the risk.’ His voice dropped even lower and he gave a half smile as he smoothed down the front of his coat.
‘You don’t need to be so afraid. You can live anywhere you want and go anywhere you want. And you’ll be fine.’
She looked up at him and her jaw tightened. Her eyebrows came together but she forced them apart and licked her lips before answering. ‘This is all I know. This is what I want.’ And she quietly slipped off his coat and strode, head up, back into the auction room.
Oh, Mari. I do hope that you know what you are doing.
The first three properties seemed to take forever to sell and there had been several breaks in the bidding when Mari had felt like screaming. Didn’t they know that she had been dreaming about this moment for years, and been awake half the night worrying and the other half reliving the moment when Ethan had kissed her in the car?
How dared he turn up this morning and ruin her day with all of his questions? How dared he kiss her and give her a glimpse of all of the things she could not have? He wasleaving, she was staying and he
still
kissed her. Worse. She had liked it. Stupid girl.
Either way, she was exhausted, her hands were shaking in anxiety. And the bidding was just about to start.
She didn’t know whether to be sick into her laptop bag, stand on the chair and scream at everyone that this house was
hers
and they’d better not even think about bidding, or calmly sit there and make her bid at the right time.
She went for option three.
Her real worry was the size of the deposit she had to put together before the bank would agree to offer her a loan for the maximum she could afford on her salary. The constraints meant that she had a working budget with enough left over to do the repairs and create a home office. And that was all she had. Anything else would mean going back to the bank for a bigger loan, and they had not exactly been impressed by her proposal in the first place.
Without the extra cash deposit from her overtime and all of her cash savings, she could be in trouble.
And the prices so far had been a lot higher than she had expected.
But of course that would not happen with her. The photographs and house details hadmade it clear that a lot of work was needed. That was bound to drive down prices.
Right. Mari lifted her chin. Three. Two. One. Go. She was about to buy back her home.
Ethan clutched tight hold of the back of the chair in front of him, two rows behind Mari, his fingers wrapped around the hard metal rungs, knuckles white with pressure.
As the auction started, he felt himself being caught up in the electricity and excitement. Bids were flying everywhere from all corners of the room so quickly that it was hard to keep up. The numbers were higher than he had expected, which could be a problem. But Mari was calm. Her head fixed in place. Waiting. Waiting for the perfect time to place her bid to buy back her old home and start a new life. Back where she’d started.
And there it was. Mari raised her hand and bid a startling amount of money for her old home. But there was one more bid. From a middle-aged man at his side of the room, sitting next to a woman and three children, each of them almost bouncing with excitement and enthusiasm. A family wanted the house.
Ethan’s heart sank. If he was in that position, with his wife and children around him, all looking forward to a new home bythe sea—he would move heaven and earth to make it happen.
And without warning an icy chill hit Ethan hard in the stomach with such speed and ferocity that he had to take several long breaths to calm his thumping heart.
She was going to lose this house and it would destroy her. It would be better in the long-term if she made a future somewhere else, he believed that now, but it would still cause her huge pain if she thought that she had let Rosa down.
Mari immediately raised her hand again and increased her bid by another ten thousand—and was instantly outbid
‘You don’t need to be so afraid. You can live anywhere you want and go anywhere you want. And you’ll be fine.’
She looked up at him and her jaw tightened. Her eyebrows came together but she forced them apart and licked her lips before answering. ‘This is all I know. This is what I want.’ And she quietly slipped off his coat and strode, head up, back into the auction room.
Oh, Mari. I do hope that you know what you are doing.
The first three properties seemed to take forever to sell and there had been several breaks in the bidding when Mari had felt like screaming. Didn’t they know that she had been dreaming about this moment for years, and been awake half the night worrying and the other half reliving the moment when Ethan had kissed her in the car?
How dared he turn up this morning and ruin her day with all of his questions? How dared he kiss her and give her a glimpse of all of the things she could not have? He wasleaving, she was staying and he
still
kissed her. Worse. She had liked it. Stupid girl.
Either way, she was exhausted, her hands were shaking in anxiety. And the bidding was just about to start.
She didn’t know whether to be sick into her laptop bag, stand on the chair and scream at everyone that this house was
hers
and they’d better not even think about bidding, or calmly sit there and make her bid at the right time.
She went for option three.
Her real worry was the size of the deposit she had to put together before the bank would agree to offer her a loan for the maximum she could afford on her salary. The constraints meant that she had a working budget with enough left over to do the repairs and create a home office. And that was all she had. Anything else would mean going back to the bank for a bigger loan, and they had not exactly been impressed by her proposal in the first place.
Without the extra cash deposit from her overtime and all of her cash savings, she could be in trouble.
And the prices so far had been a lot higher than she had expected.
But of course that would not happen with her. The photographs and house details hadmade it clear that a lot of work was needed. That was bound to drive down prices.
Right. Mari lifted her chin. Three. Two. One. Go. She was about to buy back her home.
Ethan clutched tight hold of the back of the chair in front of him, two rows behind Mari, his fingers wrapped around the hard metal rungs, knuckles white with pressure.
As the auction started, he felt himself being caught up in the electricity and excitement. Bids were flying everywhere from all corners of the room so quickly that it was hard to keep up. The numbers were higher than he had expected, which could be a problem. But Mari was calm. Her head fixed in place. Waiting. Waiting for the perfect time to place her bid to buy back her old home and start a new life. Back where she’d started.
And there it was. Mari raised her hand and bid a startling amount of money for her old home. But there was one more bid. From a middle-aged man at his side of the room, sitting next to a woman and three children, each of them almost bouncing with excitement and enthusiasm. A family wanted the house.
Ethan’s heart sank. If he was in that position, with his wife and children around him, all looking forward to a new home bythe sea—he would move heaven and earth to make it happen.
And without warning an icy chill hit Ethan hard in the stomach with such speed and ferocity that he had to take several long breaths to calm his thumping heart.
She was going to lose this house and it would destroy her. It would be better in the long-term if she made a future somewhere else, he believed that now, but it would still cause her huge pain if she thought that she had let Rosa down.
Mari immediately raised her hand again and increased her bid by another ten thousand—and was instantly outbid
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