From Comfortable Distances Read Free Page A

the
subject.
    “Where are you two
getting married?” Tess asked.
    “To be decided,” he said.
“That’s Dale’s department. My job is to find a place to live. Right?” he said,
his eyes on Dale.
    “Sure,” she said.
    “Good luck,” Tess said.
And then, in answer to Dale’s off-center gaze. “With your marriage.” She had
meant to say with the planning.
    Dale’s eyes were intent
on Tess, as if she were seeing her for the first time. It was a sharp glance,
and Tess recognized something in her eyes, but she couldn’t pinpoint exactly
what.
    “Why don’t you two take
some time to think about where your dream house is located and what it looks
like, and get back to me? I’ll be glad to put you in touch with one of my
agents to help you when you know what you’re looking for.”
    “Why can’t we work with
you?” Kyle said and Dale was standing behind him now, her eyes on Tess as if
they were both about to charge into her.
    “My schedule is tight. My
agents are all good,” she said.
    “I want to make a bid,”
Kyle said.
    “Kyle!” Dale said. “Do
you even hear me?”
    “Anyone would kill to
live here, Dale. I would kill to live here. I want to make a bid,” he said.
    Dale got her jacket and
walked towards the door. When her eyes met Tess’s, Tess was able to say what it
was about them now that was familiar: she had the look of being a prisoner
waiting to be rescued.
    “I’m going to find myself
a cookie,” Dale said and she was out the door.
    Kyle looked up at the
ceiling and closed his eyes.
    “She’ll come around,” he
said, as if he were trying to convince himself. “I want this place. If you can
hold off on letting someone else have it, I’ll be able to change her mind.”
    The two of them made Tess
tired. She knew all about deceiving herself, but she never realized how
unpleasant it was to witness.
    “You’ll hold it for me?
For at least a few days?” he said.
    She nodded in return to
Kyle’s desperate glance.
    “I’ll do what I can,” she
said.
    “If someone else comes
through with an offer, will you contact me?” he said. “I’ll come up with the
down payment, and we can go through the paperwork whenever.”
    He held out his hand for
Tess to shake it. It was a slight handshake, the handshake of someone whose
mind could be changed. Through the kitchen window, Tess had a full view of the
small front yard. In the corner, there was one small, frail tree that reminded
her of a fawn. She tried to imagine the young couple in the brownstone, but
couldn’t. When Tess had seen her home in Mill Basin, while she was out showing
it to another couple, she had fallen in love with it, and later that week, she
had bought it, making the down payment without even telling Marc, her first
husband, until the deal was almost complete. Tess believed that when you felt a
connection, you had to act on it. She doubted, though, that Kyle had felt a
connection with the brownstone. He was ready to buy it out of desperation,
perhaps to keep a forward motion to their relationship, or perhaps to keep Dale
tied to him, as if this house would ground them.  As long as he acted out of
desperation, their relationship would never have a chance. Tess was sure that
Dale smelled his fear of losing her, and that it made her want to run away. The
tree swayed in the breeze. It looked as if it was about to snap in two. Tess
would ask the groundkeeper to pull it out tomorrow.
    When they walked outside,
Dale was sitting on the brownstone steps, her long legs stretched out before
her.
    “You should get splints
to support that tree,” Dale said, still sitting. “Otherwise, it won’t make it.”
    Tess nodded. “I suppose I
could do that,” she said.
    Dale smiled for the first
time that day, and stood up, linking her arm in Kyle’s. It seemed that outside
of the brownstone, she was a whole different person—sweet almost.
    “Goodbye then,” Tess
said, seeing them out the front gate.
    “I’ll be in touch,”