Page 11 of Lemon Pound Cake Club

Before the SUV reached the curve in the cul-de-sac, another neighbor stepped onto her porch with a watering can. She saw me and smiled, as if she had been waiting for this moment.

“Good morning!” she called across the street.

“Good morning.”

“I’ll come introduce myself once you’ve had time to breathe.”

I laughed.

“I appreciate that.”

She waved again, then started watering the flowers along her porch.

Two houses down, garage doors opened almost at the same time. A golf cart came out of one driveway, and a luxury sedan backed out of the other. A man jogging by slowed down just long enough to welcome me to the neighborhood.

It felt like everyone already knew we had arrived, and they all seemed happy to see us. Everything looked perfect and welcoming, fancy but not lonely.

For a moment, I let myself believe life here could be easy. Coffee in the mornings, dinner by the pool, neighbors becoming friends, and Thursday afternoons spent eating lemon pound cake under crystal chandeliers.

It was a fresh start.

I closed the front door and rested my hand against it. I’d wanted this house for such a long time. As I stood there, I finally understood why someone would work so hard to hold onto it.

I walked into the kitchen, and Bernice followed, giving a single clap of her hands.

"Mrs. Graham, I'm going to make a suggestion."

I looked up from the stack of plates I was getting ready to put away.

"If it involves another box, I respectfully decline."

She laughed.

"It involves no boxes."

"Now I'm listening."

"You hired us for a reason."

"I didn't actually hire…”

"Mr. Graham did," she corrected with a knowing smile. "Which means you have no business unpacking this house while Laila and I are here."

Laila nodded enthusiastically.

"We've got it."

I glanced around the kitchen. Boxes took up half the island, packing paper was all over the counters, and most of the cabinet doors hung open.

"It feels strange to leave everything like this."

"It’ll feel even stranger if you stay," Bernice said. "You’ll unpack a cabinet, and then I’ll just redo it because I have my own way of organizing kitchens."

"You really reorganize people’s kitchens?"

"I absolutely do."

Laila leaned in a little closer.