“Let me handle this,” Aaron assured her. Someone from the bank answered the call, and Aaron got straight to the point. “Aaron Cole for Jeff Caplan, please.”
After a short wait on hold, Jeff picked up. “Aaron! How are you? I don’t think I’ve seen you since that scramble at the club a month ago.”
“Hey, Jeff. It’s been too long.”
“We should get out there again soon. What can I do for you today, though?”
“I’m interested in buying the house that foreclosed on Greenbriar, but I have a question.”
“Awesome,” Jeff said, his fake enthusiasm gross. “Although I can’t imagine what you’d want with that dump.”
“I need to know that I can trust you to be discreet about my business with you if I do make an offer.”
“Of course.”
“Even if Bonnie Windsor was the one who submits the offer to your Realtor.”
“Excuse me?” Jeff’s shock was evident in his tone. “I’m not sure I understand. We were told it was in our best interest to not work with anyone associated with Bonnie if we wanted to keep our business relationship with Cole Industries. Why are you working with her if that’s the message we got?”
“Jeff, you’ve known Bonnie and my sister for a long time, correct?”
“I don’t know, maybe since grade school.”
“Have you ever known Bonnie to be anything but a kind and good-natured person?”
“Bonnie’s always been a real sweetheart. I was shocked to hear that she did what she did. I felt terrible for your sister.”
Aaron pinched the bridge of his nose. He couldn’t believe how easily people would believe a rumor even about someone they had known their entire life. It was incredible that so many of them would quickly choose a side without getting all the facts first. “Bonnie didn’t do anything to my sister. Bonnie is and always has been one of the sweetest people in all of Blue Springs. She is kind and generous. She doesn’t gossip about others or put people down. She has the patience of a saint. She is a good person, Jeff. That is why she is my Realtor, and that is why you should tell Brad that the bank will sell to anyone willing to buy the house.”
“Does your dad know about this?” Jeff asked a bit warily.
“Jeff, I am a twenty-nine-year-old man. I do not have to get my father’s permission to do anything. You are a twenty-seven-year-old man—do you need your father’s or my father’s permission to do your job?”
Jeff was quiet on the other end, and Aaron feared he had blown everything before he had a chance to see the first house Bonnie had found for him.
“I will let Brad know to send me your offer when it comes through.”
Aaron let out a relieved breath. “Thank you, Jeff. Way to man up.” He hung up and pulled back onto the road.
“Thank you for what you said.” Bonnie’s voice was much calmer. “About me.”
“I appreciated that as well,” David said.
Aaron made eye contact with Bonnie in the rearview mirror. She had the most beautiful eyes. They were the softest green and reminded him of spring. “It was the truth. More people need to know the truth.”
CHAPTER SIX
IT HAD BEEN a long time since someone said that many nice things about Bonnie to her face. She tried to be a nice person. She did her best to treat people the way she would want them to treat her. It was something her mother had not only preached but practiced as well.
Aaron had definitely given her the warm fuzzies. It was especially appreciated after all the negativity she had experienced this morning. It was still baffling that he was being so good to her. She understood why Jeff was confused about Aaron working with her.
Why would he risk so much potential backlash from his family for her? She still couldn’t wrap her head around it. He could have used any Realtor to find him houses. Bonnie wasn’t sure what she could offer that someone else couldn’t.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been on this side of town. It’s nice,” her dad said as they pulled up to the house on Greenbriar.
She had made an effort to find Aaron houses that had more to offer than just a chance for him to remodel. She also took into account that the properties were in areas where some teardowns had already begun popping up.
“I do love the location of this one,” she said. “It’s at the quiet end of the street. The lot is one of the biggest in the neighborhood.”
Aaron pulled into the driveway and put the car in Park. “I knew you would think this through, Bonnie.”
She punched in the code and retrieved the key while her father and Aaron walked around, inspecting the outside of the ranch home. It was built in the 1950s, and everything outside looked like it was original. The bushes were overgrown, and there was garbage scattered all over the front yard.
“Gonna need new gutters, and Lord only knows what the roof looks like up close,” her dad said. “Brick is in good shape. We could paint it to give it a face-lift.”
“Is that pile of bricks on the roof a broken chimney?” Aaron held a hand over his eyes to block the sun as he stared up at what did appear to be a crumbling chimney.
Bonnie unlocked the front door that was painted two different shades of blue. “I told you this place needs a lot of work. You two might be biting off more than you can chew with this one.”
“I don’t see anything that scares me away,” Aaron assured her.
“You haven’t even been inside yet.” She stepped back as she was hit by a horrific stench. It smelled like a mix of death and rotting food.
“I have a feeling I’m going to love it.” His grin was wide and toothy, forcing her to smile back. Heat warmed her neck and
