4.34 House hunting

The one thing Blake loved about running a business with his family was that he had access to any of them at any time. The morning had been going from one property to another and both Lexy and Blake were exhausted. They sat in 'The Basement' drinking coffee planning their next move.

“There has to be a place you would like?” Blake looked at her and laughed, “I was fine with the first two, one being a house and an apartment. You were the one being fussy.”

Lexy became all defensive, “I was not. The one needed a lot of work and the other had one bedroom.”

“Ah, so you do want to move in with me?”

Lexy smiled, “I need to move in with you but we need to stick to one rule, separate bedrooms.”

“One day that rule will get broken, Lex.”

She leaned in closer to Blake and replied, “I know but until then, try anything and I promise I will kick you where it hurts.”

Blake grinning, kissed her and cheekily said, “Promises, promises.”

“You are incorrigible sometimes.”

“You wouldn’t have me any other way.” Lexy was about to argue back when an alert came through on her phone, “Another property has come on the market. Would we be interested?”

“How many rooms does it have?”

 “It has 2 bedrooms but it’s an apartment. It’s not far from the police station. Blake can we take a look, please?” Deep down he didn't like her working for the police. Fact was he would prefer Lexy didn't work at all but that wasn't her and he knew it. Regardless of his personal feelings it would be one fight he’d lose if he tried and pushed the matter.

“Let’s take a look.”

Estevan found Dawn painting, “I thought you were resting?” Dawn continued to paint, “I have a lot on my mind.”

“What is bothering you?”

“I’m scared about losing the baby, about giving birth plus how the family are going to take the news.” 

Estevan took the paints off Dawn and held her, “Firstly you are not going to lose the baby on my watch, second of all giving birth is a small part of this and the end result is a beautiful baby.”

“Giving birth is going to hurt.”

“And I will be there with you.” Dawn looked at him, “Have you ever given birth?”

“No but…” Dawn snapped, “I get you will be there but you still have no idea the pain I’ll go through.”

Estevan just held her, “Calm down, you are right about the pain but the baby we will have will be worth it. The family will be fine with the news.”

Blake and Lexy were looking around the apartment, “It’s spacious and the bedrooms are a nice size.” 

Blake smiled at Lexy, “Do you want to live here?”

“I’d love too but it’s out of our price range.” Lexy looked defeated as she walked out of the apartment. 

The estate agent was waiting outside, “Miss Sail, what did you think?”

“It was lovely but unfortunately it is a little expensive.”

“The owners do want 90,000 but as a first time property, it is worth the money.” 

Blake appeared, “Here are the keys. It was a beautiful apartment but as I’m sure my girlfriend told you it’s a little expensive but I’ll offer 85,000.” 

Lexy just stared at Blake, “I’ll see if the owners will accept the offer and ring you later, Mr Granger.”

When they were alone Lexy argued, “I don’t have the extra cash to buy this place. How dare you offer the extra money without talking to me first?” They continued to argue going home and in the end Estevan had to intervene, “What is going on?” 

They both looked at him and Blake said, “When did you get home?”

“We got home as you were pulling away, now will someone please tell me what is going on.”

“Your son is the most underhanded man I’ve ever met.”

“What did he do?”

“We are looking for somewhere to live because I can’t go back to my home after what happened. I told him after the mortgage is paid I get 40,000. We agreed to go 50/50 but the apartment we looked at is 90,000 and Blake offered 85,000 without consulting me.” 

He turned to Blake and asked, “Is this true?”

“Yes and I won’t apologise because every place we looked at neither of us liked but Lexy’s face said it all when we saw this place. When she saw the price she looked upset.” Blake looked at Lexy and continued, “So I’ve put in extra, I just want to see her smile. What is wrong with that?” Estevan couldn’t argue with that. Although he could see Lexy’s point he had brought the boys up to do the right thing when it came to the woman in their lives. William had done the right thing by standing up to him over Heather and now Blake was doing right by Lexy. “Has the house sold yet, Lexy?”

“It went on the market this morning.”

“How much did it go on the market for?”

“50,000 so after agent fees and mortgage I’m left with 40,000.”

“Are you both trying to pay for this place outright or a mortgage?” Blake jumped in, “Outright.”

“Ok but what about buying furniture etc?” They both looked at each other as they hadn’t thought about that. “I didn’t think neither of you had thought it through.” 

Then Lexy’s phone rang, “Hello.” She covered the mouth piece and said it’s the estate agent, “Are you sure, thanks.”

She looked at Blake and Estevan in shock, “There were two buyers arguing over my house but it got so bad that the one buyer offered 10,000 over the asking price.”

“It’s what’s known as a bidding war.” Estevan stated.

“That’s crazy.” Blake looked at his Dad and Estevan disappeared. 

Blake put his arm around Lexy and asked calmly, “Does that mean we can buy the apartment if the owners say yes?”

 Lexy turned and kissed him and said with excitement in her voice, “Yes it does.”