HOME | DD

Description
The weekend after my birthday, we made the trip up to Aitkin for the closing, well after Michelle had secured the money. During that week, we had borrowed my father's pickup to make the purchase from Ikea and deliver everything to the garage at home. Everything fit snugly into the back of the truck, and we didn’t have to unload a thing since the truck fit into the garage with ease. After all, it didn't seem prudent to drive north with a truck loaded with furniture while picking up a key at the closing.
Which house had she bought? The A-Frame on Cedar Lake. Yeah, wouldn’t you know it, that was my pick too. I couldn’t be happier for Michelle, since I’d get a lot of the benefits of her owning the place also. Certainly Shelly was, it had the best lake.
So, that last weekend of September, we packed my car with a few sleeping bags and pillows in anticipation for our first night at the new cabin. A card table and a few chairs went into the trunk of the Bonneville. Our plan was to stop at the local grocery and pick up a few things for basic - basic - meals, considering we'd be staying overnight in a bare bones house with very few supplies, although the homeowner had said most of the appliances would be left behind.
Michelle dressed in one of her business suits, while Shelly wore a lovely floral print dress. I wore a button up shirt and one of my nicer pairs of blue jeans, considering I hadn’t planned on attending the closing. Given Michelle’s tendency toward nervousness, I guess she wanted me close by.
Our day started at the realtor office in a meeting room. It was very formal. Large conference table, dressed up seller and wife, dressed up Brian sitting between us at the end. Weird, I had a twinge of nervousness myself. Shelly sat on my right. Michelle sat on my left. She actually put her hand on my thigh. I guess she wanted me to be able to feel if she experienced any changes in her anatomy.
To put it another way, I would be able to feel any tires develop. Hopefully none would appear during the meeting.
“Good morning,” Brian said.
We all echoed the sentiment.
“Let me introduce both parties on the opposing sides of the table. We have our selling party, Mr. Garry Kellerman and his wife Roberta.”
I nodded. For an older lady, Roberta was a lovely woman. She was also a tall woman, maybe 6'2 or so. Garry was a working man with calloused hands, and I didn’t see any malice in his flat expression. He was taller than me, but not as tall as his wife.
“For the buying party, on my immediate right is Miss Michelle Peyton, with her associates Greg Claxion and Mrs. Shelly Starsetter-Claxion.”
The Kellerman’s nodded politely to us as well.
“The property at 2987 327th Lane NW has been listed, according to Aitkin county records, with a list price at $479,800. As of this date, September 29th, 2016, the property has been declared by the auditor of Aitkin County and Bennitville Township to be fully complacent with property assessment taxes within the law,” Brian explained.
“I pay my taxes,” Garry said proudly. “I’m a veteran.”
“Yes indeed, and thank you for your service.” Brian replied. “According to this bill of sale, the property owners agreed to sell for $448,600 with the sellers picking up the carrying costs of the exchange.” He turned to the selling party. “Mr. and Mrs. Kellerman, do you agree to these terms?”
“We do,” Garry replied.
Brian slid a document in front of him. “At this time I will ask you to sign on this line indicating you accept the selling price.”
He did so.
Michelle reached for my hand and took it. Her palms were sweaty. So I began to apply some cold air.
“Miss Peyton, you offered to pay $448,600 with the promise of paying any taxes assessed upon the property in the future, as well as upkeeping the property in accordance with local statutes and territorial or state laws?”
“I did,” Michelle replied. “I will.”
Michelle took my hand and put it on her hip. I continued to apply cold air.
“At this time I will ask you to sign accepting these terms,” Brian said.
Michelle slowly moved her hands above the table, and quickly signed. Once she had done so, her right hand went back onto my lap.
“The selling party has agreed to pay for improvements upon the property that are pending for completion after today’s date. Shall I recount these improvements?”
Michelle nodded. So did Roberta.
“The home’s HVAC system has been upgraded to a more efficient and modern system. Second, the home’s on-site propane storage will soon be upgraded and replaced. In addition, the home’s septic system will also be upgraded.”
“I agree to these upgrades,” Garry said.
Michelle nodded. “And I accept these upgrades will be completed in a timely fashion.”
“Good,” Brian said. “Mr. Kellerman, I’ll have you sign to confirm the upgrades here.” A moment later, he slid the paper in front of Michelle. “And Miss Peyton, I’ll have you confirm your acceptance of this here.”
Once both parties had signed, Brian turned to Michelle. “Do you have a copy of the promissory note from your bank?”
Michelle nodded, pushing forward a folder. “It’s here.” She took a deep breath.
“Breathe, Michelle,” Shelly said.
Michelle gave a confident nod. I increased my cold air flow into her leg.
“Miss Peyton, I’ll have you sign the title that authorize the transfer of funds.”
She did so.
“And, finally, acceptance, and transfer of title, Mr. Kellerman.”
He signed as well. “Well, that’s it. What’s mine is yours, miss. Take care of the place for me.” He slid over a key ring containing eight keys, all on a keychain of Wally the Walleye. “There are duplicates of each key, one for the garage, one for the basement door, one for the home’s front door, and one for the family room door. I also have this.”
Roberta picked up a wooden box that was painted blue. “Inside are the controls for the garage doors, and everything you’ll need to get into the home.”
“Since you brought it up, is this everything?” Brian asked. “Are there any other duplicates?”
“My son has a key, as does my daughter, but I have asked them to destroy these copies.”
“You’ll understand if I change the locks?” Michelle asked.
Mr. Kellerman nodded. “And I’d do the same, miss.”
“Congratulations are in order for both of you, then,” Brian said, turning to the Kellermans. “You’ve sold your family home, and,” he turned to Michelle, “You’re now officially a homeowner.”
Across the table, Michelle offered her hand. I winced. Would he be shaking a tire any moment?
They shook. Nope.
“Miss Peyton, expect a copy of this title to arrive within several weeks,” Brian said. “And you can expect the money to be transferred into your account shortly, Mr. Kellerman.”
“Thank you,” he answered, shaking Brian’s hand.
“There’s one more thing in the box,” Roberta said. “I hope you’ll hang it somewhere where your guests can see it.”
Shelly sifted through the box to find a wooden sign. Hand carved cedar, lacquered and finished, the sign was made in the woodshop that would become Michelle’s bedroom.
It read a simple message. “Welcome to our lake cabin” in capitol letters.
“There’re two hooks on it, ready for hanging,” Garry said. “I’d put it under the overhang next to the side door along the main garage.”
Michelle smiled. “Thank you very much. I’ll do my best to take care of the place as well as you did.”
“Thank you,” Kellerman said. “I know you will. Go and make memories.”

I could tell Michelle wanted to leave quickly after that. I quickly shook Mr. and Mrs. Kellerman’s hand before following her outside to a quiet corner of the parking lot, where her hands burst into tires immediately. She kneeled to the ground and proceeded to transform into Summer.
“Were you holding it in?” I asked.
“You did wonderfully,” Michelle replied as her blue heels were absorbed by tires. “I thought I’d lose it when we shook hands.” She looked around. “Where’s Shelly?”
“Talking with the Kellerman’s, making sure you’re not being followed.”
“Good,” Michelle said as her hips widened and stretched into fenders. “This can’t be good for my suit.”
“How many clothes have you destroyed?” I asked as her torso elongated and formed into the interior cabin. “Really?”
“Enough garments to know better,” Michelle said before her face widened and formed into the hood. Her lovely blue eyes disappeared into glass headlights as her mouth grinned into the radiator. The woman had vanished, and the car known as Summer was all that was left.
“Are they going to look for me?” she asked.
“We’ll just say you drove separate,” I said. “You’re already heading to the cabin.”
“Right,” Summer replied. “I’ll hang behind you, don’t go inside until I get there.”
“All right if we head to the grocery store first?”
“Go ahead. Pick up some popcorn shrimp and coleslaw.”
“Will do.”
“I’ll catch up.”

After a quick pass through the grocery store, where I picked up a cookie sheet along with the makings for our first meal in the new cabin, we drove out to the property and pulled along the end of the road where Summer was already waiting for us. Before even approaching the path to the front door, I went up to Summer.
“Which garage door opens the house garage?” she asked.
I shrugged. “No idea.”
“Can you find it?”
Shelly had been carrying the box from the Kellerman’s. As she approached, she opened the wooden box. “They’re not labeled.”
“Push ‘em both,” I said.
Shelly did so. The first one she pushed opened the separate garage. The other one opened the house garage.
“There we go.” Summer started her engine and drove inside. “Crossing the threshold!”
“Should we go upstairs?” Shelly asked after hitting the button to close the other garage.
“No, wait,” I said. I hit the button for the other garage again so it was open. “Let me pull the car in there first.”
“What about the groceries?” Shelly asked.
“It’s only a bag or so, I can carry them.”
“And what about me?” Summer called.

I went into the house and cooled down Michelle, and she gave me a kiss on the cheek before taking stock of the basement. I moved the Bonneville, closed the garage but left the exterior door unlocked, and then headed up to the main door, following the path to the top of the patio where Shelly was sitting.
She was facing the lake, which looked lovely in the afternoon sun. The dark blue water sparkled in the breeze.
“I’m already getting used to this,” Shelly said as she sat on a nearby rock. The patio itself was empty, as any furniture had left with the Kellerman family. The dock, however, was still present at the bottom of the trail approaching the lake.
“How long until I can dock a boat there?” I asked.
“You will soon enough,” Shelly said. “I have faith in you.”
“That’s one of us,” I said as I unlocked the front door and brought the groceries inside the entryway.
“Wait!” Shelly held out her arms. “Carry me over the threshold?”
“It’s not our house-”
“Greg?” She gave me the look.
“Oh, all right.”

Inside, the house was empty and quiet. Hard to believe it belonged to Michelle. But it didn’t have a musty odor, and the air was cool. The HVAC system had at least been installed, even if the propane and septic tanks still needed to be replaced.
I carried Shelly inside, placing her feet on the floor before allowing her to kiss me. “Welcome to our cabin,” I said.
“To Michelle’s cabin,” Shelly corrected me. “Where is she?”
“I’ll go look for her.” I headed downstairs.
"Michelle?" Shelly put our groceries on the counter in the kitchen. "Where is the refrigerator?"

Downstairs, I looked into the family room, confirming that the pool table remained but was otherwise in an empty space, for the bar stools and side tables had been removed. I’d have to pick up a neon light and a mirror for the space immediately. Following the hallway toward the garage, I walked past the slatted wood door for the utility room and the bathroom, finding the door to the wood shop open.
Inside, Michelle was sitting on the floor. A tiled checkerboard floor, that lead over to a wood blocked counter along the east wall with pegboard up and down. Throughout the room was an exposed duct along the ceiling, leading from three stations before gathering in a vacuum tube and collection container in the northwest corner.
“Michelle?”
She stood up and hugged me tightly. “Thanks for everything, Greg.”
“Sure,” I said. “Always.”
She didn’t let go. I felt tears dripping onto my chest. I was convinced that they were tears of joy. They had to be. Exhaustion and joy. Somehow, I felt like I had made up for every mistake I had made in recent memory. I hoped I was right. Maybe now I could finally forgive myself. However, there was more work to be done.
“Michelle?”
She moaned quietly into my shirt.
“Should we go upstairs?”
“Okay.”

Shelly eventually located the refrigerator, cleverly disguised behind panels that matched the cabinets. It was actually located to the right of the entrance from the home’s front door. The electric stove worked wonderfully, but I only used the oven for this inaugural meal to heat up frozen, breaded shrimp. The built-in microwave above a cabinet on the north wall heated up a bag of vegetables, and we made salad from a bag of lettuce and a small package of cherry tomatoes.
Our meal occurred in the great room, sitting at a card table and several chairs that the three of us carried in. As we ate, the sunset over the lake was entrancing. We then played cribbage for a few hours until the exhaustion of the day caught up.
Shelly and I laid our sleeping bags right there in the great room, using camping pads atop the hardwood floor. Michelle decided to sleep in the master bedroom, though again on a camp mat and on top of a sleeping bag, opting to dress light. I’m told she slept without incident, and without tires. It might be the last time she slept in there, however, as she mentioned that it would likely belong to Shelly and me once the bed was installed.
In the morning, I took a shower and took my book out to the dock when I discovered the girls were not yet awake, although Shelly wasn‘t in her sleeping bag any longer. This was a great spot to survey the lake. Although few boats were in the water at present, I realized that this part of the lake was indeed offering a potential for heavy traffic, as the public water access was to our south and a mass of open water was to our north. Given the edge of the point beyond the house, however, I felt fairly assured that there would be enough cover for Shelly to emerge from the water.
To my surprise, she emerged a moment or two later.
“Greg!”
I nearly dropped my book into the lake and looked around. Where was she?
“Over here, blindy.”
When I turned to my right, looking back into the corner of the small point, covered in small trees and bushes and surrounded by plants, there was Shelly. Right along the shore and almost impossible to see, if not for her bright pink tail.
“Any chance you can see me from the lake?”
I shook my head as I put my bookmark in place. “That seems to work pretty well, at least until your tail comes out of the water.”
“Good.” Then, she did just that. She emerged from the water and sat on the grassy shoreline. “I dove off the dock around dawn, and have been exploring the lake.”
“Anything of interest?” I got up and came closer to her.
“The west end of the lake can be quite murky, but the north end is very nice. The open water on the south side is okay to swim in, and I saw lots of large bass in the west, but there‘s also a lot of reeds.”
“Bass, huh?” I chuckled. “You know I’ve given up fishing while you’re around.”
“I like walleye and bass,” Shelly said. “Especially with lemon. You know that.”
“Feels silly, fishing while you’re swimming,” I replied.
She reached up and dried her hands on my shirt. “If you let me hold the book, we can go inside and get some breakfast.”
“Sounds fair.” I carried her into the house, going upstairs first. There wasn’t anyone on the lake, being it was a Friday morning. Besides, if anyone did see her, we weren’t shy about it. I just didn’t want people posting things on the internet.

Before long, I had heated up a quiche that came straight from the freezer, splitting that between the three of us. We also opened a box of Cheerios, having brought milk as well. By nine, we were all full and satisfied.
Our goal that day had been to stay the night in the cabin, contact a locksmith to arrange to change the locks, and then take a few measurements to plan out our furniture layout and requirements.
This was a lot of house, but it wasn’t so large to be too roomy. The garage was a healthy 40x30 feet, and the family room and great room above were almost the same size. Two of the bathrooms were 5’ by 16’ while the master bedroom was 18’ by 27‘ with room for a master bath at 5’ by 14’. Other bedrooms were similar in size. Also, the kitchen was 18’x12’ while the deck was 40’ x 15’. Needless to say, the house was nearly 2700 square feet, so Michelle had really gotten her money’s worth.
It didn’t seem like that much until we actually measured it out, I guess. We began to wonder if Brian had underestimated the listing, or maybe they didn’t include all the basement as living space. At any rate, Michelle had really found a bargain.

Description
The weekend after my birthday, we made the trip up to Aitkin for the closing, well after Michelle had secured the money. During that week, we had borrowed my father's pickup to make the purchase from Ikea and deliver everything to the garage at home. Everything fit snugly into the back of the truck, and we didn’t have to unload a thing since the truck fit into the garage with ease. After all, it didn't seem prudent to drive north with a truck loaded with furniture while picking up a key at the closing.
Which house had she bought? The A-Frame on Cedar Lake. Yeah, wouldn’t you know it, that was my pick too. I couldn’t be happier for Michelle, since I’d get a lot of the benefits of her owning the place also. Certainly Shelly was, it had the best lake.
So, that last weekend of September, we packed my car with a few sleeping bags and pillows in anticipation for our first night at the new cabin. A card table and a few chairs went into the trunk of the Bonneville. Our plan was to stop at the local grocery and pick up a few things for basic - basic - meals, considering we'd be staying overnight in a bare bones house with very few supplies, although the homeowner had said most of the appliances would be left behind.
Michelle dressed in one of her business suits, while Shelly wore a lovely floral print dress. I wore a button up shirt and one of my nicer pairs of blue jeans, considering I hadn’t planned on attending the closing. Given Michelle’s tendency toward nervousness, I guess she wanted me close by.
Our day started at the realtor office in a meeting room. It was very formal. Large conference table, dressed up seller and wife, dressed up Brian sitting between us at the end. Weird, I had a twinge of nervousness myself. Shelly sat on my right. Michelle sat on my left. She actually put her hand on my thigh. I guess she wanted me to be able to feel if she experienced any changes in her anatomy.
To put it another way, I would be able to feel any tires develop. Hopefully none would appear during the meeting.
“Good morning,” Brian said.
We all echoed the sentiment.
“Let me introduce both parties on the opposing sides of the table. We have our selling party, Mr. Garry Kellerman and his wife Roberta.”
I nodded. For an older lady, Roberta was a lovely woman. She was also a tall woman, maybe 6'2 or so. Garry was a working man with calloused hands, and I didn’t see any malice in his flat expression. He was taller than me, but not as tall as his wife.
“For the buying party, on my immediate right is Miss Michelle Peyton, with her associates Greg Claxion and Mrs. Shelly Starsetter-Claxion.”
The Kellerman’s nodded politely to us as well.
“The property at 2987 327th Lane NW has been listed, according to Aitkin county records, with a list price at $479,800. As of this date, September 29th, 2016, the property has been declared by the auditor of Aitkin County and Bennitville Township to be fully complacent with property assessment taxes within the law,” Brian explained.
“I pay my taxes,” Garry said proudly. “I’m a veteran.”
“Yes indeed, and thank you for your service.” Brian replied. “According to this bill of sale, the property owners agreed to sell for $448,600 with the sellers picking up the carrying costs of the exchange.” He turned to the selling party. “Mr. and Mrs. Kellerman, do you agree to these terms?”
“We do,” Garry replied.
Brian slid a document in front of him. “At this time I will ask you to sign on this line indicating you accept the selling price.”
He did so.
Michelle reached for my hand and took it. Her palms were sweaty. So I began to apply some cold air.
“Miss Peyton, you offered to pay $448,600 with the promise of paying any taxes assessed upon the property in the future, as well as upkeeping the property in accordance with local statutes and territorial or state laws?”
“I did,” Michelle replied. “I will.”
Michelle took my hand and put it on her hip. I continued to apply cold air.
“At this time I will ask you to sign accepting these terms,” Brian said.
Michelle slowly moved her hands above the table, and quickly signed. Once she had done so, her right hand went back onto my lap.
“The selling party has agreed to pay for improvements upon the property that are pending for completion after today’s date. Shall I recount these improvements?”
Michelle nodded. So did Roberta.
“The home’s HVAC system has been upgraded to a more efficient and modern system. Second, the home’s on-site propane storage will soon be upgraded and replaced. In addition, the home’s septic system will also be upgraded.”
“I agree to these upgrades,” Garry said.
Michelle nodded. “And I accept these upgrades will be completed in a timely fashion.”
“Good,” Brian said. “Mr. Kellerman, I’ll have you sign to confirm the upgrades here.” A moment later, he slid the paper in front of Michelle. “And Miss Peyton, I’ll have you confirm your acceptance of this here.”
Once both parties had signed, Brian turned to Michelle. “Do you have a copy of the promissory note from your bank?”
Michelle nodded, pushing forward a folder. “It’s here.” She took a deep breath.
“Breathe, Michelle,” Shelly said.
Michelle gave a confident nod. I increased my cold air flow into her leg.
“Miss Peyton, I’ll have you sign the title that authorize the transfer of funds.”
She did so.
“And, finally, acceptance, and transfer of title, Mr. Kellerman.”
He signed as well. “Well, that’s it. What’s mine is yours, miss. Take care of the place for me.” He slid over a key ring containing eight keys, all on a keychain of Wally the Walleye. “There are duplicates of each key, one for the garage, one for the basement door, one for the home’s front door, and one for the family room door. I also have this.”
Roberta picked up a wooden box that was painted blue. “Inside are the controls for the garage doors, and everything you’ll need to get into the home.”
“Since you brought it up, is this everything?” Brian asked. “Are there any other duplicates?”
“My son has a key, as does my daughter, but I have asked them to destroy these copies.”
“You’ll understand if I change the locks?” Michelle asked.
Mr. Kellerman nodded. “And I’d do the same, miss.”
“Congratulations are in order for both of you, then,” Brian said, turning to the Kellermans. “You’ve sold your family home, and,” he turned to Michelle, “You’re now officially a homeowner.”
Across the table, Michelle offered her hand. I winced. Would he be shaking a tire any moment?
They shook. Nope.
“Miss Peyton, expect a copy of this title to arrive within several weeks,” Brian said. “And you can expect the money to be transferred into your account shortly, Mr. Kellerman.”
“Thank you,” he answered, shaking Brian’s hand.
“There’s one more thing in the box,” Roberta said. “I hope you’ll hang it somewhere where your guests can see it.”
Shelly sifted through the box to find a wooden sign. Hand carved cedar, lacquered and finished, the sign was made in the woodshop that would become Michelle’s bedroom.
It read a simple message. “Welcome to our lake cabin” in capitol letters.
“There’re two hooks on it, ready for hanging,” Garry said. “I’d put it under the overhang next to the side door along the main garage.”
Michelle smiled. “Thank you very much. I’ll do my best to take care of the place as well as you did.”
“Thank you,” Kellerman said. “I know you will. Go and make memories.”

I could tell Michelle wanted to leave quickly after that. I quickly shook Mr. and Mrs. Kellerman’s hand before following her outside to a quiet corner of the parking lot, where her hands burst into tires immediately. She kneeled to the ground and proceeded to transform into Summer.
“Were you holding it in?” I asked.
“You did wonderfully,” Michelle replied as her blue heels were absorbed by tires. “I thought I’d lose it when we shook hands.” She looked around. “Where’s Shelly?”
“Talking with the Kellerman’s, making sure you’re not being followed.”
“Good,” Michelle said as her hips widened and stretched into fenders. “This can’t be good for my suit.”
“How many clothes have you destroyed?” I asked as her torso elongated and formed into the interior cabin. “Really?”
“Enough garments to know better,” Michelle said before her face widened and formed into the hood. Her lovely blue eyes disappeared into glass headlights as her mouth grinned into the radiator. The woman had vanished, and the car known as Summer was all that was left.
“Are they going to look for me?” she asked.
“We’ll just say you drove separate,” I said. “You’re already heading to the cabin.”
“Right,” Summer replied. “I’ll hang behind you, don’t go inside until I get there.”
“All right if we head to the grocery store first?”
“Go ahead. Pick up some popcorn shrimp and coleslaw.”
“Will do.”
“I’ll catch up.”

After a quick pass through the grocery store, where I picked up a cookie sheet along with the makings for our first meal in the new cabin, we drove out to the property and pulled along the end of the road where Summer was already waiting for us. Before even approaching the path to the front door, I went up to Summer.
“Which garage door opens the house garage?” she asked.
I shrugged. “No idea.”
“Can you find it?”
Shelly had been carrying the box from the Kellerman’s. As she approached, she opened the wooden box. “They’re not labeled.”
“Push ‘em both,” I said.
Shelly did so. The first one she pushed opened the separate garage. The other one opened the house garage.
“There we go.” Summer started her engine and drove inside. “Crossing the threshold!”
“Should we go upstairs?” Shelly asked after hitting the button to close the other garage.
“No, wait,” I said. I hit the button for the other garage again so it was open. “Let me pull the car in there first.”
“What about the groceries?” Shelly asked.
“It’s only a bag or so, I can carry them.”
“And what about me?” Summer called.

I went into the house and cooled down Michelle, and she gave me a kiss on the cheek before taking stock of the basement. I moved the Bonneville, closed the garage but left the exterior door unlocked, and then headed up to the main door, following the path to the top of the patio where Shelly was sitting.
She was facing the lake, which looked lovely in the afternoon sun. The dark blue water sparkled in the breeze.
“I’m already getting used to this,” Shelly said as she sat on a nearby rock. The patio itself was empty, as any furniture had left with the Kellerman family. The dock, however, was still present at the bottom of the trail approaching the lake.
“How long until I can dock a boat there?” I asked.
“You will soon enough,” Shelly said. “I have faith in you.”
“That’s one of us,” I said as I unlocked the front door and brought the groceries inside the entryway.
“Wait!” Shelly held out her arms. “Carry me over the threshold?”
“It’s not our house-”
“Greg?” She gave me the look.
“Oh, all right.”

Inside, the house was empty and quiet. Hard to believe it belonged to Michelle. But it didn’t have a musty odor, and the air was cool. The HVAC system had at least been installed, even if the propane and septic tanks still needed to be replaced.
I carried Shelly inside, placing her feet on the floor before allowing her to kiss me. “Welcome to our cabin,” I said.
“To Michelle’s cabin,” Shelly corrected me. “Where is she?”
“I’ll go look for her.” I headed downstairs.
"Michelle?" Shelly put our groceries on the counter in the kitchen. "Where is the refrigerator?"

Downstairs, I looked into the family room, confirming that the pool table remained but was otherwise in an empty space, for the bar stools and side tables had been removed. I’d have to pick up a neon light and a mirror for the space immediately. Following the hallway toward the garage, I walked past the slatted wood door for the utility room and the bathroom, finding the door to the wood shop open.
Inside, Michelle was sitting on the floor. A tiled checkerboard floor, that lead over to a wood blocked counter along the east wall with pegboard up and down. Throughout the room was an exposed duct along the ceiling, leading from three stations before gathering in a vacuum tube and collection container in the northwest corner.
“Michelle?”
She stood up and hugged me tightly. “Thanks for everything, Greg.”
“Sure,” I said. “Always.”
She didn’t let go. I felt tears dripping onto my chest. I was convinced that they were tears of joy. They had to be. Exhaustion and joy. Somehow, I felt like I had made up for every mistake I had made in recent memory. I hoped I was right. Maybe now I could finally forgive myself. However, there was more work to be done.
“Michelle?”
She moaned quietly into my shirt.
“Should we go upstairs?”
“Okay.”

Shelly eventually located the refrigerator, cleverly disguised behind panels that matched the cabinets. It was actually located to the right of the entrance from the home’s front door. The electric stove worked wonderfully, but I only used the oven for this inaugural meal to heat up frozen, breaded shrimp. The built-in microwave above a cabinet on the north wall heated up a bag of vegetables, and we made salad from a bag of lettuce and a small package of cherry tomatoes.
Our meal occurred in the great room, sitting at a card table and several chairs that the three of us carried in. As we ate, the sunset over the lake was entrancing. We then played cribbage for a few hours until the exhaustion of the day caught up.
Shelly and I laid our sleeping bags right there in the great room, using camping pads atop the hardwood floor. Michelle decided to sleep in the master bedroom, though again on a camp mat and on top of a sleeping bag, opting to dress light. I’m told she slept without incident, and without tires. It might be the last time she slept in there, however, as she mentioned that it would likely belong to Shelly and me once the bed was installed.
In the morning, I took a shower and took my book out to the dock when I discovered the girls were not yet awake, although Shelly wasn‘t in her sleeping bag any longer. This was a great spot to survey the lake. Although few boats were in the water at present, I realized that this part of the lake was indeed offering a potential for heavy traffic, as the public water access was to our south and a mass of open water was to our north. Given the edge of the point beyond the house, however, I felt fairly assured that there would be enough cover for Shelly to emerge from the water.
To my surprise, she emerged a moment or two later.
“Greg!”
I nearly dropped my book into the lake and looked around. Where was she?
“Over here, blindy.”
When I turned to my right, looking back into the corner of the small point, covered in small trees and bushes and surrounded by plants, there was Shelly. Right along the shore and almost impossible to see, if not for her bright pink tail.
“Any chance you can see me from the lake?”
I shook my head as I put my bookmark in place. “That seems to work pretty well, at least until your tail comes out of the water.”
“Good.” Then, she did just that. She emerged from the water and sat on the grassy shoreline. “I dove off the dock around dawn, and have been exploring the lake.”
“Anything of interest?” I got up and came closer to her.
“The west end of the lake can be quite murky, but the north end is very nice. The open water on the south side is okay to swim in, and I saw lots of large bass in the west, but there‘s also a lot of reeds.”
“Bass, huh?” I chuckled. “You know I’ve given up fishing while you’re around.”
“I like walleye and bass,” Shelly said. “Especially with lemon. You know that.”
“Feels silly, fishing while you’re swimming,” I replied.
She reached up and dried her hands on my shirt. “If you let me hold the book, we can go inside and get some breakfast.”
“Sounds fair.” I carried her into the house, going upstairs first. There wasn’t anyone on the lake, being it was a Friday morning. Besides, if anyone did see her, we weren’t shy about it. I just didn’t want people posting things on the internet.

Before long, I had heated up a quiche that came straight from the freezer, splitting that between the three of us. We also opened a box of Cheerios, having brought milk as well. By nine, we were all full and satisfied.
Our goal that day had been to stay the night in the cabin, contact a locksmith to arrange to change the locks, and then take a few measurements to plan out our furniture layout and requirements.
This was a lot of house, but it wasn’t so large to be too roomy. The garage was a healthy 40x30 feet, and the family room and great room above were almost the same size. Two of the bathrooms were 5’ by 16’ while the master bedroom was 18’ by 27‘ with room for a master bath at 5’ by 14’. Other bedrooms were similar in size. Also, the kitchen was 18’x12’ while the deck was 40’ x 15’. Needless to say, the house was nearly 2700 square feet, so Michelle had really gotten her money’s worth.
It didn’t seem like that much until we actually measured it out, I guess. We began to wonder if Brian had underestimated the listing, or maybe they didn’t include all the basement as living space. At any rate, Michelle had really found a bargain.