Taking a Chance

Chapter 27

It took almost two months for their lives to finally settle down into a routine. Gabrielle sold her condo to the man living next door so he could expand and she made a lot more than she had asked for because the bidding war between him and another couple had the offers going up and up.

Once she accepted the final bid, the closing went very quickly. Unfortunately, she had Daryl had not yet found the right place to move into. All of Gabrielle's furniture and belongings went into storage along with the washer, dryer, and refrigerator. The new owner was demolishing everything so they took her high end appliances with them. If they ended up not needing them, they could always be sold.

Goodman and Sheppard was also a distant memory. As soon as she knew the closing date for the sale of the condominium, she gave her two weeks' notice. It was both satisfying and terrifying at the same time. Gabrielle was excited about starting her own small business, but it was very nerve wracking at the same time. She knew they needed an income from her to be able to live as Daryl didn't make enough to support them both, so she needed this business to work out. In the meantime she'd use some of the money from the sale to pay her share of the expenses.

Since her marketing jobs were just a handful at this time, Gabrielle spent most of her time searching for a larger place for the two of them to live. It had to have at least two bedrooms as she was going to use the second bedroom as her office. Everything was either too rundown or too expensive for the budget they set up.

Daryl had even asked around the dealership if anyone knew of a decent two bedroom apartment or house that someone may be renting. They were using every avenue they could think of to find a bigger and better place to rent.

A few days later, one of the salesmen approached him and asked him if he was still looking for a place. "Hell yeah," he told him.

The guy knew of a small house that his brother in law was getting ready to rent out. He told Daryl is was in Parkvale and gave him the guy's number to call. Daryl called him on his break and set up an appointment for after work, and then he called Gabrielle.

"Hey husband," Gabrielle answered the phone.

"Got us an appointment to see a house tonight at 6:30 over on Medford Avenue. Heard about it through a guy here at work," he told her.

"What are they asking for rent?"

"Eight fifty. We can swing that right?" he asked. Daryl was pretty sure that's the price range that Gabrielle had been looking at. He was hopeful for this house. Everything about it gave him a good vibe. He would love to live in a house and even though they were only renting, it would still feel like his. The guy said he still had a few things to do to finish fixing it up and Daryl hoped that it this place worked out, he could fix them and get some money off on the rent.

"We can swing that for sure. I can't wait to see it. When will you be home?"

"I'll be there by five-thirty. Shit, gotta go. Bye hot wife," he told her with a smile. They both said their 'I love you's' before hanging up.

The house ended up being perfect. It was older, but it had been well taken care of and the owner had recently done a few upgrades to it. It had new paint, carpeting, and a partway renovated kitchen. There were hookups for washer and dryer, which was great since they had the ones from the condo. He was going to replace the refrigerator and assorted projects that he was going to do to finish up. Daryl convinced him to let him finish the work and they would bring their own refrigerator. It was a win-win situation for them both.

They signed a lease, paid the deposit and first month's rent and were going to move in next week. Between moving out of the apartment and settling into the house, it was a couple of weeks before they felt like they had settled into their home.