like him. I can’t blame you for that. Who wouldn’t want that kind of success?”
“Some people don’t. My brother, for instance, and you. My mom. She owns the biggest house in the city, and she’d rather be in a cottage barely bigger than this booth. She said to me the other day ‘Sometimes the simple solutions work better.’ It’s taken me a long time to figure that out. Like three and a half years, with a good swift kick in the ass from Mr. Right. It turns out he considered me a career move, not a human being.”
“I’m sorry, Kendall, that’s ugly, and it must hurt.”
“It did, after three years, but better then than later, or married.” She thought of her parents. “A life like my father’s pulls a lot of fish into the net. Some of them are rotten. It’s kind of the luck of the draw.”
“You’re a smart woman. You can figure out which ones are the bad ones.”
“Not always.” She thought about being duped by her father, and going all the way to France to hold his hand, when in fact he was getting laid.
“So, are we going to flip a house together?” he asked her to change the subject to something less personal. He didn’t want to go off the deep end over her again.
“It sounds interesting. Tell me what you have in mind.”
“There are two I’m considering right now,” he said. “They’re both in good locations, both currently a mess, one slightly bigger than the other, both with good bones. One needs a little more architectural work, which is fun for me. I was going to do one of them alone, but it might be nice to have a partner. We can look at them if you like.”
“I’d like that.” She didn’t know why, but the project sounded like fun to her, and he’d be good to work with. He was a solid, reliable, responsible guy, and a talented architect. “How long do you think it would take?”
“Probably a year, maybe less. Some of it depends on permits and how fast we can get them. Do you want to take a look on Saturday? We should move pretty quickly if we want to buy either of them. They’re both good fixer-uppers at a decent price. Someone else is going to see that and make an offer soon. I’d like to get there first, so we can keep the profit margins appealing for us.” He was businesslike and professional, talented and had good taste. If she wanted to learn how to flip houses, he would be a good partner. At the end of dinner, they made a date for Saturday to meet at the first address. He said he’d set it up with the realtors for both houses starting at noon.
She was busy with work for her father the next day. And on Saturday, she met Ross again. She liked both houses and was excited about the project, and the idea of working with him.
“Do you have a preference?” he asked her, she had a tough time deciding, and so did he. They went out for a glass of wine afterward and discussed it. “I’ve got some plans I roughed out on both of them, of what I would do without spending a fortune on it. I can show you if you want. I’ve moved since I last saw you. My house is just around the corner.” She was startled by the invitation, but it made sense to see the plans. They walked a block and a half, and he lived in a very good-looking, well-designed house, which was much nicer than his last one. He had come up in the world in three years.
She followed him up the stairs, while he turned off the alarm, and let her in. He walked her to a large studio on the second floor of his house, with a drafting table, and he laid out the plans for both houses. Once she saw them, she had a marked preference for the first one.
“I think you can really make a difference with this design,” she said and smiled at him. She was trying to concentrate on the drawings, but he was so damn handsome, and the glass of wine had hit her. She was having trouble keeping her mind on the designs he was showing her, and then she noticed him staring at her. “I’m sorry, I think I’m a little drunk,” she said, looking embarrassed.