The Neighbor

by Gerri Hill

  “No, just checking on things. Are you having a good time?”

  “Wonderful party. Randi was looking for you. I told her I’d help in the search.”

  Ah…Randi’s girlfriend. Paula?

  “They’re trying to get a volleyball game going in the pool. She thought you had a net.”

  “I do.” Cassidy watched as a beach ball was being bounced around by laughing women. “And a ball.”

  She forced a smile to her face as she attached the net, much to the delight of the splashing crowd.

  “Come join us,” someone beckoned.

  “Maybe later. I’ve got to get set up for the caterers,” she lied.

  She walked back to the outdoor kitchen, then turned again, watching the party from afar.

  * * *

  “What’s wrong?” Laura murmured as she watched Cassidy.

  She had told herself she wasn’t going to spy on the party. For one thing, she wasn’t really interested in it and she didn’t care how many skinny, blond women were in the pool. But the incessant laughter could be heard up in her bedroom even with the oscillating fan going for extra noise. Curiosity got the best of her and she went to the window and parted the blinds. Unfortunately, she could only catch a glimpse of the pool so—without too much thought—she went into her writing room and peeked out of the window there.

  And sure enough, the pool was full of bikini-clad, skinny blondes. The party was mostly women, maybe six men out of the twenty-five or thirty that she counted. She couldn’t find Cassidy so she picked up the binoculars, scanning the crowd, looking for her. She finally spotted her back by the outdoor kitchen. She had a rather indifferent look on her face…distant, as if she wasn’t really there.

  Laura frowned. “What’s wrong with you?” she murmured again as she saw Cassidy sigh and head into the house.

  Without thinking, Laura dropped the binoculars on her desk and headed out the door. She wasn’t dressed for a party and she had no intention of staying, but the look on Cassidy’s face tugged at her heart. It was more than simply being distant—aloof. It was something else, something Laura couldn’t see from way up in her bedroom.

  The gate was opened and she hurried through it. Instead of going around the back like she usually did, she went to the front door. Should she ring the bell? Knock?

  She turned the knob, finding it unlocked. She went inside and headed for the kitchen. Cassidy was leaning against the island, her gaze drawn to the window and the activity outside at her pool, yet she remained detached from it.

  “Are you hiding?”

  Cassidy jerked her head around, obviously startled.

  “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

  Cassidy’s face broke out into a smile. “You came.”

  Laura shook her head. “No, no. Not to the party.”

  Cassidy frowned. “Then…”

  “What’s wrong?”

  Cassidy sighed and pushed off from the island. “Not up for a party, I guess. I thought I was faking it pretty good.”

  “No one seems to have noticed.”

  “Yet you did.” Cassidy raised her eyebrows questioningly.

  “I may have peeked out of the window,” Laura admitted. She would never, ever admit to the binoculars, though. She walked around the island to face Cassidy, unconsciously reaching out a hand to touch her arm. “Can I do anything?”

  “Stay?”

  Laura smiled. “Not my kind of party.” She dropped her hand. “I just wanted to check on you. You looked kinda…I don’t know…sad.”

  Cassidy took a deep breath, her shoulders slumping as she let it out. “Sad, huh? Maybe.”

  Laura tilted her head. “These are your friends, right?”

  Cassidy nodded. “People I know. The normal party crowd.”

  Cassidy seemed so withdrawn, Laura was concerned. She took a step closer. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes. Ready for it to be over with, that’s all.”

  Cassidy’s eyes were shadowed, not the sharp, clear brown that she was used to. Laura thought she was maybe overstepping her bounds, but she moved closer, pulling Cassidy into a hug. She had no right to be this familiar with her, did she? She was surprised when she felt Cassidy’s arms circle her waist and pull her even closer. So close, in fact, that they were touching in all sorts of places that had no business touching.

  Laura gently pulled away from the embrace, almost embarrassed to meet Cassidy’s eyes. She took a step back, separating completely. She was about to apologize, then a rather sweet smile appeared on Cassidy’s lips.

  “Thank you. It’s been a very long time since I’ve had a hug.”

  Laura smiled too. “Well, glad I could help.”

  “Sure you don’t want to stay?”

  “Positive.” Then she wiggled her eyebrows teasingly. “Save me a couple of fajitas.”

  Cassidy laughed. “Okay. I’ll save some back for you.”

  Laura pushed her toward the door. “Go out to your party before you’re missed.”

  Cassidy nodded. “I know.” Then she paused. “See you tomorrow?”

  “Yeah.” Laura met her gaze and smiled. “See you tomorrow.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Cassidy paced in her office, wondering at her restlessness. The day after a holiday was usually busy but she could find nothing to hold her attention this morning. Well, there was something, but she’d analyzed that to death already.

  Laura.

  Laura was unlike any of her friends. She was so different, really, she doubted that any of her friends would even like Laura…and vice versa.

  But she liked Laura. She had quickly become a friend. In fact, Cassidy thought that if they nurtured this friendship, it could end up being a very good one. They obviously enjoyed each other’s company.

  She stopped pacing and stared out the window, a slow smile forming as she remembered their conversation over coffee Sunday morning—after Cassidy had delivered the promised fajitas to her.

  “So, if you don’t have a hot date next weekend or anything, I thought I’d make that green jerk chicken that you want to try.”

  Laura’s eyebrows had shot up. “You mean there’s no skinny blonde coming with you? Or is it a threesome?”

  Cassidy had laughed. “No skinny blonde, no. Just us. If you want.”

  Laura had smiled sweetly at her. “Then I’ll look forward to it.”

  Yes, Cassidy was looking forward to it too. And she was looking forward to having the weekend to herself. No company. No date. No skinny blonde to share her bed.

  So what in the world was wrong with her? She hated being alone, she reminded herself for at least the fourth time that morning. She was used to having romantic company, whether she wanted it or not. She was used to people being around…used to parties.

  But she’d hated the party, hadn’t she? Laura had somehow known, even seeing her from a distance through an upstairs window. She’d looked sad, Laura had said. And Laura had come over, just to check on her.

  Laura had hugged her. No one really ever hugged her. Certainly not friends. The group that she hung with…they weren’t exactly huggers.

  But it was…nice. Unexpected, but nice. Still…

  “I came in here an hour ago. You were standing in the same spot.”

  Cassidy glanced at Tanya and shook her head. “No. I was over there,” she said, pointing toward the opposite wall.

  “Do you need me to find you something to do?”

  Cassidy went around her desk and sat down. “I have plenty to do, I just don’t feel like doing it.”

  “So what’s her name? You haven’t mentioned anyone lately and you’ve said only a few words about your pool party.”

  “I wasn’t in the party mood, it turns out. Everyone else seemed to have a good time, though.”

  Tanya sat down across from her. “So? Who’s the flavor of the month?”

  “No one. I was actually single at the party.”

  “Really? That’s a first, isn’t
it?”

  Cassidy leaned back in her chair and folded her hands together. “I’m in a rut, I guess. No one seems to interest me right now.”

  “I’m sure that will pass. I’ve known you twenty years. You’re never lacking for company.”

  “I have made a new friend,” she said, the thought of Laura bringing a smile to her face. “She’s my neighbor. She does my yard, borrows my pool.” She leaned closer to the desk and rested her elbows on it. “She’s like…real.”

  “Real? You mean compared to your usual friends?”

  “Yes. Normal. Down to earth. What you see is what you get. There’s no pretense with her.”

  “Ah. I bet that’s refreshing. I’ve met a few of your friends, remember.”

  Cassidy laughed. “I know. That was a bad dinner party mix, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes, the worst. So when do I warrant an invite out to the country?”

  She very nearly offered an invitation for this weekend, then remembered her plans with Laura. “How about next week Saturday? I’ll do an early dinner.”

  “I’ll check with Derrick. An afternoon relaxing by the pool sounds wonderful.”

  “Great. Let’s plan on it then. I’ve been waiting on an excuse to try out that new smoker.” She rubbed her hands together. “Ribs. Maybe some chicken too.”

  “I make an excellent potato salad. I’d be happy to bring some.”

  “Good. I’m looking forward to you seeing the house. And all my flowers. I actually helped build a flowerbed over the weekend.”

  “Well, that I’ve got to see.” She stood up. “I did come in here for a reason. The monthly reports from Hub Six are going to be late.”

  “Again? What’s the deal?”

  “They’re the busiest hub. She needs more help.”

  “At times she needs more help, like when reports are due. Give her permission to hire someone part-time. A college student.”

  “Okay. She’ll be happy about that.” Tanya turned to leave, but Cassidy called after her.

  “I want to meet them before she hires.”

  “As always.”

  She’d been thinking about splitting up Hub Six, but that would entail purchasing another building, stocking it, and hiring licensed technicians to man it. For that kind of expense, she wanted to wait at least another year.

  With a sigh, she opened up her laptop. Time to get to work.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  It was entirely too hot to be traipsing through the woods, but Laura had thought Tuesday—when the pool boys came—was the perfect time to resume her search for the leaning tree. Afterward, she’d try to coax her mother into the pool for some water therapy. She had done some Google searches that morning and had found a few exercises that she thought her mother could handle. Even if she couldn’t, just being out in the pool would break up the routine that her days had become—a routine that mostly involved her recliner and the TV.

  She worried about her mother. Some days she seemed to be filled with motivation, wanting to get outside and mess with her flowers. Other days, she showed no inclination to do anything other than sit and watch TV. But the hot, dry weather of summer was fast approaching. The occasional watering that she gave their flowers would become a daily thing. And as much as Laura enjoyed planting the flowers, watering them was a chore. Her mother, on the other hand, used to enjoy walking around the yard with a water hose, tending to the flowers. She wondered if her mother could manage a walker and a hose at the same time.

  She shook her head. No, she’d probably get tangled and fall and that would be the end of Laura’s attempts at getting her outside. Baby steps. She needed to take baby steps. Like hand watering the flowers and plants on the patio. Her mother needed some purpose, even if it was as mundane as that.

  Laura ducked under a low hanging limb of a post oak, then moved the branches aside from a rather large cedar. With a little imagination, she could almost convince herself that she was following the old trails she’d made years and years ago. She paused to take a drink from her water bottle, then slowly lowered it, her eyes wide.

  The leaning tree. Right there. The freaking leaning tree.

  “I’ll be damned,” she muttered as her face broke out into a smile.

  It looked smaller than she remembered, but of course she’d been a kid back then. It had been huge as she’d scrambled along its bark. She walked closer, inspecting the brush that had grown up around it, trying to find a path to the trunk. It was an oak of some kind. She remembered taking her tree identification book out once and had settled on the Mexican White Oak, but she had no idea if that was actually the tree or not. It didn’t matter, really. Even in its gnarly state, it was still magnificent.

  The trunk sloped upward at a forty-five degree angle, perfect for climbing. It had been blown over as a young tree, no doubt, but its roots had held. It was now thick and hardy, the branches that reached skyward were as big around as some of the smaller trees that grew nearby.

  She pulled some of the brush away, making sure there weren’t any creepy crawly things there—like a snake slithering by or a nest of spiders.

  It appeared safe, and she pulled herself up, the rough bark of the tree digging into her palms. She stood on the trunk, holding on to one of the thick branches to balance herself. She walked higher along the trunk, although quite a bit more cautiously than she had as a kid. As she got as high up as she dared to go, she finally took a look at the view. And…

  “Wow.”

  It was still there…the clearing, the open space of a hay meadow or valley that sloped down and out of sight, leaving her with a perfect, unobstructed view of a summer sunset. Of course, it was still hours before the setting sun would creep into this window. It was pretty now, nonetheless.

  She sat down on the trunk and leaned against a branch, enjoying the view. She had been lost in thought on her hike out here, and she had no idea where she was or if she could find the tree again on another day.

  She closed her eyes, listening to the sounds of the woods; the leaves rustling in the breeze, the chatter of a squirrel, the sound of a male wren as he sang from a nearby tree, the sharp call of cardinals, and the thundering sound of a woodpecker as he hammered his beak into a tree. She opened her eyes slowly, letting the peacefulness wash over her. She looked skyward, seeing only a handful of puffy white clouds dancing across the blue.

  Another glorious day—yet she was feeling like a bit of a slug. How long was she going to take a break from writing? Or was this permanent? She had to admit that since she’d stopped trying to force words onto the page, her stress level had decreased significantly. But still, she was a writer. Writers wrote. Writers didn’t mow lawns, tend to flowers, hike the woods…and play in a crystal clear pool as if they hadn’t a care in the world.

  She sighed quietly. Was she a writer? Was it a fluke that she’d managed to actually write a novel that got published? It must have been. She hadn’t been able to produce anything since. Her publisher had long ago given up on her.

  Was she a writer? Growing up, she was never much of a reader but she did like to write silly stories, stories that she’d read at the dinner table to groans and eye rolls from Carla. In high school, she dabbled in poetry. Poetry that was so bad, she rarely shared her creations with anyone. It wasn’t until her first year of college that she discovered Kay Scarpetta. She devoured every novel featuring the famed medical examiner. Admittedly, she became somewhat obsessed with her, so much so that she wanted to create her own Kay Scarpetta. Murder by Day was born with dreams of Murder by Knight to follow. Unfortunately, her heroine—Claire McDonald—wasn’t interesting enough. No matter how many times she tried for a second book, Claire fell flat. Hell, even she didn’t like Claire all that much at this point.

  Was she a writer? She blew out a heavy breath. No. She wasn’t. She was thirty-eight years old. She had no job. She lived with her mother.

  How depressing. She liked it better when she could at least pretend she was a writer. Maybe
she should think seriously about starting up a lawn business in the area. God knows she had time on her hands and she did really enjoy the work. If she could pick up five or six yards, that would at least give her some income. She had all of the equipment. She had Frankie’s old truck. All she’d need was a trailer to haul the mower and her tools on.

  Yeah…maybe that’s what she’d do. Yeah, she’d think about it more tomorrow.

  She stood up, a smile on her face again. It was time for some pool therapy.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Cassidy was humming quietly to the song on the radio as she headed out of the city. She needed to stop at a grocery store along the way, but she still hoped to make it home by three. She’d actually intended on heading to the country yesterday, but a glitch—again—with their online appointment scheduling had kept her at the office. Instead of being at the house in the country—and in the pool—on an early Thursday afternoon, she was at the office, brow-beating the two so-called geniuses she’d hired to handle all of their computer needs. She’d threatened them both with unemployment if the system went down again. Not that she’d really fire them. She liked them both, nerdy as they were.

  But she’d slipped away today at noon, feeling the urge to get out to the country. She was actually looking forward to a weekend alone. Well, not really alone. Laura would be around. Their dinner plans for jerk chicken were Saturday, but she thought she could talk her into dinner tonight as well. She wouldn’t mind having another steak on the grill. Of course, there was her mother to consider. Laura may not want to leave her two nights in a row.

  That thought made her wonder if Laura had managed to get her mother into the pool for some exercise. She’d almost called her a couple of times during the week, but, really, she didn’t have a reason to. Then again, they were friends. Did she need a reason?

  The truth was, Laura crossed her mind far too often as it was. If she didn’t know better, she’d think she had a little crush on her. Then she shook her head. Laura was so not her type. Laura had a little too much tomboy in her for that. No…Claudia, Larson…women like that were her type. Women who dressed up, wore makeup. Women who were a little on the skinny side. Not that Laura was fat. She had a very nice body…curvy, athletic. But dressed up? Wearing makeup? No. She’d seen Laura in cutoff jeans, a swimsuit, and khaki shorts. She smiled. And in a sleep shirt with no bra. But man, those cutoff jeans sure fit her good. She shook her head again.