‘And you did it,’ I replied, smiling. ‘You turned this place into paradise.’
She sighed.
“It’s so unfair. I did everything right, and he still found a way to ruin it all.”
‘We won’t let him win,’ I assured her. ‘It’s just a setback. A new adventure awaits you. Nolan’s house is a good stop for now, but I know he’s serious about you. Maybe the next step will be a new home together.’
I left my daughter confident that her landlord would get a good beating the next day.
‘Dad, can you come over?’ Lily asked me on the phone early in the morning. ‘Please be here when I have to hand over the keys to Jack.’
‘I’ll be right there,’ I said, spreading butter on my piece of toast.
Lily was packing shoes into a box when Jack burst into the room.
‘What the hell, Lily?’ he demanded. ‘Where are the plants? The flowers? The photos on the internet clearly show what this place should look like!’
He took a deep breath, and his face turned the colour of an overripe tomato.
Lily, the epitome of innocence, winked at him.
‘What plants, Jack?’ she asked. ‘The backyard has always looked like this, haven’t you noticed?’
She gestured towards the neglected garden bed, a mischievous smile playing on her lips.
Jack, caught red-handed in his devious plan, burst into incoherent threats of property damage. I stepped towards him, pointing to the open cracks.
‘Do you want to talk about the damage?’ I said, my voice cold.
‘Let’s discuss the cracks in the walls, the missing tiles and the mould in the bathroom. Now you can see everything clearly, can’t you?’
Jack’s eyes widened as he looked into the bathroom.
‘This is clearly sabotage!’ he shouted.
‘No,’ I replied, pulling out the photos I had taken when Lily moved in.
‘Everything was exactly like this when she moved in. If anything, it’s neater now. Nothing is missing, Jack.’
Jack tried to regain his composure, but the three couples who came to view the house that day saw it in its damp, unattractive state. They all left without submitting an application.
Meanwhile, a few months later, Lily found a new place with a landlord who appreciated her green thumb, not just the potential profit. As my daughter settled into her new home, I couldn’t help but feel proud.
Lily and I sat on the porch of her new home and looked out at the spacious yard that would soon become her next gardening project.
‘Dad, I can’t thank you enough,’ she said, her eyes shining with relief and excitement. ‘I was so scared, but you knew exactly what to do.’
I smiled and squeezed her hand as we rocked on the porch swing. ‘You did the hardest part, sweetheart. You stood up to him. And now you have a clean slate.’
What would you have done?