“Ok, I accept your terms. Happily, in fact.”
Christine smiled and leaned back in her chair. “Sounds like I made the offer a little too good. In a good business deal both parties are supposed to be a little disappointed in the end. But judging by the looks on our faces, it seems all three of us are happy with the end result.”
Christine stood up and poured three shots of bourbon. “Here’s to success and long, healthy lives.” She raised her shot glass and Erin could see the all too familiar look of pain on her face. Erin lost her dad a few years ago herself and she knew the toll it could take on ones mind and body. Granted, Erin’s dad was a rabble-rouser of epic proportions and cheated on her mother on numerous occasions, but it was still her Daddy and when he passed she was crushed. Erin downed her shot and winced, then said a silent prayer for both her Daddy and Christine’s.
“So, do you want to leave me your information?” Christine asked. “I can have a lawyer draft up a contract and I will send it to you.”
Erin placed her shot glass down. “ Actually, I don’t intend to leave. If it’s ok with you I would like to get this done as soon as possible.”
Christine nodded and then turned to Cindy. “This one here is just like you fifteen years ago.” Cindy blushed. "Oh knock it off, stop teasing me."
Christine turned her attention back to Erin. “Sounds good to me. How about I call up my lawyer tomorrow and have him draw up some papers? I think you should find your own lawyer and make sure they see any contracts before you sign. Or, if it's easier for you, since this is just a simple contract, you can pick somebody back home and have them look at it before you sign. It’s up to you.”
Erin thought of her uncle Theodore and his law practice in Indiana. He mostly handled divorce and family court matters, but she was sure he could recommend someone to look at the contract. Of course, if she called him he would try and talk her out of her decision. Perhaps she was afraid he would succeed, so she decided it might be better to find a local attorney for the job. She wasn't overly concerned anyway; she didn’t think the two women were trying to cheat her in any way.
“Sounds good,” Erin said. The three woman exchanged handshakes and Christine told her she would call Erin in the morning with further details. Erin thanked the two of them and headed out of the barn and into stepped into the setting sunlight.
“I’m home,” she sighed. “Finally home.”
☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼
"How much repair with the cabin need?"
Erin was talking to her attorney, a local man named Greg Wilson. She had walked down the main street in town and stopped at the first lawyer’s office she came upon. When she knocked on the office door and was greeted by a cherubic man sporting a scholarly appearance, she introduced herself and asked if he could handle a real estate transaction. Greg Wilson informed her that not only could he handle her real estate transaction, it just happened to be his specialty. Erin hired him on the spot and he dispatched his inspector out to view the property this morning. She'd just driven into town for an update.
“My inspector called me this morning and told me the cabin wouldn’t need as many repairs as we initially thought,” Wilson said. “It still will need a lot of work, of course, but nothing that should take too much time, nor cost too much money.”
“Well, that’s certainly a relief." While Erin's enthusiasm over the cabin had yet to wane, she was beginning to realize just how much money her new life was going to cost.
Wilson looked at his watch. "We have an appointment at 10:30 with the loan officer. Would you like to head over there now?"
"Sure, it never hurts to be a few minutes early."
The transaction thus far had gone smoothly, with only one minor bump on the road thus far. It turned out that one of Christine’s cousins, a biker named Jack Riggins, was currently living in the cabin and acting as a sort of caretaker for the property. Christine told Erin she would instruct him to leave the property as soon as the papers were signed. Erin was in no hurry to have somebody evicted from their home, even if it was just a temporary one and she told Christine to hold off on the eviction, at least for now.
"Okay Erin, before we go in to the bank I just want to remind you that you don't have to accept any terms you aren't comfortable with. If anything, and I do mean anything, on the purchase agreement feels funny to you, then don't sign it. We can always come back and iron out the details, okay?"
"Sure thing!"
Wilson held the door to the bank open for Erin and she thought she caught him taking a glance at her cleavage as she walked by. Guess men out here are more or less the same as back home, she thought to herself.