Page 9 of A Place to Call Home
“I’ll be sure to offer a moving eulogy at your funeral,” she said, “but only if you don’t call me again. It’s my day off.”
“What realtor gets to take a Saturday off?”
“One who got five incredible deals for clients this week,” she said. “Like my business cards say, I’m the best.”
“I hate you.” Vincent said that a lot, but never meant it. “Have fun goofing off.”
“Have fun cowering behind George.” She dropped her phone in her bag and took a deep breath of salty ocean air.
Ithadbeen a good week. She’d negotiated killer prices for clients, found an amazing new home stager to use, and signed a new client looking to spend a small fortune. The one downside: Craig hadn’t called or texted except to discuss the townhouse he’d made an offer on. He’d seemed happy to get an even better deal than expected. He asked a few technical questions. Their interaction had all been very impersonal.
I guess our date really wasn’t a date.And here she’d been thinking it was the best first date she’d ever been on. She had actually been hoping for a second one. She never hoped for a second date.
Her thoughts kept swirling as she took the stairs down to the beach. She and Craig had a lot in common. They talked easily, as if they’d known each other for years instead of days. But maybe he was like that with everyone.
“Ada!” Shantice had beaten her to the beach. She waved Ada over.
Shantice always looked like she’d stepped off the cover of a fashion magazine, even at the beach. Her striped sunhat perfectly matched her red suit. Her sandals weren’t the usual dollar store flip-flops everyone else wore. She could probably have given the Hollywood red carpet walkers a run for their money.
Ada, on the other hand, tended to buy the first suit that fit and then add whatever accessories were most sensible.
“How’s the water?” Ada asked.
“Too cold for me. But Devon and Ruff don’t seem to mind.”
Shantice’s boyfriend and dog were playing fetch in the waves. They weren’t alone. California’s beaches filled up in June despitethe water not being very warm yet. For her part, Ada enjoyed just sitting on the beach, clearing her mind of work and worries.
They talked while she set up her chair next to Shantice’s. They touched on everything from family issues to weekend plans to the latest movies. Conversations between them had come easily ever since they met at the agency. Ada had supported her through a terrible divorce. Shantice had been there for Ada when her mother died. They were as close as sisters.
Ada settled into her beach chair, ready for a relaxing morning.
“Okay, now, don’t shoot me, but. . .” Shantice eyed her nervously.
“That doesn’t bode well.”
Shantice didn’t move from her position lying out on the lounge-style beach chair. “I just want to know if you’ve heard anything from Craig.”
“Not since you asked last night,” she said dryly.
“Why are guys so stupid? You two hit it off, and he doesn’t ask you out for real? That’s idiotic.”
Ada adjusted her sunhat to shade her face better. “In his defense, I could ask him just as easily.”
“So why haven’t you?”
Why haven’t I?“Probably because I figured he’d say no. I got a strong he’s-just-not-that-into-you vibe this week.”
“But he asked you out,” Shantice repeated for the hundredth time that week. “That sounds interested to me.”
Ada shrugged. What could she say? She’d thought he was interested too.
“Maybe his divorce was nasty,” Shantice said. “That makes dating seem like a disaster waiting to happen.”
Could be.
“And you said he has a kid. That would make any guy— any decent guy anyway— more cautious.”
“I wasn’t looking to move in or take over his life. I was just hoping for a second date.”
