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Which I fully understand.
“Hmm,” I answer, not really sure how to respond. Have I thought about Cora? Absolutely. Has she been a bit of a mystery? I didn’t think so. I had pegged her as just another rich and famous person who bought a house in the same town as her friends to escape from the spotlight and get some peace, but with each new nugget of information I get about her, I’m starting to think there’s a lot more to her than meets the eye.
“Well, I won’t keep you. I just wanted to say hello. If you’re up for it, when Clay gets back into town, maybe we can all get together for a cookout. I bought this new smoker, and I’m ready to show it off.”
“Sounds good. Just tell me when, and I’ll bring the cider.”
“Perfect.”
20
CORA
I’m avoiding my neighbor.
Why? Because he’s an idiot.
I thought we had been working toward a friendship of sorts, but noooo. What he did, I’m still seeing red just thinking about it. Not only did he hide one big fish, but he hid two! One in the front and one in the back. It took me forever to figure out how to get them out from under the porch, and don’t get me started on the bear scat I found at the bottom of my front steps. I know it’s bear scat because I looked it up on the internet.
What was he thinking putting fish out to rot like that?
It smelled so bad, and I swear, not only did they attract bears to my yard, but every fly in a five-mile radius. So gross.
Once the fish were disposed of, I immediately got on the phone and called Juliet. She and I both agreed that it was time to place the order for his next prank, so that’s what I did, and it’ll be shipped straight to his house. If he wants to play dirty, then I am so down for it, and the minute I hit order, that anger shifted to evil retribution. This prank will keep on giving, and I can’t wait to see his face.
Idiot.
Dumb, handsome idiot.
I might physically be avoiding him, but mentally, I’m not.
Every night since his brother’s party, I’ve lain in bed and replayed different scenes of us together. The way we were together, no one would ever have suspected that we weren’t an actual couple. He couldn’t keep his hands off me, and I couldn’t keep mine off him. Don’t get me wrong, we were the epitome of class and sophistication, but together, we worked effortlessly. I’ve never been to an event where I had a partner in crime, and as the night dragged on, I became more and more excited to take him home with me to New York. If I had any reservations about how he would fit in, they evaporated almost instantly.
Just like my hesitation about touching him.
His broad shoulders, strong muscular arms, and large hands were enough to keep me occupied, but toss in his handsome face, his dominance in a crowd like that, and him wrapped in a custom-tailored dark gray suit, and I could drool. Who am I kidding? I have drooled. Every. Night.
I’m not supposed to be this attracted to my neighbor.
“I was surprised you called and wanted to go to this today,” Juliet says, pulling me from my thoughts as we walk out of Bean There onto Main Street. A line of people waits to get a cup of coffee, and it makes me happy for Mrs. Wheeler. “Avery gets so nervous and avoids these crowds, even if Blair is with her.”
Blair is her personal security detail who always accompanies us when we travel.
“I know. But I do think she’s better than she used to be. For as long as I’ve known her, she feels comfortable in only a few places. Now, though, add in the fact that she’s pregnant and married to your brother and how the attention that comes her way has grown exponentially, she rarely leaves her house.”
I’ve heard people talk about me over the years and how I’m a loner, and I want to point at Avery and ask if they’ve taken a look at her. She never goes anywhere. Granted, she has her reasons, but she’s fine with it.
“Maybe we’ll find something for her today that we can run over to her house afterward.”
“Sounds good to me. She mentioned that Ash built the crib, and I’d like to see it.”
“Does it seem surreal to you that she’s having a baby?” I ask her as we round the corner and enter the crowd of the town fall festival.
“For me, it’s not her, it’s him. I can’t believe that Ash is having a baby. I’ve known him for two decades and have seen him at so many different phases of life. This one to me is crazy. Ash as a dad.”
“Just wait until it’s Emma and Clay.”
She groans.
