Chapter 12 Bruno
brUNO
This is insane, Bruno thought. He wasn’t actually buying a house, was he?
Was his credit even good enough? His practice was doing fine, but he hadn’t been established long.
The house he wanted was probably way out of his budget.
He ought to be putting the brakes on this whole thing, but when Clarice handed him the folder with a hopeful smile, he couldn’t bear the idea of crushing her.
You should crush her, his armadillo said helpfully. He was definitely thinking of a different kind of crush.
It was the worst idea in the world to buy a house just because he was smitten by the real estate agent.
But smitten, he was. She’d been so animated and funny when she was showing the houses that Bruno couldn’t help but like her.
Watching her shrink back into herself around Veronica had been painful.
He wanted to protect her, to swoop in and shield her from Veronica’s impatience.
He would have agreed to buy an entire block to save her.
“I’ll talk to the bank tomorrow,” he promised, but he didn’t make a move to leave.
“I hope they can give you good news,” Clarice said sincerely. “I mean, not just because I’d love to sell that house to you. It’s a great house. It deserves a family.”
“Is that why you became a realtor? To give houses the families they deserve?”
Clarice giggled. “You joke, but I’m the sort who apologizes to the coffee machine when it runs out of water.
I went into real estate because interior design is hard to make a living at and I thought selling houses would get me further than graphic design, though that’s most of what I do here, actually.
It was nice getting out to actually show houses today. Thanks for that.”
She pursed her lips, like she recognized that she was rambling. “Let me know what you hear,” she said shyly. “My card is in there.”
“I will,” Bruno promised. He suddenly realized that he’d backed himself into a corner. Now he couldn’t ask Clarice out because he was her client, and that was as unethical as dating one of his clients. “Soon.” He extended his hand across the desk.
Her smile was slow and sincere. She blushed as she shook his offered hand.
“I have to go get Gil before Tiny Paws closes,” he said regretfully, releasing her. “Thanks.”
“Thank—thank you.”
Bruno backed most of the way to the door as Clarice gave a shy little wave goodbye.
He walked along the sidewalk and was amused to watch her wrap her arms around herself and twirl once in place, probably unaware that he could see her through the windows; it was dark enough now that she would only see her own reflection. Bruno had to resist the urge to stay and watch her.
Gil greeted him at Tiny Paws with protests. “I DON’T WANT TO GO!”
“I know, kiddo, but don’t you want dinner?”
“Is it hot dogs?” Gil said hopefully.
“I cannot feed you hot dogs every single night,” Bruno reminded him. “How about pizza?” He remembered that Clarice liked to cook, and how much she had loved the first kitchen.
Gil made a show of stroking an imaginary beard thoughtfully and then agreed. “OKAY.”
Alan, juggling a baby and weighed down with two kids clinging, giggling, to his legs, gave him a nod from across the room as Gil vaulted over the gate and went to find his boots.
By the time that Gil was dressed in his winter clothes and had gathered all of his things (which required removing his boots and climbing over the gate to get his lunch box and again to get his water bottle and AGAIN to get his art project), the light at the realty office at the far end of the block was off and Clarice’s car was gone.
“I only shifted with my CLOTHES on today!” Gil said eagerly, as Bruno buckled him into his car seat. “STOP! I can do that MYSELF.”
“I know you can, kiddo,” Bruno agreed. “But I can do it faster and I’m getting hungry. You don’t want me to get hungry. I might eat YOU!”
Gil was happy to laugh at that idea and let Bruno finish securing him. Bruno ruffled his hair before he closed the door. Gil was a great kid. High energy, sometimes reckless, but Bruno couldn’t imagine his life without him now.
And now, to his surprise, he was actually imagining adding someone else to that life.