Alex & Clayton (6 page)

T
HE
next day, Alex called Danny, the agent recommended by Sam, and told him what he wanted.

“What’s your budget?” Danny asked.

“Under a million, and preferably half of that,” Alex replied.

“Wow, that gives me a lot of room to work. What’s the earliest you can come up?” he asked.

“I’m fully retired now, so whenever you get the appointments set, I can be ready to move on it. I’m also looking for a quick closing since I have to be out of my old place in twenty-eight days.”

“Well, the banks are eager to make home loans to retired government workers, so that should be no problem.”

“We don’t need a bank. This will be an all cash deal. Does that help?” Alex asked.

He could almost hear the guy smiling on the other end of the phone.

“I’ll drop everything I’m doing and go to work on this at once. With a cash deal, we can more than likely close before you close on your old place.”

“Well, not quite that fast. I need the proceeds from my townhome for the purchase.”

“Okay, no problem. We’ll schedule your closing for the day after you close in DC. I’ll put you up in one of our finer hotels in the area that night, and you can be at the second closing on time. You’ll obviously be able to take possession at once.”

“Good, get to work, Danny. I’m counting on you!”

L
ESS
than four hours later, Danny called back with leads.

“Alex, I’ve got three options for you to consider. First, I’ve got a house that’s right off the beach, and the beach just happens to be ‘Poodle Beach’, which is the gay strip. That’s listed for $840,000. I know that’s a ways from your half million preference, but because of where it’s located and the fact that it’s across from the beach, I felt I had to mention it.”

“Okay, that’s not out of the question. What else?”

“I have a house that’s about three blocks off the beach, on one of the nice shady streets. It’s priced at $499,000. And finally, we have a condo that’s just come on the market for $300,000 that’s about twelve blocks from the beach.”

“Forget the condo. I’ve had enough of living in one of those. So, the best choices are a half-million-dollar house and a three-quarter-million-plus house. Which do you like?” Alex asked.

“Well, it really depends on your priorities. Each home has four bedrooms and two and half baths. The grounds of the beach house are sand rather than dirt, whereas the other house has normal earth and grass. You really need to take a look at them,” Danny advised.

“Agreed. Can you set them up for tomorrow?”

“I think so, let me make the calls, and I’ll get right back to you.”

Alex sat down to ponder while waiting for Danny to call back. Did he really want to pay almost three quarters of a million dollars for a house practically on the beach? To Alex, that meant damage from storms coming up the coast from the Gulf, and he didn’t think he wanted that stress.

The phone rang, and Alex jumped up to get it, hoping that it was Danny.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Alex, this is Danny. Okay, we have a one o’clock and a three o’clock tomorrow on those two houses. That work for you?”

“Yep! Send me an e-mail with your office address and the MLS listings of the two properties, please.”

“Can do. Would you like to meet around 12:45 tomorrow?”

“Fine, see you then, and don’t forget the e-mail.”

Alex received the e-mail, ran it off along with the directions that Danny included to the office, and spent the rest of the day packing up his town house in preparation for closing and moving. As he looked around his home, memories came flooding back, reminding him of his move from the “group house” with the other guys into his own town house. He remembered the fun times he had in his new place along with a few of the men who had spent the night. His job kept him from forming any long-term relationships, and he was happy to date once a month. Now, a new chapter was opening up for him, and he was looking forward to it. Alex intended to search for a long-term partner, and he was sure that Rehoboth was the place to look.

T
HE
next day, he got an early start and reached his destination with time to spare. He had a quick lunch at a restaurant he had eaten at before and made his way to Danny’s office.

“Hi, I’m Alex,” he said.

“Hey, I’m Danny. Pleased to meet you. I take it you had no trouble getting here?”

“No, no accidents or holdups. I’m anxious to see the houses. Can we get started?”

“Yep. The first house is empty, so we can head over there right away. This will be the off-beach house.”

“Great, I hope I love it. It’s more in line with what I wanted to spend.”

W
HEN
they pulled up in front of the first place, Alex fell in love with the curb look. There were beautiful flowers growing out front that would be gone soon since fall was setting in. Boxwood hedges lined the front property line, and they had to pass through a gate to enter.

By the time they left the property, Alex was in love with the house and grounds. It reminded him of the home he grew up in, and those were pleasant memories. They continued on to the second house, which was brick with a bright blue tile roof, and as promised, looked out on the gay part of the beach.

As they went through the house, it was obvious that this was the better structure as far as updates to plumbing, electric, and alarm system, not to mention two porches. But as he’d thought, the house was very exposed to severe weather, and he knew he would be worried about damage.

Offsetting that, of course, was a direct view on both the resident gay population as well as the visitors that swelled the numbers considerably in the summer. He would merely have to go to the beach and select from the day’s offerings if he was in the mood for company.

When they left the second property, they drove past the first to get to the office. When they got settled in and sodas were produced, they sat down to talk.

“Well, I can tell you the good points and the bad points of both houses, but I have a feeling you’ve made up your mind. Or am I mistaken?” Danny asked.

“Actually, no, you’re not. I love the house on the beach, and it has many things to recommend it, with the exception of the price and exposure to weather. But I wanna put in an offer on the first house.”

“Okay, great. It’s priced at four ninety-nine. It needs virtually no work if you don’t wanna put anything into it at this point. I’m sure, though, that the hot water heater should be replaced and an inspection done of the air conditioning and heating systems. What were you thinking of offering them?”

“Let’s make a full price offer with a request that they split the closing costs right down the middle and on the condition that they can close on the date I choose,” Alex replied.

“That’s very generous of you. I think the house is priced about ten thousand over what it’s worth, but with splitting the closing, you’re coming close to a fair price. I’ll draw up the contract and get it submitted to them today, if I can get their listing agent back on the phone.”

Alex signed the contract, wrote a check for ten thousand dollars as a deposit, shook hands with Danny, who couldn’t conceal the fact that he found Alex very attractive, and left to head back to Washington. A call was promised either by the time he got back or the next day.

Alex was thrilled with the first house and prayed that his offer would be taken. He couldn’t see why it wouldn’t be and so was fairly confident that the offer would go through. When he got back to the town house in Washington, his cell phone rang as he came in the front door. It was Danny.

“Hey, Alex, great news. They accepted the offer with the closing date assured and an agreement to split. Congratulations on your new home at the beach!”

“That’s wonderful! I’m so excited to be moving there and into that house. And it’s only two blocks from the Blue Moon and other fun places that are popular with the gay crowd. Thank you for getting this concluded so quickly, Danny. Dinner will be on me after I get settled in.”

“Thanks. I look forward to seeing you at closing, as well as that dinner. You’ll get a signed copy of the contract in the mail shortly, along with some other papers. I’m scheduling the inspection for you as well as an appraisal. You do want an appraisal, right?”

“Well, since no bank is involved, I don’t need one, do I?”

“Not technically, but it’s a good idea to have one for your records and to make certain that you didn’t overpay for the property.”

“Okay, that makes sense. Go ahead and take care of that for me, if you will, and I’ll stay in touch.”

“Will do. Talk to you soon,” Danny said.

Alex let out a yell when he hung up the phone. He was beyond happy and couldn’t wait for moving day.

Chapter Four

C
LAYTON
had settled into his Monday morning routine with his second cup of coffee as he prepared for a meeting with the county library board. His phone rang and he was startled to hear the voice of the elderly woman across the street from his house.

“Clayton! Something terrible has happened. You better come home right away,” Eleanor Haskins said.

“What’s happened, Mrs. Haskins?”

“It’s your mother, dear. She was working in the front yard preparing the gardens for fall when she collapsed. I called for an ambulance and went to her. You better come home.”

“I’m on my way now, thank you!”

Clayton told his assistant what had happened and raced all the way home. When he got there, he found a police car waiting for him.

“Mr. Anderson?” the young officer said as Clayton got out of his car.

“Yes, that’s me. Where’s my mother, please?”

“Sir, I’m sorry, I have bad news for you. Your mother must have had some kind of massive heart attack or stroke, because by the time the ambulance crew got here, she was already gone. They transported her to Camden General Hospital, but I’m afraid it was hopeless. I can give you a ride to the hospital if you’d like, and I do have a couple of questions that I must ask you for the report.”

F
OUR
days later, Clayton Anderson sat on the end of his mother’s bed, having just come from her funeral. The house was filled with people who had attended the burial, and talking with them was the last thing Clayton wanted to do. Clayton’s brothers and his sister were of course in the house, and while everyone was cordial, it was obvious that Clayton was the outcast of the remaining family.

Memories of his mother slowly played through his mind, recounting his childhood joys and sorrows, his first day of college, the death of his father, and now the loss of his mother. He had an extremely small family, and with the death of his mother, he and his siblings were the only survivors of their branch of the Anderson clan. He felt so alone as tears once again sprang to his eyes and streamed down his face. What was he going to do? His brothers and sister fully intended to return to their homes, leaving Clayton alone in New Jersey.

Clayton’s entire life had been centered around his mother. They lived in the same house, they ate together most nights, and they even went to Broadway shows together occasionally. She was the reason he had no love life at all. He never wanted to have “that conversation” with his mother, never wanted to explain why he was different. She always expected that she would become a grandmother to his children, but that was not to be.

At times, Clay scurried off into the night for furtive meetings with strange men in bookstores and alleyways for sexual relief and momentary intimacy. But never did he have anyone who could even remotely be called a boyfriend.

A knock on the door brought Clay out of his world of memories, and he quickly dragged his sleeve over his eyes to blot the tears. It was the little old lady from across the street checking on Clay to make sure he was all right and to tell him that people were leaving.

Clay came out of the bedroom and walked through the house saying good-bye to people and receiving their condolences once more. When the last person was gone, Clayton Anderson was completely alone with his siblings and the ghosts of his life. They cleaned up the leftover food, said good-bye to each other, and made promises to remain in closer contact as brothers and sisters should. When they were gone, Clay locked up and went upstairs to “his” part of the house. He had so much to think about, and one thing stood out clearly: there was nothing now that tied him down to his hometown in New Jersey.

Clay inherited his mother’s entire estate, along with her life insurance. This left him well enough off to be able to do almost anything he wanted. He could either retire immediately, or move on from the library and do something more satisfying to him. His brothers and sister were of course angry that their mother had cut them out of the will, and they blamed Clayton for the snub. It was no use trying to explain that was something Clay’s mother did entirely on her own. She’d finally realized her youngest son would more than likely never have a family like the others. He would need all the money she could leave him, and besides, he was the one who had stayed with her and cared for her.