“I have always loved this house.” I was still in awe that it was mine.
“I know. It’s why I turned down the big corporation’s offer of nearly five times what Virg and I agreed to.”
Gaping at Peggy, I tried to imagine what that amount could possibly be. No doubt it was more than a couple million. “Peggy…”
She waved her hand in the air. “Fiddle-faddle. I have more than enough to live on with what my dear Wilbur left me. I cut Virg a deal. Anyway, Wilbur and I always wanted a family to live here. I had such a wonderful childhood here myself. Wilbur would have wanted you to have the place.”
Peggy and Wilbur had never been able to have children, which was a shame. They would have been great parents.
“I promise I will make this a home. It may take me some time to establish a family in it but… one day, that’s my dream.”
And it had been one of my dreams—to get married and raise children in Salem with a doting husband. The first problem was finding a doting husband who was looking for an ambitious, adventurous wife who wanted to live each day with no regrets. I’d dated some men over the years. The problem was they always wanted to change me. I wanted someone who accepted all of me.
“Oh fiddle-faddle. You’ll have a family someday. You’re only twenty-seven, my dear. Don’t settle. Find the right man. And Lou called me. She said that an Officer Murphy was over at your place?”
I felt my cheeks grow warm at the memory of Mike and the complete and utter fool I’d been. “Yes, he was keeping an eye on it since I was out of town. He seems nice.”
“Yeah, he’s from Chicago. He’s not used to us small-town folk yet. But he will be. He’s a nice-looking man.”
Oh, dear.
It was time for a subject change. “How’s your hip?”
Really, let’s bring up the reason she had to sell the place.
Peggy winked. “I get you don’t want to talk about it. But man, he’s a good-looking tyke.”
Tyke? He was anything but a tyke. He was… wowzer.
“I’ll spare you this time.” She pointed her cane at the front door. “Shall we go see your new home?”
Thank goodness the conversation had moved on. “Yes. I still can’t believe it.”
My new home. The concept still hadn’t fully sunk in.
We entered the house, and for the second time that day, I gasped. The entire house had received a makeover. There was fresh paint on the walls. The wood floors had been refinished. The metal light fixtures gleamed with a fresh coat of polish.
“Peggy, I’m speechless.”
“Virg wanted to restore the house to its original glory for you while keeping everything as authentic as possible. The only updates were in the kitchen. He planned to give it to you on your next trip from the city.”
And I would have moved here and practiced with Grandpa. If only I’d come sooner.
Off to the right was the kitchen, which was my first stop. The room was bright in the afternoon sun, and the state-of-the-art, stainless-steel appliances gleamed at me. “I don’t know how he kept this a secret.”
“I don’t either. Virg was a terrible secret-keeper.”
I giggled as I thought about the countless times Grandpa had let my surprises slip. As a graduation gift, he’d bought me a ticket to explore Europe for a month. I’d had the time of my life. However, he’d let it slip within twenty-four hours of buying the tickets, nearly four months before I graduated.