He hummed and slid lower in his seat. “Uh…Thai?”
Thai. We could do that. I’d just pick up something else for Lily. “Done. We’ll get nuggets for Lily on the way. How was golf?”
“It was all right. We just went to the range. Ash brought James today, and that guy can’t hit a ball to save his life.”
James—I’d heard of him. “He’s the new guy at Dad’s office, right?”
“Yeah. Dad wanted me to meet him because James has a nephew my age, and he’s like…I don’t know, trying to get the guy away from shitty friends.”
Oh. Well, that was nice of James.
“We’re gonna meet up this weekend and play basketball,” Dylan finished.
“You and the nephew?”
“And Dad and James and Uncle Theo.”
Understood. “Sounds like a good time.”
I was going to do my best at re-treating the floor in our living room. The only one in the family who knew construction and handyman work was out of the picture, so it was up to me to give the house a makeover.
Fun, fun, fun.
Frankly, it was making me anxious lately. Every time I looked at house prices in and around Arlington and Alexandria, I wanted to cry. The house we lived in was too small and needed too many renovations for me to feel like I could afford something worth settling down in. The children were getting older and needed their own space, the future house couldn’t be too far away from school, I didn’t want my commute to take up half the day, and they raised tuition every damn year. How could I give my kids a nice home on one salary in this goddamn state?
Whenever my feet brush against rock bottom, I think back on the times when it was so much easier to turn a bad day into an amazing one. All it took was…making rent. Going on a date with you. Cranking up the music and cooking your favorite dinner. Especially back in Philly or Boston—you’d sit nearby with a magazine and smile to yourself while I bobbed my head to the beat and chopped garlic or…whatever.
“If you shimmy those hips one more time, I’mma come over there and show you how it’s really done, baby.”
CHAPTER 12
Six months ago
Alexandria
Ash Riley
Ishook my head and showed James my phone. Our lunch break was almost over, but Ma had asked me to send her some listings. Partly, she wanted to be involved in my house hunt. Partly, she wanted to get a sense of the situation—if I’d need their help with money and so on.
“Look at these fucking places. One point two mil for that house and no backyard and an outdated kitchen. Nine hundred K for this one, and we’ll hear every train that goes by.”
James eyed my screen and shoveled more food into his mouth. “Yeah, it’s nuts. If you want, I can talk to my neighbor. She’s retiring and moving to Arizona.”
“What kind of house is it?” I looked up at the sky, reckoning we had a few minutes before it started raining. It’d been unseasonably warm yesterday and today, so we’d taken our lunch to the picnic table right outside our office.
No more takeout for me. I was gonna save every penny I could and bring my own lunch.
“A two-story Cape Cod, three or four bedrooms—but the downstairs office can be converted,” he said. “I think there’s space above the garage as well. But I’ll warn you right now, the lady who lives there kinda gave up on maintenance when her husband died ten years ago, and I know the kitchen needs a full remodel.”
I’d still be interested in taking a look. “If I want a good location and all the potential, it’s gonna have to be a house I’ll need to work on.” I could build a kitchen on my own. “In no way can I afford a place that’s up-to-date on everything. Unless I want a two-bedroom.”
I knew James and his husband lived just south of Alexandria, and I was interested in most neighborhoods in close proximity to Alexandria and Arlington.
“I’ll talk to her,” he repeated. “It’s not the cheapest area, but it’s definitely worth it. We’re surrounded by parks, it’s quiet, and we have a good mix of families and retirees.”
“Which parks?” I was ready to hit up Google Maps.
“Huntley Meadows and Franconia.”
