The Very Thought of You Read Online Free

does it make if he’s married?” Molly picked up her cards.
    â€œHave you checked out the lack of availability of thirty-something eligible men in San Francisco lately?”
    â€œNo. Also, Aunt Vi, looking up that kind of information is an invasion of privacy, if not against the law. Tell Trudie to quit.”
    â€œNo problem. Anyway, if he were married or divorced, there’s no record of it, at least in this county. Nor is there a deed for a private residence. We assume he’s a renter, or worse, lives in the ’burbs. That’s all Trudie could ferret out about him. Unless you want her to call a friend who works at the IRS.”
    â€œAbsolutely not. Trudie is liable to get you both arrested over information that’s of no possible use.” Except, maybe, for his tax return. A peek at that would be as good as striking gold, but Molly kept that thought to herself.
    â€œMolly is right, Mom. What’s more important is finding affordable housing for Mr. Mancini’s tenants. Once that’s accomplished, who knows? She might take a second look at him then — if he’s single.”
    â€œForget it.”
    â€œWell, he sounds like a better deal than your last few dates. Remember the airline pilot?”
    Molly had excised that particular loser from her brain. Not only had he taken her to a cheap restaurant, he’d made it very clear what he expected for dessert. She left him sitting at the table with a shit-eating grin on his face.
    â€œJust don’t limit your options,” Dominique added. Molly groaned and switched her attention to the local newspaper she’d brought along. In between poker hands, she perused the unfurnished apartment ads in the San Francisco Chronicle . She had highlighted a few of interest with a felt tip pen.
    â€œListen to this.” She tapped the folded newspaper at her elbow. “Here’s a one bedroom in the Tenderloin advertised for eight and a quarter. A find, if you weren’t mugged almost every time you left the apartment.”
    Dominique, who worked as a law librarian at a prestigious San Francisco firm, and who had promised to research the city’s eviction laws, ran her fingers through her short-cropped dark hair. “On Sunday, drag Mr. Mancini to all the way-out-of-their-reach places first. Then head for the Tenderloin. The shock might force him to up the ante.”
    â€œDid you broach the subject of the rumor he might have designs on your end of the street?” Vi asked.
    Molly turned her attention to her poker hand — a pair of twos and junk. It looked like she’d end her day just as it had begun. She was already in the hole for eighty-five cents. “The mood wasn’t conducive to multiple problems.”
    â€œI wouldn’t wait too long to find out, not if you’ll need to relocate the clinic. Unlike his tenants, you’ll be offered zilch.”
    â€œMom’s right. Sometimes it pays to be up front. Maybe the rumor is false.”
    Molly shook her head. “I don’t think so. Except for his condos, the rest of the block looks ready for a bulldozer.”
    Dominique tossed a dime into the pot. “Speaking of down-on-your-luck, is the Swaying Palms, that motel a couple of doors from the clinic, a hot pillow joint? I know I wouldn’t lay my head down there.”
    Molly kept her pair and added the rest to the discard pile. “No, it’s legitimate. It just needs maintenance. The lights have quit in half of the fronds and the P. Now it reads Swaying alms . It’s ripe for demolition.”
    Vi dealt Molly three cards, Dominique two, and herself one.
    Dominique checked out her cards, then laid them face down on the table. “I’ll bet a dime. Anyone want to see what I’ve got?”
    Molly frowned. There was nothing she could do with a pair of deuces. “I’m out.”
    Vi folded her hand. “Ditto for me.”
    Dominique raked in the pot