“So you’re taking it?”
“Not sure.”
Anne groaned. “Why not?”
I chuckled, barely believing what I was about to say. “I’m attracted to the woman who did the showing. She lives right next door.”
“Rob... you’ll never find a place at this rate.”
Well, shit. I didn’t want to disappoint my sister. I was determined to help her through this tough time. Every day I was prolonging this search was one more day I wasn’t there for her. This was the closest place to Anne I could find.
“I’m still considering the house,” I told her, hoping to encourage her and ease her mind.
“Good. But leave the poor woman alone.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I mean it.”
“Didn’t think you were joking,” I assured her. I wasn’t exactly known for having long-lasting relationships. For the past few years, I hadn’t even considered it. I’d moved from New York to Paris for culinary school, then back to New York, then to LA. My last steady girlfriend had been in high school. I’d moved too often, given too much of myself to the business to seriously think about relationships. I didn’t see that changing in the near future considering where I was at this point in my life. I needed to get things here in New York back on track and take care of Lindsay and Anne.
“You never know. Just don’t break her heart.”
“Ouch.”
“Ah, sorry... just oversensitive with everything happening with Walter.”
The tone of her voice killed me.
That scum and I were nothing alike, but I knew she was in pain. The divorce had been hard on her.
I didn’t do relationships, but I was upfront about that. I didn’t mislead my dates or mistreat them. I didn’t marry someone and then cheat behind her back for ten years. I balled my free hand into a fist. Every time I thought about that scumbag, I wanted to hit something.
“What I meant was that things can get messy, and you don’t want that kind of relationship down the road, especially when it comes to neighbors.”
That was true, especially since I planned to buy and not rent.
I’d always preferred that. I even owned a house in LA, though it had been clear from the beginning that I was only going to be there temporarily. I just didn’t feel like a place was truly mine unless I owned it.
“Anne, I’ll get a place soon, I promise. Can you put Lindsay on?”
“Sure.”
A few seconds later, my niece giggled in the phone. “Hi, Uncle Rob.”
“Hey, bops. How are you?”
Before reaching the edge of the park, I slowed my pace even more, not wanting the sound of the traffic to drown out the conversation.
“When are you moving close to us?” she asked.
“Soon,” I promised.
“Can you take me out for ice cream, like Daddy did?”
“Sure thing.”
“Yes. Do you know why Daddy doesn’t call? Mommy says it’s because he’s busy.”