Page 152 of The New Place

“I’m just getting confirmation on the rumors I heard.” Steve comes over with his hand outstretched, a handshake that turns into a hug, and Steve claps him on the back. “You and Ned got married? I heard you were engaged, but that’s so great, Henry. I’m so happy for you two.”

How? Abbot wants to ask, unsure how the news could have beaten him to his office, though Liesl is explanation enough. “Thank you. And this is my sister, Liesl. Liesl, this is Dr. Steven Potts.”

“We’ve met, haven’t we?” Steve asks. “When we graduated? You were way younger, then, but it’s nice to see you again.”

Liesl offers a glance in lieu of a proper greeting, and brief eye contact will have to do, because she’s already back on her phone.

“So is it official?” Steve asks. “You and Ned are married and to cap off your big week, I hear you both found positions at Newbury?”

“We’ll start in the fall,” Abbot says.

“That’s the news I’ve been waiting for. What luck, isn’t it? Chris asked me up here this morning to talk again, and said he’d resolved a lot of the budget issues. Which are you, I can pretty much guess.”

“Yes, it must be. I’m glad it’ll work out for you.”

“You have no idea. Except that you actually do, don’t you? I’m definitely calling dibs on this office, if I’m getting your salary and probably your classes, too,” Steve says, looking around. “Nice spot you’ve got. And like I said, I’ll trade you that house.”

“They already looked at a house,” Liesl says without taking her eyes off her phone.

“Started the hunt?” Steve asks. “Okay, but let me sell you on my grandma’s place. Haven’t you always wanted to live somewhere with wallpaper forty years out of style?”

“You and Ned are old enough for that,” Liesl says.

“Again, thank you for your valuable feedback,” Abbot says.

“Come on down and take a look, at least,” Steve says. “I don’t mean trade-trade. We can work out the details, but it’s in a pretty good location if you’re working at Newbury, and if you like it, it could save you the headache of house hunting.”

“Let me talk to Ned,” he hedges.

Who will say what, exactly? That he’s not moving? Except isn’t he? With his parents’ plans to travel?

“Come over for dinner this week,” Steve says. “Will you be down at all?”

Abbot balks. He needs to escape this conversation. This is not the solution Ned is looking for, he knows, but still he hesitates, a yes sitting on his tongue.

“Yeah, because he has to drive me to the airport tomorrow night,” Liesl says before he can correct into a Thank you, but no.

“Well, perfect,” Steve says. “We’ve been meaning to have you two over anyway. Tomorrow for dinner then. Bring the family and we’ll celebrate the big wedding. It’s good timing too, because my wife is getting on me to get the house listed soon, with spring coming.”

Ned won’t like this. But…it’s an invitation to an evening together, really. The house is ancillary to finally accepting the offer from the fall for a dinner they should have shared months ago. That’s all. “If Ned⁠—”

“I texted him already,” Liesl says.

Abbot turns and sure enough, her phone is in her hand. “Liesl.”

“What?” She pokes her straw into her cup and it squeaks against the lid.

“Great,” Steve says. “So we’ll have you over, and we can all chat. This is perfect.”

Yes. Perfect. Ned will be fine with this.

Abbot walks Steve to the door with the promise to text him, and stands there for a moment, staring after him.

Ned will be fine. Some definition of it, at least.

Or this is a help, perhaps. Not the housing solution Ned wants, but they’re married now, and they weren’t before, and surely Ned will accept Abbot’s offer of help.

Won’t he?