“Yeah, we know that, but to the Navajo, it probably just sounds like a cover story. So he’s having to tread cautiously. That’s all.”
I had to admit to not being very knowledgeable about Navajo politics, so I decided to let it go for the moment. Clearly, Lester was doing a good job under difficult circumstances. I was impatient to find my father, if he really was on the reservation at all, but I told myself it was fine, that we still had six months to get everything resolved. All the time in the world.
So why did it feel like time was running out?
* * *
The next day we did get a piece of good news, though — the title search was completed, and now all we had to do was sign off on the paperwork and initiate the money transfer.
All. That was a joke.
I didn’t recall there being a great deal to do when I inherited Great-Aunt Ruby’s house, maybe because it was simply an inheritance, and her will had been very clear. Yes, I’d signed a few papers, just to make everything legal, but that was about it.
Now, though, I sat in the realtor’s office and put my signature to what felt like an unending pile of papers with teeny type — “initial here…sign here” — until I felt like my eyes were about to start bleeding. “If it’s like this when we’re not even getting a mortgage, how many papers do you have to sign if you’re actually taking out a loan?” I asked plaintively.
Connor looked like he was holding in a laugh, and the realtor gave me an indulgent smile. “Quite a few more, I’m afraid,” she replied.
I held in a sigh and went back to signing.
Eventually, though, it was all done, the transfer of funds processed, every “i” dotted and “t” crossed. After what felt like all afternoon but was probably closer to an hour an a half, the realtor pushed a set of keys and a couple of remote controls — for the garage, presumably — toward us.
“You’re all set,” she said. “Congratulations.”
Feeling a little stunned at the speed with which everything had happened, we headed out toward the parking lot. Then Connor threw his arms around me, lifted me up, and spun me around. I let out a startled squeak and burst out laughing.
“Put me down, you nut,” I told him.
Which he did, but not before he gave me a hearty kiss. “I guess I just can’t believe that we actually have that house. I mean, we could drive down there right now, unlock the door, and walk in.”
And so we did, wandering through the rooms, making notes here and there on the few pieces we didn’t like or thought we should replace.
“We’re definitely getting a new bed,” I said, gazing around the master bedroom. “Sleeping on someone else’s bed is just creepy, especially someone who’s getting a divorce. Who knows how many fights they had while lying in that bed. It’s bad juju.”
“I agree. I’ll put that on the list for tomorrow. There’s a place in town that’ll do same-day delivery. It’s where I got my bed. Are you okay with another one just like it?”
Connor’s bed was super-comfy. “Sure.”
“Then that means we can probably be here — really be here, starting on Saturday.”
I gazed around, taking in the stone fireplace, the gleaming wooden floors. Yes, I had the house in Jerome, but in the back of my head it was still “Great-Aunt Ruby’s house,” despite all the remodeling I’d done and was currently doing. This place — it was ours, Connor’s and mine, and I vowed then that we’d be happy here for whatever time we had together.
But no, I shouldn’t be thinking like that. Everything with the house had gone smoothly, and so I had to believe it would happen that way with the search for my father, even if it was taking a little longer than I would have liked.
We went back to the apartment and called Lucas with the good news, and then I phoned Sydney as well, and made dutiful calls to Margot Emory and my aunt.
Margot took the news with equanimity, only asking when I thought I’d be back in Jerome, but Rachel didn’t handle it quite so well.
“I just can’t believe that you really did it,” she said. “Your place is here, Angela.”
“And it will be, for half the year. And the other half I’ll be here in Flagstaff, as is only fair. Everyone will learn to adapt over time.
She didn’t reply right away, and I could tell she was thinking basically the same thing I’d been thinking only a short while earlier…that there might not be all that much time to work with.
But she didn’t bring it up, thank the Goddess, and so after a few more reassurances, I hung up, glad that was over with.