Chapter Five
“Ican’t believe you convinced me to do this,” Craig told Bianca. They sat in his car outside a stranger’s home, contemplating his next move.
“I’ve listened to you whine for almost a week about how you messed up with Ada,” Bianca said. “You have to try to fix it.”
“But at her book club? That’s so—”
“Romantic,” Bianca said. “Didn’t you see Jerry Maguire?”
Wait, she was having him reenact a scene from a chick flick? Not a good sign. “Public humiliation is not my jam.”
“Really? Because the story about the hot dog/ice cream fiasco says otherwise.”
He lightly banged his head against the steering wheel. “I am so bad at this.”
“Luckily, being really bad at talking to someone you’re interested in is kind of endearing.” Bianca twitched her head toward the house. “Go tell her what you’ve been telling me. Ada’s reasonable, and, if Gina’s right, she’s totally into you. So go talk to her.”
Gina was Ada and Bianca’s mutual friend. He hoped Gina was a reliable source for gossip.
“You’re telling me to man up,” he said.
“Pretty much.”
He squared his shoulders and opened the car door. “Don’t steal my car while I’m gone.”
The walk to the front door was one of the longest he’d ever made. This would either turn out to be a great idea or a huge mistake. He rang the doorbell and waited.
He and Ada hardly knew each other. Why, then, had he been unable to get her out of his mind?
The businesslike phone calls they’d had about the townhouse ever since the beach had been torture.
He’d driven his brother and sister-in-law crazy by going on and on about Ada and the fallout in the ice-cream line.
There was just something about her, and he needed to figure out what.
The door opened. Craig reminded himself that this needed to happen. “Is Ada Canton here?” he asked the woman who’d answered.
“Yeah.” She motioned him inside and around the corner to a living room. “Ada, someone’s here to see you.”
A dozen pairs of eyes focused on him, including Ada’s deep-brown ones.
She stared a moment, not speaking, not moving. Her mouth hung the tiniest bit open. “Craig?”
“I don’t want to interrupt, I just— Could we talk for a minute?”
“Yeah, sure.” She crossed toward him. “Is something wrong?”
Everyone was still watching. “Outside, maybe?”
She agreed. He had a few more moments to try to decide what to say. They stopped on the front step. Ada watched him expectantly. Despite having rehearsed this moment over and over, his mind turned completely blank. He’d have to wing it.
“I— I’m kind of an idiot.”
She didn’t disagree.
“I’ve been thinking about how things went that afternoon at the beach, and I owe you an apology.”
“I’m listening.”
Time to explain what he didn’t entirely understand himself. “Jack likes you. And understandably— you’re a great person.”
She smiled ruefully. “Thanks.”
“I saw Jack getting hopeful, and I panicked.” He still got a little anxious when he thought about it.
“His mom walked out on us when he was four. She decided that being a wife and a mom wasn’t really her thing.
I have primary custody, and seeing him every other weekend is enough for her.
But it’s not enough for him. He hides it well, but I know it hurts. ”
And seeing that hurt every other Sunday when Carol brought Jack back home broke Craig’s heart.
“I can understand why you’re cautious,” Ada said.
“But you were right. A city-league basketball game isn’t really the huge risk I made it out to be.
And Jack was so disappointed.” Sometimes Craig felt like a complete failure as a parent.
Seeing Jack’s face at Tuesday’s game when he realized that Ada hadn’t come qualified as one of those moments.
Craig had been disappointed at not seeing her again too.
“If I haven’t completely pushed you away, I— well, there’s a— Jack has a game on Tuesday, and it’d be great if you came. ”
He held his breath. That was about as on the line as he could lay it.
A smile spread slowly over her lips. “Tuesday would be great. I’m also free tomorrow night. I know Jack will be at his mom’s. You know, in case you want to go do something.”
Was she asking him out? He’d been hoping she’d simply listen to his apology. A date was more than he’d bargained for. Not that he was complaining. “Well, we’ve done coffee and hot dogs. I think the natural next step is a meal requiring utensils. Maybe a movie or something too.”
“Sounds good.” Her smile turned laughing. “Should we ask the book club what they think?” She motioned toward the front window.
The entire book club was watching them, faces pressed to the glass. Some of the ladies had to have been standing on furniture.
He waved at them, and the group scattered.
“So, pick you up at like six?” he said.
“I’ll text you my address.”
“Perfect.” He didn’t know if he was relieved or scared out of his mind. He didn’t want to blow another chance to get to know her better. “See you tomorrow.”
The Awkward Avenger had a date.
***
The next evening, Craig pulled into a low-key condo community a little before six o’clock. Somehow he’d pictured Ada living in a flashy, high-end house, maybe on the beach. Yet the sensibleness of it fit her.
As he climbed the stairs, his heart leaped around a little. He hesitated a minute before knocking.
When she answered the door, she was on the phone. She waved him in and silently mouthed, “Sorry.”
He wasn’t upset at all. The extra minute to catch his breath was welcome. The prospect of spending an entire evening with Ada had him tied in knots.
“I can get you two of your three requests, but not all of them,” she said into the phone. “Finding that size home in that neighborhood for that price just isn’t possible.”
She looked amazing. Craig had always been a sucker for brunettes. But the way her blue sweater made her eyes look even bluer than usual pulled him in that much deeper. She was definitely out of his league.
“I’m a realtor, not a fairy godmother,” she said.
Craig bit back a laugh. She didn’t put up with a lot of drama. He liked that about her. He liked it a lot.
She met Craig’s gaze, then pointed to her phone and shook her head.
Still talking to whoever was on the other line, she said, “Having an agent who fits you is almost as important as finding a property that suits you. So if you feel you’d rather work with someone else, I won’t try to talk you out of it. ”
She was about to get fired by a client. From the look of things, she wasn’t broken up about it.
“Best of luck to you. I hope your new agent is the miracle worker you are looking for. Okay. Bye.” She clicked off her phone and slid it in her back pocket. “Why in the world do I do this for a living?”
“Because you’re good at it.”
She tipped him a half-smile. “I’m good at vacuuming, too, but you don’t see me working as a janitor.”
“You would hate being a janitor. But I’ve seen your face when you find someone the perfect home. You love that moment, admit it.”
Her eyes instantly regained their sparkle. “Man, I love that moment. I’m helping someone shape the next few years of their lives, possibly the rest of their lives. Knowing I’ve been a part of making that future better. . . I love that.”
“Drama and shenanigans aside, that’s why you do this for a living.” He narrowed his eyes as if contemplating something more dastardly. “Of course, if you need me to go bust a couple of heads, I’d be happy to do it.”
She reached out and took his hand. “I’m glad you’re here. This day has been horrible.”
“Italian food makes everything better,” he said. “What do you say?”
“Sounds perfect.” She grabbed her bag from its hook near the door and her keys from a bowl on a side table. “Ready when you are.”
Outside her door, he slipped his hand around hers once more. A lot of time had passed since a woman had been affectionate with him. Her touch was magical in a way that had very little to do with his own loneliness. There was something about her.
“What do you think of my swanky digs?” Ada asked with a grin. “Fancy, right?”
“You’re living the high life.”
She laughed, swinging their hands between them. “I don’t know why, but people always expect me to live someplace really amazing.”
He’d expected that very thing. “Maybe because you’re so good at finding other people exactly what they want. We all figure you’d be living somewhere mind-blowing.”
“Not yet. I know what I want. I’ve seen enough properties to know where to find it and how much it’ll cost. I’ve been saving for almost a decade, a little at a time. A little longer, and I’ll have a really good down payment.”
Now that sounded like the Ada he was coming to know: practical, determined, forward-thinking. “A super-spacious beachfront for under a million, right?”
She bumped him with her shoulder. “I told Vincent that if I ever found that, I’d buy it myself. I meant it.”
“Barring that miraculous discovery, what kind of property are you saving up for?”
“A bungalow at a walkable distance from the beach. At least three bedrooms. Open floor plan. Room in the back for a hoop.”
She really did sound like a baller.
“Updated kitchen,” she continued. “Spacious en suite. Low-maintenance landscaping.”
“You really do have it all figured out.”
“I’ve seen enough properties over the last ten years to have figured out what I do and don’t like.”
He nodded. “And you are the best.”
“I never should have put that on my business cards.”
Conversation continued easily between them all the way to the restaurant.
They kept it up over calamari, minestrone, penne and pesto, and tiramisu.
She had a degree in finance and could keep up with accountant talk.
He didn’t know much about real estate, but managed to hold his own.
They delved into plenty of other topics too— childhood adventures, favorite subjects in school, favorite basketball teams and dream vacation spots.
By the time they walked to the door of her condo, he was almost speechless with amazement. “This is by far the least awkward, least disastrous date I’ve been on in— well, ever.”
“Too bad. I was hoping to meet the Awkward Avenger.” She leaned her back against her closed front door. “Promise I’ll get to eventually?”
He propped his elbow against the wall next to her. “Meet him? Don’t you remember the hot dog/ice cream fiasco?”
“That wasn’t Awkward Avenger.” She reached up and brushed her fingers along his cheek. “That was a really great dad looking out for his son.”
He slipped his hand over hers and turned his head enough to press a kiss to her palm.
Her free hand slid up his chest, coming to a rest just above his pounding heart.
Was she caressing him or pushing him away?
He was so out of practice with the whole romance thing that he didn’t know.
He eyed her, trying to figure it out. Her gaze turned questioning as well.
In an instant, the moment was gone. She backed away the smallest bit. Her hands dropped free. Something like an apology touched her face.
I’m an idiot. The thought kept repeating through the rest of their awkward doorstep goodbye. He thought it during his drive home. He was still thinking it late into the night.
He just hoped Ada had a high tolerance for idiots.