Chapter 2

Jason didn’t care that David inherited his parents’ home in Orlando. Jason’s quick search regarding the value of the home led to his snap decision to let David have it. “It’s not even worth a hundred thousand dollars,” Jason had said. “And it needs a lot of repairs.”

The only thing they didn’t argue about was Jason keeping his house in Malibu that he owned before he met David, and the prenuptial terms of the disposition of their liquid assets. Once the house in Los Feliz sold, David could pay the bank back for the home equity loan he’d taken out to refurbish the Orlando house.

Increasingly loud footsteps brought Quinn close; David was testing the air conditioning thermostat.

“Which one’s my room?”

David thought for a moment. A part of him debated giving him the smaller room but he could spoil his son on this one thing. “Whichever one you want.”

“Really?” He smiled. “Which one was your room?”

David smiled and tousled Quinn’s light brown hair. “It was on the left at the top of the stairs. Your grandparents were on the other end of the hall. Off to the right.”

“That one is bigger.” Quinn cocked his head and blinked his eyes. “Can I have it? I’m your only son.”

David smiled at his son’s cheekiness. He didn’t know where Quinn picked up this idea that he could get away with playing the favorite child, only child plea, but this time it worked. He didn’t want his parents’ old room anyway. And he still felt guilt for taking Quinn so far away from Jason even though Jason and David agreed to David having full custody.

David had reasoned that LA wasn’t the place for a precocious, sensitive boy to live, considering the excesses of Hollywood show business, with which Jason was overly familiar. Jason had conceded early in their marriage that Quinn was more attached to David since Jason worked long hours and sometimes took weeks away from home.

“Sure, you can have the bigger room. It’s got its own bathroom.”

The upstairs hall bath would be closer to David’s old room anyway, and Sarah had installed a new claw foot tub with whirlpool jets during the renovation. David was glad that the brown wallpaper in that bathroom had been replaced by a lighter shade of beige, and new crown molding added more flourish.

“Thanks, Papa!” Quinn gave a quick hug then he was off, rolling his small book bag up the stairs, the sound of the wheels clacking against the newly refinished hardwood at each step.

David’s phone buzzed and he punched the button to FaceTime.

“Hello!”

“How’s it going?” Sarah asked. She combed away blondish bangs that covered her eyes.

“We’re here.” David panned the phone around to give her visual confirmation. “I like what you’ve done.”

“Well, did the pictures I take of the changes and modifications do it justice?”

“Actually, the house is brighter, cleaner, and nicer than I remembered. And, no the pictures didn’t do it justice. It’s like a whole new house.”

“Yeah, once we replaced the dark cabinets, removed the wallpaper, tore down that one wall in the living room to open up the space, and moved the fireplace, everything is more open. More light comes in.” She paused. “We work great as a team. I think you have a future in real estate.”

David laughed. “It really does look nice here. A fresh house for a fresh start.”

“You’ll thank me for my suggestions for redoing the plumbing and replacing the bathroom fixtures later. So, how’s Quinn?”

“He’s upstairs. He already claimed his bedroom.”

“Nice,” Sarah said. “Did you get an update when the rest of your furniture is being delivered?”

“I got a text that it’ll be here tomorrow sometime between nine A.M. and two P.M. Thanks for being here when the bedroom sets, and living room sets came in by the way.”

“You’re welcome. It really didn’t take long. They got the beds set up pretty quickly. And the couches added a homey touch, I thought. You do need to get an area rug for the living room. Oh, and I have the receipt for the sheets I bought for the beds. You have to decide on what to do with the first-floor bedroom, though. I guess you can turn it in an office.”

“I don’t think I need an office for my baseball blogging. But I have my oversized desk coming in that can go on one side.”

“I’ll bring over the boxes you shipped to me from Cali tomorrow then. You want to me to swing by the Beefy King and bring some hot roast beef sandwiches for lunch when I come over?”

David’s eyes fluttered in excitement. “Wow! That place is still open?”

“Yes.” She paused. “I guess I never took you back.”

David nodded. He didn’t want to think about the time he had to fly to Orlando to attend his parents’ funerals back to back in a short time period.