Page 173 of The New Place

“Everything’s fine,” Ned says.

“And you can’t move in with your husband why, exactly?”

Husband. The word feels so heavy. “I’m a mess.”

“That’s why?”

“In general,” Ned says. “But yes. Dad, I can’t afford to move. I have so much debt still.”

There. He said it. His stomach turns. His father bought a house and paid it off and helped Ned through college, and here Ned is struggling to pay for his damn dog.

“So?” Dad asks.

“So I have terrible credit, and I owe so much that I’m lucky you and Mom aren’t charging me rent, and now with Baxter, he needs a bunch of meds—I can stay at home, right?”

“Ned, you can do whatever you need to,” Dad says.

A tremor of relief unspools in Ned’s gut.

“Of course we’re not charging you anything, and I can’t believe Henry would either.”

His stomach tightens all over again. “No, he’s just—he wants to buy a place, and I can’t even rent anything, let alone get together a down payment.”

“So let him pay it.”

Ned laughs. He’s had this conversation before, hasn’t he? “No.”

“Why not?”

“Because.”

“Because?” Dad echoes. “What does that mean? If he wants to buy a place, he can do that with or without you, can’t he? He doesn’t strike me as exactly hard up for cash, and he has his house up in Portland he’ll sell, right? Frankly, you married pretty well, kid.”

“But that’s his,” Ned says. “I can’t just live in his house.”

“You’re married. The house would belong to both of you.”

“Not if he buys it.” It’s like arguing with Abbot again.

“Even if he buys it.”

“It’s not,” Ned says, his voice rising. “That’s just me living there, and I have Peggy, and you know how loud she is and I love her, but she’s not exactly neat and clean. And Baxter’s a magnet for mud. It’ll drive Abbot up the wall.”

Dad scratches his cheek with one finger. “He stays with us, doesn’t he? When he comes over to see you?”

“That’s different.” Of course it is. And it’s not even Ned’s they stay at, it’s his parents’. Abbot’s a guest twice over, and yeah, he seems to genuinely enjoy the time he spends there, but he’s also too polite to even begin to complain. Who knows what he actually thinks? And Ned’s seen the way Abbot keeps his own house—it’s clean and tidy and everything Ned’s life isn’t.

“Sure, but is it? Henry’s over pretty often, so if he has a problem with Peggy and Baxter, he’s really doing a lot to spend extra time with them. Probably, a spot of your own would be quieter, because your Mom and I won’t be around. Well, much. We’ll invite ourselves over, of course. With terrible timing. And really frequently, too. Sorry to say it, kid, but that’s what you have to look forward to.”

“Dad, I’m serious. I can’t. I need more time. All of this happened so fast.”

“Sure, some time to pay everything off, but you two will work toward that. Mom and I will help, too.”

“I can’t take your help.”

“Why not? Or you and Henry can put some of his down payment money toward debt and rent for a bit, and then look for a place later.”

Ned laughs. “I’m not using his money to pay my bills.”