When the time began to blink at the bottom of the screen, she walked away. Since she had a few dollars left in her pocket and didn’t want to use her bank card without stopping at the bank first, she left to happy farewells from the café staff. She was becoming accustomed to the cheerful townspeople, she thought, as she went the short distance to the bank.
The same type of welcome waited for her there even though she was using the ATM. Brushing aside the help of one of the representatives, she went to an open ATM and slid her card into the slot. When her balance came up, her eyes went wide, still in disbelief at how much money was in her account. She took out one lump sum to carry her over for the next few weeks.
With cash in her pocket, she mentally checked off the next item on her list: finding a place to stay. She asked one of the bank tellers for a reputable real estate agent in town. The assistant manager was more than willing to advise her to go to Woodberry Reality, run by the mayor’s sister. She couldn’t help but wonder if Woodberry Creek was so small, everyone was related to one another.
As she walked toward the three-story brick building around the corner, she suddenly felt very lonely, wishing her mother was here. Her mom would have gotten a kick out of looking at homes with her.
By the time she reached the building with the Woodberry Realty sign in big gold lettering above the door, she’d lost all her excitement and wanted to go back to bed for the rest of the day. Before she did just that, a woman wearing a striking white suit and matching heels, holding a binder and a cell phone up to her ear, got out of a silver Lexus she parked in front of the building.
“Thanks, Todd, I see her now.” She finished the call and smiled brightly at her. “Why, hello! You must be the young lady interested in buying something in the area. I can help you with that.”
“Actually, rent.” She hugged herself, confused that this professional-looking woman knew about her situation. “How did you know I was on my way here?”
“You were just at First National asking about real estate agents in the area, correct? The manager you talked to is one of my cousins.”
“Are you all related to one another here?” she asked, not caring if she sounded rude or not.
The woman didn’t seem to notice or care as she nodded. “All it takes is to bump into one of the natives here, and they’ll tell you they’re so-and-so’s brother, cousin, uncle, and so forth.”
“How…nice,” she replied with a weak smile and did her best not to be taken aback by the woman’s loud, almost obnoxious laugh.
“You’re definitely in for a culture shock since Woodberry Creek is the type of place to welcome anyone and treat them like family. You must come from a big city where everyone is in a rush and doesn’t have time to even say good morning or ask how your day was.”
She shrugged and pulled on the back of her hair. “Maybe it isn’t a good idea. I just arrived in town and I’m—”
“Dear, if I let you go, you’ll just go to your hotel room or wherever you’re staying and sit there all alone watching bad pay-per-view movies and ordering takeout. Why not come inside with me where we can chat?”
She flinched from hearing “dear”—that word she hoped she’d never hear someone call her again—and from the way this woman knew what Deborah planned to do if she walked away.
“Are you sure you’re just a housing agent and not a psychiatrist?” she asked half jokingly, half seriously. The woman responded with a loud laugh again.
“You’d be surprised by how insightful I can be after twenty years in this business.” The woman held her hand out for Deborah to shake. “I guess before we go any further, I should introduce myself. My name is Maura Woodberry and I’ll be more than happy to be your real estate agent.”
She almost backed into the window, startled by hearing her last name. “Woodberry? You’re not related to—”
“Honey, I’m related to everyone. My family founded the town.”
She bit the inside of her cheek. She wanted to ask Maura if she was related to the bouncy woman she’d met in the drugstore.
“I’m…I’m Sharon. I think I’ve met some of your family members already.” She did her best not to cringe when Maura lightly took her elbow.
“That shouldn’t come as a surprise since there’s more than one hundred of us Woodberrys living here. Why don’t you come in like I said before and have a cup of coffee? I can tell you about some of my wacky relatives while you tell what you’re looking for in a home.”
There was no way she could get out of it now without making a scene, which was the last thing she wanted to do. Instead, when Maura unlocked the door, she walked inside and told her she’d like her coffee light and sweet.
* * * *
By the time she finished her coffee and Maura reviewed her housing needs, it was as if a weight had been carried away.
Maura didn’t waste any time and presented four properties that would suit her, ones she could show her today. She didn’t have an excuse not to go, so off they went. Maura also gave her the nickel tour, as she called it, by driving around town and pointing out certain areas such as the commons in the middle of town where people picnicked, listened to free music on the weekends, and where children played in the playground. She saw the high school, all the key buildings such as the police station and fire station, and even the mayor’s house.
The tour ended once Maura parked in front of an apartment building where the first three places she wanted to show Deborah were located. Other than one apartment looking like a loft, and the other two having different dimensions, nothing about them felt like “home.”
“These apartments haven’t impressed you,” Maura stated while she and Deborah walked to the car.
She shrugged. “They were all very nice and in the price range I’m looking for, but I’d rather live in a place with more space, like a house. Didn’t you say the fourth property is one?”
Maura nodded as she unlocked her car. “Yes, I did. It might be too big for a single woman like yourself, unless you’re thinking of starting a family in the future.”
She’d never mentioned if she was single or otherwise and allowed Maura to think what she wanted. “Would it be all right if we looked at it?”
“Of course,” Maura replied with a big smile that Deborah gave her one in return.
Less than ten minutes later, she found herself on a residential street in front of a white two-story house with a nicely sized, newly mowed front lawn and a wooden porch with two rocking chairs in the right corner. The roof needed some work, and the outside could use a new coat of paint, but otherwise she couldn’t find any other faults with it.
“The house has been vacant for almost a year. The landlord is more than willing to stay on top of the upkeep as you can see from the lawn. I promise the inside doesn’t have any big issues.” Maura jangled her keys as Deborah followed her up the steps.