Page 131 of Perfect Chemistry

“What are you two hiding?” I asked, squinting my eyes and looking back and forth between the two.

“Pop wants to take you to look at a house,” Kai confessed.

I pursed my lips at the two. “Where is this house?”

Tom smiled, “It’s just down the road from your place. Come on, let’s go take a look!”

We shuffled the kids back out the door and loaded up into the van again. I sat in the back with Tysan and Ivy until we got to my parents’ house. My mom was outside waiting for the grandkids. Our parents alternated taking the kids one night each week so that we could run errands or go out on the occasional date night.

I handed her their bags and gave them all kisses and hugs before we were back on the road. When Tom said the house was just down the road, I didn’t realize he meant it literally. Three blocks to be specific. My jaw dropped when I saw it.

“Tom, this place is huge! What the hell are you going to do with this much house?” I asked, laughing. I had looked at the listing when it went on the market. It had five bedrooms, three and half baths and sat on a huge two acre lot.

“Well,” Kai started. “What if we moved, too?”

I couldn’t stop my jaw from dropping. “Seriously? Kai, that was your grandmother’s house-”

“And I wouldn’t be selling it,” he cut me off. “My brother wants to move closer to us, so they would obviously take it over.”

“What about the workshop?” I asked. My workshop was my livelihood.

“Leave it. Paul and Jack already said they’d help convert the old stables into a workshop and I could use a portion for a home office.”

“I thought you couldn’t have a home office because of zoning,” I reminded him.

Kai nodded, remembering the discussion we had had several years back. “I can’t see patients in our house. That is true. But if we use the stable for our respective business fronts, it’s not a problem.”

He knew I was wavering as my eyes scanned over the massive barn-like structure behind the house. “The noise, Kai. My equipment is loud.”

“Soundproofing,” Tom interjected. “They make material now that could hide a drum corps in the next room. Stop fighting it, Katiedid. You don’t have enough space with the one you have, so this is a step in the right direction, either way.”

The two of them guided me around the property. It was a gorgeous house and it had a lot of potential, but there was a lot of work that needed to be done for us to make it ours. There was an inground pool and hot tub behind the house (both of which needed serious servicing), a bocce ball court and weathered horseshoe pits.

“What is that?” I asked, pointing to the tiniest house I had ever seen outside of a television program.

“That would be our one and only tenant. The electricity, water and sewage are all separate from the main house, so they are responsible for that,” Kai explained.

“What happens if we buy the property?” I asked, not wanting to be someone’s landlord, literally or figuratively. “Are they willing to move?”

“No. Not only will they not move, but they’re the seller. So if they don’t approve the conditions, no one can even rent the house,” Tom whispered.

I looked at them in shock. “What are they asking that no one has been able to buy this place in ten months?”

“Well, first, we’d have to guarantee access to whatever food we have in the fridge…” Kai said.

“WHAT?!” I half yelled.

Tom pulled me under his arm. “That’s not even half of it. That old som a gun wants to play with your kids and teach ’em how to swim.”

I lost my shit. “HAVE THEY LOST THEIR DAMN MIND?!?” I started screaming, as the realtor came out the back door.

“Oh! It’s you Mr. Johnson. I heard hollering and I wanted to make sure there weren’t any issues. Are these the buyers you were talking about?” The man in a suit asked, smiling at first Kai and then me.

“Close your mouth, Katie. I can’t help that I have such high standards for neighbors. You don’t know what kind of crazy could be living next door,” Tom said, shaking his head at me.

“You?” I sucked in a breath when it all clicked.

“Me,” Tom confirmed, nodding smugly.

---