Page 161 of The New Place

“She okay?” Ned asks softly as Abbot sighs and steps back.

“She’s, ah, frustrated with me,” Abbot says.

Well, that makes two of them.

Ned politely follows Steve into the other darkened bedrooms, and obediently looks over the hallway linen closet, nodding at the number of shelves it boasts.

“So you’re thinking about it?” Ned asks as they troop back downstairs, his voice low, though Steve’s on his phone ahead of them.

“I’ll need to live somewhere.” Abbot pauses at the bottom of the stairs and says just as quietly, “I understand you don’t want to move in. That’s not what this is.”

“Okay,” Ned says, but isn’t it? Couldn’t Abbot look at some place in another part of the city? Not here, on these streets where Ned used to trick or treat with Pat, where he runs with Baxter?

“Do you dislike it?” Abbot asks.

Ned huffs a laugh. “No.” It’s great, actually. Sure, dated as hell, looking like the last time it was redecorated was a half century ago. Ned peeks into a side room, half expecting to see wood paneling and shag carpet, but it just holds a worn couch.

Steve sees him looking and points his phone toward the room. “Parquet floors. Isn’t that neat? And then we’ve got the dining room back there, beyond it. Downstairs bathroom is here, stairs to the basement, and then there’s this room, through here. Who knows what a Realtor would call it, a den? Office? I’m not sure it’s technically a bedroom, because don’t those have to have closets? Anyway, it’s some nice extra space on this floor.”

“Found the wine key!” Jess calls from the kitchen and waves them in to join her. “The glasses leave something to be desired, but cheers.”

“Thank you.” Ned accepts a glass of red from her in a juice cup. “Yeah. Cheers.”

“Congratulations,” Jess says as they touch their glasses together. “We could do something a lot nicer for you two than pizza delivery, but clearly Steve is desperate to unload this house onto you.”

Steve holds up a hand. “If you want it. I have to try, at least. Did I mention the backyard? Already fenced in, and there’s an awesome, huge tree.”

“Love a good tree,” Ned says.

“Also—”

“Stop torturing the poor men,” Jess says.

“The roof is perfect for solar,” Steve finishes.

“Ignore him. How are you both? New marriage, new jobs coming up? Most exciting thing we’re doing is going to the beach over spring break, which won out over skiing.”

“We had talked about that,” Abbot says.

“We did?” Ned asks.

“New hot water heater too,” Steve says.

“A weekend away up north?” Abbot asks.

“Oh, yeah,” Ned agrees rather than arguing. He’s not going skiing. He’s not going anywhere except to work and then back home, and trying like hell not to spend money on the way.

That takeout. All the food they ordered over the weekend is sitting on his credit card bill, with Baxter a heavy, furry weight on top of it.

“Great snow this year,” Jess says, and Abbot nods like he knows what she’s talking about.

He does, probably. Ned’s pretty sure he took Liesl skiing when he was in Switzerland.

Great, well, he can go and Ned can ask Pat if he can maybe pick up a couple shifts. How fucking grand.

“Is that the big honeymoon plan?” Jess asks.

“We’ll be in Switzerland this summer,” Abbot says.