“Dog walkers?”
“Yup.” Gina laughs. “I’ve already heard about Snoop. You name it, I have it.”
Alice merely smiles, wondering why on earth she would need a dog walker when she has a perfectly good pair of legs herself. And a decorator? What for?
Gina continues bubbling away. “Joe says you’re going to be looking for a place in the country too.”
Alice nods. “We just haven’t decided where. I’ve been trying to persuade Joe to leave the city for a day so we can drive around Connecticut and get a feel for where we want to live, but he refuses to start looking until we’ve bought somewhere in the city.”
“We have the cutest place in Connecticut,” Gina says. “Just north of Highfield, and I’m there pretty much all the time in the summer. You should come up and I could drive you around, show you the towns. There are so many pretty places.”
“I’d love to!”
“You know what? We’re up there next weekend. Why don’t you drive up on Saturday for the day? Come for lunch, both of you.”
“What’s this?” Joe stops talking, having caught the tail end of Gina’s invitation, and looks up at them questioningly.
“Gina’s inviting us to their country place next Saturday.”
“Great! We’d love to come.” Joe squints at Alice. “You’re sure you’re not cooking up some plan? We’re not going to come back from our day in the country having bought a house?”
Gina laughs. “The only thing we’ll be cooking is a barbecue.”
“Uh-uh.” George shakes his head. “You’re not getting near my Viking. The barbecue is my job. You can do the salads.”
Gina rolls her eyes. “Why, I’m so sorry. I forgot that barbecueing is men’s work and the little women can only just manage to daintily tear up some lettuce. Salads indeed. It’s a good job I love you.”
“I know. I’m the luckiest man in the world.”
Alice grins at both of them as she takes Joe’s hand under the table, leaning back as the waiter arrives with their scrambled eggs and smoked salmon, toasted bagels, and French toast.
She squeezes Joe’s hand and he turns to look at her, smiling as he sees how happy and relaxed she is.
“See,” he whispers. “I said you’d like them.”
“I know. You were right.”
“Hey! No whispering at the table,” Gina says.
Joe picks up his glass of orange juice and proposes a toast. “To new friends!”
“To new friends!” they echo, holding up glasses and coffee cups.
“And to new houses in the country,” Gina laughs as Alice joins in.
“I’ll second that.” Alice smiles, and the men just raise their eyebrows and tuck into the food.
13
Alice is in charge of the map as Joe steers their hired car along the Merritt Parkway, Alice growing more and more relaxed as they drive out of the city, through Westchester, and then into Connecticut.
She strains to see through the thick trees that abound each side of the highway, hoping to catch a glimpse of picture-perfect houses, white picket fences, all the things she imagines Connecticut to be, but Joe’s driving too fast, and in the end she gives up.
“So you really think they liked us?”
Joe sighs. Alice hasn’t stopped talking about Gina and George, so excited at having found a potential new friend, so insecure in case they don’t feel the same way. They’ve already had this conversation four times, and Joe is starting to find it somewhat irritating.
“Yes, I really think they liked us,” he says. Again. “We wouldn’t be sitting in this car driving down to lunch with them if they didn’t, would we?”
“Okay, okay. Sorry. What do you think their house is like?”
“Alice! For God’s sake. Stop asking me such stupid questions.”
“Okay, okay.” Alice turns to look out the window again. “Pardon me for breathing.”
Gina is standing barefoot in her kitchen, slicing tomatoes and onions and wiping the tears from her eyes.
“Damn,” she mutters as George walks in, coming over to her in concern.
“What’s the matter, sweetie? Are you crying?”
“No,” she grimaces, reaching for some paper towels. “These onions. Ow! My eyes are stinging!”
“There, there, baby,” George croons, laughing as he puts his arms around her and rubs her back. “It’ll be okay. I’m here.”
“I told you, I’m not crying.” Gina laughs through her tears as she attempts to push him away.
“Of course you’re not,” George says soothingly. “You’re being a big brave girl.”
“Oh, George!” Gina wipes her eyes and smacks him on the arm. “You’re ridiculous.”
“So what are you making?”
“Tomato, onion, and mozzarella salad. Do you think we’ll have enough food?”
“Of course we’ll have enough food. We’ve got steaks, burgers, tons of meat for the grill, and this looks great in here. What are you worried about?”
Gina shrugs. “I just want to make a good impression. You do think they liked us, don’t you?”
“Of course they did. Actually, I’m not so sure about me, but they definitely thought you were great.”
“Do you think maybe they’d join us for that benefit at the Met next month, or do you think that’s a bit strong?”
George pauses and thinks. “What do you mean strong?”
“I mean I don’t want to scare them off.”
“I agree. We should take things slowly.”
“Yes. Because I don’t want it to burn out. I really really like them. I mean, I could see us being really good friends.”
“So are you saying we should play hard to get?” George’s mouth twitches.
“Oh, ha-ha. No. I’m just saying we shouldn’t move too fast before the third date.” And they both start laughing.
Joe and Alice pull off the Merritt and follow the instructions George has faxed them. Up a series of winding country lanes, across a railway bridge, and then, as directed, left up Vineyard Lane, past the huge new McMansion, and right at the third (green) mailbox on the right.
They pull up outside a pretty, old shingled cottage, and Gina and George both come running around the side of the house to greet them. George is in baggy shorts and a T-shirt, a baseball cap on his head, and Gina’s wearing a tight white T-shirt and an exotic sarong that flicks open as she runs, much to Joe’s appreciation.
“How lovely you’re here!” Gina, unaware of Joe’s admiring looks, gives both Alice and Joe a huge hug. “Did you find us okay? Was it easy? Did you understand George’s directions?”
“It was very easy. And it’s so beautiful here!” Alice looks up at the huge canopy of trees above them, the sunlight twinkling through onto the gravel driveway. “How do you manage not to stay here all the time? God, if this were mine Joe would never be able to drag me away.”
“That’s only because you’re seeing it in summer.” Gina links her arm through Alice’s and leads her to the back of the house. “In winter it’s hellish. As bleak as bleak can be.”
“But don’t you get gorgeous snow in winter? And build big roaring fires?”
“Excuse my wife.” Joe makes a face. “She has a secret yearning to be Anne of Green Gables.”
Gina laughs. “The snow looks gorgeous for about a minute, but trust me, it’s not fun when you have to wait for the snow plow to clear the roads to get out, and it all turns to brown slush piled up on the sidewalks for weeks.”
“I don’t know,” Alice says. “It still sounds lovely to me. Oh! Look at this!” The four of them climb onto a large deck overlooking a small, kidney-shape swimming pool. “My God, this is idyllic!”
“Well, it’s pretty and it suits us. Come sit down. We made some Long Island iced tea.”
They move down to a large table beside the pool, a white umbrella creating some much-needed shade.
“So how long have you been here?” Joe asks.
&n
bsp; “We found it three years ago,” George says. “Gina got it into her head that we needed a weekend place, and we were fed up with the Hamptons, and quite honestly I couldn’t believe the prices up here, it was so cheap compared with what we were used to.”
“So I got on the web.” Gina takes over as she pours the drinks into tall, ice-filled glasses. “And I found this.”
“Did you need to do a lot of work?” Alice asks, looking up at the house.
“Nope. Didn’t touch it,” George says. “We were lucky.”
“You know, I did our apartment in the city, and I just didn’t want to take on another big project. I wanted something that was ready to move in to, and luckily for us the person we bought from did all the hard work and knocked everything through to make it open plan. I was too lazy and too tired to look for a decorator. I didn’t want to have to do anything.”
“But why would you need a decorator? Couldn’t you do it yourself?”
“I’m hopeless at houses,” Gina laughs.
“But you’ve clearly got style. I don’t believe that.”
“Honey, I’m clothes-obsessed, but when it comes to houses I’m an amateur. Now, how about a swim before lunch?”
The four of them have been swimming, have had a tour of the house, and have just finished lunch.
Large bowls of wilting lettuce and leftover tomatoes and onions sweating in warm olive oil sit on the table as they talk, telling their stories, turning their acquaintanceship into friendship.
“You mentioned you were thinking of getting something out here,” Gina says as Alice helps her clear the table and bring the bowls into the kitchen. “We have a wonderful real estate agent in town, and she’s always there on a Saturday. Do you want to go down and see her?”
Alice’s eyes widen. “God, I’d love to! But Joe would go mad. All week all he’s been saying is don’t think we’re going to get a house on Saturday.”
“Men!” Gina rolls her eyes. “Just leave it to me.”
She brings a bowl of watermelon outside and turns to Joe. “Alice was just saying how she loves the country. I thought after this we could take a stroll into town. It’s so pretty and we could probably all do with walking off that lunch.”
“Sounds great,” Joe smiles. He would have acquiesced to pretty much anything Gina had asked of him, her strong tanned thighs having made quite an impression during their swim earlier.
Not that Joe would ever dare make a move on Gina. She may be sexy but even he isn’t that stupid—he can already see how well she and Alice get on, and while he might like the thrill of getting caught, that would be one thrill that would be just a little bit too much, even for him.
Not to mention the fact that Gina hasn’t responded to him in the slightest. Joe isn’t expecting her to flirt outrageously with him, but every time he starts a charm offensive Gina just becomes very matter-of-fact and ignores it.
But a pretty face is a pretty face, and just because she isn’t responding doesn’t mean he can’t appreciate her.
“A walk in town sounds perfect,” he says, reaching out and pulling Alice toward him for a kiss as she walks past his chair.
“Mmm.” She smiles, sinking onto his lap. “What was that for?”
“For nothing,” he says. “Just because.”
Gina watches them with a smile. She can’t figure them out. Alice is lovely, and she wants to like Joe but she senses he’s dangerous. If she didn’t know better, she could have sworn he was flirting with her earlier, but surely not? Would anyone be that obvious? To flirt in front of his wife and her husband? She pretended she hadn’t noticed, and thankfully he seems to have stopped.
And look at them, Alice snuggled on his lap, the pair of them looking like a couple of honeymooners. Maybe Gina imagined it after all.
An hour later George and Joe stride ahead as Gina and Alice meander behind, stopping to look at every shop window, to walk inside and poke around dusty antique stores, to greet the shopkeepers, all of whom Gina seems to know by name.
At the end of Main Street they walk into an old-fashioned ice-cream store and all have giant ice-cream cones, dripping slowly across the street as they cross to the real estate agent’s office.
“Where are we going?” Joe asks sternly, seeing a plate-glass window filled with properties that are obviously for sale.
“It’s our hobby,” Gina says. “Every time we’re here George has to see what’s on the market to reassure himself he didn’t pay too much for our property.”
“And did you pay too much?” Joe turns to George.
“Of course. But as Gina’s mother always says, you never pay too much, you only pay too soon.”
“That’s right.” Gina laughs. “And we’re still waiting for the market to catch up with us.”
“Nearly there,” George says, peering through the window and looking at the houses. “Jesus. Look at that, Gina. That dreadful sixties colonial down the road is for sale. Over half a million dollars. Are they mad? If that’s over half a million, what does that make ours?”
“It sounds like the market’s finally caught up with you.” Joe smiles.
“Thank the Lord!” George clasps his hands in prayer as he looks up to the sky. “About time.”
“Oh, look.” Gina peers through the glass and starts to wave. “There’s Sandy.” She turns to Joe. “She’s the woman who sold us our house, who’s now a good friend. She’s great. Look, she’s seen us.” Gina beckons the woman outside. “She’s coming out to say hello.”
Twenty minutes later they’re all squeezed into the back of Sandy’s Jeep, on their way to look at a house.
“I can’t believe we’re going to look at a house,” Joe keeps saying. “I knew this would happen.”
“Relax,” George keeps instructing him with a laugh. “Sometimes you just have to accept there are things beyond your control, and women and houses happens to be one of them.”
Alice smiles happily as she looks out the window. She’s already fallen in love with the town. The minute they stepped out of the car and she saw people strolling along the street in shorts and flip-flops, with sand on their ankles and sunglasses in their hair, she knew she’d come home.
Standing in Sandy’s office, Alice couldn’t speak from fear and excitement. Gina and George had taken over, introducing Sandy, telling her that Joe and Alice were thinking about getting something in the country and that even though they weren’t ready to look, they were interested to know what was in their price range.
“But we’re not ready today,” Joe kept saying. “We’re not in the market just yet. Not until we’ve closed on the apartment in the city.”
“I quite understand,” Sandy had said, winking surreptitiously at Alice. “You’re not ready but you just want to see.” She’d spread some details in front of them, all of which were either more than Joe was willing to pay or ugly as sin.
“There is one property that isn’t on the market yet but I heard it’s about to come on. I wonder . . .” Sandy picked up the phone and made a call, and before they knew it they were squeezed in the back of her car.
“Now don’t get too excited,” she told Alice. “It’s wonderful land but a terrible house. Charles Owens, the owner, tried for years to get Planning and Zoning approval to knock down the house and build a new one, but he didn’t get it because the property was too small and there weren’t enough setbacks.”
“And now?”
“Well, the house itself is on a third of an acre. They’ve been trying to sell it for years and couldn’t, but now the plot of land behind the house is just about to come up, and that’s three acres, so if you put the two together you could have something wonderful.”
“I have to tell you, Joe,” George says, “in this area it’s a huge bargain. It sounds like an amazing price.”
“And it’s well within our budget,” Alice says, immediately shutting her mouth, for she had vowed not to say anything at all, knowing that the less she said, the less enthusiasm she showed
, the higher the likelihood of Joe liking it, or, at the very least, seeing it as a viable investment.
“Let me ask you something.” Joe leans toward Sandy. “This Charles couldn’t get planning permission because the plot was too small, so are you saying if you bought both and combined them you’d be able to build something new?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Sandy smiles. “It’s every developer’s dream. I just hope we’ve got there quickly enough.”
“Sandy, they haven’t even seen it,” Gina laughs. “Give them a chance. They might hate it.”
“What’s to hate?” says George. “It’s three acres of usable land in Highfield. You could build whatever you want.”
“Oh,” Sandy adds distractedly, “and did I mention there’s a pond? Here we are. Now you can see for yourself.” She turns left up an old dirt track and they bump along a potholed driveway until they reach a filthy old house, half covered in weeds.
The trees are so overgrown it feels as if the house is hiding in a dark tunnel, and as they climb out of the car Alice feels her heart sink. Damn. She was so excited, so convinced that fate was working in mysterious ways and that this house has been waiting just for her.
Gina looks over and reads her body language instantly. “Come on.” She slides an arm around her shoulders. “It’s not that bad.”
Alice raises an eyebrow as she looks around. “It’s not that good.”
“Oh, dear.” Sandy sighs. “I did warn you it was a bit of a mess.”
“A bit of a mess? It’s a wreck.” Joe laughs, delighted he won’t have to put his hand in his pocket after all.
“But remember, we’re not here to look at this house. You can level this one in a second and build something wonderful next to the pond. Let’s walk around and have a look at the land.”
They walk to the back of the house, and instantly Alice starts to perk up. At the back is a large fieldstone terrace, completely overgrown with weeds, but the trees are far fewer behind the house, and sunlight is struggling to make it through the leaves.