CHAPTER 47
MOVING ON UP
It was early February now, and Beth and Caleb were able to relax a bit. Caleb had been on quite the whirlwind tour of the country since CAU won the National Championship—he’d decorated the covers of Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News, and even made an appearance on the Johnny Carson Show. He had become a hot commodity, not only in football but for fashion and modeling as well. It was next to impossible for him to walk out in public anymore without being inundated with autograph requests.
It wasn’t much of a surprise, then, that the two of them wanted to move to a house and out of that apartment. Fans and reporters were knocking on their doors all hours of the day and night. It felt unsafe, and Caleb worried about Beth when he wasn’t home. Caleb had called Dr. Owens, his father-in-law, and asked him for some help. Houses were very expensive in L.A., so Caleb asked Dr. Owens if he would buy the house and make the payments on it, and he would send him the money every month. “Sure, Caleb. But if you have the money, I don’t understand why I need to make the payments.”
“Well, my mom left me some money when she passed away, but I’m not sure if I can qualify for a loan like this. That’s why I’d like you to buy it and I’ll send you the payment every month.”
“Okay, I’ll do whatever you two need me to do.”
“Thanks so much,” Caleb said. “And your daughter has exquisite taste.”
Sam chuckled loudly. “Don’t I know it! But I have plenty of money, Caleb. Go buy the house my baby girl wants.”
Caleb told Beth to go pick out a reasonable house in a gated community with lots of security if possible. When she finally chose one and brought Caleb to take a look, his immediate response was, “Good Lord, honey! Is this the biggest one you could find?”
“But it’s just perfect! It is 3,200 square feet and has four big bedrooms and a huge kitchen, a den, two fireplaces, and a big, beautiful back yard with a swimming pool.”
“How much?”
“It also has a three-car garage and the house is brand new, never lived in, and it’s in a very secure gated community. If you aren’t invited, you don’t get through the gates. The realtor told me that a bunch of high-profile people live here.”
Caleb just raised an eyebrow and said again, “How much?”
“It has the most modern appliances, and the landscaping is just to kill for!”
“HOW MUCH?”
Beth closed her eyes and quickly said, “1.6 million dollars.” She peeked through one eye—Caleb was just staring at her like she had lost her ever-loving mind. “Caleb, we have to buy this house! It’s perfect.”
Caleb just shook his head and said, “You offer a million and let’s see what happens.” Beth squealed loudly and ran back to the realtor’s office. The counter offer came back at $1,250,000, and Caleb told Beth to sign the papers. Caleb still didn’t feel comfortable bringing Sam into this. He went to see the John Westinghouse to explain the problem he was having.
“Mr. Westinghouse, Beth and I just don’t feel safe living in an apartment. People are coming and knocking on the door day and night wanting interviews or autographs. It’s becoming a real problem. We found a house we want to buy, and I don’t really want any help from anyone, but if you could call one of your booster buddies and see if they would loan us the money on Beth’s salary and at a low interest rate, it would really help us out.”
“How much is the house, Caleb?”
Caleb, embarrassed by the price said, “We signed a contract for $1,250,000 already.”
John snorted. “Nice house. Let me make some phone calls, and you guys just get ready to move, okay?”
Caleb smiled. “Thanks Mr. Westinghouse, I appreciate it.” John was going to get Caleb Lewis whatever he wanted, and John knew how to do it.
John called Caleb a couple of days later and told him to go to L.A. Savings and Loan and talk to a Mr. Burdoll. Caleb and Beth walked in, and Mr. Burdoll welcomed them with a happy, “Congratulations, you two! Caleb, we’ve got your down payment of $300,000—that’s half the money your mother left you, including the interest it has earned so far. Beth, you easily qualified for this loan. All I did is give you two a nice break in the interest rate. I just need you to sign a few papers and you’ll be the new owners of your dream house! You guys would have qualified without my help.”
As they were leaving, Mr. Burdoll gave them the house keys and said they could stay there immediately. Beth seemed like she was going to explode. “How fun! We get to camp out in our new house tonight.”
Caleb told her, “I’ll grab some guys, and then we’ll start moving stuff tomorrow, okay?”
Beth put her hands on her hips. “No.”
“No what?”
Beth replied matter-of-factly, “We are not taking that old, ratty furniture in my apartment and putting it in this brand new home. We’re going shopping, superstar.”
Caleb looked at her, shook his head and said, “That’s hard to believe.”
Beth laughed and said, “My dad said he would furnish the house as a wedding gift, so it’s not costing us anything!”
Caleb just sighed. Dodged a bullet there.
Over the next week, furniture truck after furniture truck arrived. Couches, drapes, five TVs, beds, linens, cookware—everything in that house was brand new. Beth and her interior decorator spent over $150,000 getting everything she wanted and more. It was fabulous, though. Beth snuggled up to Caleb in their brand new king size bed and said, “Let’s break it in, superstar.”