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Bec shook her head. “I had some friends who were going to help, but they’ve gone to a protest in another state and won’t be home for several weeks.”
“Several weeks?” Lily squawked. “Did you see the mess Henry made of my pot plants? If he’s here for that long, there’ll be nothing left of the yard!”
Bec shrugged. “Sorry, Lil. It goes with the territory when you have a pig.”
“You could always just take him back to Ashton’s.”
Bec’s eyes narrowed. “And you could just apologize.”
Lily recognized a stalemate when she saw one. “You’re incorrigible,” she muttered, taking her bowl of stew to the table. “Totally.”
“That’s me,” Bec agreed with a smile. “Oh, by the way, you weren’t the only one to head off the neighbors.”
“What do you mean?” Lily asked, her spoon hovering near her mouth.
“I saw Winifred earlier today.” Bec took a bite of stew. “She said she could smell something bad, like farm animals.”
Lily felt her heart constrict. Winifred Humphrey was their neighbor on the other side, and although the sweet elderly widow kept to herself more than Gloria did, she still didn’t hesitate to speak up when she noticed something in the neighborhood.
“What did you tell her?” she asked.
Bec chuckled. “I told her the neighbors behind us have been making a vegetable garden.” She paused. “It’s true. Haven’t you looked over the fence?”
“No. Why would I?”
“Because it could be useful as an excuse for Henry,” Bec explained. “I told Winifred that they’ve been putting fertilizer on their new garden. She seemed to accept that.”
Lily let out her breath. “Henry is going to be the death of me,” she declared. “I’m constantly on edge. What’s going to happen next?”
9
“What’s he doing here?” Lily glared at the back of Ashton’s head as he sat in the church pew a few rows ahead, an elderly woman by his side.
“I heard him say it’s his mother’s cousin,” Alisha whispered. “She’s visiting from interstate and wanted to go to church, so Ashton brought her here.”
“This isn’t his usual church,” Lily grumbled. “Why didn’t he take her there?”
“I guess she wanted to attend this one,” Alisha replied. “Just ignore him. You don’t have to talk to him if you don’t want to.”
After the service was over, Lily got trapped talking to Rachael Holmes, who wanted to know if she could help with an upcoming fundraiser. By the time she escaped, Ashton was nowhere to be seen and that was worse than seeing him right in front of her. Head down, she started for her car, hoping she could escape before he spotted her.
“Uh, are you going to watch where you’re going this time?”
The amusement in the familiar voice made Lily’s head snap up. Sure enough, Ashton was standing right in front of her. She’d probably have walked right into him if he hadn’t spoken, she thought furiously.
“Ashton,” she said, trying to sound civil. “I believe you’re standing in the middle of the path to the parking lot. Now would be a good time to move.”
“Perhaps.”
He grinned at her and it was more annoying than his words.
She took a deep breath and looked directly at him, hands on her hips. “Ashton, I would like to go to my car, please. I’ve asked nicely, please let me go.”
“Aww, you’re spoiling my fun,” he complained with a smile on his face. “I was kind of hoping you’d prove me right.”
“Prove you right?”
“You seem to have a habit of not watching where you’re going. I was waiting to see if you would bump into me again.”
