"Yeah, she got here. And Iguessthat was really nice of you."
Again with the "guess."
She continued, "So, um, thanks. I guess."
What the hell?In a tight voice, I replied, "You're welcome."
"So, um…have you thought any more about the house?"
I felt my jaw clench. "No."
She sighed, but said nothing in reply.
With growing anger, I asked, "Is there a problem?"
"Well…I guess I'm just wondering if there's anything you want to tell me."
"About what?"
"I don't know. Maybe…" Again, she paused. "About the house?"
By now, there were plenty of things I wanted to tell her, and none of them were nice. Working hard to keep my cool, I tossed the ball back into her court. "If you've got something to say, just say it."
"See, the thing is…maybeI'mnot the one with something to say. Maybeyouhave something to say." She paused. "Maybe something you meant to tell me sooner?"
I had no clue what she meant. "About what?"
"The house."
My grip tightened on the phone. "If you're asking if I've changed my mind, I already gave you my answer."
And the answer was no.I wasn't going to sell her the house.The truth was, I'd been planning something better. But now, I was thinking that I'd dodged a bullet by waiting.
Something had gone off the rails. Or maybe, I'd been reading things wrong from the beginning.
Either way, this wasn't the Arden I knew. And now, I had to wonder, which one was the real deal?The girl I'd fallen for? Or the girl on the phone?
Because they weren't the same girl.
And now, she'd grown silent.
I said, "You still there?"
"Uh, yeah," she said. "Okay, how about this? If you won't sell me thewholehouse, maybe you'd think about selling me half?"
She was kidding, right?"What?"
"Ormaybe," she continued, "youdidthink about selling me half, maybe even before I showed up. Andmaybethat's something you want to talk about now."
Or maybe I'd heard enough."Half a house? You serious?"
"Of course I'm serious."
The more I heard, the shittier I felt. There was a time – hell just a few days ago – when sharing a house with Arden would've been nice to think about.
But not now.Not with whatever was going on.
On the phone, she was still talking. "I’m just saying, like in the beginning, maybe you didn't think everything through, like when you were buying it."
