More than Neighbors

by Shannon Stacey

  He laughed and, after adding the drying rack to the corner they’d designated for donations, he disappeared back into the bedroom. She didn’t envy him that task since it seemed like Carolina managed to fit more stuff under her bed than Meredith even owned, but her own job wasn’t much more manageable. The woman had never thrown a piece of paper away, it seemed, and she didn’t sort anything by how important it was. The septic redesign documents weren’t with the deed. They were “filed” in a box with grocery store receipts from 1982.

  “Okay, but what about this?”

  Meredith frowned at the metal contraption in his hand. “I think it’s for peeling apples, though I can’t imagine why it’s in the bedroom. And you’re supposed to be working in there.”

  “Despite what I’ve been led to believe my entire life, it’s actually not necessary to work twenty hours a day, seven days a week, to run a business, especially when you employ hundreds of people. I’d rather help. And I bet Sophie likes apples.”

  “No, Cam.” She laughed when he tossed it in the donation pile and walked back into the bedroom.

  It was no wonder Sophie had gotten bored with them and gone out to the hammock with her books and her dog an hour before. Oscar was curled up by her side, while Elinor watched them from the sunny deck rail.

  It had been a week since Cam had returned from New York City. A week since the kiss on the back deck, which she couldn’t stop thinking about during quiet moments. Especially quiet moments at night when she should be sleeping. But during the day, they’d fallen into a rhythm that apparently included pretending it hadn’t happened. The pretense was obviously for the best, but it didn’t make it any easier. Especially when she’d been in his home every day since for at least a couple of hours in the afternoon, if not more.

  When her phone chimed, Meredith had to rummage through the pile of papers to find it. Almost all of it could be tossed, but she’d found a few documents—like the receipt for a new roof a decade ago—that should be kept so they could be noted for the real estate agent and new owner.

  Before she could lose herself in her feelings about the fact she’d have new neighbors at some point, and probably before the end of the year if they were year-round residents, she found her phone.

  The text message was from Reyna, and as soon as Meredith saw the screen, she was thankful Cam was across the room and in her line of vision. Not only because it was no hardship to watch him work, but because she didn’t have to worry about him being behind her and reading her text messages over her shoulder.

  You need to find a sitter ASAP so we can do lunch or dinner. Mom got a summer cold, so I’ve been doing double duty at the bakery and the garage, but I want to hear all about you kissing a hot guy on the side of the road after the fireworks.

  Meredith sighed and rested her forehead on her palm. How had she forgotten just how fast gossip spread in Blackberry Bay?

  We weren’t on the side of the road. We were standing on the sidewalk.

  The sidewalk is on the side of the road. That’s why it’s called a sidewalk.

  That made her laugh, despite her dread at having everybody in town dissecting her kiss with Cam. Thank goodness nobody had seen them on his back deck. Smart-ass. I’ll check with my mom and get back to you. But we’re not talking about the kiss.

  Never mind, then.

  She blinked, staring at the phone in her hand. Reyna seriously didn’t want to have lunch with her if she wasn’t willing to spill the details about Cam?

  Just kidding. Let me know.

  She’d forgotten Reyna had a wicked sense of humor, with a sarcastic bent that had often gone over Meredith’s head. Clearly that hadn’t changed.

  “Looks like quite a conversation,” Cam said, and Meredith almost dropped her phone. She’d forgotten for a moment that she wasn’t alone. “First the facepalm, then laughing and now eye-rolling.”

  “Oh, it’s Reyna. I don’t think you met her on the Fourth, but we went to school together. We’re picking up our friendship again and trying to come up with a plan to get together.”

  “You’re not going to abandon me in my time of need, are you?”

  She laughed. “No, I’m not going to run off and leave you with this mess. Honestly, you’ve made so many piles, I’m not sure I can even get out.”

  “I think I’m going to have to rent a truck.” He frowned as he looked around the room. “And I need that truck to include a moving crew.”

  “I saw an ad on the place mat at the café for some guys who haul stuff away. You could probably hire them to load everything up and drop it off...wherever it’s going. I know the church said they were happy to have stuff for their rummage sale, but I don’t know if they have room to store this much stuff. Have you considered a yard sale?”

  “I have not.”

  “You might want to.” When he groaned and returned to the bedroom, Meredith shook her head and went back to her task. While it didn’t look like it, they were making some headway, and if they had a sale and could get rid of a lot of the clutter, they could get through the process much faster.

  Four nights later, Meredith’s shoulders ached from being hunched over the table and she’d suffered more than a few paper cuts. It was time for a break, and packing her daughter off to spend the night with her grandmother and then meeting Reyna for dinner was just the break she needed. They met at a place called The Dock, and sat outside, where they could eat dinner and have a couple of drinks while overlooking the bay.

  “So let’s catch up.” Reyna grinned and propped her chin on her hands once they’d ordered. “But let’s focus on what’s been going on in your life since the Fourth of July.”

  Meredith tried to laugh off the insinuation there was something to tell, but she could feel the telltale blush across her cheeks. “There’s nothing to tell. It was a kiss.”

  Actually two kisses, but Reyna didn’t know about the second and she had no intention of telling her. Of telling anybody, no matter how disappointed her friend looked.

  “Oh, how did your Fourth of July first date go?” Meredith asked, hoping to deflect the conversation away from herself. “The caramel apple guy.”

  “Honestly? Not bad. I mean, sure, the caramel apples were awkward, but I guess it’s like my mom said—do you really want to spend the rest of your life with a man you can’t eat a caramel apple in front of?”

  “She does make a good point.”

  “He’s funny and smart and there was no sign of a proposal or future in-laws hiding in the bushes waiting to meet me, so I agreed to a second date.”

  “And it’s not to his house to have Sunday dinner with his mom?”

  Reyna laughed and shook her head. “Nope, we’re going to a restaurant in Concord that some friends recommended. Neutral grounds—but a more private setting than sitting on a blanket in the middle of the entire population of Blackberry Bay.”

  A man stopped next to their table, catching Meredith’s attention, and when she looked up, it took her only a few seconds to place him. The thick, almost black hair and bright blue eyes. Dimples. That little bit of scruff that kept him from being too pretty. Brady Nash had been the indisputable hottest boy in Blackberry Bay.

  She caught Reyna’s eye-roll, but she stood to give him a quick hug. “Brady, you haven’t changed at all. How have you been?”

  “Good, same as always. I heard you were back, but this is the first time I’ve seen you.” The dimples faded as he looked at Reyna, who hadn’t stood up. “Hi, Reyna.”

  “Hey.”

  “I’ll let you get back to your dinner,” he said when it became awkwardly obvious Reyna had nothing else to say. “It was good to see you, Meredith. I’m sure we’ll run into each other now and then.”

  Once she was seated and they were alone, Meredith leaned close. “What was that about?”

  “What?” When Meredith only arched
her eyebrow, Reyna sighed. “Brady? Whatever.”

  “Whatever? That’s all you’re going to give me?”

  “You tell me yours and I’ll tell you mine.”

  “Fair.” She was cornered and there really wasn’t that much to tell, so she told it. All of it. From meeting Cam to their second kiss and how nothing had happened since.

  “And why has nothing happened since?” Reyna asked.

  “I don’t know. There’s Sophie, of course. And he’ll be leaving, you know. What is the point of a relationship that has an expiration date?”

  “I’d make the argument you’re already in a relationship. But now that you mention him leaving, why is he here at all? Especially in Carolina’s cottage? I’ve heard he was a relation of some sort, but he didn’t have to stay here to settle her estate.”

  Meredith was reminded with a start that not everybody in Blackberry Bay knew Cam was Michael Archambault’s son. Certainly some did, but this seemed to be one of the rare instances in which they all kept their mouths shut. And it wasn’t Meredith’s secret to divulge.

  “If you have to settle an estate, why not spend the summer on the shore of the bay while you do it?” She took a sip of her drink and then leaned back in her chair. “Okay, now you. Why don’t you like Brady?”

  “I don’t dislike him. I just don’t...” Reyna shook her head. “He has a reputation, you know. Everybody in Blackberry Bay thinks he’s the most charming ladies’ man to ever grace the planet.”

  “That’s not a surprise. They always thought that.”

  “We went out once.”

  Meredith let that sink in. Reyna and Brady? Reyna was gorgeous, of course, but she and Brady were so different, and Reyna had never gone for the popular boys. “I take it didn’t go well?”

  “Let’s just say that his title as a ladies’ man is not merited, unless he’s dating a lot of women who only have five minutes to spare,” Reyna said, and then she took a long drink. “And that includes the time it took to get our pants off.”

  As her meaning sank in, Meredith had to put her napkin to her mouth to muffle the laughter. Reyna nodded and they laughed together for so long, other diners started giving them stern side-eyes.

  “Poor Brady,” Meredith said when she could finally speak again.

  “Poor Brady? Trust me. It was poor me that night.”

  By the time they left the restaurant, Meredith’s stomach ached from laughing, but she felt younger and lighter than she had in a very long time. She’d have to talk to her mom and see if she’d be willing to make a sleepover with her granddaughter a monthly thing. Somehow Meredith didn’t think she’d mind.

  Reyna lived within walking distance and didn’t want a ride, so they parted ways at Meredith’s SUV, but not before she circled back to their earlier conversation. “So, if Sophie’s spending the night with your mom, you’ll be all alone tonight.”

  “Yes, and they took Oscar with them and won’t be back until after lunch, so I’m planning to sleep in tomorrow.” She was almost as excited about not having to get out of bed as she’d been about a night out.

  “You’re missing the point.”

  “What point? Yes, I’ll be alone tonight.”

  “But you don’t have to be.” Reyna grinned. “That is my point.”

  Meredith’s skin heated. She hadn’t been missing that point. She’d been trying to ignore it. “And then what happens tomorrow? I can’t avoid him after because he lives next door and my daughter spends half her time in his yard because I haven’t bought a hammock yet. And honestly, even if I do buy one, she’ll still be in his yard because she likes him and—”

  “Stop.” Reyna actually looked annoyed with her. “You managed in two sentences to take a conversation about you scratching an itch that hasn’t been scratched in a long time and make it about your kid. And yeah, I know she’s the center of your world, but you also need to take care of you. It’s called self-care.”

  Meredith sighed. “Trust me, I’m familiar with self-care, if you know what I mean.”

  Reyna laughed, and then covered her mouth. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t laugh but—”

  “I laugh, because what else are you going to do?”

  “You can stop worrying about tomorrow and definitely stop worrying about him leaving at the end of the summer. It’s okay to just have a little fun, Meredith.”

  She didn’t want to stand on the sidewalk arguing about whether or not she should sleep with her neighbor, so she nodded. “I’ll think about it.”

  “No. Stop thinking about it. Just do it.” When Meredith opened her mouth to explain she wasn’t sure she could do that, Reyna groaned. “Go home, shave your legs and then go ask the sexy neighbor if you can borrow a cup of sugar.”

  * * *

  Cam heard the car door close and waited, but he didn’t hear a second door. He knew Sophie was spending the night at her grandparents’ house, of course. She’d talked about nothing but her sleepover all morning. But that hadn’t meant Meredith would be alone. She could have friends over or...

  Sighing, he closed the book he’d been reading and tossed it aside. He didn’t want to think about the or. If he had to bet, he’d put money against her bringing some guy home, but anything was possible. She was single. She could do as she pleased.

  But now that he knew she was alone, he couldn’t stop thinking about that fact. As much as he liked the little kid, having Sophie around all the time wasn’t exactly conducive to romance, and she wouldn’t be back until tomorrow.

  Try as he might, he couldn’t come up with a reasonable excuse for knocking on her door and starting a conversation. What possible reason could he have for going over there? Borrowing a cup of sugar?

  When he realized he was doing nothing but sitting around waiting, he decided to get up and do something. He’d start with taking the box of gardening tools he’d inexplicably found scattered around the house out to the shed. Why Carolina had a gardening shed full of all manner of junk and kept her gardening tools in the kitchen and bathroom was beyond him, but putting things where they belonged could only help the process in the long run.

  While he was out there, he poked around a bit, and found out his grandmother had had a fondness for metal yard things. Doodads. Whatever one called the decorative things that walked a fine line between art and recycling pile.

  A box of wind chimes caught his eye and he pulled them out. One set was made to look like a bunch of metal hummingbirds, while three of them were just whimsical shapes in brightly colored metal. There were metal hangers for them that were meant to be driven into the ground, rather than hanging the chimes from above.

  He didn’t remember ever hearing a wind chime in real life. And since he had nothing better to do, since it appeared Meredith wasn’t going to take advantage of her child-free night by visiting her neighbor, he set the box out on the lawn and closed up the shed.

  Then he pushed the hangers into the ground and hung a wind chime from each. Elinor watched him, blinking and twitching her tail, but he couldn’t tell if she was judging him or approving of the addition.

  “They’d probably be more impressive if there was any wind,” he told the cat. “Or even a breeze. But they look cool, I guess.”

  Elinor didn’t look impressed and, after watching the wind chimes do nothing for a long moment, he went into the house. The cat followed him and walked directly to her water dish. It was still full, but he’d gotten the message on day one that if she wanted fresh water, it was best to just refill the dish, even if he’d done it five minutes before she walked into the room.

  He was nodding off in front of the television with Elinor curled up on the back of the couch and the top of his head when he realized the wind had picked up. “Hey, cat, let’s go check out the wind chimes.”

  When she didn’t move, he reached up and stroked her fur. She didn’t like being petted
while napping, so she’d move. He’d learned the hard way that if he just tried to get up, she’d feel like she was falling and scramble to save herself. With claws.

  Once he was clear of her, he went toward the back of the house and he could hear the wind chimes before he pulled the slider open. They were louder and less melodious than they always sounded on TV and he wasn’t surprised when Elinor sniffed and turned back for the couch.

  Maybe they were better one at a time, and his mistake had been in putting all four out. He was halfway to the first one when he saw Meredith walking across her yard, and she didn’t look happy.

  She looked adorable, in pink sleep shorts with a deeply V-necked tee and her hair gathered into a messy bun, but he got the impression she was trying to set him on fire with her eyeballs.

  “Where did those come from?”

  “What?”

  “Those!” She pointed at the wind chimes barely on his side of the property line, each one swinging wildly on its decorative wrought-iron hook.

  “I found them in the shed and decided to put them up. Aren’t they soothing?”

  “Soothing?” She laughed, but there was an edge to the sound, as if she was anxious about something bigger than some wind chimes. “No. No, they are not soothing.”

  “I’m pretty sure that’s the reason they exist. To be soothing.”

  “What would be soothing is putting them back in the shed, where you found them.”

  She was cute when she was bossy, with her hands on her hips and her face all stern, but it wasn’t going to work. “I like them where they are.”

  “So if I come out here and bang a metal spoon against a pan under your window at two o’clock in the morning, you’re going to be okay with that?”

  “No, that wouldn’t be okay. Why would you do that to me?”

  She looked as if she was trying not to laugh, even though she was clearly still annoyed with him. “To soothe you. Isn’t that what you said metal banging against metal does?”