Saturday night, I took Billie out to eat at Holy Smoke. The host looked at me sideways, saying I was like a gnome at Harvestfest because I kept showing up. She caught me by surprise because I couldn’t understand why a restaurant wouldn’t want repeat customers. But then I looked at her name badge. Veronica Clemons, it said. It took all the power I possessed NOT to fall out laughing. THAT was the woman Devonté hid from me back in the day?? He spent his entire life with that old hag? She wasn’t bad looking and was probably a bombshell in her younger days—when we were babies—but she had nothing on me. I was so glad that guy was no longer a factor in my life. I’ll probably never understand him.
In the morning, I arose and jumped down a rabbit hole. I got on the computer, intending to look at just a few houses to see what were my options, but I should have known I’d not be able to do that. My search began in Willow Creek to see what else I’d be able to afford. But if a fresh start was the goal, we needed a whole new city. That opened up the can of beetles. I looked all over. Glimmerbrook, Henford on Bagley, you name it; I looked. Well, except Brindleton Bay. Been there, done that. The more I searched, the more I defined what I wanted. My children were growing up entirely too fast, and my time with them grew shorter by the minute. It saddened me to think about it, but I might be an empty nester soon, if my children left home immediately, like I did. If that should be the case, I wanted to downsize like Dwayne did. There was no sense in me living in a huge house by myself at that stage. Plus, I could go for paying less in bills. I afforded this house just fine, but I’d love to save more.
Several hours went by, and I ended up finding a house that I absolutely loved. And would you believe it was also in Newcrest? I swore that was pure coincidence. Hopefully, it wasn’t in Dwayne’s neighborhood. I mean, I wouldn’t mind being his neighbor again, but that would clearly be an issue for him. At least for now. The house wasn’t as small as I wanted, but the price was right. I’d be able to save so much money there, which was great in case my candle business ever went through low points. It had two levels, but the upstairs only took up half the area and was the master suite! It had a super large bedroom with a sitting area, an office, and, of course, an en suite. I loved the idea of having my own space so I didn’t have to disturb the kids much when their friends were over. The kitchen was a lot smaller, but the family room was bigger. And, of course, the other two bedrooms were standard size. I couldn’t put my baby in another shoebox. And it had a pool! I really hoped the kids got excited about moving because I had to have that house now.
