Page 48 of Just Another Meet Cute

It was four o’clock as I sat in the middle of the sidewalk, staring up at the house that could be ours. I’d already been here for over twenty minutes and the longer I sat here the more I could almost imagine living here. And it was … nice.

Actually, it was better than nice. The house was super cute and pretty, like it was cut out from a magazine.

It was recently renovated so everything looked bright and fresh.

A modern cottage with a big garage on the side.

It was a one-and-a-half-story gray brick house with dark gray, almost bluish, window siding and shingles.

But the columns and windows were bright white, with white grids to contrast with the darker, moodier colors.

And there was a cute little bay window right in the front where I could see a window seat inside the primary bedroom.

Obviously, all those years of Mom drilling HGTV into my head were finally working.

I’d studied the listing online a couple of times, but it was different in person.

The most important thing was that it felt real, like I could actually imagine us living here.

I could see myself reading on the porch while Mom complained about weeding all the flower beds.

And then me pretending to help so she would stop nagging me.

I could even see Dad pulling into the garage with his car, hands full of groceries so Linh and I could test out the new menu for her lunch boxes.

And by Linh and I, I really mean her cooking with me tasting her food.

Leaning back onto the palm of my hands, I squinted at the dormer window by the left side of the roof that Mom said would be my room.

It was a little hard to see, since the sun was shining right at me from behind the house.

Not to mention, my eyes were still a little puffy from crying the night before.

But I could make out the pretty wood shutters framing the window.

Yeah, I really could see us being happy here. Jubilant. Ecstatic. Content. And for the first time in days, I felt almost happy.

The porch was wide and had rosebushes that started winding up the columns like in a fairy tale. I could take my prom pictures there. Preferable with a date who looked like Darren Criss and was taller than Ian. And I’d post our pictures all over social media so Ian would HAVE to see it.

Take that, Ian. Who needs you?

Mom’s car pulled up.

Excited to go inside, I jumped to my feet and came over to her. My hands pushed against the sides of my jeans to get the dust off. “Hey, so are you ready to check it out? Where’s Dad?”

She paused in getting out of the car. “So, honey …”

Oh no. This didn’t sound good. None of Mom’s So, honey … sentences ever ended up well. “What happened?”

Shutting the car door, she leaned against the side and crossed her arms. “It turns out that the owners accepted an offer this morning. The listing agent told me that they still wanted to have an open house and house showings, but as of noon, it’s officially pending.”

My heart dropped and I couldn’t help frowning. “Well, that’s kind of rude. Why didn’t the agent tell you before about the offer? Didn’t they know for at least a day or two already?”

Mom rolled her eyes. “Don’t even get me started on that. She should have had the courtesy to let me know as soon as possible since I contacted her about this house over a week ago. But not everyone is an upstanding Realtor like your mom.”

“I guess.” A disturbing thought occurred to me. “Wait, so I’ve been sitting here staring at someone else’s house for nearly twenty minutes? Oh my God, are they home?”

My head whipped back to look at the house in case the homeowners were watching us. I half expected to see the curtains or blinds twitch.

“No, no one’s here.” She laughed into her hand. “But who told you to be so early?”

“I was excited.”

At my words, her face softened and she wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “I was, too. It’s such a nice house.”

Now that I knew the house wasn’t going to be ours, I turned away. “It’s okay. The gray paint’s a little too gloomy for me. And what’s with the color of the front door?”

“You mean … blue?”

“ Bright blue.” Wrinkling my nose like that was a dirty word, I waved my hand in the air like it didn’t matter. “It doesn’t go with the color scheme at all.”

Mom laughed. “Now that you mention it, you’re right. Plus, I’m not sure I like the idea of having the master bedroom in the front like that. All the neighbors could see right into the room.”

“They would see everything .” I looped an arm around Mom’s waist and gave her a half hug. “It is too bad, though. I was looking forward to getting our own house.”

Her hand came down to pat my wrist. “Well, we may not be able to get this house, but how would you feel about living next to Aunt Sarah and Linh?”

Confused, I glanced over at her. “Huh?”

“The Millers next door? They’re planning to retire and are moving into a smaller condo so they can travel.

And they asked me to be their Realtor.” A bright smile crossed her face.

“If we want their house, then I could get the paperwork drawn up next week. I offered to waive the Realtor fees if they let us have first dibs. That’s a deal they can’t refuse. ”

I spent so long imagining a life for us at this house, that to suddenly imagine living in another house two seconds later was a total mental whiplash. “You’re serious? Isn’t their house kind of old?”

Grimacing a bit, Mom nodded. “Yeah, it is a bit outdated. The bathrooms are covered in a weird mint-green tile, and there’s no dishwasher in the kitchen.

Plus, there’s carpet and popcorn ceilings everywhere .

But think of how nice it would be to be next door to our family.

We could have a door connecting our backyards. ”

“Oh, I once saw a fence that had a portion lift up so it turned into a makeshift picnic table. That would be really awesome. How long do you think the renovations will take?”

“I think we could probably get everything done in six or seven months. Although we’ll have to stay with Aunt Sarah and Linh for a while. Even I know that we can’t afford to stay in the hotel that long.” She gave me a wistful little grin.

At the mention of living with Aunt Sarah for over half a year, my excitement faded a bit. “What about Dad? Do you think he’ll be okay with living with them?”

“Who do you think convinced the Millers that condo living was the way to go?” The expression on her face was so bright that she was practically glowing with happiness.

“He said that as long as we’re happy, he doesn’t mind taking a few insults here and there.

Besides, after what happened, I think Aunt Sarah will be on her best behavior. For a month or two, at least.”

Thinking of Aunt Sarah’s confession, I shook my head. “I think she might surprise you.”

“I hope so.” Letting go of me, Mom turned toward the car. “Do you want to go check out the Millers’ house? Dad’s over there waiting for us.”

I was already opening the passenger door. “Of course!”

A few seconds later, as I was snapping my seat belt on, I got a text from Kathy.

KATHY: Do you know what’s going on with Ian?

Not sure how much she knew—although knowing Kathy, I suspected she probably knew almost everything—I still hesitated before I responded.

NINA: What do you mean?

KATHY: He was all gloomy when he came home from the grocery store yesterday. I asked him if he saw you, but he said no and went upstairs.

KATHY: And then this morning, he went back to Dad’s before anyone woke up.

NINA: Wait, what?

KATHY: Yeah, he left without telling anyone. Even though he was supposed to stay the entire summer. And he won’t pick up any of our phone calls. Do you think you could try calling him?

KATHY: Nina?

KATHY: Hello???

KATHY: Nina?

A hand touched me and shook me out of my daze. I blinked and looked up at Mom’s concerned face. “Sorry, what?”

“I was asking if you wanted to pick up some takeout on the way home.” She reached out and stroked my bangs off my face. “Are you okay? You’ve been staring at your phone for the past few minutes.”

That was because I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Ian literally ran away right after we kissed. That he did the only thing I’ve always been afraid of. He made me care for him, depend on him, love him, and then left me behind.

Smothering the curse that immediately sprang to my lips, I shook my head and tucked my phone away. “It’s nothing. I’m fine.”

And this time I meant it. I was fine. Ian left and there was nothing I could do about it now. I had my own things to work on, my own family to lean on, and my own life to look forward to. And I could do it all with a broken heart.