Sally handed her the listing she’d been twisting in her hands.
Vanessa pulled the paper straight and scanned the information. Her jaw pulsed. This wasn’t teensy at all. “This is a hundred thousand dollars over my budget.”
“But you qualified for—”
Swallowing back what she really wanted to say, she responded simply with a “No ma’am. I set my budget. Not the lender. Period.” Trying to maintain her temper, she turned and walked out. She took her frustration out on the car door, which she slammed twice as hard as necessary. The clock showed she’d just fallen in love with that house in record time. On a good note, she could probably get back to the office for the acquisition and merger meeting.
Sally still stood in the doorway as Vanessa backed down the long winding driveway.
What a waste of time.
She pressed the accelerator and headed for the highway without another look back. Once on the interstate, she pushed the buttons to start the heated massage feature on the driver’s seat.
A quick glance in the rearview mirror highlighted a deep line on her forehead. The one that always appeared when she was stressed out. She rubbed her finger across it, and opened her eyes wide, trying to force herself to relax.
“I need to focus on work. There are never any surprises there. Just the way I like it.” She patted the steering wheel as if she expected it to repeat words of confirmation back. “Forget the house. Even if itwasperfect. That’ll have to be a project for another time. Another year.”
Suddenly, for no apparent reason at all, the traffic snarled to a standstill—cars nose-to-tail for as far as she could see. “Of course.”
The car idled at a stop. Her phone rang, and she cringed. Sally would be begging her to reconsider. Just as she was about to silence the ringer, she noticed the caller ID. It wasn’t Sally; it was Anna. Her mood lifted instantaneously.
“Anna? How do you always know when I’m out of sorts, and need a friend?”
“It’s my superpower, cuz.”
Anna might have been joking, but she honestly had an uncanny ability to arrive at every godmother-appropriate point in Vanessa’s life. They were first cousins once removed, or was that the same as being second cousins? She never could figure that stuff out. No one knew genealogy like Mom. All Vanessa really cared about was that Anna was like family, blood relatives or not.
Anna had always called Vanessa “cuz,” even though she’d been more like a much, much older sister all Vanessa’s life. “Anna, it’s so good to hear from you.”
“We are way overdue, aren’t we?”
Anna was so much better about calling than she was. “I’ve been meaning to call.”
“I know you’re busy. How have you been? You’re still working too much, aren’t you?”
Vanessa groaned. “Actually, I took a little personal time this morning. I’m on my way to the office now.”
“Music to my ears!”
“I may have made that sound better than it really was. It was just a big waste of time.”
“Now, why would you say that. Any time off is a blessing.”
“I wasted my morning looking at a house that wasn’t in my budget. Now I’m sitting in traffic, and late for a meeting.”
“It’s barely nine o’clock. I’m sure the tide will turn before you even break for lunch.”
“If only I ever took one.”
“You’ve got to eat. You need to take care of yourself. We’ve had this talk before.” Anna’s voice held that tone that only mothers could usually get away with.
“I know. I know. If I take a break for a healthy lunch, I’ll get that time back in productivity later.”
“That’s not just me talking,” Anna said. “It’s a proven fact. Maybe you’d deal better with the stress, too. Couldn’t hurt, right?”
“Hearing your voice has reduced my stress level already.”
“Great. So, catch me up. How’re things going? What’s new? If you and Robert are looking at houses you two must be talking marriage again?”
