Saving Me (Finding You #3) Read Online Free Page A

break up the two-person party. “If you’ll just follow me inside, I’m sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”
    A southern drawl seemed out of place in the impeccably dressed man living in California. His balding hair was brushed over to one side and stuck up like a peacock’s tail every time the sea breeze snuck under it. I snickered as I watched him try to flatten it down again but he gave up after the third or fourth attempt. His warm nature put me at ease as I followed the two men through the carved timber double doors and stopped to take in the un-renovated interior.
    Straight away, the musty smell burned my nostrils, constricting my throat somewhat. The foyer light was on to try and add ambience to the house, but to little avail. The large gothic windows hindered the glorious outside light from penetrating the gloom. It was too dark. I shivered as the archaic staircase creaked and groaned under the pressure as we ascended to the second story. Talk about stepping back through time. A chandelier hanging by a brass chain failed to fight off cobwebs that looked like they had been there since the dawn of time. Immediately I knew it was not the house for me. It made me depressed. The walls felt like they were closing in on me. I didn’t know what taste Joe thought we had but I certainly was not, “pleasantly surprised.”
    I looked at Kyle, trying to gauge his expression, but his face appeared neutral as he talked things over with Joe as we sullenly walked through the bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs. Large sheets of heavy, velvet curtains in dull reds and greens shielded the barred windows from view. Whoever was trying to sell the house obviously had liked living in a closed off, dark world.
    Even the large galley kitchen downstairs failed to impress. The house was cold and lifeless. It would need far too much work done to modernize it and tidy it up.
    It was a relief when we finally walked outside again into the fresh air and daylight.
    “Well, what do you think so far?” enthused Joe, hopeful that his day’s work was complete.
    “It’s not really what we’re looking for.” I looked at Kyle for support.
    “We’re after something a little warmer and more homely,” added Kyle, not caring to look around the outside of the house.
    Joe wasn’t perturbed and navigated down his list. “There are a couple on the beach side of the road. You literally step out your backyard onto the sand. They’re a little pricier than the ones on this side, but I think they’ll be more suitable. Shall we go?”
    Once in the car away from Joe, Kyle and I let out our true feelings about the house.
    “It was just so cold. It reminded me of some medieval castle that’s been in one of my movies. I can’t imagine living in it. I expect that it would even have ghosts.”
    I breathed out in relief. “I’m so glad you picked up on that too. I felt like I couldn’t breathe in there and it was so dark. Every light in the house was on in broad daylight.”
    The next two houses we looked at did nothing to impress us either and I was starting to wonder if we were just too fussy. Joe was running out of addresses in a suitable price range so everyone was nearly ready to call it a day.
    “Do you have anything at all left on the list that we might like? It’s got to be different from all the ones we’ve seen so far,” announced Kyle in a straight forward manner.
    “Well, I only have one left and I wasn’t going to show it to you as it’s somewhat out of your price range. It’s only just come on the market and it’s not in this neighborhood. It’s about another ten minutes north of here. Would you like to see it?”
    Kyle looked at me for a response. I nodded slightly to him.
    “Okay, we may as well. You never know. It might be the one.”
    So we bundled ourselves into the car again, tailing Joe’s late model white Buick, and off we went. My stomach roared to life with all the ferocity of thunder.
    “I promise that when we’ve