Polly turned and headed up the stairs. “True, but then you’d be farther away from our lovely new tenant, and wouldn’t that be a shame?”

Bob wasn’t sure how to respond to this, and as she reached the first landing, Polly turned a little and said, quietly, “She’s single, you know.” She carried on up the stairs, not looking directly at him. “She was engaged, but now she’s not, FYI.”

As she went into her room, Polly decided that sharing factual information couldn’t possibly be considered sticking her nose in. Nina, of all people, would support that . . . right?

•   •   •

Bob closed his bedroom door and looked at Daisy, who was turning circles on her heated bed and occasionally poking it with a firm paw.

“She’s single,” Bob said to her. “She was engaged, but now she’s not.”

Daisy looked at him and said nothing.

“I completely agree,” said Bob, wondering if there was a baseball game on. “But the chances that a girl who looks like that would be interested in me are pretty small.”

Daisy disagreed, but wasn’t sure how to phrase it.

Bob sat down on his sofa, opened his laptop and found the baseball game, then texted his big sister.

“Hey,” he said.

A pause, three dots, then, “Yo.”

“ ’Sup,” he responded. There was a longer pause, then three dots, then his sister texted him again.

“What’s wrong?”

He smiled wryly at the screen. He’d typed all of six letters.

“Nothing’s wrong,” he replied.

“Money, work, or girls?” she texted.

Bob gave up pretending. “Girl.”

“Spill.”

“New housemate. Gorgeous.”

There was a very brief pause, then the phone rang. He grinned, and answered it.

“Hey,” he said.

“Robert,” his sister said, “I hope I don’t have to remind you of the danger of shitting where you eat.”

Bob made a face. “Firstly, that’s a horrible saying, and secondly, I’ve always taken that to mean don’t have a relationship in the workplace.”

Roxana made a familiar snorting noise. “Don’t argue semantics, you know what I mean.”

“She’s literally across the hall. We share a bathroom.”

“No, really, you cannot take this any further. You can’t live with someone and then start dating them, it’s backward.” Roxy was only semi-joking. She didn’t want her baby brother getting his heart broken again.

Bob’s smile faded. “She probably wouldn’t even be interested.” He leaned down and undid his laces. One of the knots had gotten wet, and he had to wedge the phone under his ear and use both hands.

His sister made another familiar noise, this time more sarcastic. “Right, because women are never interested in you.”

Bob shrugged. “At first, maybe. Then they get to know me and it’s all over. I’m not flashy enough for LA girls.” He worked his foot out of the first boot and tossed it in the corner, startling Daisy.