“I need a beer,” I muttered, leaving to the kitchen.
“Bring a few,” Andrew called after me. I loaded up my arms and returned to the room to distribute drinks. I had one extra, so I offered it to David, who accepted it without looking up.
“We were just telling Lucy that if she gets knocked up, she might have to move to the ’burbs,” Gretchen said as I settled by Bill’s feet against the base of the couch.
Lucy groaned and fell over onto Andrew’s lap. “You won’t make me do that, will you?”
Andrew just burped into his fist and shrugged. “Everyone’s doing it.”
“Truth,” Bill said, patting my head. “Liv and I looked at a real fixer-upper in Oak Park on Friday.”
David sputtered suddenly and coughed into his hand. Dani patted his back softly while he cleared his throat.
“What’s it like?” Gretchen asked.
I closed my eyes and envisioned the house. “It’s really . . . amazing.”
“Well,” Bill said through a chortle, “I’m not sure ‘amazing’ is the right word.”
I opened my eyes, and the image evaporated. “It’s not, you’re right. It’s a mess, but it has this really charming aura that sort of encompasses you when you’re near it.”
“That sounds nice,” Lucy said sleepily.
“It’s not bad,” Bill said. “It needs a lot of work before it’ll be on par with the rest of the neighborhood, though.”
“Honey,” I said quietly. “I don’t want it to look like the rest of the neighborhood. Those homes are generic.”
“Okay, okay.” He smiled. “It’s a little early yet, babe.”
“Anyway,” I said to the group, “we aren’t sure we can even afford to take on a project like that. That’s what we’re trying to figure out.”
Andrew, looking off into the distance as he stroked Lucy’s hair, suddenly perked up. “Have David look at it.”
“What?” David and I asked in unison.
“Isn’t this, like, your thing?” Andrew asked David.
Bill turned to him, too. “What do you do?”
David frowned. “Architect.”
“But he flips houses, too,” Andrew offered.
“It’s not even really for sale,” I interjected. “The owners are just letting us see it.”
“I remember now,” Bill said thoughtfully, glancing at David. “Andrew mentioned that before. It would mean a lot if you could check it out, give me an idea of how much it would cost.”
David cleared his throat again and looked down into his beer bottle.
“Honey, David’s at the top of his field,” I said. “He’s probably really busy.”
“Dave, what do you say?” Andrew asked. “Help out a friend? Bill’s a lawyer. Maybe you can swap expertise.”
“I have a lawyer,” David replied sternly as he obviously avoided my stare while I silently pleaded with him to decline. When everyone remained quiet, he swallowed loudly. “But sure,” he said. “Maybe.”
“Cool.” Bill nudged me with his foot. “There you go, babe. We’re getting things done.” I nodded, picking at the label on my bottle.
“Do you still want to play that board game, Luce?” Gretchen asked.
