Page 5 of A Place to Call Home
“He says that as long as there’s a basketball court, he’ll be happy.” Craig fully intended to find one. He felt bad that his son would be losing his backyard hoop, but the landlord was raising their rent, so he no longer had enough reasons to put off buying his own place. “And he loves the pool at Carol’s, so I’m looking for that too.”
“Ada will find something perfect. She’s fantastic.”
“No. You said she’samazing,” Rob corrected.
“Stop it.” But Bianca laughed. She did have a good sense of humor. Craig and Rob simply knew how to push her buttons, and they enjoyed doing it. “After you ‘look at a couple of places,’ why don’t you get some coffee or something?”
“I don’t like drinking coffee alone,” Craig said.
“You wouldn’t be alone.” Bianca dropped her head into her hand. “You are hopeless.”
“I don’t know about that. Rob is more pathetic than I am, and he didn’t end up as a lonely cat lady living in an abandoned attic. I figure my chances are pretty good.”
Bianca rolled her eyes. “I don’t know why I even try.” She left the kitchen and dropped onto the couch in the living room, just out of earshot.
“She worries about you,” Rob said confidentially. “You and Jack both.”
“I know.”
Rob finished his Coke. “Any chance you’ll take this Realtor of Destiny out, or do I need to brace myself for another night of Ada listing possible love interests for you while I’m trying to watch the eleven o’clock news?”
“You might want to get your news online.” Craig stood, then grabbed his plate. “I’m done dating.”
“But you haven’t dated since the divorce. That’s three years.” Rob brought his plate to the sink, where Craig was rinsing his.
“And, yet, I don’t miss the dating scene.” He did miss it a little, just not enough.
“Could be fun,” Rob said.
“I’m an accountant. How much more fun could my life possibly get?”
“You—”
“Dude. Lay off.”
Rob grinned. “Okay, but if Bianca asks, I grilled you, made a lot of good arguments, and convinced you to at least consider it.”
Craig laughed and shook his head. “Got it.”
“And one more thing—”
Craig muttered something a little colorful under his breath and braced himself.
“If Ada doesn’t catch your interest, Bianca is going to try setting you up with her manicurist, who thinks Russia is the gridlock that clogs the freeway twice a day. And she laughs like a goat. All the time.” Rob gave him a pointed look. “I had to fake appendicitis to get out of picking Bianca up from the salon last time.”
“You had your appendix taken out when you were twelve.”
“Which tells you how desperate I was— couldn’t even come up with a realistic lie,” Rob said. “If Ada the Realtor can hold an intelligent conversation, you ought to consider the coffee thing. It’d get Bianca off your back and save you from Mademoiselle Goat Laugh.”
“Very generous warning,” Craig said.
“I’m a very generous person.”
Craig eyed him dryly. “The fact that you regularly hung me out of our bedroom window by my ankles when we were kids argues otherwise.”
“I didn’t drop you, did I?”
“Brotherly love, right there.” He slapped Rob on the back as they walked toward the living room. “I’ll think about having coffee with Ada. Happy?”
