“Promise.”
“New book about the siege of Leningrad too.” Dean approaches and puts three more books on the counter.
As I ring up the books, it occurs to me that I could ask Dean to invest in Allie’s bookstore. He would do it, too, without hesitation. But as easy as that would be, my exact words to Allie were, “What if I apply for a loan?” I did not say, “What if I ask Dean for a loan?”
I swipe his credit card through the machine and slip the books into a paper bag. “Allie, are you sure you don’t want me to stay until closing?”
“No, Brent will be here any minute.” She waves us out the door. “Have a good afternoon. And thanks, both of you.”
I grab my coat from the back office and button it up as Dean and I go outside into the frozen, clear afternoon. Our breath puffs out in plumes of white.
“So where are we going?” I ask as we get into the car.
“You’ll see.”
He drives toward the university, but then detours into one of the residential neighborhoods that are populated by expensive, newer homes with views of the lake and mountains. When he pulls up in front of a Colonial-style house that looks as if it belongs in the glossy pages of House Beautiful, my breath sticks in my throat. There’s a For Sale sign in the front yard.
“Dean…”
“I haven’t made an offer yet,” he says. “But it looks great for us.”
“I don’t—”
He’s already getting out to greet a short-haired woman in a business suit who is walking toward us from a car parked on the street. They shake hands and speak as if they’ve met before.
“Liv, this is Nancy Walker with Regent Properties,” Dean tells me. “I contacted her for a showing.”
“I’m sure you’ll love it,” Nancy gushes as we head toward the front porch. “I told Dean it’s just the perfect family home.”
The house is gorgeous, everything so sleek and shiny that it reminds me of a museum. We take off our boots so we don’t muddy the floors. Nancy talks about the square footage (“almost five thousand!”), the size of the bedrooms (“perfect for every age child, from babies to teenagers!”), the quartz countertops (“maintenance-free!”), and the oak hardwood floors (“just refinished!”).
Then she and Dean launch into a discussion of the roof, the heating system, the warranty on the appliances, the property taxes, the size of the lot. Their voices almost echo in the vast spaces of the multiple rooms. The kitchen alone looks like it’s the size of our apartment.
“What do you think, Liv?” Nancy asks.
She and Dean are both looking at me expectantly.
“It’s beautiful,” I say truthfully.
“I’ll leave you two alone to talk for a few minutes.” Nancy digs her phone out of her purse as she heads back to the foyer.
“Do you like it?” Dean asks me. “If you like it, we’ll buy it.”
“Dean, love of my life, you don’t have to buy a house just because I like it.”
“I know I don’t have to. I want to.”
“Do you like it?”
“What’s not to like? We can’t live in that apartment forever. With the baby, we’ll need more space, a yard, another bedroom. This is a great school district. We wouldn’t have to think about moving anytime soon. It’s close to both the university and downtown. Not to mention it has an amazing view of the lake.”
The knots pull tighter in my stomach. “It… um, it must be terribly expensive.”
“We can afford it. The trust fund my grandfather left me has been sitting there for years, and I’ve gotten a great return on my investments. We wouldn’t even need to take out a mortgage, unless it makes financial sense.”
He looks through the large kitchen window at the backyard. “I like that it’s on a quiet street. Property values in this neighborhood have been stable for years, so if we did need to sell we likely wouldn’t have to take a loss. Good investment, in addition to being necessary.”
I run my hand over the gleaming quartz countertop. I’ve never thought of a house as necessary. Houses put you into debt and create a thousand worries. It’s hard to leave a place if you own a house. Or if you lose a house for some reason, you could end up with nowhere to go. When I was living with my aunt Stella, I was always afraid that she might kick me out of her house. Like my mother’s parents did to her when she got pregnant with me.
“Better that we buy now when we have time to get organized,” Dean says, turning back to face me. “Our apartment lease expires in July, so we can spend the next few months figuring out what we need to buy. We can stay at the apartment until the house is furnished and we’re ready to move in. There’s that huge furniture store over near Rainwood. We can probably buy everything there, including the crib. Plenty of time to fix anything that needs fixing, hire a cleaning service, get tools and a lawnmower, change our address on all our paperwork.”
“We don’t have to do all of that right now.”