Page 90 of Finding Us

“But I thought you’d want us to keep it all. You grew up with money and you’re used to having expensive clothes and cars and trips.”

“We can still have nice cars and go on trips but like you said, we don’t need $45 million to do that. I don’t need a $50,000 watch or $5000 suits. I don’t want to live in a mansion like my dad does. I want a nice house but I don’t want it to be so big that I can’t even find you in it.”

I laugh. “Yeah, that would be bad. So have you ever thought about what kind of house you want?”

“I’ve thought about it a little.” The way he says it implies he’s actually thought about it a lot.

“Yeah? So?”

“You have to tell me first. What’s your dream house look like, Jade?”

I close my eyes and picture it. I’ve had this same picture in my head since I was little, even though I always thought I’d end up living alone in an apartment.

“It’s a one-level house that has an open floor plan with lots of windows. There’s a big kitchen, which I know sounds stupid because I don’t really cook, but people like to hang out in the kitchen so in my dream house I had a big kitchen with lots of places for people to sit. And the house is on a large piece of land. It’s not in a neighborhood. It’s out on like four or five acres. And as a kid I always wanted a couple dogs. Yellow labs.” I open my eyes. “Okay, your turn.”

He’s giving me this strange look. “Did I already tell you this?”

“Tell you what?”

“What type of house I wanted?”

“No. But let me guess.” I close my eyes again, imagining it. “A two story colonial, white with black shutters, in a neighborhood somewhere in Connecticut.”

“Where’d you get that idea?”

“You said you liked that neighborhood you grew up in so I thought that’s what you wanted. A house just like the ones on that street.”

“No, that’s not at all what I want. What I want is what you just described. Are you sure I didn’t tell you that before?”

“No, you never said what type of house you wanted.”

“So we both wanted the same type of house, but for some reason we never knew this about each other?”

“Wait. Describe your dream house to me.”

“It’s just like you said. One level. Open floor plan. Big kitchen. Big master bedroom and bath. And on some land, maybe five acres.” He smiles. “I didn’t plan on having dogs but if you want dogs, I’ll get you some dogs.”

I hit his shoulder. “You’re making this up. You just said that because I said it.”

“I’m a hundred percent serious, Jade. That’s exactly what I want.”

“Meaning we might actually live in a place like that someday?”

“It sounds like that’s exactly the type of house we’ll be living in. It’s what we both want.”

“Where do you think we should get this house? Where should we live after we graduate? Have you thought about that?”

“If you go to med school we’ll go to wherever that is.”

“Yeah, I know, but I mean after all that is done. When we’re finally ready to buy this house, where do you want to live?”

“You tell me first.”

“No, you have to go first this time.”

“Hmm. Okay, but if I tell you, that does not in any way mean that we actually have to live in that location. It’s just an idea.”

“Yeah. Got it.”

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