Yours or Mine (3 page)

“
Sydney’s Sassy
Suggestions to Singles.
” When another idea occurred to her for
an article, she drummed her fingers on the table. “Even though I
don’t think much of texting to break off a relationship, email
breakup can be a good thing. It offers more privacy to the person
being dumped. But an email breakup should always give an offer of a
face-to-face meeting if he-or-she-who-was dumped wanted one. I’ll
have to write about different ways to break up in my column.”

The male server stood
next to the table with their food. “Hey, I read your column. It’s
good.”

“Thank you. I
especially appreciate your compliment since this guy,” she paused
to point a finger at Blake, “never heard of my column.”

While the server placed
their plates on the table, Blake said, “Don’t be too hard on me.
I never have time to read the paper.”

Holding an empty tray
next to his chest, the waiter said, “She also gives tips where to
take your date…in the weekend edition.”

After the young man
left, Blake said, “I guess he’s hoping for a big tip.”

“Maybe or maybe he’s
definitely into my column.” She cut a piece of steak and popped it
in her mouth.

“I thought we could
try to find out some things about each other this evening.” Blake
took a bite of his garlic-mashed potatoes. “Have you ever been
married?”

She shook her head.
“I’ve never been married. Sometimes I think I’ve dated too many
guys and I’m becoming cynical. My brother teases me that my
personal life’s a shambles, but I tell him that’s why I can write
about breakups and trying to find Mr. Right.”

“Excuse me,” a
female employee said to Sydney, “Your waiter, John, told me who you
are.”

Oh my gosh, does she
want my autograph?
No one had ever asked her for one, but that
must be it. Sydney felt a thrill and thought how John had given
positive feedback about her column. And Blake wanted to buy a house
with her. She was on a roll here. After Mark rejected her, it was
nice to feel like Miss Popularity.

“I’m Teri.”
Putting her hand on the chair, Teri asked, “I’m on break. Is it
okay if I sit down and ask you something?”

“Sure.” Sydney saw
Blake’s amused expression at Teri joining them at their table. Too
bad Teri hadn’t wanted her autograph. She bet that would’ve
impressed Blake.

“My boyfriend and I
just split up. While we were living together, we got a dog, Buffy.”
Teri tapped her chest. “I’m the one who took care of Buffy. But
my ex-boyfriend says that he wants Buffy. He says I’m being selfish
for not letting him have her.”

“Whose idea was it to
get a dog? And who paid for Buffy?” Sydney asked.

“He gave her to me
for a Christmas present. I mentioned wanting a puppy.” Teri
shrugged. “He did walk Buffy sometimes, but I took her to the vet
for shots and I fed her.”

“What kind of dog is
she?” Maybe that was the real issue. The dog might have been
expensive and the ex wanted to recoup his money.

“A Labrador
Retriever,” Teri said.” I love Buffy and I can’t believe he’s
giving me a hard time about keeping her.”

Eyeing her steak,
Sydney wondered how long Teri had for a break. “From what you’ve
told me, I think you should keep Buffy. Even though she was a gift,
maybe you could offer to reimburse him. It might be all about money.”

Teri nodded. “He did
pay a lot for her. Or so he said.”

Sydney stared at Teri
for a moment. “Of course, he might be using Buffy to get back
together with you. If he has Buffy, you'll be visiting him to spend
time with your dog.”

“I don’t know. We
were fighting a lot.” Teri stood. “I better get back to work.
Thank you and order a dessert for both of you. It’s on me.”

After Sydney said that
wasn’t necessary, Teri insisted she’d surprise them and order it.

Once Teri left, Blake
said, “Do you have any pets?”

She shook her head.
“No. Do you?”

“I promised Carter
I’d get him a dog once we moved to a house with a yard.”

“I like dogs so
that’s no problem for me.”

She sipped her beer,
thinking how Blake needed to give more information. Why would a
single father want to buy a house with a complete stranger? Did he
have credit problems? Maybe his wife had battled cancer for a long
time, and their medical insurance hadn’t covered all her expenses.
“I’m curious why you even thought of us buying the duplex
together. It seems a little weird to me since we just met. Is money a
consideration in suggesting a business arrangement?”

“No, I make a good
living as an engineer. I have money for a down payment.” He ran his
fingers through his brown hair. “I figured you must be able to
afford the house because you took the time to schedule a showing and
want your parents to see it. I know you have a nephew Carter’s age
and seemed sincere about liking kids. And just now you were nice to a
complete stranger.”

She laughed. “I have
to admit I was a bit disappointed that Teri only wanted my advice. I
thought I finally had someone wanting my autograph.” She carefully
cut a small piece of steak, wondering how much she should tell about
her financial situation. It shouldn’t hurt to tell she had some
money and obviously Blake already suspected it. “When my uncle died
six months ago, he left money to my brother and me. He didn’t have
a wife or kids. I’m using my inheritance for a down payment.”

“I’m sorry about
your uncle.” Blake had a thoughtful look. “I’ll be honest. I
still miss my wife. Her name was Caroline. It’s been rough on
Carter not having his mom. Then my mom died a year ago. I thought
maybe a woman’s touch in our new house might help us adjust to
life.”

“You’ve had it
rough. I’m sorry about your mother. What about Caroline’s mother?
Is she involved in Carter’s life?”

He shook his head.
“Caroline was adopted and her parents moved to Florida. We go once
a year in the spring or summer to visit. They come to Ohio each year
before the weather gets cold to see Carter. Caroline's biological
father lives in Alaska. Her real mother also died of cancer so Carter
doesn’t have a mother or a grandmother close by. My father left
when I was small. I seldom see him.”

“I guess I better
meet Carter soon. He might not even like me.”

“I’m sure he’ll
like you.”

* * *

After Sydney and her
friend, Libby, finished their jog on Saturday morning, they returned
to her apartment.

Libby glanced around
the small apartment. “You should move. The only good thing about
living here is the swimming pool.”

“I do want to move,
but wasn’t planning on buying a property with a stranger.”

Libby sipped her
bottled water. “I can’t believe you didn’t take me to look at
the house with you.”

“I wish now I had
waited for you to get off work. My life is so complicated now since I
met Blake.” If she’d gone later in the afternoon, there wouldn’t
have been a mix-up about the showing. But meeting Blake could end up
being a good thing.

“I wish you’d taken
a picture of him with your cell, but from what you said, he sounds
like a sensitive guy and good-looking too.” Libby grinned. “Hey,
I’ll buy the house with him.”

Sydney wiped her sweaty
forehead with a napkin. “You have lousy credit. Plus you’re
engaged, remember.”

Libby picked up a
newspaper from the coffee table. Fanning herself with the paper, she
said, “I’m getting hot just thinking about Craig. I’ll be in
your debt forever for introducing us.”

“You two make an
awesome couple.” She rested her head on the back of the couch. “Mom
and Dad are going to look at the house this afternoon. If you aren’t
busy, I’d like you to go too.”

“Craig’s playing
tennis with the guys so I’m free.”

She considered teasing
Libby that going by Craig’s schedule wasn’t mandatory. Why did
women plan their lives around their men’s activities? Maybe that
was why she had so many failed relationships. She had never put the
guy first before spending time with her girlfriends. “Good, I’m
glad you can make it.”

“That’s great you
and Blake exchanged references.” Libby put a few strands of
strawberry blonde hair behind her ear. “You could also ask each
other questions about hobbies. And you should find out Blake’s
ideas about dividing up the house maintenance jobs. I realize it's
not an old duplex, but eventually something will need to be
repaired.”

Sydney sat up and gave
Libby a thoughtful look. “I assumed that each of us would take care
of our own unit. But you’re right, we need to discuss it because
some disaster could happen—like a windstorm causing roof damage.”
Sydney sat up and continued, “There’s something I am worried
about, though.”

“What’s that?”

“When we were in the
master bedroom, I pictured Blake in bed. If I have these thoughts
already, how am I going to keep my hands off him if we live under the
same roof? He wants a platonic living arrangement. An adjoining door
is going to make it easy to wander into each other's living
quarters.”

* * *

Later in the afternoon,
Sydney nibbled on a pretzel and noticed her dad watching her. “I
love eating outside here.”

Her dad, an attractive
man with white hair, said, “I was surprised you wanted to be a
writer when you love the outdoors so much.”

While her mom handed
Libby a glass of iced tea, she thought how wonderful the sun’s rays
felt on her face. It’d been a long and cold winter. Sometimes she
thought about leaving Ohio for a state with nicer weather year round.
“Where did you get this patio set? I should buy one for my new
deck.”

Her mom tapped the
glass top lightly. “I bought it at Sears. From the way you
described the deck, you’ll need more than one table.”

“I’ll give you my
grill,” her dad said. “I’ll have an excuse to get a bigger
one.”

“I can’t wait to
see this house. It looks gorgeous online.” Libby took a bite of her
sandwich. “This burger tastes delicious.”

“There’s plenty so
feel free to take a second one,” her mom said.

Sydney glanced at her
watch. They were meeting Karen at three o’clock to look at the
house. She had time to talk to her parents. It might be smart to tell
them about the business arrangement with Libby present. “When I
looked at the house, there was a mistake in scheduling so another
person was there at the same time. He wants to buy the house too.”

“It’s a good thing
we’re looking at it today then,” her dad said. “If you really
want it, you better get your offer in soon.”

Her mom frowned. “I
don’t see how the realtor made a mistake like that. You don’t
want to hurry and make a big decision because of this other person.”

Libby cleared her
throat. “His last name’s Smith so that caused the confusion at
the real estate’s office. The realtor thought they were a husband
and wife looking at the house.”

“There’s something
I should tell you.” Sydney put her fork down. “I probably won’t
do this but Blake, he’s the other interested buyer, suggested we
buy the house together.”

Her dad raised his
eyebrows. “Why would he want to buy a house with you? That’s
crazy. He doesn’t even know you.”

“We both want the
house. He thought that might settle the problem,” Sydney said.

Her mom shook her head.
“No way should you buy it with him. I don’t like the sound of
it.”

“But it's a duplex.
We'll be under the same roof but have different living units and
separate entrances.” Should she mention the adjoining door?
Probably not at this point.

Libby said, “You
better tell them about the adjoining door.”

She wrinkled her face
at Libby. “Thanks a lot for the reminder.” Turning away from
Libby, she looked at her parents. “The owners put a door to join
the two great rooms. It was to make it more convenient for their
daughter and granddaughters. It's no big deal.”

“I don't know,” her
mom said, “it sounds like it might be too easy for him to have
access to your side.”

Drumming his fingers on
the table, her dad said, “You could bring Blake here and I’ll use
The Drill
to get some answers.”

She knew exactly what
her dad meant. In high school, he’d enjoyed torturing her dates
with tons of questions. He called it
The Drill
and made sure
every new boy experienced it. “Dad, I’m not sixteen years old.”

“Geez, Syd, tell them
what else Blade said about the arrangement,” Libby said.

She’d managed to
shock her parents already so might as well go all the way. “He said
we’d have a platonic arrangement and obviously, that will be easy
with it being a duplex. I'll be on my side on the house and he'll be
the other side with Carter, his son.”

Laughter burst out of
her dad. What was so funny? Did her own father think she wasn’t
capable of having a nonphysical relationship with a male house
companion?

“Hush, Marty,” her
mom said.

Was her mom turning
pink from the sun or actually blushing?

He stopped laughing
long enough to say to her mother, “Sally, our daughter’s
twenty-eight years old, I have to tell her why I’m laughing at what
she said.”

Her mom put a lock of
black hair behind her ear. “Okay, but Sydney, don’t mention it in
your column.”

Her dad was a tease but
obviously something interesting had happened between her parents. “I
won’t, but it must be pretty good for you to warn me to keep it out
of the paper.”

“And Libby, same goes
for you.” Her mother patted Libby’s arm. “No one else needs to
know. It’s probably not a big deal anymore but still it’s
embarrassing to me. And it was wrong what we did.”

Dad leaned over, giving
his college sweetheart, a kiss on the lips. “We were kids in love.
Nothing to be ashamed of. I had just met your lovely mom in college.
It was our senior year. Sally, what was that class we were both
taking?”