Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 59647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Chief Arn McDaniel told me in our phone conversation a few days ago what my start day would be and that he looked forward to meeting me. I was positive one of those things was true. It gave me a window to find a place, though, and between this place and the trailer, this was the clear winner. For the first time in my life, I was going to have an office. And a dining room. Like, a room specifically for eating in.
That meant I might have to buy some furniture. The ancient stuff I had from the Goodwill in Nashville was probably not going to cut it anymore. The only thing I had really invested in had been my bed, but now that I had a place worth the work, and a job with a pay rate that could afford it, it was time to actually get some real furniture that didn’t come in a million pieces with instructions in Swedish.
Getting out of the truck, I walked around the property, half expecting something to be falling over or breaking off the house. Renting it sight unseen, unless you counted the pictures that were online and sent to me by the landlord, was terrifying. But it looked like it was in great condition and was previously owned by a guy who worked for a lumber company nearby. A couple of additions had been put on, and the house was immaculate.
I slid the key inside the front door and unlocked it for the first time, sending up a tiny prayer about how the inside looked. It turned out that I was concerned for nothing. Stepping inside, I let out a deep breath, and a smile spread across my face.
“Hey, neighbor,” a voice behind me said.
I turned around to see a friendly-looking guy, roughly around my age, shooting off a small wave and a smile. He was shorter than me, athletic-looking, and covered in tattoos down his arms.
“Hey, nice to meet you. I’m Kieran.”
“Nice to meet you, Kieran,” he said, offering a hand for a shake. “I’m Tony. I live next door. Or what counts for next door, I guess. I’m over that way.”
He pointed down the long driveway to where the road was that went up the mountain. A second mailbox was across the street, and a small house was right up on it, a short little driveway beside it with a compact car and sunflowers growing in the yard in a manner that would annoy the hell out of an HOA back in Nashville.
“Oh, cool,” I said. “I was worried I wouldn’t get to meet any of my neighbors since everyone’s so spread out.”
“We’re spread out, but friendly around here, Tony said. “I didn’t mean to come bug you, but I wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood and offer my help if you need anything. I got a strong back and a night off. If you need anything moved around or carried in, I don’t mind helping.”
“That’s very nice of you, Tony,” I said, making sure to refer to him by name so I remembered it. “Actually, I do have a couple of things that would be a hell of a lot easier to get inside if I had some help.”
“By all means, let’s do it,” he said.
“Well, I should be ready to empty that trailer out here in about twenty minutes,” I said. “Just need to do the move-in inspection first.”
“Sure,” he said. “I’ll be back then. You need anything when I come back?”
“I don’t think so but thank you.”
“Alright, I’ll be back in thirty,” he said.
He waved as he walked back down the driveway toward his place, and I went into the house.
I made the tour around the place, notepad in hand, ready to mark down anything I thought might come back up when and if I moved out, but there was barely anything to write. The only trouble I was having with the place was what I was going to do with the extra square footage. Even as a kid, I had always lived in apartments, usually tiny, cramped ones on the rough side of town. This was something completely different, and it felt kind of like a dream.
I had already brought a few boxes inside when Tony appeared at the end of the trailer, a pair of mechanic’s gloves on his hands and a bandana tied around his head. He motioned to the inside of the massive trailer.
“What do you want to grab first?” he asked.
I pointed to the bed, pushed up against the side wall.
“I’d like to get the bed first, just so if nothing else, I’ve got somewhere to crash tonight.”
“Rock and roll,” he said.
Over the next hour or so, we hauled what furniture I did have in, finishing with the massive TV cabinet, which usually had books, DVDs, and video game stuff in it. Once it was in place, I propped the TV on top of it, hooked it up to the cable box that was already in the house, and flipped it on. To my delight, the signal was still on, and a TV show popped right up.