Faking Love (Complete)

Chapter 29 - Trying to Save My House

I walked up to the front door and grabbed the door handle, taking a deep breath in and letting it out before turning it and walking inside. What I saw shocked me and stopped me dead in my tracks. The furniture was cleared out and the room was completely bare.

Seeing it empty instantly gave me cold chills. My grandpa's old recliner where he used to read me stories at bedtime was gone. The built-in bookshelves that had been full of my Grandma's recipe books and my grandpa's old mechanic guides were empty. My grandma's antique sewing machine table and her rocking chair that had been sitting in front of it was nowhere to be seen. Everything was gone.

Then I heard voices coming from the kitchen and I tightened my hands into fists and headed in that direction. I couldn't remember ever being so angry in my life. When I pushed through the swinging door and walked into the kitchen, there were two guys standing there that I didn't recognize. They both looked stunned to see me.

"Who are you?" I asked.

They looked at each other and didn't answer, at first. Then the older one cleared his throat and asked, "What are you doing here?"

My eyes widened as I recognized his voice. It was Jack Bradley, the homeless guy that my Mom had moved in, but he looked completely different. He didn't have any tattoos and he was wearing clean clothes and looked freshly shaven with a recent haircut. His teeth were even white and straight.

Then I looked at the guy standing next to him and realized it was the Pedro/Diablo guy, but all his tattoos were gone too and he was dressed in normal jeans that didn't sag and a t-shirt. They both looked like normal guys. They were actually kind of handsome.

"Jack? Pedro? Why do you guys look so different?" I asked, looking back and forth between them with confusion.

Pedro looked at Jack and said, "You might as well tell her man. Everything's already a done deal. There's nothing she can do about it now."

It was so weird. His Mexican accent was even gone.

Jack spoke up and said, "Your Mom had asked us to come over here and pretend like we were dangerous homeless convicts that were moving in to scare you away so she could sell the house. She needed you out so you wouldn't be in the way when the realtor tried to show it to people. She said she'd give us each ten grand if we got you out, so we tried to make ourselves look as scary as we could. I'm sorry about that by the way. It was nothing personal."

I stood there in shock, shaking my head. My Mom really was the worst. It was as if her and Caitlyn were in a competition to see who could be the biggest asshole and they were tied for first place.

"So you said it's already a done deal? So the house is sold?" I asked.

Pedro nodded and said, "Yeah, some guy and his wife bought it yesterday. The offer's already been accepted and your Mom's there at the realtor's office signing the paperwork right now. She just left right before you got here."

"So there's still time. Do you know what realtor she used?"

They both shook their heads.

"Crap!" I said in frustration.

Then I remembered the sign out in the front yard. I ran out there and saw that it said, 'Yardley Real Estate Group'. I pulled up directions to their office as I walked over to Caitlyn's car and got in. It was ten minutes away.

I pulled out and headed down the road, calling the Yardley Real Estate office's phone number as I went, but it went straight to voicemail.

"Shoot!" I yelled.

I just hoped I could get there before she signed, so I could talk her out of it. Not that she would even listen to me, but I had to at least try. That house meant too much to me. It was small, in a bad neighborhood and in bad need of repairs and updates, but it was all I had left of my grandparents.