Burning Desire

Chapter 24

I spent about two hours making phone calls to local shelters, gathering statistics, and talking with the director of a local animal rescue called Pet Protectors. I hadn't realized when I'd picked "animal rights" how much research I would end up doing for the article. I made an appointment with Maggie, the director, to tour the rescue on Tuesday morning. In the meantime, I would continue my research online.

My work day was cut short when Selena poked her head in my doorway and more or less demanded that I accompany her to go meet up with a realtor on the hunt for an apartment. While I was thinking about it, I made it a point to call up Kacey's sister, Lindsey, who was a realtor in Phillipsburg, and inform her that I would be needing to sell my house soon. Selena's move would be easier since she only rented her home. She wouldn't have to go through the selling process. I kind of envied her for that.

Lindsey agreed to draw up the paperwork with me at the end of the day. It occurred to me after the fact that I would be in a time crunch between filling out the paperwork and cooking dinner before Alex arrived. This Monday just kept going and going.

Selena and I met up with Angie, a Coldwell Banker realtor, in Jersey City around two o'clock. Angie was a nice woman in her early forties with very short brownish red hair and a nice sense of style when it came to pantsuits. She closely resembled Jamie Lee Curtis in Freaky Friday.

"To start, I want to hear what you all are looking for," Angie said when we all sat down in her office.

I glanced around the room. There were several small plants and an abundance of framed family photos on practically every shelf. She had a degree from Syracuse and a few real estate awards dating back to 1996.

"We have to have three bedrooms since there's three of us," Selena began her long wish list. "Four would be ideal for when we have guests over. Two bathrooms would be great. Preferably a laundry room in the apartment so we don't have to lug our laundry back and forth. I like big kitchens and Kate likes to cook, so the kitchen would have to be big. An island in the kitchen would be awesome, too. And-"

"Let me stop you there," Angie said, jotting down Selena's wishes and holding up a finger. "What does your budget look like? Because what you're describing to me is racking up the dollar signs."

I agreed. "Yeah, and you're talking about a more luxury-type apartment. That'd be pretty expensive."

Selena looked like a kid who had just been told she couldn't have cake on her birthday. Clearly, she hadn't thought this part through.

"Between the three of us, I think we'd prefer to not pay more than twenty-two-hundred maximum for a luxury apartment," I told Angie. "Personally, I'd rather be closer to fifteen-hundred."

Angie nodded and wrote down the numbers. "Let me make a suggestion. I'm happy to go show you apartments if your heart's set on that, but would you be willing to consider looking at houses, too? Because the features you're looking for, you're more likely to find in a home, and a home would be more cost efficient."

I had to agree with Angie again. Looking for a house sounded like the better option. I didn't see any sense in overpaying for an apartment when I could get everything I wanted in a house with a lot more square footage for the same monthly price.

"I think I'd like to just go ahead and look at houses," I said.

Selena looked less confident. I knew she'd chosen to rent a house because she didn't want to commit to owning a property yet. She was waiting to take that step until she got married someday. Having already experienced homeownership, however, I wasn't fazed by the idea. I knew Kacey and Selena were both only used to renting, though, and I didn't want either of them to jump into such a big decision if they weren't totally comfortable.