AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her eyes rise to meet mine and she smiles again. It’s clear she’s genuinely touched by the gift and it makes something in my heart swell.
“I’m so glad,” I reply, handing her the plant. “Mine, too.”
For a moment we stare at each other, and I can’t help but hope she’ll invite me inside. I know I’ve been here almost every day this week, but somehow I find myself wanting to spend even more time with Clarissa.
I imagine us setting up the fern in her newly renovated bathroom, choosing a spot together. Or maybe I’d just stand back and watch her choose the spot herself, insisting she’ll know the right place. Yes, that sounds better.
When she doesn’t say anything more, though, that fantasy quickly dissipates. Instead, the tension suddenly rising between us weighs heavily on me.
“Well, that’s all,” I say, tearing my eyes away from Clarissa’s piercing gaze. “I’ll leave you to it.”
With a perfunctory smile and a nod, I leave Clarissa clutching the fern and head down the porch.
“Thanks!” she calls unsteadily after me, and I wave briefly over my shoulder without really looking back. I don’t want her to see that I was hoping for more, especially since I haven’t even decided if Ishouldbe hoping for more.
Still, as I walk away I can’t help but feel a little buoyed that Clarissa wasn’t cavorting with a lover. That overheard conversation really got under my skin for a little while there. Even if that’s not a thought that should have any room in a purely platonic relationship between two neighbors.
I shake my head, casting a quick glance back at Clarissa’s porch just before it passes out of view. All I see is the flash of her slender back disappearing back into the house.
I decide I’ll just have to ask her where she put the fern the next time I see her since I can’t be there myself.
15
CLARISSA
The maidenhair fern stares at me from the bathroom’s windowsill, rippling softly in the breeze. I take care to spritz its leaves, touching the foliage gently and smiling.
But the moment passes quickly as I recall yesterday’s awkward encounter on the porch. My smile dissipates and instead, I let out a low groan, setting down the spray bottle beside the plant.
“Do you want to come inside?” I mutter to myself. It would have been so easy.
But Marshall Todd’s warning obviously got inside my head. Not to mention his massacred Australian accent.
I run over the disastrous meeting over and over again in my mind. The shocked look that must have come over my face when I opened the door to find Emile standing outside. The panicked lie that tumbled out of my lips when I introduced Marshall Todd as my cousin. And, of course, the Marshall’s terribly unconvincing backstory that was far too detailed and lasted far too long.
Could Emile have suspected something?I wonder, peering down at the plant again.
The plant.
He came over to offer me a thoughtful gift, and I as good as froze him out. I shake my head, running a hand through my hair and down the back of my neck.
Maybe I should invite him over now to make up for it. I walk out of the bathroom to peer toward his house through the living room window. I can’t see much through the scrub that grows along the property line, but I’m sure he’s there. I wonder if he’s tinkering away on his boat this morning. But something itches at the back of my mind. Something I don’t quite want to touch but find hard to ignore.
Emile didn’t show any obvious signs of suspicion yesterday, but the Marshall’s uncalled-for amateur theater performance yesterday is just the kind of thing that could land me in hot water. If Emile so much as suspects I’m lying about my so-called cousin, then he might start to question my whole backstory, and that could unravel everything.
I’ve already had to give up so much to be here — my career, my wellbeing, my whole life, in fact. I don’t want that to all come undone just because I’ve got the hots for the neighbor.
But I also can’t think of much worse than living an empty and solitary existence either. I want to make friends, and Emile is by far the closest thing I have to that right now. I don’t know if I want to push him away. Is my life worth saving if I’m not allowed to live it?
There’s something else though. Even if Emile doesn’t dig any deeper into my past, there’s always the chance my past could come and find him. Right now, I’m the one in danger of being targeted by the Holy Rollers, but as long as I’m alone and isolated, I’m the only target. That all changes the moment I get close to someone. If I pursue a friendship with Emile, I might be puttinghimin danger by extension.
I’m torn, and the stress of it starts to make me antsy. Without thinking, I change into my jogging clothes, hoping to burn off some of this nervous energy.
Of course, that means jogging right past Emile’s house though. Part of me hopes he’s not home, but the other part…
I pay attention to my feet hitting the pavement as I jog down my driveway and turn onto the sidewalk. For a moment it occurs to me that I could just jog past, even if he is there. Maybe just a nod and a wave and I’ll go on my way.
But the moment I cross the threshold between my house and his, I know that’s not going to happen. First of all, it would be completely rude of me, especially after everything Emile has done. Secondly, he’s working in the garden shirtless.
