Tiny House, Big Fix by Gail Anderson-Dargatz

Author:Gail Anderson-Dargatz
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781459821200
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2018-11-30T16:00:00+00:00

EIGHT

I PROMISED NOT only Liam but also my kids that I’d find a place to rent quickly. But at the end of September, I was no closer to finding us a home. Every morning I phoned about the rentals listed in the local paper and online. But most cost more than I could afford. The rest either didn’t take kids or had already been snapped up.

Every evening I checked out the few places that were available, but most were too small. In many cases, the girls and I would have had to share a bedroom. The one-bedroom suites were the only rentals I could afford, and even they were overpriced.

So when Alice told me about a two-bedroom basement suite going cheap, I jumped on it. I took the girls along to see the place right after work.

“The basement suite is in town?” Maggie asked as we drove to see it.

“Yes,” I said.

“But I don’t want to move into town. We talked about that.”

“I know, honey. But we’re running out of time. We need to move out of our house this weekend.”

“I don’t want to leave my school.”

“Stop whining,” said Zoe. “We need a place to live, don’t we?”

“It’s okay for you,” said Maggie. “Your school is in town. Your boyfriend is in town. You want to move there.”

“I don’t want to move at all,” said Zoe. “I’m sick of moving.”

“Both of you be quiet!” I demanded. “Stop arguing.”

Zoe slumped in her seat. I glanced in the rearview mirror to see Maggie wiping tears from her eyes. I hated this. Trying to find a place to live was hard on both of my daughters. It was hard on me too.

We drove in silence until we reached the place. The street was in a poorer neighborhood that was literally across the tracks. It was near the town’s sewage-treatment plant. I could smell the foul odor of sewage in the air.

“You sure this is the place?” Zoe asked. She peered out the truck window at the old house. The siding hadn’t been painted in years. The lawn hadn’t been mown in a while either.

“It’s the address Alice gave me,” I said.

“You phoned ahead, right?”

“Of course,” I said.

We walked into the small, unkempt yard, and a woman opened the front door.

“Mrs. Phillips?” I asked.

“You’re Alice’s friend?”

“Yes,” I said, holding out my hand. “I’m Sadie. These are my daughters, Maggie and Zoe.”

Mrs. Phillips didn’t bother to say hello to the girls. “Come this way. The basement entrance is around back.”

We followed her. She unlocked the basement door and let us inside.

“I don’t want to live here,” Zoe said. “It’s too dark.” She sniffed. “And it stinks.”

“Zoe, please,” I said.

“It’s a basement suite,” the woman said. “They always smell funny.”

“It smells like pee!” said Maggie.

Mrs. Phillips gave my kids the once-over. “Are your kids always this rude?” she asked me.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “It’s been stressful trying to find a place.” I frowned at the girls. “They usually behave themselves.”

“Three of you, eh?” Mrs. Phillips said. “There’s just the two bedrooms, you know.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.