Page 86 of The Publicity Stunt

"I'm so sorry," Bri says and looks around the room. "How many grandchildren?"

"Eighteen."

Her eyes widen. "Wow."

"Wow, indeed," she says. "The doorframe over there has their heights and ages every time they came to visit. I have one upstairs for my children, too."

"It was a ranch?"

She nods, and her puffy curls look like clouds on top of her head. "For the past two hundred and some years. Unfortunately, none of our boys wanted to take over the family business, and they've all moved away. My husband fell ill, and we had to sell the cattle to make ends meet. He passed away six months ago."

"How long were you married?"

"Fifty-two years."

"I'm sorry for your loss. Not just your husband but the family business. I know how it can be. My grandfather was a rancher, and he was the last line of his family to bust his butt raising cattle. My father opted for another line of business, and he couldn't get anyone who wanted to buy him out and take over."

Smiling, Mildred shakes her head. "You didn't want to buy his land?"

"He passed away when I was ten. The land was sold off to a developer for a pretty penny, and there's a small community on a golf course where I remember watching Grandpa out with bulls. I'd love to buy it, but it's ruined now."

She looks around the house and sighs. "The house is kind of falling apart, isn't it?"

"It has a lot of time on its bones. It's a beautiful house, and there are pieces I'd like to try and keep. Like the fireplace I saw in the living room."

"And you won't sell off the land?"

Bri shakes her head no. "It's the best part of the place."

"I haven't had many offers outside of developers, and Jerry would roll over in his grave if I sold it to one of them. To see it pieced out breaks my heart. My realtor tells me it's priced too high."

"I do have an issue with the price. Just a small one. Do you feel the place is worth the price you have it listed at?"

Sighing, Mildred wraps her hands around her mug as it sits on the table. "Honestly?"

"Please."

"I think it's priced too low. Sure, the house needs work, but there's a lot of land. My realtor strongarmed me into listing it as it sits. But he's getting frustrated because I refuse to lower it or take the developers' offers."

"I agree with you," she says and smiles. "That's why I didn't want to have this discussion with our realtors. There's so much history here, and I wanted to hear about it. With them, it comes down to dollars, and memories of the place don't factor into the price with them. But it does for me. I can tell this place is really important to you as more than just a house. It's been your home for many, many years, and selling it has to be extremely difficult. Unless you have strong objections, I'd really like to purchase your place."

Her eyes widen. "You do?"

"And I want to purchase it for the price you feel it's worth."

"But you don't know how much that is."

Smiling, she pulls out a piece of paper and a pen. "Write it down for me?"

Mildred takes the pen and writes down a number still lower than Bri expected. Adding twenty-five percent, she slides it back to her. "I can certainly make that work. Here's what we're going to do. You're going to call your realtor and let him know you have someone interested in the place. You want to up the price to this number. My realtor will work with yours to negotiate down, and this gives us some leeway to get you the amount you want for it. My finance guy will have a fit if I don't let them negotiate, so this works best. You'll get what you want for your family's legacy, and I won't have a headache listening to him complain to me."

"Are you sure, Ms. Waters?"

"Bri, please. And I'm positive."

"I'll go call her right now."

Bri smiles and sighs, leaning back in the chair to look around. She wants a family home, and while she won't be moving into the house as-is, the history of the place will remain untarnished. That's what's important.

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