probably going to run a few errands
then go to your house." She rolled her eyes. "Cam will hang out with your dad, watch football, let your
parents fuss over Maggie non-stop, then tell me that
he is such a great dad."

"Isn't he?"

"Yes," Mary Beth laughed. "He is."

All that talk of babies made him think of Dinah and
Bryan. "Has it been harder than you thought, juggling
it all?"

Mary Beth shook her head. "No. I've really enjoyed
it," she admitted. "But then again, I've had a lot of
help. And although I give Cameron a hard time, he's
never complained about changing diapers, or getting
up in the middle of the night, or helping with the laundry. It would be pretty hard to do it by myself."

"Yeah, I guess so." Dinah's ease with Bryan flashed
through his mind again. She made parenting look so
easy, she was so patient. Did she ever have harried
days?

Marianne stopped in front of a white clapboard
home with an almost nonexistent front walkway. "This
place needs some help in the front, but I heard the
backyard is heavenly," she stated. "And it's empty, so
we didn't have to wait to schedule a showing. Let's
go take a look."

Jeremy wandered through the house after Marianne,
listening to the pros and cons of the house with half
an ear. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but he
knew he wasn't going to buy anything based on the
dimensions of a specific room.

He knew he was looking for something that made
him feel good, something that felt like home.

This one didn't.

He told Marianne so, and with a shrug she locked
up the door and took him to another house.

And another. And four others after that. Some were
already lived in, two others were vacant, and had been
for some time.

"I'm sorry," he said as they walked down a stone
walkway back to Marianne's car. "I don't know exactly what I'm looking for, but I know it's not one of
these."

She looked surprised by his apology. "I didn't think
you'd find a house today, Jeremy. I had a feeling that
you want might take a little time. Good things always
do." She turned to her daughter. "What do you want
to do?"

Mary Beth scanned her MLS list one more time.
"How about we go to this last house on Maple, then
get a cup of coffee at the Mill and plan our next meeting?"

"Sounds good to me," Jeremy said.

Marianne glanced at the address again, then pulled
away from the curb toward Maple. "Someone saw you
out walking with Dinah Cate the other night," the
older lady said as she weaved in and out of the light
traffic.

"We were out walking," he said, wondering what it
was going to lead up to. He glanced at Mary Beth quickly, but she didn't seem to be aware of where her
mother was headed.

"I've always liked that girl. Do you know her,
Mary?"

"A little bit. I actually knew her husband pretty
well. We were in a few of the same classes in school."

"Which ones?"

"French. And a chemistry class, too, I think. Neil
was a nice guy. Always had his eye on Dinah."

"I thought they didn't date until college?"

"I don't think they did. Dinah didn't date much in
high school, and Neil was kind of wild, dated a lot of
girls, kind of the more adventurous type. I think he
just sort of watched Dinah from afar."

"It's too bad he passed away."

"Yes, it is. She had quite a time of it for a while
there, raising that baby, dealing with lawyers and insurance people. Cameron actually handled a lot of the
estate."

"I didn't know that."

"You know Cam ... he'd never say a thing about
it. That's why he's such a good lawyer."

Jeremy slumped back against the leather upholstery.
"I guess so." He didn't know what to think, other than
Dinah had a whole history that had played out while
he was in college. Somehow that made their differences feel more marked.

He tried to recall if he had known her back when she was still in high school, but he couldn't place her,
beyond a pretty girl with a cute figure who was a
friend of Joanne's. For the first time he wondered if
maybe everyone else was right; maybe he was too
young for her.

Perhaps she needed someone who had known her
circle of friends, or Neil's, or had helped her during
the time when she was putting herself together? Someone who saw her as a woman just off the brink of a
difficult time in her life?

Not some guy who only saw her as adorable and
accomplished.

"Now this place has possibilities," Marianne said,
staring at the house in front of them.

Jeremy glanced out his window and whistled low.
The place was unlike anything he had ever seen. It
was stone, not wood, and had enough angles and turrets that it looked like someone's dream house gone
wrong.

But it was attractive in its own way. The rich brown
stones were aged and worn, giving the house a homey,
rich feeling all its own. The roof looked to be in good
repair, and the windows were arched and framed with
quality wood, painted brown.

It sat on an oversized lot filled with trees, all types
of trees, pear and maple, ash and pine. Each looked
to be in good health, and surrounded the house like a
picture frame.

"This looks like it's out of a fairy tale," Mary Beth
said, in awe. "I can't believe I've never noticed it before."

"It's been in a gentleman's family for years and
years," Marianne said, glancing at a pile of notes in
her day planner. "If I'm not mistaken, this house has
some history to it, as well. I think some people brewed
moonshine in it during Prohibition."

Jeremy got out of car, immediately charmed. "Is it
vacant now?"

Marianne McKinley nodded. "Yep. Mr. Burton decided to go live in a retirement community, and his
nephew just cleaned it out and put it on the market
last week. And, he cleared out about twenty trees,"
she added. "That's why you never noticed the place,
Mary Beth. It used to be practically hidden from the
road."

"I like the fence," Mary Beth said, pointing towards
the split rail fence stained dark brown in the back yard.
Years ago someone must have planted vines along it,
because it was half covered with honeysuckle vines.

"I do too," Jeremy said.

Marianne unlocked the door and led them inside,
and each oohed and ahhed over each meticulously kept
room. The floors were wooden, the woodwork white.
The only flaws were the seriously outdated kitchen and
one bathroom.

But Jeremy knew he'd found his home. "How much
is it going for?"

Marianne named the price. Jeremy stared at her in
surprise. It was priced even more competitively than
the others he'd seen. "Why so low?"

She shrugged. "I don't think the nephew wants anything to do with it. He's more of a tract house kind of
guy.

"What do you think?" he asked Mary Beth.

"I love it," she stated, not even missing a beat. "I
love how charming it is ... and there's room to add a
bath off of the back, as well as places to remodel the
kitchen. But I wouldn't change a thing about the front
of the place, Jeremy. It's just beautiful."

"It was built in 1910, and has been remodeled three
times," Marianne said, then proceeded to go into detail
about the dates of plumbing and electrical renovations.

But Jeremy wasn't listening; instead, his mind kept
drifting to the pretty backyard, and how perfect it
would be for a toddler to play in.

He thought of how nice the front room would be
with wall-to-wall bookshelves and two overstuffed
chairs, how the side street was within walking distance
to downtown yet off the main streets.

"I like it, too," he said. "A lot."

They walked around a few minutes more, then
drove to a coffee shop named the Payton Mill and sat
in front of the large picture window. "It's got possibilities, Jeremy."

"It does. Do you think it's going to go fast?"

Marianne shrugged. "I hate to predict these things,
but honestly ... maybe."

Mary Beth laughed. "I guess it will all depend on
how long you want to think about it. And how long
you want to live at home," she said softly, with just
enough edge that Jeremy had to laugh.

Like him, he knew Mary Beth loved her parents
dearly ... but would never want to live with them for
any length of time.

"There is that," he said, mentally calculating how
much money he'd managed to save over the passed
two years. He'd made very good money waiting tables
at an exclusive restaurant outside of Columbus, and
even managed to add to it by working as a tutor while
he was student teaching. It wasn't a large amount by
anyone's standards ... but it was just enough to pay
the down payment on a very small home.

Jeremy was just about to try and figure out how
much he could earn over the summer when he noticed
Dinah walking up the sidewalk with Bryan. She had
on crisp white shorts and a tan T-shirt, gold earrings
in her ears, and black sunglasses. She looked slim and
chic. Young and vibrant ... anything but a toddler's
mom. As she approached, she set Bryan on the ground
and let him lumber in front of her.

And then finally they were in the Mill, as well.

"Look who's here," Marianne said with a smile.
"Hey there, Bryan! I like your overalls."

"Say thank you," Dinah said to Bryan before smil ing at Mrs. McKinley. "Hey there, Marianne. How are
you?"

"I'm fine. Just sitting here with Mary Beth and Jeremy Reece ... I believe you know each other?"

Jeremy watched as her easy smile became stilted,
all in the time it took her to meet his gaze. "Hey."

"We've been house hunting. What are y'all up to
today?"

"We've gone on a little bike ride, and now we're
getting set to go to the store for a while."

"Won't you join us?"

Dinah glanced at Jeremy. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," he said, unable to do anything but stare at
her.

Her cheeks turned rosy. "Well, then, let me just go
order some drinks and I'll be right there."

"We'll take Bryan, Di," Mary Beth said, already
scooping up the toddler and talking to him.

Jeremy's heart felt like he'd just run two miles.
There were so many thoughts running through his
head, he didn't know what to think. All he did know
was that it was pretty uncomfortable sitting with Dinah
and Bryan with his sister-in-law there. And Mrs. McKinley, who was friends with Dinah's mom and his.

No telling what was going to get back to his parents.
Yeah, right. Everything was sure to get back to his
parents!

"Jeremy," Marianne said, as if on cue.

"Yes?"

"I just want you to know that I think it's great that
you and Dinah met each other. You both have such
amicable personalities."

He glanced at her in surprise. For once, Marianne
looked completely serious, earnest. "Each of you
needs someone who's bright and sunny. Steady. You
would do well together."

"You don't think the age difference matters?"

"Sure it does," she said with some surprise. "But
doesn't everything? I've yet to come across a couple
who have nothing to overcome. P'all's differences just
happen to be easy to spot."

He was prevented from saying anything by Dinah's
approach. She held a cup of juice in one hand and a
mug of steaming hot coffee in the other.

"Tell me about the houses," she said with a grin.
To Marianne, she said, "Jeremy told me earlier that he
was looking for a place with character."

"I'd dare say he found it," Mary Beth said, handing
Bryan over to Dinah as she sat down. "Jeremy found
the greatest place over on Maple." She went on to
describe it, her mother adding details here and there.

Jeremy kept quiet, choosing to give his attention to
Bryan. The little boy didn't seem to mind being stared
at, at all. In fact, the boy seemed to like him just fine.
He made a note to himself to bring Bryan a box of
animal crackers next time he stopped by Dinah's
bookstore.

He'd just held out his arms to Bryan when the Mill's door opened and Joanne flew in. "Well, look
who stopped by," he muttered. Now he knew for certain that everything that happened was going to get
back to his parents ... as a minute by minute replay.