The Neighbor

by Gerri Hill

  She froze in place, not even daring to breathe. Surely she couldn’t see her. Surely to God she couldn’t see her spying. Then the anorexic blonde approached, getting the attention of tall, dark and handsome. As soon as her head was turned, Laura literally dropped to the floor, below the windowsill.

  “That was close,” she murmured. Then she smiled. “But kinda fun.”

  Chapter Five

  “So you survived the week?”

  “That better be two loaded pizzas and I get to keep the leftovers.”

  Carla leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “Yes. As you requested.” She pulled away. “So?”

  “I survived. We’ve made a truce. We don’t talk about Frankie. I pretend he never existed and she pretends I loved him.”

  “See? I knew you could do it.” Carla paused to look around. “You mowed. It looks good.”

  Laura took the pizza boxes from her. “I’m a yard gal, yes. This week I have been cleaning out flowerbeds too.”

  “You got Mom’s green thumb. I never was much into planting stuff.” She bent closer. “Where is she?” she whispered.

  “Living room. TV. Go say hello.”

  Laura went into the kitchen with the pizza. While the house had a separate dining room, they always used the small kitchen table for their meals. She put the pizza down, then pulled out three plates and put them on the table.

  “What do you want to drink?” she called.

  Carla came into the kitchen. “What have you done to our mother?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “She’s actually in a good mood. Have you been spiking her drinks?”

  Laura laughed. “I told you she’s been different.” She opened the fridge. “I’ve got beer.”

  Carla shook her head. “No. Beer makes me sleepy. I’ll just have a Coke or something.”

  Laura was about to go see if her mother needed help, but she came shuffling in with her walker. Laura hadn’t wanted to say anything, but she could tell her mother was getting around better. Since the accident, Frankie had waited on her hand and foot—probably out of guilt. She used the wheelchair far more than the walker that first year. Now, she seemed to be getting some of her strength back, although she still had balance issues.

  Carla noticed too. “That’s as fast as I’ve seen you move in years. What gives?”

  “Well, I’ve had to use this dang thing more. Laura Sue refuses to let me have my chair.”

  Carla turned to her. “Hiding the wheelchair, are you?”

  “She’s exaggerating. She uses it in the evenings to chase me around the house. My only escape is running up the stairs.”

  Laura noted the smile on her mother’s face and she returned it. Yes, they had been getting along famously, which was scary. It was almost as if the last seven years hadn’t happened. And really, she wished that could be so. That was seven years they would never get back. It was her fault, she knew. She was the one who stayed away. She was the one who wanted to strangle the very breath out of Frankie whenever she laid eyes on him. Maybe her mother was right. Maybe she never gave him a chance.

  “Mom, I noticed that Laura has the yard looking nice,” Carla said. “It’ll be good to see flowers out once again.”

  “In the last seven years, you’ve been here three or four times. I’m fairly certain you don’t remember what my flowerbeds looked like.”

  “Well, that’s three or four times more than Laura was here. That should count for something.”

  “Hey, don’t pull me into this.” She opened up one of the boxes of pizza and offered it to them. “Mom, you want tea?”

  “Yes, please.” Her mother patted Carla’s hand. “Laura Sue is such a good daughter.”

  Carla’s eyes widened. “Oh my God! I knew it! You’ve been body snatched!”

  Laura laughed. Oh, yeah. She and her mother were getting along great. They had always been close, but after Frankie…she was afraid they wouldn’t be able to get it back.

  “So did you know somebody moved in next door? Mom said December. Weekends only.”

  “I knew someone was building. Have you met them?”

  “No.” Then she smiled. “Not officially.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “That means she spied on them last weekend. There was a party. Girls in bikinis,” her mother explained.

  “With binoculars,” Laura added with a grin. “Frankie’s. Found them in his junk closet. And I do mean junk.”

  Carla bit into her pizza, then talked with her mouth full. “What kind of spying?”

  “From my writing room. Perfect view of the pool and outdoor kitchen from the window.”

  Carla frowned. “Writing room? You confiscated my old room, didn’t you,” she accused.

  “I did. You’ll never miss it.”

  An evil grin followed the frown. “So what have you written? Anything?”

  “Nothing I’m ready to share yet. It’s a slow, creative process. It doesn’t just happen with a snap of the fingers, you know.”

  “So you haven’t written anything, huh?”

  “No,” she groaned. She sat down at the table next to her mother. “I mean, I’ve written words. They just aren’t going anywhere.”

  “So, sis, maybe this book writing gig isn’t for you.”

  “How can you say that? I’m already published.”

  “That was seven years ago.”

  “Eight,” she corrected with a sigh. Who knew writing a second novel would be so damn hard?

  “I think you’re afraid of success,” her mother said. “You always hated calling attention to yourself. You hated speaking in public. You hated piano recitals.”

  “I hated piano, period.”

  “You were so good at it.”

  “That doesn’t mean I liked it. And I’m not afraid of success.” She bit into her own pizza slice. “It wasn’t like it was a monster seller or anything.”

  “You made the Top Twenty,” her mother reminded her.

  “For all of one week. God, that seems like ages ago.”

  “It was,” Carla said. “That’s why I’m thinking, maybe, just maybe, you should have a fallback plan.”

  “Like get a job?”

  “Yeah. Like normal people do.”

  “I had a job. I hated it.”

  “I could try to get you on at my place,” she continued, as if Laura had not spoken.

  “Really? So you’ll quit your job then to stay here with Mom?”

  Carla shoved pizza into her mouth.

  “Thought so,” Laura murmured.

  Chapter Six

  Cassidy Anderson spun around in her chair when she heard her office door open. Tanya, her assistant and her friend, looked at her with raised eyebrows.

  “It’s nearly four. Are you not heading out to the country this weekend?”

  “I am.”

  “Something got your attention?”

  “No. Not really.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  Cassidy blew out her breath. She’d known Tanya nearly twenty years. Tanya could read her like a book. “It’s Claudia.”

  “Claudia? Oh, yes. The flavor of the month. What about her?”

  Cassidy shrugged. “I don’t like her very much.”

  Tanya raised her eyebrows.

  “Sex is great. It’s just everything else.”

  “Another one bites the dust,” she murmured. Tanya put her hands on her hips. “Do you know how many times we have this very same discussion?”

  “We do not. The sex isn’t always great.”

  “I have lost count of how many girlfriends you’ve had.”

  “Oh, please. Claudia is not my girlfriend. She’s just…just someone I’m going out with.”

  “Let’s see…this weekend makes what? Four weekends? Five? So yes, I suppose it’s about time to move on to someone else.”

  Cassidy stood up. “It’s hard dating. You have no idea.”

  “Spare me. You can have anyone
you want. You get anyone you want. You’re cute. You’re successful. You have money. You now have a nice retreat out in the country—which I have yet to be invited to. How hard can it be?”

  Cassidy crossed her arms. “We do have this discussion a lot, don’t we?”

  “Yes. At least once a month.” She waved her hand in the air. “Move on from Claudia. It’s time.”

  “She’s friends with Erica and Amber. They like us together.”

  “So?”

  “And I’ve already invited her out to the house. There’s another couple coming, so that’ll make it bearable.”

  “You never said how the party went last weekend.”

  “Oh, it was fun. Had a few people drink too much so I had them stay over. The pool was a big hit.”

  “I’m sure it was. Maybe one day I’ll get to see it.”

  “Yeah. You and Derrick come out, bring the boys. They’d love it.”

  “Yes, they would. But teenagers…they’ll think they’re too grown up to go with Mom and Dad to a pool party.”

  Cassidy nodded. “I keep forgetting they’re all grown up.” She motioned to the door. “Why don’t you head out early? I’ll see you on Monday.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah. Give Derrick a kiss for me, huh?”

  “I will. See you Monday.”

  Cassidy sat down again and spun her chair around, gazing out of the high-rise window. Sometimes, it was still a shock to be sitting where she was. She worked hard for it, though. Putting Anderson Heating and Air Conditioning at the top of everyone’s list hadn’t been easy. Her grandfather was probably rolling over in his grave at the idea that they even had corporate offices, much less that they took up the entire twentieth floor in a fancy office building.

  Dispatch was done from here. Online scheduling was managed from here. Accounting. Payroll. Marketing. All here. And spread out over Dallas and Fort Worth were now ten hubs that they could dispatch from. They could be anywhere in the Metroplex within twenty minutes of getting a call. That kind of service couldn’t be matched by anyone. No one could even come close to that.

  That’s not to say it hadn’t taken years to get to ten hubs. No. When she’d come on board, they only had the one office, which her father ran. Her brother was out in the field. He had been the hardest one to convince to branch out. But now, fifteen years later, they’d more than quadrupled in size.

  Their ads ran on TV and radio constantly. They had billboards all over the city. If anyone had an air conditioner go out, they called Anderson. Winter blues when the heater didn’t work? They called Anderson. New home builders? They contracted with Anderson.

  It was all working like the well-oiled machine it was intended to be. Yes…life was good, she mused as she spun back around to face her desk. Her professional life, that is. She’d spent so many years working to get the company to where it was, she’d sacrificed her personal life. Now, now that she had time—and money—she couldn’t seem to enjoy her personal life. It wasn’t fulfilling. Everything—everyone—seemed to be a stopgap to her goal: meeting the love of her life.

  So far…she hadn’t come close to meeting her. And now that she was approaching her mid-forties…she feared she would never find her. She feared she would have to settle. Settle for someone like Claudia.

  “At least the sex is good,” she murmured as she closed her laptop.

  * * *

  “Again with the anorexic blonde? She is so not right for you,” Laura murmured as she stared through the binoculars. “Can’t you see that?”

  There was something different this time, though. Tall, dark, and handsome was being a little standoffish. She’d pulled away from the kiss.

  “Oh…who’s this?” She didn’t recognize them from last weekend’s party. Two women, both blond. They seemed young. They were giggling. Laura rolled her eyes. “Children,” she muttered. Tall, dark, and handsome appeared to be fortyish, perhaps a little older. The anorexic one was in her thirties. These two looked to be early- to mid-twenties.

  She lowered the binoculars and turned away from the window with a sigh. “I have got to get a life.”

  She firmly pulled the drapes together. She had no intention of spending this weekend like she’d done the last: spying on her neighbor. Sure, she was cute and a pleasure to look at, especially in a bikini. But her taste in women was sorely lacking.

  She was fortyish and wore a bikini. Wore it nicely.

  Laura shook her head. “I wouldn’t be caught dead in a bikini,” she murmured to herself. Then she smiled. “I think I’ll mow today.”

  Chapter Seven

  Cassidy floated idly in the pool, her mind closed to the laughing conversation coming from the float next to her. The neighbor was mowing. It was Saturday. Couldn’t he mow during the week when she wasn’t there? From what she remembered of him—what was his name? Frankie?—he wouldn’t be considerate enough to mow on a weekday.

  All she wanted was some peace and quiet. That’s why she built out here. Peace and quiet. Not to hear some damn riding lawn mower buzzing by along the fence. She looked toward the noise, but the privacy fence was too high for her to see over. Yeah, she’d put the privacy fence up in the first place because of him. Six feet tall was the standard, but she’d wanted ten. Her builder talked her down to eight. Frankie popped over all the time, attempting to flirt with her. He annoyed the hell out of her. So…up went the fence, well before the house was even finished. He was probably still pissed about that.

  She sighed. They had a couple of acres over there, mostly lawn. She imagined it would take an hour or so to mow it. She tipped off her float and swam into shallow water, then took the steps out.

  “Be right back,” she called to no one in particular.

  Claudia was engrossed in a conversation with the two young women she’d invited. Claudia worked with Angie. The other—Yvonne—was Angie’s girlfriend of two weeks. And Cassidy had absolutely nothing in common with either of them. Truth was, she had nothing in common with Claudia either. Of course, after this weekend, she wouldn’t be seeing Claudia anymore. No, she was thinking of asking Larson out. She’d met her at a party a couple of weeks ago. A party Claudia had dragged her to.

  She stopped to pull a T-shirt over her head, then slipped on her flip-flops. She contemplated going inside for shorts but didn’t want to take the time. She walked down to the edge of her driveway, punched in the code for the gate, waited impatiently for it to open, then walked along the road to the Morrison place. She stopped. Flowers? She hadn’t seen flowers here before. Seeing her obnoxious neighbor mowing in the back, she walked across the freshly mowed lawn, around the house, waving at him.

  As he got closer to her, she realized the person under the ball cap wasn’t Frankie after all. It was a woman. She scowled as the woman cut the blades off but kept the mower running.

  “Do you mind?” she yelled, pointing at the machine.

  With an exaggerated sigh, the woman turned the mower completely off.

  “Yeah…thanks.” She pointed across the fence. “I live next door.”

  The woman nodded. “I live here.”

  “Okay. Well, I was wondering if perhaps…you could stop mowing. It’s Saturday. I have guests out by the pool. It’s virtually impossible to have a conversation with this noise.”

  The woman stared blankly at her. “And this affects me how?”

  Cassidy narrowed her eyes. Really? “Yeah…so where’s Frankie?” she asked, thinking maybe she could negotiate with him instead of this woman.

  “Frankie? He died.”

  “Died? When?”

  “Several weeks ago. Why?”

  Cassidy put her hands on her hips. “Who are you?”

  “Laura Fry.”

  “So…you live here now? Frankie was your father?”

  “Oh my God! No! He married my mother.”

  “Oh. Stepfather then.”

  Laura Fry actually clenched her teeth. “No, he was not my stepfather.” She shook her he
ad. “What is it you want?”

  “I want you to stop mowing. Isn’t this something you could do during the week when I’m not here?”

  “So I should rearrange my schedule to suit you?” She gave a rather sweet smile. Condescending, but sweet. “I am very busy during the week. Very busy.”

  “So there’s no compromise?”

  “Compromise? Your yard people come very early on Fridays. Very early. Daybreak. It’s impossible to sleep in.”

  Cassidy glanced at the house, guessing the bedrooms were upstairs. Their two houses weren’t that close together. But…

  “So you’re suggesting I reschedule them?”

  “After ten would be great.”

  “Ten? You sleep until ten?”

  “Oh, no. I’m usually up by dawn.”

  “Then…?”

  “Quiet time. Coffee on the porch. Birds. Quiet. No mowers.”

  “I see. Okay. So if I agree to that, you’ll stop mowing on Saturdays so I can have my quiet time?”

  Laura Fry nodded, smiling quickly in her victory. “Deal.”

  Cassidy stuck her hand out. “Deal.” Their handshake was firm, but brief. “I’m Cassidy Anderson, by the way.”

  “Okay,” Laura said as she started up the lawn mower again.

  Cassidy stepped out of the way as the mower buzzed around her. At least the woman waited until she was past her before engaging the blades. So she was going to stop mowing, right? Their deal started today, not next Saturday. Right?

  She blew out a frustrated breath, then turned and headed back to the road. The woman was wearing cutoff jeans. When’s the last time she’d seen that? She chanced a glance at the house. It looked different than she remembered. Oh, the paint was still chipped and faded, but it looked inviting. All of the flowerbeds were stuffed with flowers. The grass was trimmed along the edges of the sidewalk and around the trees. If she hadn’t seen this woman mowing she would assume they had a yard service too. Although her own yard service did not do flowers. Maybe she’d ask them to plant some for her. After she asked them to start coming at ten instead of seven.