Page 19 of Out of the Shadow

When she opens her arms, he brings her in for an embrace, and then she moves over to hug me.

I clear my throat. “Congratulations on making your decision. Why don’t we go back to the office and I can write up your offer to get this process moving forward?”

“Sounds good.” Abbey takes one last look around, squeezes King’s bicep for good measure, and the three of us return to the office.

All the paperwork completed, Abbey thanks both me and King again and leaves. I call the seller’s agent to place her offer on the condo and am told I should hear back within the hour. Since Abbey agreed to pay full asking, I’m pretty confident she’ll soon be calling it home.

After everything’s done but the waiting, I look over at King, who is once again deep in his studies. Yes, he annoyed me a lot today. Yes, he said some inappropriate things. But there’s no denying he helped me make the more expensive sale.

Stowing my cell phone in my pocket, I head over to his desk. “How did you like working in the field today?”

“I surprised myself,” he says, eyes sparkling as he looks up at me. “It was actually fun.”

“Not every outing ends with an offer.”

“I know, but it was a good first time.” He smiles, those lines appearing at the corners of his eyes again. “You popped my real estate cherry.”

I roll my eyes at him. “Yeah, well, you only get one first chance, so I’m glad it was good for you.”

He chuckles and tosses his pen onto the desk. “Tell me about your first time.”

The way he looks at me, I almost think he’s asking about my first sexual encounter. A memory of Dante and me floats through my brain for only a second before I shut it down. “It wasn’t as good as yours. I shadowed Aunt Teresa, my mentor-broker, and we saw five houses that day. The client didn’t like any of them.”

“That sucks.”

“Yeah, well, that’s how it works out most of the time. As I said, you got lucky. This was my second outing with Abbey.”

“Are you happy with her selection?”

Shocked that he’d asked me that, I reply truthfully. “Personally, I couldn’t live in a studio, no matter how gorgeous the view. I liked the first place.”

He nods. “I liked the second one the best, because of all the space. The view is nice at the one she bought, but who would want to be in such a tiny place all the time? Hope she’s a neat freak. She’s going to have to be.”

His words bring me up short. Back at the condo, he’d seemed so earnest, so off the cuff. “You’re a much better actor than you give yourself credit for, King. I never would’ve guessed those were your true feelings.”

He shrugs. “We’re here to sell an illusion to people. It’s more about how a place makes them feel than it is about the features or amenities. Abbey wants to feel like she’s part of the town, never mind that it will never embrace her.”

His words stop me cold. “What? Why would you say that?” For all its faults, the town is beautiful, with amazing shops and restaurants. Abbey should fit right in.

“She doesn’t have the background people like Poppy Mayflower are looking for.”

I stiffen at the mention of Aroostook’s Realtor of the Year. “Who the hell cares what Poppy thinks? Abbey is a good, solid woman who does important work as an ER nurse. She will contribute so much to this community.”

He waves his hand. “I know Poppy, and she doesn’t really care about stuff like that. Neither do those in her sphere of influence, which, I understand, is pretty big out here.”

My hands ball at my hips. “Well, if the old guard doesn’t like it, they can take their snotty asses out of town and leave Aroostook to real women like Abbey.” Like me.

“Hey,” he said, lifting up his hands, palms facing outward. “I didn’t say I agree with her, just how things are around here.”

“I think it’s high time those things change.” I stomp my foot and then catch myself. What am I, a two-year-old throwing a temper tantrum? “Sorry. You hit a trigger for me.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Needing to change the subject, I ask about his plans for the test. He picks up his pen and plays with it. It strikes me that it’s a sign of nerves, something I haven’t seen before in the all-too-confident King. “Well, I’m taking the school’s test tomorrow, and I’m scheduled to take the state test on Friday. Wish me luck.”

“Wow. That was fast. I’ve seen you studying, so I’m sure you’ll do fine. Good luck.”

“Thanks.”

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