A Trip in the Fall Pt. 04

*Chapter 1- End of January*

*Brandon-New Jersey*

With the start of the New Year, Sarah and Brandon were both back to their daily lives and swamped with things pulling them in different directions. For Brandon, it was work, baseball, and starting the process of wrapping things up in New Jersey for his move to Nashville once summer started.

With the new semester, he had his normal classes at the high school, but he was teaching only one class at the local college due to the demands of his baseball schedule starting in March. He had broken the news of his departure to his boss Bret, once the paperwork detailing the offer from Josh's company had come.

Bret took it well, he was sad to lose Brandon as the department chair and the AP teacher, but he understood Brandon's reasoning. The tension arose with the central office when Brandon began to inquire about his unused sick and personal time. For the third time in the last week, he was on the phone during lunch asking about what happens to his sick and personal days, "Yes, we have spoken before about my days. I have over a month's worth of days that I will not be using, can I convert them over to retirement or be paid for them?"

"Well Mr. Baker, if you ever were to come back to the state, they would be waiting for you."

"I understand that, but I don't plan on coming back honestly. I'm moving to Tennessee and then who knows, I'm not from the area, so I don't foresee myself coming back. Could I just be paid $50 or something a day? I'd rather not lose those days."

"Well, no, we can't do that."

"So, what if I use them, you'll pay a sub $120 for each of those days?"

"Yes, that is correct."

"You people are crazy, that is the biggest waste of money ever. Can I donate them to people?"

"If they are already out, yes."

"I give up with you people."

With a sigh, Brandon hung up the phone and looked at his buddy Matt, "People at central office are dumb. Looks like I'm going to be taking lots of 3-day weekends when we aren't playing."

Matt laughed, "Sounds like it. I can't believe you're moving though. Who am I supposed to eat lunch with and make fun of idiots with?"

Jokingly, Brandon held Matt's hand, "It'll be okay honey, you'll find a new work husband.

"Get off of me man!" With a laugh Matt pulled his hand away, then continued, "So, how is the house hunt going?"

"It's going. Sarah and her dad looked at a bunch right after New Year's. She generally sends me the listing and I provide my input, then we go from there. Haven't found anything she or I love yet, but we are getting closer. She is looking at one this afternoon that I found online. We are going to FaceTime during the showing so we will see."

"Well, that's good."

"Yeah, the plan is once I give the okay, she is gonna buy. She doesn't want anything too extravagant, so it's just a matter of finding something we both like."

Matt gathered his things, "Well let's head back up, I need to stop by the office on my way to class."

Brandon packed his things up and headed down the hall and texted Sarah, "We still good for the walk through at 4:30?"

As the guys left the office, Brandon's phone vibrated with a text from Sarah, "Yep! The more I look at the pictures online, and based on what the realtor said, I think this may be the one for us."

Brandon smiled and responded, "Well good, seems like it has everything we both want. I still can't believe I'm evening thinking about a house at $750K."

As Brandon walked into his classroom he read Sarah's response, "Well to get what we want, it's what we have to pay apparently."

Brandon responded before putting his phone on the desk, "Well, what you're paying, I'm just the help."

*Sarah- Tennessee*

*Damn him!"

Amanda looked up startled, "What are you talking about?"

"Brandon. We were talking about that house I'm going to look at today out in Madison."

"Right...."

"Well, it's up around 750K and it's obviously making him uncomfortable because he keeps making comments about how he's just the help, or things like that. I keep telling him that we are doing this together."

"Girl, you gotta realize that right now, this is all abstract to him. It's your house and he's just giving input."

"But we are moving in together and it will be our house."

"I know that, but he isn't seeing it that way right now. You're gonna need to give him something or somewhere that is just his. Maybe he gets a man cave that he gets to completely redo with his own time and money."

"Maybe you're right. I know him moving is huge and it is fast, but I want him to feel as if this is his too. We are starting things as a team."

"I know I'm right. There will be growing pains, hell, there are still things that Josh and I have issues with, and we've lived together for nearly a year at this point."

"Okay, Okay. Let's get back to looking through these lyrics."

Chapter 2.

Later that afternoon, Sarah made her way out of downtown, heading to meet her realtor Britney at the house in Madison. Based on the pictures the house was huge, 6 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, an in-law suite/apartment, garage for 5 different vehicles and around 5,500 sq. ft. Based on the floor plan, Sarah figured they could turn one bedroom into an office for Brandon since working from home was an option with Josh's company. She could have a crafting room and office where she could write and do things. There was ample storage in the basement, so Brandon could have a reloading room/man cave like Amanda suggested. At first, she thought all the garage space was excessive but as she thought about it, parking for both of their vehicles, storage for lawn stuff, maybe a boat since they were close to the Cumberland River, and all the space filled up quickly.

Following the directions in her Jeep, Sarah turned off the road and up the driveway to the house. She stopped the SUV and FaceTimed Brandon. After 3 rings he picked up, "Hey Babe!"

"Hey there handsome, how was practice?"

"It was good, guys are coming around and getting more consistent in the cage. Hopefully it will translate to the field in a month or so. How was your day?"

"It was good, looked over some new songs with Amanda that we are going to demo next week. So, I just pulled into the driveway of that house. I'll try to show you everything as I drive up and try to avoid putting the Jeep in the ditch."

Brandon laughed, "Sounds good." Sarah turned the phone, so it was looking out the windshield and she put the Jeep in gear and proceeded up the drive.

She narrated as she headed towards the house, "So the driveway is about a half mile long, it is partially shared with the house further on. Oh wow, the pictures don't do this place justice. I love the orangish tint of the brick. Looks like Brittany is already here."

Brandon made a couple of comments about the size and the front, mainly in agreement with Sarah. Sarah pulled up to the front door and hopped out, "Hey Brittany, I've got Brandon on FaceTime."

With a smile, the realtor welcomed them, "Hey guys!" After everyone greeted each other, Brittany started her spiel, "So the house is just under 6,000 sqft. So, there is plenty of room for people to visit and to entertain like you wanted. It has 6 bedrooms with 4.5 baths, but 2 of those bedrooms and 1.5 of those baths are in the in-law suite. It was built in 1996 and just had a kitchen remodel and a new roof installed."

Sarah nodded her head and Brandon asked some other questions about technical things like the sewer and electric. Over the next half hour, they toured the house but even with all the questions Brandon was asking, Sarah could tell he was impressed with the house. This was a definite perk because she was seeing a lot of potential in the house and after looking at 25 or 30 different ones, this was the best one yet.

As they found themselves back in the main living room, Brandon said, "Hey Brittany, this place was awesome, can you give us a couple minutes to talk?"

"Of course, I'll be in the kitchen."

As the realtor left the room, Sarah asked, "Well what do you think?"

"It is certainly amazing; I can tell you like it."

"I do, it has everything I want, and it checks your boxes too."

"Well, you loving it is what matters. How far is it from downtown?"

"About 20 minutes to the record office and probably 25 to your new office when you go in."

"Well, that sounds like it would work. Did you see anything you didn't like?"

"No. I would like to paint some things, but that's minor stuff. You see anything that concerns you?"

"Nope. It is a newer house, everything looked good. The updates that they did seem to be done well. I would recommend you still get a home inspection just to be sure. If it is clear, or nothing major, then I think you're buying a house."

Sarah let out a squeal, "YAY!!!!!!" Brandon visibly moved the phone away from his face due to the volume. Sarah laughed, "I'm so excited."

With a laugh, Brandon replied, "I can tell. I'm happy for you. This will give you a base. Well, give us a base."

"Are you sure you're okay with this?"

"Yeah, I kinda have to be. It'll take some getting used to, but I think I can handle it. Plus, if you get mad at me, there are plenty of places for me to hide."

"Promise me you're okay with it?"

"Yes, I'm good."

"Okay, I'm not sure I believe you, but I'm going to go talk to Brittany and figure out what happens next. I'll talk to you tonight like normal."

"Hey Sarah"

"Yes?"

"See if they'll take a little less."

"You're a pain, you know that? I love you, bye baby."

"I love you too."

*Chapter 3-Early February*

The next few weeks were a bit of a blur as Brandon continued getting things in order for his move at the end of June once the school year was over. Even though it was four months away, Brandon went ahead and notified his landlady. Most people have a contentious relationship, but Brandon's landlady was an older woman who was always very kind and even made cookies and things around the holidays and gave to him and the other tenants, so Brandon didn't want to leave her in a lurch.

All the while he was getting things organized to move, he was also planning for his baseball season and other things going on. Sarah was coming to visit him for the first time over Valentine's Day weekend, then he was flying to Vegas in March for 2 days for the ACM awards, then baseball season would hit full force. Once April rolled around, he would be busy with baseball, he was scheduled to head to his parents for fishing with his dad, then almost immediately turn around and head to Myrtle Beach for a baseball tournament.

He was sure at some point he would head to Nashville for a weekend in March to see the house and start the moving process. That was something else entirely that he knew they were going to have to discuss. Sarah didn't have much stuff because she had moved out of her college apartment that she shared with a couple of other girls and left all her stuff at her parents when she hit it big. She was currently renting a furnished one-bedroom place in Nashville while waiting to find and then close on the house.

Brandon on the other hand had some furniture and house type things, but his apartment wasn't very big, so other than a bed, dresser, a couch, coffee table, entertainment center, and some other odds and ends, he didn't have much either. His current plan was to borrow his dad's 8x12 enclosed trailer and tow it down with all of his big stuff, the smaller stuff he could haul down in a couple trips, not that he was looking forward to the 14-hour drive that was from New Jersey to Nashville. The issue remained, between the two of them, there was no way they had enough stuff to fill a 5500 sq ft home.

There had been many conversations about it, Sarah usually taking a more relaxed, "We will figure it out approach," whereas Brandon reverted to his planning persona and was beginning to stress about it. He had decided to focus on their bedroom as a place to start. In their normal zoom call, the discussion shifted from their days to the furniture, "My bedroom suit is relatively new, but I only have one dresser."

"That's fine, the closet in the master has shelving so we can make that work."

"How many clothes do you have?"

Sarah laughed, "Well a bunch, but that closet is huge. I only need drawer space for my socks, underwear, bras and things like that. Does your dresser have two sides?"

"Yeah, but it's full."

"Honey. The closest has two sides, we can both put things in there."

"But I don't have that much stuff."

"Once you see it, it'll make sense. You're overthinking this again."

"It's what I do. Okay what about the bed."

"Well, you said your mattress isn't that old, so we can keep it. What size is it."

"It's a queen size."

"Oh, that's perfect. King size beds are fun for other activities, but I think queens are more intimate. Over New Years, I felt like you were so far away at night if I wanted to snuggle."

"I have to agree there."

With a smile, she added, "Plus I'll get to see how comfortable it is in a few days."

The conversation continued over the next half hour, moving from the bedroom to the other rooms and finally wrapping up talking about the kitchen. The house conversation over for the night, the conversation shifted to Sarah's trip to New Jersey that weekend.

"So, what time does your flight get in Friday? "

"Ummmm, I land at 3."

"Are you sure you don't want me to take the afternoon off and cancel batting practice or have one of my assistants run it so I can get you?"

"Absolutely not! I will just text you when I get to your apartment."

"Okay, the door code is 221354. Are you going to rent a car?"

"Nah, I think I will just Uber over. The weather is supposed to be sunny so I can hide behind a hat and sunglasses, plus I'll be dressed like every other woman traveling this time of year, leggings, hoodie, and sneakers."

"It's really not a big deal for me to take the day off."

"Brandon, I've got it. You can take me to the airport Sunday afternoon."

With a laugh, "Alright, alright, I give. Is there anything special you want to do while you're here?"

"It's just a short trip, so spending time with you is all I want to do. If we do something or go anywhere that's fine, but there is no need to plan anything."

"Well, it is Valentine's Day weekend, do you want to do something for that?"

Sarah thought for a moment then responded, "This sounds silly, but is there a Chilis close by?"

Brandon laughed, "Yeah there are a few."

"Then can we go there? When I was a little girl, we'd go to the one in Biloxi for special things and I ate at the one at college all the time and I haven't had it in forever."

"Wow, we are so romantic, sure we can go to Chilis for dinner on Saturday."

"Thank you for entertaining my weirdness. Okay baby, I'm going to head to sleep. I'll see you in 3 more sleeps."

Brandon laughed, "Yeah, I need to turn in too. Goodnight, I love you."

"I love you too."

*Chapter 4-Friday*

Brandon's day had been uneventful to say the least. It was a Friday, so his kids were working on assignments to avoid homework of the weekend and he had the entire day to grade and get caught up, then ahead so he didn't have to think about work while Sarah was visiting. They hadn't seen each other in 6 weeks, and this was only a 48ish hour visit but it was a much-needed visit considering everything that was taking place with the house, the move, and everything else in life.

When Brandon made it to lunch, his phone had a message from Sarah that she had boarded and was on her way. Brandon smiled, causing Matt to ask, "Well is she in the air lover boy?"

Brandon laughed, "Yes, she lands at 3."

"Well good. Are you sure you don't want me to run practice so you can go get her?"

"Nope, I offered that, and she said she didn't want to take my time away from the guys."

"So how is she getting to your place?"

"Taking an Uber and I gave her the code to the front door. She'll get there around 330, I'll be home around 530."

"You know she's gonna go through all your shit, right?"

"Probably, but I don't have blown up dolls like you to hide." Both guys laughed and continued their lunch before returning to their respective classrooms, Brandon waiting for the text from Sarah letting him know she had landed.

***

Sarah waited for the plane to taxi so she could disembark. The flight had run into some weather over Virginia and rather than getting in at 3 as planned, the plane had touched down at 3:30 and she was standing from her seat and making her way into the airport at 3:45. She made her way to the bathroom then started to move towards the exit. She was getting ready to enter Brandon's address into the Uber app when she decided she was going to surprise him. She paused and looked up the address to his school and entered it instead. She got the notice of her driver and made her way to the exit, found the car, and climbed in.

"Good afternoon, we should be at your destination in about 25 minutes."

"Sounds great!"

During the trip, Sarah and her driver Sam made small talk, and if he recognized her, he never let on, which Sarah appreciated, she was hoping for a chill, quiet weekend with Brandon. As they turned into the school, Sam asked, "Are you sure this is the right address?"

Looking up from her phone, "Yep, my boyfriend teaches and coaches here."

"Oh okay, where are we going exactly?"

With a blush, "Well that I don't know, he coaches baseball, so maybe go around towards the baseball field."

Sam drove around the school and by the baseball field was a white, metal building, and outside it was a collection of cars, and parked off to the side, she saw Brandon's truck. "There, the blue Ford truck is his, you can just pull up to it." They pulled up, Sarah thanking him and then climbing out. As the Uber drove away, she looked into the cab, seeing Brandon's backpack in the front seat. She checked the door handle next, finding the back doors unlocked, she deposited her bag on the seat and threw her jacket on top.

Shutting the truck door, she headed towards the building's door which was cracked, allowing the sounds of boys yelling and the pings and cracks of bats hitting balls. Sarah slipped in the door, shutting it behind her. Sarah found herself in a large room with two net batting cages suspended from the ceiling and an open area at the end. In the one closest to her, there was an adult throwing pitches from behind a screen to a player. In the other, a coach was feeding balls into a machine and another player was hitting. The remaining players were down at the end and were fielding balls that Brandon was throwing.

The guys waiting to hit in the closest cage noticed her come in, but seemingly didn't recognize her, the coach though looked up, smiled and with a snort gave a small wave. Sarah smiled at him as he walked out of the cage and stuck out his hand, "I'm going to go out on a limb, judging by the hoodie, based on what Brandon has said, plus TV, you must be Sarah."

Sarah smiled and blushed a bit, "I am, are you the Matt that I hear about?"

Matt laughed, "Anything he has told you is a lie, unless it is good."

Sarah laughed and got ready to respond when she heard Brandon's voice rise above the noise. She turned towards where she had seen Brandon earlier as he began yelling at a player who had allowed a ball past him.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! We've been over this so many times! You have to get your glove down and move to the ball, quit stabbing it at!"

The yelling continued for a moment while, Matt shook his head and placed his hands on her shoulders, turned Sarah toward Brandon, "Okay, let's go save that kid. He has a ton of raw talent, but he tends to think he knows it all, so we've been a little harder on him." Sarah and Matt walked past the other cage where all action had stopped as everyone turned their attention to Brandon.