Page 68 of The New Place

“An in-home bowling alley, in that case.”

“Ned.”

“What?” Ned glances over with a grin.

Abbot doesn’t match his smile.

“Sorry. I’m sorry, I was joking. I only meant it’s probably easier to write something down that works well enough, instead of having to actually make a decision together about all of this.”

“It’ll be more believable if there’s some reality to it.”

“Right, that’s what I’m saying though. You really are looking for a place. So put in what you want, and then at least you’re getting something out of this and seeing relevant properties.”

“But isn’t it worth talking about? What we’d look for together?”

“Someday, sure,” Ned says.

“Why not now?”

Ned lets out a soft laugh. “Because.”

Abbot lowers his phone. “What does that mean?”

“It means let’s make good use of your time, while we’ve got a Realtor to talk to.”

“But if we’re both going to take the time to look at places, we could get an idea of what’s available for what price, that we’d both like,” Abbot says as if it makes sense.

It probably does, to him, but Ned’s mind catches on the word price like nails on a chalkboard. He slows for a yellow light, no matter the car behind him laying on its horn. “The market’s probably going to change,” Ned says. Crash, hopefully, but in a way that his finances don’t suffer with a failing economy, which is definitely not possible, but hey, he can hope.

“Not that much.”

“Think about the building Pat bought for his café. That’s worth a ton now. Or your house.” Three million, Ned’s brain keeps repeating. Abbot’s house can’t be worth that much, can it?

“Pat’s owned that building for a while, hasn’t he? And I bought my house five years ago.”

“Exactly.”

Abbot looks at him, blinking behind his glasses. “Exactly what?”

“Five years and the market changes. Could you afford the same place now?” Ned asks before he realizes he doesn’t really want to know the answer. “And that’s up in Portland. Boston’s real estate is another beast entirely.”

“You’d wait five years to move in together?”

The question is stark in the quiet of the car and belatedly, Ned realizes he hasn’t turned on the radio. “Yes?”

Oh, the look on Abbot’s face—that was not the right response.

“No. We could—sooner than that, absolutely. A couple years?”

“A couple?”

At least, he wants to say to Abbot’s clear surprise. But also: no. A few would have been a better answer, because it’s Abbot. He’ll take a couple literally, and two years isn’t enough. Especially if Ned’s facing a gap in employment. And even if he manages to land at Newbury, how much will he have paid off two years from now? Three?

Hopefully he’ll owe less by then, and he’ll have a better handle on his credit card bill, but purchasing a house in just a handful of years? That’s so soon. Too soon.

“Not five,” Abbot says softly.

“Okay.” Ned tries to gather himself. To meet Abbot where he is, which is apparently a hell of lot farther than Ned thought. “I mean, yeah, we can talk about that, but I figured you’d get your own place and I would too, and we’d go from there. Didn’t we say that last night?”