Deciding (again) to do that, I dragged myself out of bed and went to the bathroom.
The interior of Ty’s house was more awesome than the exterior. He didn’t have a lot of stuff but what he had was excellent quality, stylish and expensive. This was probably why he didn’t have a lot because, before his life was interrupted, he’d been patiently accumulating, buying the best, happy to wait until he could afford the next addition because it had to be right, what he wanted, the “nice shit”.
I didn’t know if he bought the condo at build but either he or the people who ordered it had to have chosen every upgrade. Gleaming marble tile in the bathrooms. Shining oak floors. Fabulous slate floors in the kitchen. Top of the line appliances. Granite countertops in kitchen and in bathrooms.
The top bedroom was the entire floor though stuttered, the balcony off of it running the entire length but being the roof of the second floor. There was a staircase going through the middle of the house on the upper two floors which meant that there were three sections of the top bedroom. A wide back where the furniture was and two big areas on either side of the staircase that were void of anything. It had floor to ceiling windows too and the balcony off had a wooden railing. Completing this area were a huge bathroom with a big, oval tub that could fit two, a separate shower, a toilet in its own room and a very long counter with two basins and a huge mirror lit by fantastic, cool-as-shit lights as well as a large walk-in closet.
Ty only had a bed, two nightstands and two dressers in that room, one dresser tall, one long with a mirror. All this was handsome but sparse. There wasn’t even a rug to cover the floorboards under the bed, in fact, there were no rugs in the house because he obviously hadn’t gotten around to buying rugs.
There was an enormous amount of space left over. You could put couches and chairs up there. Have a TV space and a reading space, one on either side of the stairs. Deck furniture on the balcony with thick cushions, I’d pick lounges.
It was already fabulous but it could be spectacular.
I would, no doubt, never see that. I was pissed at Ty but I still hoped that he did whatever he had to do and then went back to building his life and filling it with “nice shit”.
The middle floor of the house had two bedrooms either side of the stairs, both with their own much smaller baths. Both had small balconies jutting out, made of decking. Neither had anything in them. Nothing. Except for some stuff stored in the closet of one, they were totally empty. At the back of the middle floor sandwiched between the bedrooms was a smaller room that Ty used for an office. It was the only room in the house that was carpeted. He’d furnished it. Big, fantastic desk, big backed, black leather swivel chair but the computer had obviously been purchased prior to his being sent to prison, it was at least five years old, maybe older. Still, it was there and I’d discovered it had internet I just didn’t know the passwords to access it.
Mental note to ask Ty.
The bottom floor was all kitchen and living room with a narrow boxed cutout on one side that housed a powder room with a door close to the living room and a big walk-in pantry with a door close to the kitchen. There were floor to ceiling windows at the long, wide deck that jutted out well further than the balconies above them which, with the floor to ceiling windows and the room being open plan, made the deck feel like it was a continuation of the first floor. Since beyond that was uninterrupted nature until the view hit town, this gave that floor the feel that it went on forever.
Completing this open vibe and sharing of nature and adding tons of light when the sun was up, there were a generous amount of windows all around including a huge picture window over the sink at the back wall that had a great view too, a view into the woods. It wasn’t as phenomenal as the view in the front but it was good enough to make me look forward to doing dishes.
The open-backed stairs to the upper level cut into the middle of the space, the railing made of beautiful wood that was full of character, the steps carpeted in short-pile cream wool with sparse brown and gray speckles. The stairs were so awesome they were a feature on their own. The view was fabulous but if I got a look at those stairs cutting through the room, I would have said yes to this house. There was another flight of stairs that led down to the utility room that was at the side wall of the garage. These were at the side of that level, leading from the kitchen and surrounded by another railing of the same wood.
He had a deep-seated, very large, cushiony, black L-shaped sectional, a flat screen TV and a shelving unit that held a top-of-the-line stereo with speakers built into the house giving surround sound even on the upper levels and out on the decks. There was also a stone hearth fireplace. Further, there were four unusual but awesome stools at the lip end of the counter of the massive, square island. Like the rest of the house, there were no rugs and tons of room to add more furniture. The fireplace would look great with some cool candleholders around it. The cream cabinets and black granite countertops in the kitchen would look fabulous with cream KitchenAid standing appliances (Ty only had a blender which was cream so that was why I knew cream would look good and then, of course, there was the coffeemaker, both, seeing as he liked “nice shit” and his friends undoubtedly knew that, were KitchenAid).
There was a lot you could do with his house. A new wife, a real one, would be in throes of ecstasy if she was carried over the threshold to this place.
On that not so happy thought, I washed my face, brushed my teeth and headed down to the kitchen.
No coffee in the coffeemaker. No note on the island. Ty just gone.
I made coffee and I used his strawberries, bananas and yogurt, cutting up the fruit and covering it with yogurt in the bowl. I poured myself a cup of joe and wandered out to the front deck that also had no furniture.
I set my coffee down on the railing after taking a sip then shoveled fruit and yogurt in my mouth while staring at the sun shining bright on Carnal, the green pine-covered hills beyond, the purple mountains beyond that.
I let the warm, morning sun shine down on me and I decided how to start my life.
Ty’s furniture was way better than mine, mine was cheap and I’d had it for nine years so it wasn’t in the best of shape. But my bed was newer, decent and would fit in one of the rooms on the middle floor. I’d need a bed when this was done. And he had plenty of room, my shit could be stored in his other room. And I’d bought my new computer only three months before. We’d get rid of his and he could get a new one when this was done and I went away.
I’d call Ella, tell her what to get rid of and what to send. I’d buy new of what I needed when my real life started. She said she was gently nudging Honey to move into my place and take over the lease and Honey was surprisingly considering this. Then again, Ella was not immune to motherly emotional manipulation, so not immune, she’d become a master at it and therefore she was coaxing Honey to cut the apron strings she’d latched onto by using helping me out as incentive. And Honey was sweet; she’d want to help me out. This meant Honey could use my furniture if she wanted to until she got set up.
I also needed a job. Ty might be able to cover me but I wasn’t going to let him. He lived his life, did his business, I’d do mine.
So I needed a paper.
People would expect his new wife would make his house a home. And I was his new wife. And I thought his decks needed flowers and furniture. So I’d see to that. If I had to live here for however long, I was going to enjoy the view and not do it standing at the railing.
I also had a town to discover. Maggie’s groceries were running out. I needed to do an inventory, toilet paper, cleaning supplies, laundry stuff (the washer and dryer being in a kickass utility room in the garage). He had friends and they’d probably wonder where I was. I couldn’t stay up here forever. That wouldn’t be doing my job.
I needed to break the seal, go into Carnal, see and be seen.
And thinking on laundry, I needed to do some. For me. For Ty.
Another thing to add to the list.
My plans set, I finished my bowl of breakfast, set it on the railing and stood there, sipping my coffee, staring at the view, having eaten and still feeling hollow.