Page 14 of Best Offer Wins
“Margo!” Penny yells from the swings. “Come push us!”
I wave at her and get up from the bench.
“I’ll come, too,” says Jack.
“Thank you for saving me,” he whispers once we’re far enough from Claire. “She’s just upset because Penny is one of Violet’s only friends.”
With each push of her swing, Penny asks me a different question: “What’s your job?” “Where do you live?” “What’s your favorite animal?”
And finally: “Do you want to come over to my house?”
I suck in a breath, waiting for Jack’s reaction.
“That’s a nice idea, sweetie,” he says, while he pushes Violet next to us. He turns to me: “Would you and your husband want to come over for dinner this week?”
A fizzy warmth spreads through my chest.
“Oh my gosh,” I say, “we would love that!”
Jack and I settle on Wednesday at six. I should really start calling her Lucky Penny.
6
“Margo, are you out of your mind?”
Ian tosses the remote down on the coffee table hard enough that the battery cover pops off the back. He’s still in his gym clothes, but the endorphins I was counting on have clearly already waned.
I knew he wouldn’t take this well. Which is why I waited till now to tell him. When I got home from the playground yesterday, the timing just didn’t feel right. He was going to the Nats game with coworkers, so it wouldn’t have been fair to put him through a fight first. Then they lost to the Mets five-nothing and he was in a terrible mood. So, really, this is the first reasonable opening I had.
“It’s not like I asked to come to dinner,” I say, keeping my tone calm so I don’t escalate things. “Jack invited us. All I did was go to a yoga class and make conversation.”
“Are you listening to yourself? Do you actually believe that? You didn’t just ‘go to a yoga class.’” Ian holds his fingers up in air quotes. “You stalked this guy.”
I roll my eyes. “You’re being so dramatic. I did notstalkhim. Ginny said her sister-in-law loves that yoga studio and I’ve been meaning to get back into practicing anyway. It seemed harmless.”
“Then why did you lie to me about where you were going?” Ian rises from our gray couch and comes toward me in the kitchen.
“Because I didn’t want to worry you! I had no idea if I’d even run into him at all, and you can be so irrational.”
“That is some good shit right there.” He laughs dryly. “Yeah, I am the irrational one.”
“Ian, come on, you know this isn’t a normal market. We have to be strategic if we ever want to get out of this place.”
“We’ve offered six figures over asking on almost every single house!”
“Exactly! And we’re still here! We need an edge, and I got us one, as fucking usual. You’re welcome.”
“Give me a goddamn break!You’rethe whole reason we’re here in the first place!”
“Yeah, because I’m the one with the balls to strive for something.”
So much for staying calm. He stares at me, unblinking, gripping the back of that counter stool so hard it looks like his knuckles might burst through his skin.
Then: “Fuck you, Margo.” His voice is barely more than a whisper.
I narrow my eyes. “What did you just say to me?”
“I said, ‘Fuck you.’” He’s back to full volume, doubling down. “You’re acting like a fucking bitch.”
