Bonnie flashed him a smile. Finally, something other than that scowl on her face. He felt a twitch in his chest. She had such a beautiful smile.
“Yes, this is Bonnie Windsor from Blue Springs Realty. Oh, from the pictures online it didn’t look like anyone was living there right now. When is the next open appointment?” The way her forehead scrunched up gave Aaron a sinking feeling. “To whom am I speaking? Well, Harry, I don’t know that I have ever called a Realtor and been told you don’t know when I can see a property. I have a client here, ready to make a cash offer on a house. If we can’t see it, he can’t decide to give your client that money. Now can he?”
“Tell him I have every intention of making an offer on something today,” Aaron whispered.
“You’ll call me? Hello?” She pulled the phone away from her ear. “How exactly is he going to call me back when he didn’t even ask for my number? Those homeowners need a new Realtor. That guy was terrible.”
“I’m not a big fan of that neighborhood, and that was a level-two house anyway. Call on the level-three house.” Aaron wanted something he could take from rags to riches.
“Well, luckily, I actually know the person selling the house on Greenbriar. I’ll call him on our way over there. It’s definitely abandoned.”
David rejoined them in the kitchen with his newspaper tucked under his arm. “I feel like a new man. Where are we going first?”
“To the house that’s a handyman’s dream,” Aaron replied, pulling his car keys out of his pocket. “I’ll drive.”
As soon as they were buckled in, Bonnie made her phone call from the back seat. Aaron slipped on his sunglasses. Blue Springs should have been named Blue Skies, given the disproportionally high number of sunny days its residents enjoyed. It was a beautiful town in Northern California, just south and west of some of the most gorgeous national parks the state had to offer. It was the perfect location, which was why he wanted to fix up houses in this area.
“Brad, it’s Bonnie Windsor. I have a client who wants to see your house on Greenbriar.” She paused. “What? It’s a foreclosure, Brad. Why in the world would you need to talk to the bank about a showing?”
Aaron made eye contact with her in the rearview mirror. Her face flushed red.
“This is about Lauren Cole, isn’t it? You know it’s unethical for you to prevent a showing that could result in a sale for your client. What? You’re telling me that the bank told you they wouldn’t sell to anyone being represented by me? Are you serious?”
Aaron shouldn’t have been surprised that Lauren’s influence had been so far-reaching, but this was ridiculous. “Hang up,” he said and kept driving until he turned on Greenbriar. He had to figure out a way to make this work, no matter how hard Lauren and his father had worked to ruin Bonnie.
“Give me the number for this Brad guy,” he said. Bonnie rattled off the number, and Aaron prayed his father hadn’t added his name to the no-sell-to list. “Brad? This is Aaron Cole. I am prepared to pay cash for the house on Greenbriar. Can I get in there today?”
“Absolutely, Mr. Cole,” Brad replied, and Aaron sighed with relief. “I can meet you over there in an hour. Does that work for you?”
“I’m actually sitting outside it right now with my Realtor. Can you give us the code to get in?”
“I need to speak with your Realtor to give out that information, Mr. Cole.”
Darn it. Of course he did. “Yeah, hang on one second.” He put Brad on mute. “He needs to talk to my Realtor. David, can you pretend to be Gordon?”
David shrugged. “Why not?”
“Dad, I don’t know if we should do that. It’s unethical.”
“It’s unethical for him to refuse to give you the code,” David was quick to reply. Aaron wasn’t the only one in the car feeling angry about the way people in this town were treating her. “There’s no way Gordon wouldn’t give us his blessing to do this.”
Aaron put David on the phone. “Hi, Brad. Gordon Harrison from Blue Springs Realty. Can I get that code?” He was quiet for a minute and then thanked Brad. Aaron motioned to get the phone back.
“All set?” he asked Brad.
“Yeah, I’m glad you’re dealing with Gordon. A little surprised to hear you’re working with Blue Springs Realty since...you know. Not to mention she called here a couple minutes ago.”
“Right. Well, I’m only working with Mr. Harrison, so no big deal.”
“Yeah, the bank was specific about not selling to Bonnie Windsor, but they didn’t say anything about the company she works for.”
Aaron hated that he couldn’t express how he really felt about this discrimination. His stomach turned at the reality of what his dad and sister were capable of doing. “Which bank am I dealing with here?”
“Golden State Bank. Jeff Caplan is in charge of this property.”
Cole Industries did plenty of business with Golden State Bank. Jeff Caplan had gone to high school with Lauren and Bonnie. His father played golf with Aaron’s father all the time. His mother participated in the planning committee for the Cole library gala every year. Clearly, Jeff had already received a call from someone in his family, but he was about to get another.
Aaron finished up with Brad and found the contact number for the bank. He had to make sure Bonnie could get the commission on this sale while keeping her name from getting back to his father. If not, there was no reason to even look at the house.
“I can’t believe your sister has even gone as far as calling the banks in town.” Bonnie was understandably livid. “Will anyone give clients of mine a loan?
