The Cornerstone (36 page)

“This is not cheap,” Will murmured, flipping through the folder. He pointed at the seven-figure listing price. “You can afford this?”

I spared the sheet a quick glance. “Me? Or the firm?”

“It’s funny how you’re recognizing a distinction now,” he said. “I didn’t realize one existed.”

“Maybe you didn’t look close enough.” Turning back to the kitchen door, I said, “I wouldn’t be here if I couldn’t afford it. Me and the firm, but I’m thinking about this for my investment portfolio.”

“That sounded really pretentious, peanut. Your
investment portfolio
,” Will repeated. He watched while I opened the dining room’s built-in cabinetry, and crouched down with me to study the underside of a shelf. “What are we looking for?”

“Original craftsman marks,” I said. I found what I wanted, and stood, turning my attention to the windowpanes. “It looks authentic, but I always check.”

“Nothing here is straight,” Will said, waving at the curved wall of windows. “That seems…different.”

I ran my hand along the window sash, nodding. “Every room was designed to face the ocean. Typical in this area.” I pointed to the staircase. “Come on. More to see.”

Whenever I toured homes, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about the people who lived there. I wondered about their lives and their families, how they made it through good days and bad, whether they were content. I was always trying to nail down the
happy
home, the one that was well-loved rather than hard-worn, the one that breathed joy and comfort from the foundation up, the one that weathered storm and sunshine alike.

I couldn’t rest my hands on a single reason to love this battered Colonial, but as I circled back through all four floors, I knew I did. This was one of those homes that spoke to me in little whispers, saying, “Show me some love and I’ll sparkle for you.” I elected to park myself in the butler’s pantry and pull out my laptop to research the comparable sales.

“This is a decent place,” Will said, opening the cabinets and looking inside. “Good tactical vantage point.”

“What?” I murmured.

“Two hundred and seventy degrees of rocky oceanfront at the end of a cul-de-sac,” he said. “Highly defensible, and the beach is prime.”

“Well, when we’re finished restoring it, I’ll sell it to you,” I said, scribbling some numbers in my notebook. “I’ll even forfeit my commission.”

“Ah, yes. There’s that heart of gold I know and love,” he said, moving onto another section of cabinets.

“Get out of there,” I said, swatting his hands. “We’ve already determined they’re legit. Your big paws are going to break something.”

Will held up his hands. “My big paws are very nimble.”

We walked out two hours later with the house under contract. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with it yet, and gave myself the short trip back to the city to ponder. Will and I ate dinner while working through the rest of
Orange is the New Black
, and there was no debate about where he was sleeping.

He was a demanding pain in the ass, but he wasn’t without his merits. He cooked breakfast after we jogged back from the gym every morning the following week, and there were days when I was almost too stubborn to eat anything.
Almost
.

Aside from him cleaning (and confusing the fuck out of my housekeeper by flashing her, paying her, and sending her home) and fixing things (and making comments about my useless brothers), we didn’t talk about much more than my Netflix queue.

He started waiting outside my office in the evenings to walk me home. It was really fucking reckless, considering Lauren was a frequent visitor at Walsh Associates and she still didn’t know he was in town, but I liked that he cared about me, even when I was shutting him out.

It reminded me of something I’d do.

WILL

Will:
Do you like peas?

Will:
I can’t remember you ever eating peas

Shannon:
Like, green peas?

Will:
Is there another color?

Shannon:
Would you like me to delegate that to my research assistant? It’s not necessary for her to finish the property line analysis she’s working on. I’m not waiting on that to file a conveyance or anything

Will:
No. just tell me whether you like peas.

Shannon:
I don’t dislike them.

Will:
You have a research assistant?

Shannon:
Yes.

Will:
That’s new

Shannon:
Yes. Many things have changed in the past 8 months.

Will:
I’m making pasta with peas because you need more than cheese and nuts. I want to hear about these things over dinner tonight

Shannon:
1) Don’t baby me. I don’t need you to count my calories

Shannon:
2) I’m at a historic society convening until late. No dinner for me.

Will:
Has anyone ever babied you?

Shannon:
Maybe. I don’t know.

Will:
It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to let me try.

*

Will:
My quads are still feeling that spin class

Shannon:
That’s the idea.

Shannon:
You should know…I go to barre on Wednesdays

Will:
Ok I’m down

Shannon:
You know barre is ballet stuff, right?

Will:
You’re not shaking me, peanut. I’ll pick up some leggings this afternoon. Is a tutu mandatory?

Shannon:
Yes. Pink.

Will:
I fucking love pink.

Will:
I especially like eating it

Shannon:
Gross.

Will:
I’m going to shred this ballet shit.

Shannon:
Sigh

*

Will:
Do your brothers do anything?

Shannon:
Yes

Shannon:
Many things, actually

Will:
Fixing your bathroom sink isn’t one of those things

Shannon:
It’s a little leak. I wouldn’t bother any of them with that. They have far more important things to do.

Will:
I’m sorry all I heard was you agreeing that your brothers are useless sacks of shit

Shannon:
I’m worried about your powers of inference

*

Shannon:
You didn’t sleep well last night

Will:
Did I bother you?

Shannon:
No. but I remembered you getting up a couple of times

Shannon:
Is everything ok? Did you have a nightmare?

Will:
It’s all good

Shannon:
I don’t believe you

Will:
I’d be better if you were sleeping naked

Will:
Not that I’d pass on sleeping with you under any circumstance, but…

Shannon:
Don’t go making it about the dick.

Will:
I believe you brought the dick into the conversation, dear.

Shannon:
The dick is part of every conversation

Will:
True

Will:
It’s always popping up.

Shannon:
Are you sure you’re ok? You didn’t have a good night.

Shannon:
You sounded uncomfortable last night.

Will:
Probably because you were rubbing your sweet little ass on the dick

Will:
How about dropping the flannel PJs tonight?

Shannon:
How about no

*

Will:
I like that skirt you’re wearing today

Shannon:
Thank you

Will:
I’d like to take it off you

Shannon:
…don’t go there.

Will:
Sometimes I think about pulling the zipper down and watching it hit the ground, but then I think about ripping it off instead.

Will:
Just ripping the whole fucking thing

Shannon:
Your default setting is “brute”

Will:
My setting can be whatever the fuck you want it

Shannon:
How about off?

Will:
You want me to get you off? get your ass on the bed and consider it done.

Shannon:
I’m dealing with a probate issue today but thanks anyway

Will:
No problem

Will:
Kick the asses. Bust the balls.

Will:
And when you’re done, I’ll rip the skirt off and get you out of your mind

*