“Yes, and we’re giving you a very good deal on it. A very good deal. I don’t think the granting of this small concession is too much to ask.” The banker pushed the folder across the desk toward them. “As you can see, I have already signed for the bank. All we need is your signatures.”

“This is all part of the agreement,” Evangeline assured her. “I thought I explained that to you.”

She hadn’t, and they both knew she hadn’t, but Jen ignored her and focused her attention on Lane. “We need to talk about this.”

“What’s there to talk about?”

“This!”

“What do you want to do? Not buy the house? Just because we have to let the bank use one of our rooms, an extra room we don’t even need?”

The Realtor and the bank manager were both watching the exchange dispassionately. Jen didn’t like fighting in front of them, but there seemed no alternative. “We’ve gone through so much to get this house because we want a place that’s ours. We can’t just set aside part of it for someone else.”

He reached for her hand. “Look, a lot of people who buy their first house and are trying to make ends meet rent out a room to a college student or something to help with the mortgage payment. That’s all we’d be doing here. Except instead of another person living in our house, it would just be an empty room where the bank…I don’t know, stores stuff. Is that so bad?” He turned toward the bank manager. “And we can renegotiate later, right? If for some reason we need the other room, if we have a child, say, we can amend the contract and change the terms or the rate or whatever, right?”

“Everything’s negotiable,” the manager said agreeably.

“See?”

It was the first time Lane had mentioned having a child, and Jen felt herself soften. He was right. It would help them make the payments and letting the bank use a room was better than having a stranger living with them. Reluctantly, she nodded her assent.

“Perfect,” the bank manager said, pushing the agreement across the desk for them to sign.

They each affixed their signatures to the document, and Evangeline collected it. She spent the next several minutes at a side table, sorting through pages and using a quartet of stamps to imprint required seals on the appropriate documents, while Jen and Lane sat in silence and the bank manager stared at them expressionlessly. His gaze made Jen very uncomfortable, and she tried her best not to look in his direction.