“But you had us girls at home. And Beth had a midwife for Kadin and Joel. I’m using the same woman for my delivery.”
Grace sighed. “Let’s not mention that to your father just yet, okay? Let’s let him get used to your moving out, first.”
Camry plucked Joel off Grace’s lap. “Come on, Meg, let’s go see your new place. Beth and Chelsea and the owner are waiting for us.” She shot Meg a grin as she carried Joel out the front door. “Maybe we’ll even catch a glimpse of your sexy neighbor.”
“Did it ever occur to any of you that I might want to pick out my own place?” Meg asked as they crossed the bridge out front.
Cam led the way to Megan’s SUV. “Of course not. We know your tastes. Besides, we figured Dad couldn’t argue it’s not safe for you to live on a half-deserted camp road when you’re only three houses down from the police chief.”
Meg snorted. “Great. You’ve just moved me out of one macho-man environment into another.”
Megan gazed at the house her sisters had decided she should rent. “Okay,” she conceded to Camry, “you guys do know my tastes. It’s totally adorable.”
A couple of porch lights lit up what certainly appeared to be a perfect house on the outside. The shingles were stained gray, the shutters painted a dark green, and the front door—set inside a porch that ran the width of the house—was a deep, rich red. It stood nestled in a stand of old maple, birch, and hemlock on a spacious lot, its cottage-style architecture giving it a cozy, welcoming feel.
“I’ll have to buy a snowblower to keep the driveway neat, like it is now,” she said. “Plows make such a mess of everything.”
Cam arched an eyebrow. “Moved in already, have we?”
Elizabeth came out of the house, and Megan opened the back door of her truck to release Joel from his car seat. “Will someone please explain why they make these buckles so hard to open?” she grumbled, fighting the buckles.
Elizabeth pulled Megan out of the way and reached inside. “So the kids can’t unfasten them. Hey, big boy,” she said with a laugh, straightening with her son in her arms. “Has Auntie Cam been feeding you crayons again?”
“Go potty,” Joel said, wiggling to get down.
“Inside, not in the snowbank!” Beth said, rushing to catch him, then steering him toward the house.
“What is it with little boys and yellow snow?” Megan called after her.
“That’s his father’s doing!” Beth called back, scooping up her son to carry him up the steps. “Walter’s been teaching Joel to write his name in the snow.”
“You’re having a girl,” Camry declared as they walked up the path to the house. “You can teach her all about your plants and animals, and I’ll teach her to drive a spaceship.”
“Before or after she’s potty trained?” Megan asked—only to go utterly still the moment she stepped into the home of her dreams. “Oh my God,” she whispered, trying to take it all in. “It’s perfect.”
The interior had an open floor plan, the kitchen and living area combined into one large room divided by a counter peninsula. The walls were time-mellowed knotty pine, the hearth supporting the red enamel woodstove was made of river stone, and the floor, except for a small slate area at the entrance, was rock maple.
There wasn’t any furniture and no curtains covered the expansive windows facing the lake, which made the place feel amazingly large—despite the fact that the entire house would probably fit in Gù Brath’s living room.
“I guess you like it,” a woman said. “I’m Joan Quimby. I taught class across the hall from Beth,” she explained, holding out her hand.
“Why are you leaving this beautiful place?” Megan asked, returning the handshake.
“Bob and I are moving to Germany. I’m going to teach English to third graders and Bob will teach high school math. Come on, I’ll show you the rest of the house.” She headed toward a door on the left side of the living room. “There are two bedrooms down here with a shared bath, and two more upstairs with another full bath.” Joan stopped inside the lakeside bedroom and smiled apologetically. “The ones downstairs are a bit small, but I like having the larger living area.”
“Is there a deck facing the lake?” Megan asked, walking to the French doors on the back wall of the bedroom.
Joan flicked a switch and light flooded a snow-covered deck running the width of the house, as well as a large yard studded with old-growth trees.
“I see a dock pulled up on shore,” Megan said. “Do you have a boat?”
“Yes, a pontoon boat. It’s parked on the other side of the house, covered in snow.”
“Are you planning to sell it?”
“In the spring. Paul Dempsey over at PowerSports is going to come get it once the snow melts, and put it on his lot on consignment.”
“Tell him not to bother,” Megan said, walking back into the living room to find Chelsea and Camry, at the counter, reading what must be the lease.
Meg walked up and took the paper from them. “I’m not renting this house,” she said, smiling at their startled expressions. “I’m buying it.” She looked at Joan. “When are you and Bob leaving?”
Joan seemed even more shocked. “Um, we’re driving to Boston tomorrow and flying out the day after that.” She waved at the empty house. “You want to buy it? But you haven’t even seen the upstairs.”
“I’ve seen enough. Anything more is just a bonus. I’ll write you a check right now for your asking price, if you throw in the boat.”
“Meg,” Camry said, “what are you doing? Your job is going to last less than a year.”
“It doesn’t matter where my work might eventually take me; I still need a home base. I’ll sell my condo in Boston and move up here permanently.”
“Meg, you need to think about this,” Chelsea interjected. “You can’t just walk into a house and buy it in five minutes.”
“Why not?”
Nobody had a good answer to that.
“Then it’s settled,” Meg said, holding out her hand to Joan.
Joan pumped Megan’s arm excitedly. “Bob will be thrilled! We never thought we’d sell this place in the middle of the winter.” She took the lease and tore it up with a laugh. “You’re going to love it here, Megan. The sunrises are beautiful.”
The muted whine of a high-performance engine echoed off the bare walls, and the four women followed Joel over to the lakeside windows. A snowmobile shot out from the end of the point, and went zooming past the front of the house in a cloud of snow colored white and red from the head- and taillights.
“That must be our new police chief,” Joan said. “He moved into the Watson place about a week ago. I saw him driving what looked like a fancy new snowmobile when he came home just before dark.”
“Snow-bile!” Joel shouted, jumping up and down.
Chelsea nudged Megan with her elbow. “Maybe he’ll give you a ride if you ask him real nice.”
Megan walked back to the counter to dig through her purse for her checkbook. “You can deposit this tomorrow,” she said to Joan as she started to fill out the check. “It’s from my money market account. Um…how much?”
Her face turning a bit pink, Joan named a figure that made Megan suck in her breath. “I guess I haven’t been paying much attention to the real estate market lately. Ah, how about I make this out, but you give me three or four days to transfer some funds?”
“Good grief, Meg, this isn’t like buying a toaster,” Chelsea said, walking up to the counter. “Make the check out to my law firm in Bangor, and we’ll hold the money in escrow while the paperwork is being done. A deed has to be drawn up, and clear title to the property needs to be researched.” She looked at Joan. “Do you and Bob have a lawyer?”
“No. We were going to hire a real estate broker and let them take care of that stuff.”