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“He’s playing poker with some of the guys. Maddie and I are actually headed over to Sophie’s after this for a girls' day.” MJ used to live with three of her best friends, but now that they’re all married they try to get together often. Conveniently, their husbands are all friends as well.
“That’s nice.”
I’m not one for small talk and neither is MJ, so our conversation dwindles after that. But as Maddie is opening every drawer in the apothecary cabinet I converted to storage for tea, MJ speaks up.
“You got a plant.” My spine stiffens.
The thing about my family is that our observant nature is in our blood. All three of my brothers and my sister are incredibly attentive to our surroundings. My dad is the same way, and my mom was too before she passed away. This means that rarely anything goes unnoticed.
“Yes, I did.”
“You told me you didn’t want any plants. We have plenty I could have given you.”
“We havea lotat home,” Maddie adds with a nod.
“I didn’t buy it.” I pause. “It was a gift … from my neighbor.”
MJ raises a dark eyebrow.
“The pretty blonde one?”
“Grayson told you about her,” I deadpan.
“Of course he did. He tells me everything, too much, actually. So, who is she?” She crosses her arms and eyes me.
“Her name is Juliette. She’s my neighbor. She has a dog.”
“That’s all?”
“Yes.”
“Can I meet her?” Maddie asks, reminding me that she’s listening to all of this.
“Maybe one day, but I wouldn’t count on it,” I say and she pokes her bottom lip out in response.
“I want to meet her dog, though. Mom and Dad won’t let me get a puppy.”
MJ sighs as if this has been a well-discussed topic in their home.
“We didn’t say no, we said we would talk about it.” MJ pulls her phone out of the pocket of her paint-splattered jeans. She’s an artist, and it’s rare she’s without at least a speck of paint on her person. “Sophie says she’s finishing up food. We should probably go.”
“Okay, thanks for showing us your house,” Maddie says and hugs me again. MJ nods to me, not being one for physical affection.
“Don’t forget to water your plant.” She gives me a look like she knows something more is going on before walking back through the house and leaving me behind.
But there’s nothing more going on. Just a neighborly gift from a woman I plan on seeing as little as possible. That’s all.
Chapter three
Juliette Monroe
“Icanbetherein a few hours to beat him up for you.” Caroline’s voice sounds through the earbud in my right ear. I’m walking Murphy around the lake and I always keep one ear free to listen to my surroundings.
The company I run sells digital wedding invitation templates, so that means a lot of my work day is spent with my eyes glued to my tablet screen while I craft new designs. So, I try to get outside at least once a day.
“It would take you more than a few hours to get here from California. And I don’t need you to beat him up, he wasn’t that bad. Also, there’s the fact that you have no fighting skills whatsoever.” I’ve just told Caroline about the trashcan incident and she has jumped–as usual–to physical violence as a solution.
Murphy buries his nose in a pile of orange leaves and I stop to let him sniff around. The lake and trees are bathed in golden light this evening. Sunset is my favorite time of day to walk the lake and when I time it just right I arrive back home before it’s too dark out to see. I’m not a fan of darkness, so I make sure I’m safely inside before it falls.
