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“There’s so much light in here, I love it.” I said, tipping my head back.
“It would be good for my plants,” Nora mused, running her finger along the counter and the deep farmhouse sink.
Her lack of words spoke volumes. She liked this space.
We saw the three modest bedrooms, and the two-car garage. The backyard was beautiful, but the trees along the property looked old and in questionable health. Nora was in the process of kicking her foot against the base of one of the trees when my phone went off again.
Too curious for my own good, I pulled it free and checked my messages.
Davis: I get the feeling you might want to pretend I didn’t taste your cunt a few days ago. That’s fine. But I do need a few things delivered, so if you could get back to me somewhat soon, I’d appreciate it. I was hoping for these items by tonight.
He was right; Ididwant to pretend nothing happened between us, and I hated myself for giving him that power. But, if I admitted that somethinghadhappened then that meant there was something between us, and I wasn’t sure I was ready for that yet. Still, it bothered me that my parents’ financial situation seemed to depend on these stupid deliveries.
With a sigh of irritation, I texted him back.
Sorry, just house hunting today with my friend. I will be free in about an hour, depending on the order, it might take anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour to get it ready, then another forty-five to get up the mountain, you should have the order by six.
I reread the text. It seemed professional and non-flirtatious. I wanted to be sure he knew I wouldn’t be doing anything else with him, regardless of the deliveries. I wouldn’t be falling into any more of his random kissing schemes.
“This thing legit feels like it’s about to fall,” Nora yelled at me from her spot across the yard.
“Yeah, well, stop kicking it. If it does fall, I don’t want it to hit you.”
She waved me off, turned, and then froze in place, staring at something over the fence. I slowly moved my eyes to track where she was looking.
Next door was a man hammering away at something that looked like a greenhouse. I could only make out the back of him, so I had no idea who he was, but where Nora was standing, she could see his side profile.
Furrowing my brows as I tried to assess the threat, I was two seconds from yelling, asking who he was, when she suddenly bolted across the yard.
“Time to go!”
I turned with her, perplexed by her parting words, and then picked up the speed behind her.
“What’s going on?”
She didn’t answer me, just jogged back through the house, exited the front door like the house was on fire, and got into her car.
“Sorry, Vanessa, Nora isn’t feeling well. We’ll follow up!” I called while darting down the steps, more than a little concerned she might take off without me.
Once inside the car, Nora stared straight ahead, like nothing had happened.
“You ready to go?”
I stared at her, still heaving air. “Want to tell me what the hell just happened?”
She waited a few more seconds before starting the car and pulling away from the curb. “The next-door neighbor is Colson Hanes. He’s this guy that worked with my dad on a project two years ago.” She blushed a deep red before adding, “Pinterest guy.”
“Ohhhhh.” The lightbulb went off, and suddenly I was insanely invested. She’d created a fake wedding board for him; this must be a pretty serious crush.
“I met him by accident and thought he was kinda cute. He, however, wouldn’t give me the time of day…until I took a page out of your book.”
Oh no.
“What exactly does that mean?” I silently prayed that she hadn’t stalked him. There couldn’t be two of us; that would make us like a cult, right? How many people did it take to start one?
“I sort of started showing up on the work site just to see if he’d talk to me, see if I could get him to organically like me.”
She veered toward Main Street, her face reddening with every block.
