A Mile in My Flip-Flops Read Online Free Page B

between these two large bowls.
    “You think you got enough cholesterol on this table?” I ask Dad as he pours us each a glass of wine.
    He chuckles as he sets a glass in front of me. “If it makes you feel any better, I used
light
mayonnaise.”
    I bite my tongue as I wait for Dad to say grace. Maybe there’s no point in nagging the poor man. I take a deep breath, noticing the nice cooling breeze coming straight off the Pacific. And I realize it’s actually sort of nice sitting outside and sharing a meal with Dad and Betty. I feel guilty for having been such a hermit for so long, but maybe things are starting to change for me now. And maybe I’ll become more social when I finally have a place of my own. I imagine a house with a yard where I can set up a table and a barbecue like Dad’s. Then as he prays his usual blessing and I hear Riley happily chewing on a bone beneath my feet, I think that life seems to hold some promise now. Things are about to change.
    Dad says, “Amen” and passes me the bowl of coleslaw, but as I put a cautious serving on my plate, I see that it’s literally dripping in dressing. “You’re sure this is
light
mayo, Dad?”
    He clears his throat as a slight smirk appears on his face. “Here’s the deal, Gretchen Girl. You lay off my dietary decisions, and I won’t get on your case regarding your remodeling abilities or lack thereof.”
    “Meaning you’re going to help me flip a house?”
    He picks up a big rib. “Yep. I’m thinking it sounds like fun.” He winks at me with those blue gray eyes that are just a couple of shades lighter than my own, then smacks his lips and takes a bite.
    “It could be fun,” adds Betty, “as long as your flip doesn’t go flop.”
    I try not to scowl at her. “Of course, it won’t be a flop,” I say with confidence. “Dad and I will make a great house-flipping team. He’ll be the brains, and I’ll be the brawn.”
    They laugh, and Dad questions my current physique, and I try not to take offense. I also try not to obsess over how I suddenly feel like a misfit. But the two of them look like such a couple—laughing at each other’s jokes, looking into each other’s eyes. And then here I am … alone. It’s not that I think Collin should be sitting next to me. I don’t. In fact, most of the time I think I’m over him. Or nearly. Still, it’s not easy being the single one when I’m with couples. It’s not the way I thought I would be. But I guess I need to get over it.

I think I’ve found something with potential,” Betty tells me over the phone. I’m just walking through the parking lot at the end of a long workday, heading to my car, which has been baking in the sun. I wish I’d put the top down this morning.
    It’s been exactly eleven days since I decided to flip a house. I did what felt like an exhaustive search for fixer-uppers in our area and came up with nothing. Then Betty stepped in and offered her services. On Monday she contacted all her real-estate associates and even did some looking on her own. She’s turned up a couple of options, but so far nothing has been quite right. “Quite right” as in cheap enough for my budget.
    Even with Dad cosigning the loan for me, which he offered to do, and even with using his condo as collateral, which makes me nervous, I can borrow only $500,000. And although that sounds like a nice chunk of change to me, it will not go very far in El Ocaso. Plus, I’ll probably need to hold back about fifty grand for renovations as well as for reserves in case the house doesn’t sell at the end of six weeks, when the loan payments become due. Needless to say, this greatly reduces my buying power.
    Still, I’ve been optimistic. And I’ve even been praying, something I hadn’t done for quite some time … like about eighteen months.On the Sunday after I made my decision to flip a house, I went to church and actually listened. Pastor Briggs preached about expecting God to do the impossible. I like