Playing the 'Son' Card (9 page)

Tony spoke for them. “Well, Mr.
Evanson, it would appear that my clients seem to like the house.
We’re going to go back to my office, and I may be able to
communicate an offer to you later on today.”

Now, I liked the sound of that, but
I remembered what my mom had told me about her ability to write
offers at the scene, and how it had made a difference in the past.
I gave the Johnstons and Tony one of my best smiles.

“Mr. Marconi,” I started, speaking
directly to him, “I, ah, have the ability to hook up to the real
estate board, and produce a written offer, right in my car. I’ve
got the computer hookup and a printer, and we could do it right
here, if you are pressed for time.”

I saw him looking a little
uncertain, and maybe even just a little annoyed. I scrambled to
undo any potential damage I’d done. “But of course, it’s entirely
up to you. I just offered in case it would help,” I said quickly,
now feeling extra nervous and very uncertain.

“Sorry if I...” My voice trailed off
as I struggled in vain to find the right words.

The look on Tony’s face brightened,
as if to indicate that he did not take offence. “No, no, Mr.
Evanson. I appreciate the offer. Thanks.”

I spoke quickly again, to give them
some space. “I’ll just wait out by my car, to give you a little
time to talk again,” I said.

I turned and walked away, before I
could do any more damage. That they liked the house was great, and
I was pleased with how well I’d handled that, but now I was
concerned that I was going to undo all the good I’d done. I could
only hope that I could make it up to my mom somehow.

Less than two minutes later they
were walking towards me, still with pleasant looks on their faces.
I almost sighed out loud with relief that they might still like the
house enough to buy it.

Tony looked especially pleased as he
spoke. “Mr. Evanson, we’d like to take you up on your offer, if
that’s okay. Writing the offer now will give the Johnstons just a
little more time, and they really need it.”

I was thrilled and terror stricken
at the same time. I was happy that they still wanted to make an
offer, and really worried about my ability to remember what my mom
had shown me three days before, and do it up right.

Still, I had made the offer, and now
I had to go through with it. “Sure. Of course.” I said, more
confidently than I felt.

The SUV was still unlocked, and I
indicated the car with my hand, saying, “If you’d like to have a
seat, I’ll get this all up and running in just a couple of
minutes.”

Voicing their assent and their
thanks, all three of them climbed in, with Tony planting himself in
the passenger seat as I brought out mom’s laptop. I set up the
printer on the dash as I was waiting for the laptop to get
connectivity.

In less than two minutes, I had the
clicked on the right icons, and the link, and had the real estate
board’s ‘Offer to Purchase’ form up on the screen.

“So,” I said, “If you can just give
the information I need as I ask for it, I’ll fill it in, and we can
print this up. As Mr. Marconi can see, this is the standard form
recommended for use by the Real Estate Board of Northwest
Washington.”

Tony duly noted his approval. “Mr.
and Mrs. Johnston, this is the standard form, and this is what we
would be using in the office, as well.”

“Quite impressive that you can do
that right here, Mr. Evanson,” was the husband’s
comment.

Thanking him, I called out for the
information I needed. Full legal names, address, social security
numbers, and other identifying information. Then the clauses;
subject to an inspection within a week, subject to financing within
two weeks, subject to possible verification of all statements made
and written assertions made during the inspection tour on Sunday
17th of April (that was today), subject to a verification of
municipal planning area status within a week, and finally subject
to acceptance by the vendor within 48 hours. A closing date of the
25th of June, and finally, the amount.

I dutifully filled in ‘two hundred,
twenty-three thousand’ in the appropriate space. I had a moment to
realize that was only six thousand less than the asking price. I
only learned later that such a high offer was extremely
unusual.

“Anything else, Mr. Marconi?” He’d
been watching carefully as I went through the form. Fortunately, it
was self-prompting, so it was easy for me to do.

“No. That looks great, Troy. Nice
work.” He was back to using my first name. I supposed that was
good.

I made sure the paper was correctly
positioned, and hit the buttons to print four copies. I thought my
mom had said something about three, but I figured it was better to
ask for one more.

“I’m doing four copies, if that
sounds okay,” I announced. “That’ll give one for you, Tony, and one
for the Johnstons, along with two for me.”

“Super,” Tony agreed. “That’s
perfect.”

The forms came out of the printer,
three pages for each copy. I handed them all to Tony, and produced
a stapler from the bag that the printer was kept in. He got to work
stapling them all together. At this point, I decided, it was now up
to him. He was the buyers agent, and all I had done was produce the
paperwork for him.

Tony finished assembling the forms,
and then suggested to the Johnstons that they step out of the car,
and review the forms before signing.

I sat back as they got out, more
worried than ever, but slightly hopeful that it would all still
work out. I could not believe my own audacity and what I had done
over the last hour and half. I was half afraid he’d turn around,
and call my bluff, saying that he now realized that I was a kid,
and that he was going to report me for everything I’d
done.

But that didn’t happen.

Instead, I watched them on the hood
of the SUV. Tony pulled out a pen, and they all started signing the
papers. With a great deal of relief and disbelief that this was
actually happening, I got out of the driver’s seat, and stood
waiting for them.

When they were all done, Tony gave
the Johnstons their copy and handed two copies to me.

“Here you are, Troy.” He shook my
hand. “I want to thank you very much for all of your efforts this
morning. Please pass on my best to Liz when you see her, and let
her know that it will be a pleasure for me to work with her to
complete this transaction.”

Now I was back in my comfort zone,
and could handle the formal thanks. “Thank you, Tony, and thank you
very much Mr. and Mrs. Johnston. I enjoyed meeting you all this
morning. I hope you will have a good flight back to Boston, and I
will let Tony know just as soon as I can about the
acceptance.”

I knew the sellers had to accept the
offer, but I had no idea when my mom would be able to talk to them.
I could only hope that it would be within the 48 hours, but I kind
of thought she’d know how to reach them quickly if
necessary.

There were wide smiles on the faces
of the buyers as we all shook hands.

Mrs. Johnston had a final comment.
“Thank you again, Mr. Evanson, for all of your efforts this
morning, and for getting out here so quickly on this holiday to
help us out. We’ve really enjoyed meeting you, and you are
certainly giving Bellingham a good name.”

Tony’s smile was broad and genuine
as he listened to his client.

I looked at all of them, and said,
“Well, thank you all. I’ve got Tony’s contact information, and
we’ll get back to you just as quickly as we can.”

They headed back to their car, and
took off, leaving me standing beside mom’s car in something
approaching shock.

I must have stood unmoving for a
couple of minutes before I headed back into the house to check out
that it was all secured properly. I saw that Tony had left one of
his cards on the kitchen table with the feature sheets, so I left
one of mine with it.

A couple of minutes later, having
satisfied myself that everything was all secure, I climbed back in
to the driver’s seat of mom’s SUV. I had to pause for a moment to
calm myself down. Then I unhooked the printer and computer and put
everything away.

I put my two copies of the document
in a large envelope, and labeled it with the words ‘Offer to
Purchase,’ and the address of the house.

With that, I was ready to drive back
to Jack and Sally’s. I should have been more confident, but in fact
I was more nervous. However, I managed to make it back safely to
their driveway and park the car where it had been.

I climbed out, with the envelope in
hand, and headed inside. For better or worse, I had done what I
did, and I could only hope that my mom would eventually forgive me
for all the rules I’d broken. I only hoped there would be an
upside.

CHAPTER

12

“Okay, guys,” I called out from the
front entrance way. “I’m back.”

I’d expected to have to go find
them, but my words brought an almost instant response. The sound of
running footsteps greeted my ears.

Jesse reached me first, and gave me
a hug. “Hi, Troy. I love you. I’m glad you’re back and you’re
okay.”

“Whoa, there, Jesse. Are you okay?”
I turned to Trevor. “Is everything okay around here,
Trevor?”

He’d reached his arms around me,
too. He looked up at me. “Sure, Troy. Everything’s great. I’m just
glad you’re okay. I was a little worried, is all.”

I suddenly realized that they’d been
concerned about me driving or something, and I felt bad that I’d
put them through the worry.

I hugged them back as I responded.
“Sure, you two, I’m just fine. No problems with ‘anything’ I did
after I left here, or with the showing of the house that I just
did. I’m sorry if I had you two worried.”

I realized that I really loved these
two boys, and how much I cared for them, and how much they cared
for me. I really was a fortunate kid to have these two in my
life.

After a moment in the group hug,
Trevor spoke.

“Ah, Troy, I have lunch pretty much
ready to go in the kitchen. I figured to try and have it ready for
when you got back, and since you’re pretty much on time, it’s
almost ready.”

I released him, but Jesse still
clung to me. “Wow, Trevor, that’s terrific.”

“Come on,” he said. “Jesse, let him
go.”

Jesse unwrapped his arms, but pulled
me by the hand to the kitchen. “See, Troy? Trevor is making grilled
cheese sandwiches and soup.”

I took in the soup warming on the
stove and the making for the sandwiches all laid out and ready to
go. Not only that, but the table was all set with utensils, glasses
and napkins.

“Nice work, Trevor. I’m
impressed.”

A wide smile was his response as he
got busy. He put the large grill on the stove to do the sandwiches
and turned up the heat under the soup.

I went over and sat at the table. I
was a little overwhelmed by everything that had happened in the
last two hours, and I was starting to feel it
physically.

I looked over at the boys. “So, how
did your playing of video games go while I was gone this
morning?”

Trevor looked at Jesse with a
knowing glance, and replied. “Well, we played our games the whole
time you were gone, Troy.”

Then, his voice grew intense. “I
can’t believe you drove!”

“I’m not sure I can believe it,
either,” I responded. “It’s sure a good thing you two didn’t see
me, because otherwise your parents might have got upset,
right?”

“Oh, yeah,” agreed Jesse.

“Well, maybe,” added Trevor. “They
might not be that totally upset, you know. My mom and dad think
you’re just the most amazing young man that they know. I heard them
talking.”

I took that in. “Well, the reaction
might not be so bad, but it’ll be better if my mom says something
to them, and then you two can react surprised, like you were so
busy you didn’t notice.”

“Like that would be unusual for us,”
laughed Trevor.

“So, Troy,” queried Jesse. “Was it
cool? To drive, I mean.”

“It was scary,” was my honest
answer. “I did okay, and I didn’t have any problem, but it was
still scary the whole time. I really don’t want to do that again
anytime soon.”

Trevor expertly flipped a sandwich
and then turned to me. “So, Troy, how did it go? The showing the
house, I mean.”

I could not have stopped smiling if
I wanted to.

“That good, was it?” He looked
pleased as he spoke.

“Did you sell a house, Troy?” Jesse
wanted to know.

Trevor answered before I could
speak. “It doesn’t really work like that, Jesse. First they have to
look at the house, and then they go back and look again, and then
they have to get together with a lawyer and then they might buy the
house.”

They both looked at me, for
confirmation of what Trevor had just said.