Three as one

I’ve written this book in Dutch, so hopefully, it is readable translated in English. Enjoy!

I

"Mr. Marksen, your new client is on the phone. Regrettably, he can't come, but would like to do business over the phone." Richard Marksen, extremely intelligent with a highly developed intuition, the owner of Marksen Finance, was a tall, slender man, in his early forties, whose milk-chocolate-colored hair was already starting to gray at his temples, thought it was slightly strange. He sighed deeply. He would continue with it as long as he felt good about it. So basically, he had to cut it off right away.

"Come on, bring it on." He pressed a button on the phone. "Mr. Solden, this is highly unusual, but I will see to what extent I can help you with. Tell me what your wishes are."

"I understand, but I'm unable to travel at the moment and my accountant has resigned."

"That's annoying. What do you want me to do for you?"

"He made quite a mess of my bookkeeping, I wasn't happy about that at all, I'm sure you understand that." There was a strange silence, Solden seemed to want to hint at a threat, which made Richard even more alert. "I have several companies..." a pulse began to squeeze Richard's stomach, "and he's been mixing up all sorts of posts, as far as I can tell. I started a new company, but he put the income and expenses away in one of my three other companies. Now I can't find it. I will email everything to you as well as the bank account number of my new company. It would be nice if that were done inconspicuously. Thank you very much."

Richard didn't get a chance to ask any more questions because Solden had already hung up. He saw mail coming in and opened it with a heavy feel, the latter with the title bank account number Solden & co. The first page was innocent, until he scrolled down. A file had been added. He opened it and pictures of him and his wife appeared. There was also a video in which his wife was filmed shopping for a benefit concert. He could tell by the shop she had walked into. Nothing else, no threatening e-mail or voice message. Only the desire to transfer certain amounts to the new bank account without it being noticed, through the phone call just yet.

We'll see, Mr. Solden, Richard thought. This time you're messing around with the wrong one. He called his wife.

The tall, reddish -whitehaired man with a neatly trimmed beard, who looked a bit like Santa Claus, put down the phone and looked around with his ever shining eyes. Now it was really going to happen: he had to say goodbye to his home. Where he had been happy for so long until his wife passed away a few years ago. After that, he still managed to make something nice out of his life, but it was just a bit duller. The house now became more of a burden as well. The garden was large and the house was actually too big for a man alone and his friends who had already exchanged their house for the retirement home had kept asking if he wanted to visit them. Six months ago, he had done just that. This retirement home did not disappoint, as his friends had been trying to tell him for a year. It had a lovely garden, so he didn't have to miss out on his own garden. If he wanted, he could also work in it, but he didn't have to and that was just so nice. Nothing was needed in that home. In the evening he played cards with his friends and girlfriends with a drink. During the day you could read in the garden. If he didn't want company, he watched television in his own apartment.

Ever since his friends asked, he had been walking there every Friday evening to play cards. They had shown him around, shown him their apartment, the menu. It all looked fine so he had signed up and now the time had come. Unfortunately, someone had died, fortunately not from his group of friends, but that had freed up an apartment. Now the time was there.

He called his granddaughter, his son and daughter-in-law were working, they had a thriving brokering investment business, but his daughter was working from home. He knew he could always call her. She also answered almost immediately. "Hi grandpa, do you have good news?" How that child did it, but she always felt him.

"Yes, I think so," he grinned. She heard the laughter in his voice and felt herself becoming happy inside. He had always been a real grandfather to her and wished him a pleasant and easy life for many more years.

"When can you go there?" She surprised him again. According to him, she was clairvoyant. He decided to tease her.

"How do you know I'm going fishing?"

"Oh, I thought..." She sounded disappointed. He laughed softly.

"I'm just teasing. Starting next week, I'll get the key." She began to cheer.

"Oh, how great! You're going to have a great time there." Now he had another surprise for her, he had talked to her parents about it, they knew she loved his house and because of that they had decided to give it to his only grandchild. His heart ached a little when that thought came up. His son and daughter-in-law were unable to have a second child, and his other son had died of an illness when he was 16. But she made up for that on all sides. She was the sunshine in his life.

"What are you going to do, Grandpa, with your house? Maybe I can buy it from you? I'm getting enough assignments now and have a fairly stable income, so maybe the bank will give me a mortgage."

She was so independent, she could have gotten an allowance from her parents as being their daughter by giving her a few shares, she did got them, but she wanted to be able to take care of herself.

"This house cost me five thousand guilders at the time. It was expensive because most ordinary houses cost around three thousand back then, but this was bigger and almost had a park around it. But that means it's been mortgage-free for a long time. You can have it." He unexpectedly detonated a bomb. It became very quiet on the other end of the line. Except for the cracking of her brain. He sat with a big smile with the phone to his ear, enjoying himself.

"Grandpa, that can't be. This is your pension. And what does Dad think of that?"

"Sweetheart, this house has been mine for so long, the only costs I had left was maintenance, I was able to save a lot, especially when your grandmother was gone, boy did she cost me a rib from my body." He laughed softly. If there was anyone who was content with the little things, it was his wife. She just needed him and her family to be happy. He missed her... phew. Tears suddenly clouded his eyes. He could enjoy himself here on earth for a while and then he would see her again. Tamsyn felt his grief and had to blink away her own tears, grandma had always been a real grandma.

"Shall I come to you, Grandpa? If I bring some sandwiches, I'll come and celebrate with you." He blinked away the tears. That kid... She felt him so well, he thought again.

"I would really like that. But don't you have to worry about your job?"

"No, I had just put the finishing touches to the illustration for the cover of a fantasy novel. Pretty nice if I do say so myself."

"Girl, all your work is nice, but being a little critical is good."

"Ha! Thank you Grandpa, but you're biased."

"Absolutely not! Take a picture of it, I can judge it myself, but I already know I'm going to like it. You have a very special style, very sweet without being bland, with a tough edge, because of your use of color I think, or the black ink." Tamsyn laughed softly.

"I'll bring some treats, see you soon." Tamsyn put her drawing in a folder, at that moment decided to take it to her grandfather's. She also took her tablet with her, which she recently started drawing on. She dressed warmly, it was spring, but still a bit chilly. Then she got in the car on her way to the sandwich shop.

"Who lives there?" asked Tamsyn, as she looked through the large back window, where they were eating the bread rolls they had brought with them at the table. Now that the trees were still a bit bare, she could vaguely see the neighbor's house. The people who first lived there, had died in an accident together with their daughter and son-in-law. It was a gigantic house and garden. Her grandfather's was big, but small compared to the neighbors.

"I don't really know, they're a bit on their own. I think it's their daughter's son. Every now and then I see different cars passing by. The other day it was a bit strange: I saw two cars coming back with the same man driving, but I had only seen him leave once. But I don't really pay attention to it."

"Yeah, yeah," Tamsyn teased.

"No, I really didn't, but I happened to be taking a breather after I had been working in the garden all morning. Well, it would be strange if I hadn't seen the one and a half cars that pass by here. I should have had to go to the retirement home a year ago," he chuckled.

"Is there perhaps another way, at the back perhaps?"

"Possibly, but then they must have built it themselves, because in their grandparents' time there wasn't one.” Her grandfather took another bite. “Boy, this is delicious, girl, it tastes so good!"

"Well, they have a new owner, everything is fresh."

"We could do that more often."

"I think that’s a good idea." They continued to eat in a pleasant silence. When she finished, she leaned back in her chair. "When do you want to start packing?"

"Since I signed up, I've packed a lot of things and mostly thrown them away. There are still some things lying around, of which I wonder if you might want to keep some of them. The only thing that needs to be packed are my daily things. I ordered a moving van for Monday."

"Then I'll come and help with that on Friday, you've already done far too much on your own."

"Very much at ease. Come and see if there is something for you. Your mom and dad are coming tonight. Tomorrow a thrift store will come and have a look. Then it's as good as done."

"It's okay to put something in the attic. I mean, I'm alone and it doesn't have to go away right away. You can leave important papers in your safe here. I don't own anything that needs to be in a safe."

"That's an idea, they're not really important, but I can't throw them away, even though the apartment is big, it's nice that it's here."

"Arranged then."

"I also made an appointment to put the house in your name." Tamsyns cheeks became red.

"I don't know, grandpa, I think it's super sweet, but I still feel a bit burdened."

"Honey, whether you get it now or when I'm gone. Now I can still enjoy that you enjoy it." He squeezed her hand.

"Well, if you put it that way. I don't want to say it, because it feels so profiteering, if that's even a word, but I'm honestly so very happy with it. There are so many beautiful memories in this house. But I really just wanted to buy it from you, really. Ever since you said you wanted to go to the retirement home, I've been putting money aside, hoping you'd sell it to me."

"Well, now you can use that to furnish it, instead to get your mortgage. I think it's very nice to leave it to you. What good is all that money, I can't use it anymore. And then it will come to you later. No point to make you crooked now, do you?"

"You're absolutely right," Tamsyn grinned mischievously. She clapped her hands happily, jumped up, gave him a hug and a slap kiss. "So happy with it." She gave him another blow kiss. "Come, let's take a look at your rubbish."

"Hey, hey, watch it. The papers have not been signed yet." He tapped her teasingly on the cheek.

"Thank you Grandpa," she said sweetly, kissing him again on his soft cheek.

Together they walked slowly upstairs. "I won't miss this. My knees don't really like climbing stairs anymore," he grimaced. When they were finally upstairs he said, "Maybe there are a few pieces of furniture you can paint, because it's all very solid, but a lick of paint is always nice, or maybe just sanding and some oil."

"Had to be solid, I think you made them all yourself."

"Yes, I did."

There was still a nice old double bed and a couple of cabinets. "I think they can stay."

"That's nice, otherwise it has to be demolished. When I bought a new bed - I was hoping a box spring would do my back any good - I went to sleep in another room. I sawed and sanded this bed outside and put it together on the spot."

"That's good then. I buy a new mattress, then it will be fine again." They walked through all the rooms like that. Grandpa happy that his furniture got a second chance and Tamsyn happy because she really liked the furniture. Grandpa had a very sleek taste which made the furniture timeless. By the time everything was discussed, they were craving for tea, and Tamsyn showed him the drawing she had brought. "You see, I knew I would love it. It's a bit of a strange story, isn’t it?"

"I like the symbolism, there are also some beautiful wisdoms written about. Sometimes it's also quite exciting and romantic and I tried to capture that. My style with the mixed-media of watercolor and black ink fitted in nicely."

"Totally agree." Tamsyn put the drawing back in the folder and stood up.

"I'm going back to work. I have to read a new book… very annoyingly...," she grinned, "so I can draw a well-fitting cover. If I read something and the front cover is wrong because the woman in the book has red hair, but the woman in the front cover is a blonde, I really hate that."

"Yes, I can understand that can be very annoying too," her grandfather scoffed. Tamsyn sighed and made an irritated clacking sound with her tongue against her teeth.

"Well, maybe it's not really world-saving, but I find it annoying, it has to be right."

"You're right, girl." He pinched her cheek teasingly. She stuck out her tongue and gave him a hug.

"See you on Friday, coffee time."

"Then it will be very empty here."

"I hope so. What you don't want to take with you, we take to the bulky waste." After a final wave, she left.

Tamsyn got into her car and turned towards the road, she slammed on the brakes, just in time to prevent she would be crashing into a speeding car. Her heart shot into her throat. She was glad she had turned her car, because if she had reversed, she probably wouldn't have seen him coming.

She didn't expect what happened next. The driver of the car slammed onto the brakes, causing the rear end to shoot aside. Two seconds later, the most fantastic man got out, although Tamsyn didn't consciously register it, because she was still recovering from the shock. She found the expression on his face very disturbing, so when he gestured for her to open the window, she shook her head.

It wasn't until she heard his question if she was okay that she relaxed a little. She nodded, but still wasn't going to open the window. In turn, not intending to wait any longer for a response from her, the man pulled open the door. Stupid, stupid, stupid, it crossed her mind and she had a tendency to bang her head against the steering wheel. Instead, she looked at the man. The expression on his face had turned to concern. What would he think...

"Madam, is everything all right?" It popped into her head: he said madam to me. She nodded again, and in order not to sound like a complete idiot, she forced herself to answer.

"Yes, just a bit spooked. But all right, thank you," she said, somewhat hoarsely, hoping he would just go away. But alas.

He should just walk away. Everything was fine with her, she just said it herself, oké with the sexiest voice he'd ever heard, so why did he keep staring at her? Because of that voice? Because she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever met? Beautiful brown-red hair in a tousled litle bun, beautiful greenish-gray eyes, which actually did not match her hair color, but were all the more beautiful because of it. He sighed to pull himself together, he didn't want to scare her with his stares and forced himself to step back. "I'm glad it's going well, I have to apologize. Normally, no cars come from here. And I like to tear up this road," he grinned a sexy boyish grin and she forgave him immediately.

"Then I hope you'll be a little careful in the next few days."

"And that's because?"

"My grandfather is moving," she said with a movement of her head towards the house. He pushed his upper lip up with his lower lip and nodded. That’s great

"Okay, I'll watch it." Maybe the house was up for sale, so before it would come to that, he had to make an offer. He and his brothers were very fond of their privacy. With an absent look and a brief greeting, he walked back to his car. Instead of thinking about the house, the woman had left an impression on his retina. Shit, he forgot to ask what her name was. Unbelievable that he was so upset. Women didn't do much for him. Probably because he smelled an opportunity to buy the house. That's why he was absent: he was thinking. Yes, that’s what it was: he was just thinking. And immediately he stepped on the gas pedal hard.

What the heck was that all about? Tamsyn shook her head. She just hoped she didn't get into trouble with the man. You only get troubles when you expect them. Precisely. She was going to be super happy in grandpa and grandma's house. The feeling of happiness returned and she drove home at ease. Looking forward to a nice bowl of tea and a good book.