I’d done everything I could to make the process as painless as possible for him. Though real estate law wasn’t my specialty, I could parse contracts and such more easily than he could, so I’d looked over everything. I knew and trusted Jason—I’d personally recommended him to Kelly—and Kelly had asked me to be here too, just to make sure nothing was lost in the legalese. He hadn’t really needed me. Jason explained everything in layman’s terms, and aside from briefly clarifying one or two things, I’d just sat there quietly while they went through the closing proceedings.
Now, it was over. Nothing left but some photocopies for Kelly’s records.
His siblings still weren’t happy about the whole thing. He’d called each of them the day he’d received the offer, giving them one last chance to buy him out. None of them had wanted to be saddled with the additional mortgage that would come from buying the house from Kelly, never mind the upkeep of a second home. They’d let it go, though they’d each made sure to give Kelly a piece of their minds first.
He'd struggled for a couple of days after that. He’d even considered rejecting the offer and dropping the whole thing, if only to salvage his relationships with his siblings.
In the end, though, he’d wisely put his own mental health and emotional well-being first, and he’d accepted the offer.
Then came the not insignificant task of emptying the house. Kelly’s belongings hadn’t taken up much space, so it was mostly a matter of going through what remained of his father’s things. Several shipments had gone out to his siblings, and his brother-in-law had come with a U-Haul to pick up a few pieces of furniture that held sentimental—and probably monetary—value to Maryann.
Now the house was empty. The papers were signed. The keys were surrendered.
Jason returned a moment later with the photocopies, and after a few handshakes and some small talk, we were on our way out.
A few steps past the front door of the attorney’s office, Kelly stopped, closed his eyes, and released a long breath.
I touched his shoulder. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” He turned to me, opening his eyes again, and I swear I hadn’t seen him looking this relaxed outside of the bedroom. “Kinda feels like I just cut a whole bunch of anchors loose.”
“You cut a seven-thousand square foot anchor loose.” I flashed him a smile. “That has to be liberating.”
“It so is.” He pushed out a ragged sigh. “God, it really is. I’m still bummed about giving up that art room, but it’s worth it, you know?”
“I’m sure it is.”
He swallowed, his relief faltering slightly in favor of sadness, but only for a second. Shaking himself, he met my gaze again. “I actually looked into rental spaces in town, so maybe I can rent a studio. Once I’m settled in and have my feet under me, I’ll figure it out. Or I can just keep using the corner of my bedroom to paint.” He smiled. “It works pretty well.”
“Just let us know if there’s anything we can do to help.” I wrapped my arm around his shoulders and started guiding him down the stairs. “In the meantime, let’s go back to the house. Will and I got you a little housewarming gift.”
“Ooh, really?” He grinned, clearly intrigued. “Leather or chains?”
I laughed. “Guess you’ll find out, won’t you?”
Kelly actually dozed off in the car. I wasn’t surprised. He really had just cut away a number of anchors, and I could only imagine the relief.
He didn’t have to sweat over buying or renting a place either. Even before his house had gone on the market, he’d moved in with us. We’d converted the guest room into his bedroom so he had his own space, though he still spent more nights than not with us. There’d even been a few nights where I’d come home late from work to find him and Will curled up together in our bed.
When he had to be up early for an opening shift at Bold Brew, he was careful to slip out without jostling either of us too much. Or at least, he tried really hard not to wake up Will, since Will had a hell of a time getting back to sleep. He’d err on the side of getting up via my side of the bed, which meant he sometimes he’d wake me. By the time he’d kissed me, murmured “I love you,” and left, though, I’d be dozing off again.