Maisy Thaysden. What was I even thinking?
“It’s settled,” I said, walking again. “Our dumpster baby shall henceforth be known as Maisy.”
“Please do not use the phrase ‘dumpster baby’ ever again.”
“Yup,” I said. “Felt it as soon as I said it.”
We walked up the stairs to my house and, when we stepped over the threshold, she said, “Wow. You weren’t kidding. You really can see the water from every room.”
I nodded. “Yup.” The kitchen was steps away from the entryway and the entire house opened in an octagon with the kitchen, dining room, and two sitting areas all taking a back seat to the water beyond. I opened the fridge. “I can make you any liquor drink you’d like, or I have rosé, champagne, and something red that Parker pretends he drinks for his heart.”
She laughed. “So, is this, like, your move?” She leaned on the kitchen counter across from where I was standing at the refrigerator.
I laughed too. “You mean wow women with my insane family and then take them to my house, which is basically my parents’ basement, get them drunk, and try to get them to make out with me?”
Now we were both laughing. “No,” I continued. “This is not my move.” I paused for a second. “In fact, I can’t think that I’ve ever brought a girl home to eat with my family, and I certainly wasn’t planning on doing so tonight.”
I realized I wasn’t supposed to say “girl” anymore.
She nodded and, as if she read my mind, said, “I’m just teasing you. I didn’t imagine a family dinner was a date.”
I felt deflated even though I agreed. “Right. So how about that drink, and I promise I’ll be a perfect gentleman.”
“I’ll have a glass of rosé.” She grinned at me. “And I guess that means I’ll have to be a lady.”
I poured myself a glass as well.
Daisy raised her eyebrow but didn’t say anything as we walked through the living room and out to the porch.
“What?” I asked.
“One, the fact that you are drinking pink wine makes me like you even more. Two, this house is insane.”
To me, it justwas. It was the abandoned guesthouse for a while until Mom redid it a few years ago, and then I moved in and started paying rent. It was full of British Colonial antiques. Cool bamboo with interesting coats of arms, things like that. But it was also super comfortable and cozy with big, slipcovered couches. I loved it.
I led Daisy down to the deep, teak chairs on the dock with the black-and-white-striped cushions that Mom insisted I take in every night and have power-washed quarterly. As I sat, I broached something I’d been wondering lately. “So, Daisy, you’re, like, a real, grown-up, responsible woman, right?”
She was mid-sip and looked like she was going to choke on her wine. She swallowed and said, “Why, yes, Mason, I do believe you could say that I am.”
“I need you to tell me the truth.”
She tucked her legs up under herself and turned, all her attention on me.
“Is it pathetic that I live in a house on my parents’ property?”
“If you had asked me this morning, I would have said yes.”
Ten points for honesty.
“But now that I’ve been here, I say no.”
“And why is that?”
“Because it’s like a family compound, not to mention the most beautiful piece of property I’ve ever seen. You couldn’t ever venture out on your own and get something even a tenth as good—even on your exorbitant high school coach salary.”
I laughed. I sipped my rosé and looked down at the glass. Refreshing. I could see the appeal of this pink wine. I leaned back in my chair.“Good to know. Thanks for clearing that up for me.” It sort of made me feel better. But only sort of. Because I still knew, deep down, that I was basically living with my parents.
“Would you leave here?” Daisy asked.
