Page 21 of Sensing Selma
It wasn’t in my nature to eavesdrop. I’d never been one to spy on others, to listen in, even with the promise of juicy gossip.
But now...the need to know about this conversation... I had to know. I had to know how Brad would bring up the topic and how Jeremy would react.
I waited a few seconds, then went inside. Jeremy’s booming voice immediately led me to the larger drawing room down the hall.
I stood silent and listened.
“I was thinking about turning this room into a merch store. You know, postcards of the house and things like that. Tourists love that kind of crap. We could put a counter over there, racks of t-shirts with an image of the house, ballcaps, bags...that sort of thing.”
“Interesting.”
“Of course, we would have to change this ugly and tattered carpeting, and that window...it’s just awful.”
“Speaking of work to be done, I was talking to a contractor yesterday,” Brad said. “Depending on your priorities, we’re looking at an initial investment of about half a million pounds.”
“Come again,” Jeremy shot back, clearly shocked by the number.
“Yeah,” Brad went on.“It’s quite reasonable when you think of all the changes that will have to be done to some of those rooms. The plumbing alone is going to be in the hundreds of thousands. I also mentioned how the wiring in the kitchen would have to be completely ripped out and replaced.”
“Are you telling me that half a million will only buy me toilettes and power outlets?”
“For the most part, but once that’s done, we can really put our minds to the actual remodeling.”
“And the cost of that?”
“He said it could be about twenty-five thousand pounds.”
“Sounds good.”
“Per room.”
“What?”
I leaned against the wall just outside the drawing room and smiled. Brad wasn’t taking a confrontational approach. He was actually giving his brother what he wanted, and then some.I couldn’t help admiring him, as that was usually my approach.
“Well, if you want the work to be well done. I mean, we’ll have carpeting to pull out, windows to change, all that good stuff.”
“Hang on, little brother.”
For a few moments, all I heard were footsteps, presumably Jeremy’s as he paced under the burden of this news.
“Here’s the thing, Brad,” Jeremy finally said. “Did I tell you how much I wanted to invest in this thing?”
“You just said you were ready to do what had to be done to make your vision come true.”
“Well...yes. However...”
“However...what? What aren’t you telling me, Jeremy?”
“Half a million pounds for toilettes and outlets. That’s a hefty price.”
“These men don’t work for crumbs, Jeremy. These guys are professional. You want the job done right, don’t you?”
“Yeah, but...we’ll need to raise more funds.”
“All right,” Brad said. “And how do you propose we do that?”
“I don’t know, Brad. I can’t think of everything. I mean, I got the house. Now, you do something.”
