Three Christmas Wishes. Sheila Roberts

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СКАЧАТЬ She dashed for the bathroom and shut herself in. She was never coming out.

      She kept her vow until she heard her front door open, followed by the sound of voices, one feminine, the other masculine. Mrs. Bing and the interloper. Suddenly Noel had no idea what to do. Should she stay in the bathroom with the door locked? Ha! Not a bad plan. They’d both try the door and not be able to open it, yet another sign of a flawed house.

      “This was my mother’s home,” Mrs. Bing said. “She lived in it for fifty years. As you can see, it has a lot of charm.”

      Dear God, please let him be blind.

      Footsteps moved from the hall into the living room and Noel opened the door and stuck her head out, trying to hear.

      “Windows will have to be replaced,” said the voice.

      Yes, too expensive. You don’t want a house where you have to replace the windows.

      “What the hell?”

      He must’ve seen the rats. Hee, hee.

      “Oh, my!” cried Mrs. Bing. “We’ve never had rats in this house.”

      Noel crept down the hall and peered around the door frame into the living room. There was Mrs. Bing in all her glory, wearing a faux fur coat over a tentlike green dress that made her look like a Christmas tree. Atop that Christmas tree sat a face like a pumpkin with Chia Pet hair.

      Next to her stood a tall, dark-haired man with a body to match his manly voice. He wore jeans and a black sweater and an old, leather jacket and had black stubble on his chin. His eyes were brown. And his mouth...it was lifted in a half smile.

      “Those are domestic,” he said, and pointed to the cage.

      Darn. Why hadn’t she hidden the stupid cage? Oh, yeah. Terror.

      “That’s impossible,” Mrs. Bing said in shock. “Noel knows I have a no-pet policy.”

      Noel decided it was time to show herself. “I’m keeping them for a friend. She’s a teacher. She’s coming to get them tonight.”

      “Why are they out of the cage?” Mrs. Bing demanded.

      Jailbreak? Noel had a very creative mind; why couldn’t she think of something? “Um, the latch on their door must have jiggled loose.” Did that sound lame to anyone besides her?

      “Well, put them back,” Mrs. Bing ordered.

      “Now?” She’d have a heart attack right here.

      “Don’t worry,” said the interloper. “I’ll get ’em.”

      She watched as he chased down the first rat and bent to pick up the disgusting little squeaker. Nice butt. Oh, who cared?

      “You didn’t need to be home,” Mrs. Bing told Noel as the unwanted visitor scooped up Useless Rat Number Two and stuck him back in the cage with Useless Rat Number One.

      “I was done shopping,” Noel said. “I wanted to come home and...check for leaks.” Ha! Brilliant. No one would want to buy a house with leaks.

      Mrs. Bing’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “When did you notice a leak, Noel?”

      Noel’s guilty conscience started a fire on her cheeks. “I thought I saw water the day before yesterday. In the kitchen.”

      “Really.” Mrs. Bing was not fooled.

      The rats were safely in the cage now. “Let’s go look,” said the interloper.

      So they all trooped out to the kitchen to look.

      The kitchen was as cheerful and warm as ever with its yellow walls. Noel and Riley had painted those walls last summer. She’d even sprung for the paint herself. All the love she’d been pouring into this house and Mrs. Bing was going to sell it out from under her just like that. Mrs. Bing was an ingrate.

      “Where exactly was the leak?” asked Mrs. Bing.

      “Uh, over by the window. I think.”

      The interloper gave the window and surrounding wall a checkup. “No signs of water damage. But the counters need replacing.”

      “The counters are fine,” Noel informed him and he raised an eyebrow.

      “Come on. I’ll show you the rest of the house,” Mrs. Bing said. “Noel, you can wait down here.”

      “That’s okay. I’ll come with you,” Noel said. Her rent was paid up. She had every right to join the home tour.

      They walked from room to room, the interloper seeing ways he could change every one.

      “You know, this house is very nice just as it is,” Noel informed him.

      The interloper cocked his head. “Yeah? Then why don’t you buy it?”

      “I want to. Mrs. Bing knows that,” Noel said and looked accusingly at her landlady.

      Mrs. Bing’s cheeks turned rosy. “Noel, if you had the money I’d sell it to you.”

      “Noel, pretty name,” said the interloper. He thrust out a hand for her to shake. “Mine’s Ben, Ben Fordham.”

      Noel put her own hands behind her back. “What do you intend to do with this house, Ben Fordham?”

      “I intend to fix it up.”

      “And then what? It needs a family, people to live in it and love it.” Okay, she was lecturing now.

      No, no. She wasn’t lecturing. She was getting in touch with her inner Marvella Monster, chasing away a predator.

      He held up his left hand. “Not married.”

      “Well, then...” Suddenly it dawned. “You don’t want this house for yourself. You’re going to flip it.”

      “I’m going to fix it up and sell it to a family who will love it.”

      Fix it up? Ha! He was going to destroy its character. Noel turned to Mrs. Bing. “Mrs. Bing, please don’t sell the house to this...this...Scrooge. He only wants it so he can make a profit. Please let me rent to own or give me time to come up with a down payment. I love this place. I’ll take care of it.”

      “I saw how you’re taking care of it with the dirty dishes on the counter,” Mrs. Bing said, pursing her lips.

      “I never have dirty dishes on the counter, really. That was...” Noel was aware of Ben the Bad Man looking at her.

      “Camouflage?” he guessed. “Like the rats and the so-called leak.”

      She wasn’t too proud to beg. “I’m sure you can find other houses to buy.”

      “Of course I can,” he said, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Until he added, “But not at this price СКАЧАТЬ