Page 42 of Welcome Home to Ivy Falls

‘Um, of course. Thank you, Dr Foster. I’ll start the medicine as soon as I get home,’ she said, pushing up from the chair. Silvio snapped out his hand to help her stay steady.

‘I advise you to take it easy. Try to rest.’

‘I will.’

Silvio shook my hand before helping Greta shuffle out into the hall. I held on to the edge of the desk until the outer door clicked shut behind them.

I collapsed back into my chair. This job was supposed to be a blip. A quick way to make some money before I went back to Africa. I never expected to care about these people so quickly.

One of the last things Dr Sheridan said before he left was that Ivy Falls got into your bones. That the longer you were here, the more you felt at home. I brushed away the comment because nowhere but Africa had really felt like home to me. But now I feared his comment was true, because this place, these people, were becoming important to me, and that was the last thing I’d planned when I took this job.

After I’d locked up, I took the long way home. I walked past Minnie’s Market. Her sign this week was a zinger: Don’t shop at big box stores. The prices will ketchup with you! The Pool and Brew’s was just as wild. ‘Wine. Beer. Whiskey.’ beats ‘Live. Love. Laugh.’

Around the corner, the scent of cheese and garlic floated out of Mimi’s Pizza. A few more steps led me to the glass windows that lined the front of the P&P. It took every ounce of self-control not to push inside and see if Piper was working. Instead, I forced my feet in the direction of my apartment.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. These days I was almost afraid to look at the screen. The onslaught of messages from my mother was getting to be too much. I hesitated before tapping in my passcode. When I saw it was from Gray I groaned. He’d been relentless in his quest for me to call Missy. This time he suggested we go on a double date with one of the girls he was currently seeing. That wasn’t going to happen.

I pushed through the courtyard gate and walked up the stairs. My body hung heavy with the weight of the day. Once I had the outside door open, the electronic sound of early 90s pop filled the hall. A towering stack of boxes sat outside the door beside mine.

Today of all days a new neighbor had to move in?

I stifled the grumble crowding my throat. All I wanted was to come home to peace and quiet. Now that plan was shot to hell thanks to the new occupant’s obsession with a remix of Britney Spears’ ‘Toxic’.

It took a minute to flip on a few lights in my apartment. I crossed to the freezer and pulled out a pot pie and threw it into the microwave. After I took off my button-down and khakis that reeked of Betadine and rubbing alcohol, I pulled on a Vanderbilt T-shirt and a pair of athletic shorts. The scent of baked pastry and thawed vegetables filled the kitchen.

On the ship there was a hot meal every night. I’d sit in the same spot at the back of the dining hall with my friends, swapping stories about our day and where we planned to travel when we had precious time off. Standing alone in my empty kitchen left a dull ache in my chest. I missed the heated conversations at dinner over our favorite movies or losing sports teams. If the meatloaf or pot roast was the best thing that came out of the kitchen. How the coffee tasted more like you were swallowing grounds than liquid, but we drank it anyway due to our long hours.

I pulled out a chair at the small bistro table and went to work on the pot pie, scrolling through my phone. There were more texts from my mother that I was ignoring. I knew I had to call her, confess about going back to Africa, but I was too exhausted to cross that bridge.

The music continued to throb through the walls, and I switched to my social media to see what my friends had posted online. It was a time suck, but it felt good to stay connected to the Humanity of the Seas staff. To know what they were up to while I was gone.

Britney Spears morphed into the low bass beat of Rihanna. The voice was muffled, but my new neighbor knew every single line to the chorus of ‘Umbrella’.

Great. Now I’d have that earworm in my head for days.

The music annoyingly banged around inside my head while I demolished the pie. When my plate was clean, I walked to the sink and dumped the remaining crumbs. Thankfully, I’d bought a new carton of mint fudge ice cream from Minnie’s Market.

After a few bites, the knots loosened in my shoulders as I sank onto the couch. The low drone of the Atlanta Braves’ announcer made my eyes flutter closed.

A crash a few minutes later nearly rolled me off the couch, sending the half-eaten ice cream flying. Several screeches followed by more than a few F-bombs bled through the walls. Instinct had me on my feet and racing outside. I knocked on my neighbor’s door several times with no answer.

My heart picked up speed. What if the new tenant had passed out and water flooded the entire floor?

I continued with my insistent knocks until the deadbolt flipped with a clanging snick. The door flew open and I double blinked at the sight in front of me. Wet dark hair and smooth pink skin wrapped in a lavender plastic shower curtain. A trickle of blood dripped from an arched eyebrow.

‘What are you doing here?’ Piper tugged the plastic around herself tighter.

I stepped back, not wanting to make her uncomfortable. ‘I live… next door.’

‘What?’ she screeched.

‘Yes, and you’re bleeding. There’s a cut on your head.’

She clutched at the curtain wrapped around herself with one hand and used her other hand to touch her face. Her mouth puckered at the blood staining her fingertips. ‘My shower rod fell. Must have caught me in the eye.’

I stayed frozen, wanting to help but knowing this was her personal space that I had zero intention of invading.

‘Do you want… Can I have a look at that cut?’