Jess turned the corner on Maple and Spruce Street toward her destination. "Almost there".. She reached over to the radio to turn up the song that was playing.. Humming along, and rapping her fingers on the steering wheel to the beat of the music, she couldn't help but smile broadly.. "If anyone sees me, they're going to think I'm nuts!!" Jess laughed out loud.. truth was, she didn't care who saw her today, or what they thought.. "Today is the day... Today is the day!"
At the end of Spruce, past the old cemetery and just before Grove Street there it stood.. What she had been working so hard for, sweated for, prayed many hours over.. The old Victorian! She pulled her Mini-Van over and parked in front of the property. She sat just staring.. hardly believing this was it.. She reached for her bag and opened the van door. The first thing she noticed was that it was such a quiet neighborhood. Large, old family homes as far as the eye could see.. Trees, flowers, perfectly landscaped yards everywhere.. "I'm so glad the old owners kept up the landscaping, but I'm going to need to get a lawn mower quick" Jess thought.
The porch filled the front of the house. "Just waiting for some lovely white wicker furniture and some tables and maybe some hanging pots of flowers".. Jess said out-loud to herself. Jess had dreamed so many times of how it would look.. She closed her eyes and could see all that she had been dreaming.. She opened her eyes and reality hit her hard. "This is going to take some work, but I'm ready".
Jess pulled open the old screened door, which promptly fell at her feet. "Ok, well.. new door it is" she said as she lay the door on the porch. Jess reached into her bag and pulled out the old key. She reached for the door and slowly put the key into the lock. She closed her eyes and turned the handle. She had waited so long, she wanted this moment to last, to be in her memory forever.. She stopped, lowered her head and prayed "Lord, thank you, thank you".. Tears began to run down her cheeks as she prayed. "Lord, only you could have accomplished all of this.. I only have you to thank.. and thank you seems so small".. She turned the handle all the way and began to open the door..and took one step forward..
"Hey there!" Jess spun and ran directly into Chase Baxter. "You scared the life out of me! What are you doing here?" "You didn't think I would miss this, did you?" Chase said with his crooked smile. "Look, if your here to make fun"... Chase put his fingers to Jess's lips.. "No, honestly I'm not here to make fun, but I couldn't miss this.. Suddenly there was a large thud.. Both Jess and Chase turned and looked in the direction of the sound. "Are you here alone?" Chase asked. "Yes, I came by myself.. who do you think...?" Chase moved in front of Jess and made his way past the door. Standing in the grand entry he looked up the large stair case. "You stay here and I'll check it out" he said as he began to move toward the stairs. "No way, who or whatever is up there can just as easily run down here, then I would be by myself.. I'm going with you" Jess said as she walked up and stood next to Chase.. "Fine, but stay behind me".. They began their slow ascension up the stairs. each step creaked and cracked.. Chase leaned over and whispered, "quiet stairs you've got here". Jess just rolled her eyes, for a long as she could remember, Chase was always teasing her about one thing or another. "Keep moving" she said as she poked him in the back.
The arrived at the first landing where they heard the same thud again.. "Sounds like it's on the third floor" Chase said. "Yes, I think you're right".. Chase and Jess finished the climb to the second level and walked down the short hall that overlooked the grand entry. Jess looked down at the black and white marble floors below.. "Isn't it lovely?" she said as they continued to walk.. "Lovely?" Chase questioned as he began to brush cob webs and dust from his face, "if you say so, personally I think you would have been better if you leveled the place and started over".. "Chase! How can you say such a thing?!..." THUD!!.. There it was again.
Chase looked worried, and that made Jess worried. "Look, you stay here.. If anything happens, you can duck into one of these rooms" Chase put out his hand and pointed to one of the bedrooms.. "No way, this is my house, and I'm going with you".. "You never did listen to me". Chase said as he shrugged his shoulders and continued to move forward.
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