Chapter Three
“The second bedroom is a little smaller than the last one we looked at earlier this week, but it’s bigger than the first condo.”
Craig turned slowly, looking at the living room again. He liked this place. It had the amenities he wanted. Close to the beach. The backyard even had a basketball hoop. “This is in my price range?”
She’d already assured him of that, but maybe he’d misheard.
“Ten thousand below your budget.”
“So what’s wrong with it?” He didn’t for a moment believe that Ada was showing him a dump in disguise. “Built over a cemetery? Pipes made out of old gum wrappers?”
“They skipped the paint and just covered the walls in pure lead.”
“Ah.” He nodded slowly. “Perfect.”
“Good schools in this area, too.”
She’d thought of everything. “You are really good at this. I’d expected to settle for something ‘good enough.’”
“I don’t do ‘good enough.’” Her tone held enough laughter to take out any arrogance. “I also don’t do ‘impossible.’ An agent I work with has the task right now of finding a 5-bed, 5-bath beachfront for under a million.”
“Has he tried cutting out the middleman and just searching for a time machine?”
“Exactly.”
Craig was finding that he had a weakness for confident, focused women.
He looked around one more time. “Jack would love all of this.”
Her smile was soft, empathetic. “His room was your first, biggest concern. That told me you’d be happiest where he’d be happiest. So that’s what I looked for.”
“I think you found it.”
“Don’t rush yourself,” she answered. “This is a big decision. It’s better to be right than fast.”
She locked up, and they walked back to their cars. They’d met up at the condominium complex. He almost left things at that. He almost got in his car and drove off. Almost.
“This will probably end in humiliation and awkwardness, but—” His courage deserted him faster than cockroaches fleeing light.
Still, he pushed on. “Jack is at his mom’s, and, since I thought this would take a lot longer than it did, I have the rest of the evening to kill.
Do you— would you be interested—” He wasn’t usually so bad at this sort of thing.
For some reason, Ada made him nervous. “Do you want to go get some coffee or something?”
Pathetic but to the point.
She didn’t answer right away. Was that a good sign, or not? “Would this be a date?”
“Doesn’t have to be.” He’d kind of prefer that it wasn’t, actually. “Just hanging out, having some coffee.” Had his voice shaken? It was like he was a teenager again.
“Pier View Coffee’s not too far from here,” she said.
That was a yes, wasn’t it? He wished she sounded more confident. “Okay.”
“Coffee. Hanging out.” She swung her key ring around her finger. “I wouldn’t mind that.”
“Pier View it is.”
She held up a hand to halt him. “On one condition.”
“Shoot.”
“Shooting is not my condition.” She managed to sound serious, though her eyes were laughing. “All I ask is that we not talk about real estate. It’s the end of a long work week, and I am dying to not think about comps or floor plans or subdivisions.”
He could appreciate that. He didn’t want to talk about real estate either. “And I’m eager to forget all about ledgers, payroll, and expense reports.”
“You’re an accountant?”
“By day.”
She leaned her forearms against the passenger side of his car, talking to him over it. “What are you by night, a superhero or something?”
“Is being awkward and boring a superpower? If it is, then yes.”
She tapped the top of his car. “See you at Pier View in a few minutes, Awkward Avenger.”
“Not if I beat you there, Captain Realtor.”
She stepped back. “I need a better superhero name than that.”
“Last one there buys the other one coffee,” he challenged.
“Deal.” She hopped in her car without hesitation.
Craig was in his a second later. A second after that, he realized he wasn’t entirely sure how to get to Pier View. Ada had already pulled out. He opened the maps app on his phone. While it searched, he sent Bianca a text.
Getting coffee with Ada.
He popped his cell into the holder on the dash. The map pulled up. The café was only a few minutes away. Ada would get there way before he did. That was embarrassing. Still, he’d intended to buy her coffee all along, so losing the bet wasn’t a big deal.
Just as he turned the key, a text came through from Bianca.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!
He laughed. Poor Rob was likely being harangued with questions now. Served him right. Of course, Craig would be the one getting harangued by Bianca tomorrow.
When Craig arrived at the coffee shop, Ada’s car was parked and empty. He found her inside the café, already seated and grinning at him.
“Looks like the coffee’s on me,” he said, sitting across the small table from her.
“I honestly thought the contest would be a little closer. Did you come by way of L.A.?”
“Was that the wrong route?” He scanned the menu hanging above the counter. “Let me know what you want. I’ll go order.”
While waiting in line, Craig took a moment to breathe.
He didn’t know why he was so nervous. He hadn’t felt like this over a non-date date since high school.
His confidence hadn’t increased much by the time he’d paid for and picked up their coffees and headed back to where she was sitting. The Awkward Avenger, for sure.
“Here you go.” He set her drink down and retook his seat. Don’t be a loser. “I’m not allowed to talk about real estate, but I don’t know anything else about you, so I’m kind of at a loss.”
“Don’t worry. Captain Realtor to the rescue.” After a sip, she said, “How old is Jack?”
“Nine.”
“Third grade?” Ada guessed.
“Just finishing. Looking forward to summer vacation.”
She smiled and nodded. “As a kid I couldn’t wait for school to be out. Days at the beach. Going to Disney.”
“Jack’s more of a Legoland kid.” This was going better than he’d expected. But, then, talking about his son was always easy.
“I took my niece and nephew there a couple of weeks ago. Small price to pay for the title of Best Aunt in the World. Now don’t tell anyone” —she leaned in close and lowered her voice— “but it wasn’t as much torture as I kept telling them it was.”
“Next time, take them to the beach to watch the seagulls harassing the tourists.”
She nearly spit out her iced coffee. “You do that?”
“It’s pretty hilarious, actually. Plus, after a while, Jack gets tired of it and builds a sandcastle or plays in the waves. I bring snacks and a cooler with drinks, and I get to spend the day at the beach.”
She nodded her approval. “Win-win.”
“What about you? Are you a beachcomber? Surfer? One of those people who goes to Disneyland every day?”
“I believe those are called cast members.” She was quick with a comeback. He liked that. “Though I did sell a house in Anaheim earlier this year, and—”
“Wait, wait. You promised not to bring up real estate.”
She shook her head, smiling with amusement. “You promised not to bring it up.”
“No. I promised to be boring and awkward. And” —he tugged both sides of his collar in a self-congratulatory way— “I’m expertly holding up my side of the agreement.”
“Personally, I think you’re failing miserably. I haven’t been bored yet, and, other than having to wait for you to get here, nothing about this hanging-out-and-getting-coffee evening has been awkward.”
He looked away to hide a surge of triumph. The Awkward Avenger was doing pretty good for himself.
“It’s getting hot in here,” Ada said. “Want to sit outside?”
“Good idea.” The coffee shop was busy, and it was pretty warm. “What do you do for fun, then, if not the daily Disney thing?”
“I’m in a book club, which is, I realize, not very exciting.”
He motioned for her to go out the door first. “What do you like to read?”
“Guess.” She twitched an eyebrow in challenge, turning to look directly at him.
He narrowed his eyes, pretending to study her closely. “Monkey fiction?”
“Fiction about monkeys?”
“No. Fiction written by monkeys.” As he took another sip of his coffee, he twitched his eyebrow just as she had a moment ago. “I hear it’s the next big thing.”
“You nailed it.” She sat at the only empty outside table. “I spend every third Tuesday at the Monkey Fiction Book Club.”
Time passed quickly while they chatted. They covered siblings, hobbies, which ice-cream flavor was actually the best.
Thanks to Bianca, Craig had been on a lot of first dates over the past few years.
This non-date date was the least disastrous of any of them.
Ada was easy to talk to. She was funny and upbeat.
For the first time since the divorce, he was honestly considering seeing someone a second time.
He wasn’t sure he’d actually follow through with it, but he was thinking about it.