“Aunt Nikki, you wanna play tag with me and Mommy?” Lily asked.
Nicole gave me a dubious look before she planted a kiss on my daughter’s cheek.
“It’s almost dinnertime, so how about this? You go inside and get changed and then figure out what you want for dinner. Then, after dinner, we’ll run around for a bit. How does that sound?” Nicole asked.
“Yay! I’m going to go change!”
Lillian wiggled out of Nicole’s grasp before she held out her hand for my keys. I rolled my eyes and plopped them into her hand and then watched my daughter unlock the front door. From not even crawling to speaking in coherent sentences to being well beyond her years in occupational therapy, it was a miracle what Bradley and I were able to accomplish with her.
It pained me to know that he wouldn’t be here to see her off to her first day of kindergarten.
“How you holding up?” Nicole asked.
“It’s hard, going and seeing Bradley’s mom. He looked so much like her,” I said.
“It’s good for Lily to have a relationship with them, though.”
“I’d never keep her from them, Nikki. They’re family, and they adore Lily.”
“But I know it’s not easy on you. I wanna make sure you’re okay,” she said.
“Thanks. I appreciate it. But shouldn't you be at work?”
“Eh, figured I could use a day off. Tuesdays are my slowest days anyway. I wanted to make sure you guys got back in okay.”
“I love you,” I said. “You know that?”
“I know. Which is why we’re having wine tonight. Got it chilling in the fridge.”
“You're the best.”
I heard a door slam open, and I whipped my head around. My nosey neighbor was charging out of her house and making her way to mine. I furrowed my brow in confusion as her eyes swept over my car. I watched her nose crinkle almost in disgust, and part of me wanted to slap her.
Yes, my car was old. Yes, it was rusting on the undercarriage. But it was all I could afford after selling off everything to try and pay down as much of the mortgage on our house as I could.
When Bradley died, I had to take any job I could. Nicole hired me as a part-time employee until I could find something better, but no one wanted to hire a full-time mom with no work experience for any full-time position in this town. I sold off all I could, bought the cheapest car I trusted to haul my daughter around, and then threw everything else at our debt.
I knocked out most of it, but I still had forty thousand left on our mortgage to get rid of.
“Welcome back,” said the neighbor.
“Thank you,” I said.
“How was the drive?”
“It was fine.”
“In that car?” she asked.
“Yes. It gets me from point A to B safely. That’s all I can ask for.”
“Where’d you guys head off to?”
None of your damn business.
“Lily’s grandmother’s place.”
“Your mother or in-laws?” she asked.
“My in-laws. Technically.”
“You separated or something? I can sympathize. I’ve been separated twice.”
I looked over at Nicole, and she held her hands up. I watched her backtrack onto the porch and catch Lily just as she was heading out the door.
Nicole was trying to convince Lily to go inside with her so they could start cooking dinner, which I knew would result in Nicole simply ordering pizza.
“Or something,” I said.
I watched my neighbor nod her head as she took one last look at my car. She was new to the neighborhood. At least, new to me. I grew up here. My life with Bradley bounced me around to all sorts of places around the country.
Base life wasn’t the most glamorous thing, but we always talked about how we wanted to raise Lily near family. I grew up in Bend, Oregon, a town of ninety-one thousand people but the feel of small-town living. It was where I’d made my life. It was where I’d first met Bradley. It was the place I’d dreamed of getting back to whenever we wanted to settle our family down.
One more deployment.
All we had to do was get through one more deployment.
“You okay?”
My neighbor’s voice pulled me from my trance as I met her gaze.
“Oh yes I’m fine, thank you,” I said. “If you don’t mind, I’m gonna go inside and make up some dinner.”
“You mean order pizza.”
I eyed the woman carefully as I took a step back from her.
“Your friend stepped out on the porch and asked you what kind of pizza you wanted. Went back in when you didn’t answer. You okay?” she asked again.
“Uh-huh,” I said. “Well, then yes. Pizza. I should probably go.”
“Sure. One thing, though. Your car was humming down the street. You should probably get it looked at. It’s going to kick up a fuss with the neighborhood if you don’t.”
I had a feeling the only person who would kick up a fuss was her.
“Yeah. I’ll, uh, keep that in mind.”
I stumbled up the porch steps and shoved into the house. Nicole rushed to my side, locking the door behind me as Lily sat at the table. She was playing with her dolls and talking about how much pizza she was going to eat, and I was glad she was distracted.
I was still very unsettled by my neighbor’s intrusion.
“Okay, I love you. So I’m going to say this with all my heart. You need a damn security system up in the place, girl.”
“You gonna pay for it?” I asked.
“You need to protect yourself and your daughter. Look, I know you guys have only been back in town for a couple of months, but that woman isn’t right. She’s way too nosey for her own good. No wonder she’s had so many divorces. They probably couldn’t shut her up.”
I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want to argue about the security system in front of Lily. She didn’t need to hear anything that would cause her worry.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure,” I said, sighing.
“Why don’t you keep pursuing your bed and breakfast plans?” Nicole asked.
“Been a bit preoccupied lately,” I said.
“You know you can do it, even on your own. Right?”
“I honestly don’t know. Maybe, one day I will try again. But right now, there are more immediate things that need to be tended to.”
“Like?”
“Bills, Nicole. Those things I have to pay on a monthly basis.”
“Bradley would’ve wanted you to—”
I took a peek at Lily to make sure she wasn’t hearing our conversation by the front door.
“He always encouraged you to be independent. He loved that fire about you. Seeing you chained to a job you hated would break him inside,” Nicole said.
“He also understood a sense of duty and a need to provide for his family, Nikki. I’ve got to dig myself out from underneath this mortgage before I essentially take on another one for a bed and breakfast. It’s just going to take time.”
“But how much time? No offense, but we’re not getting any younger babe,” Nicole said.
“The point is, I’m working on it. Slowly, but it’s happening.”
Knowing that arguing with me was futile, Nicole switched tactics. “You should get the guy next door to give your nosey neighbor a stern talking to.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“While you were gone, a new guy moved in next door. I came by to check him out for you. Make sure he was all right.”
“You came over to see if he was sexy enough for you to waste your time on,” I said with a grin.
“That too. And by the way? It’s hard to see behind all that hair of his. He’s gruff and rugged. Got a beard and all that shit.”
“God forbid a man have body hair.”
“Body hair. Not facial hair. Clean that shit up. He could be a serial killer,” she said.
“Nicole. Lily’s at the table,” I said.
“Sorry. But, you should make friends with him and get him to talk to your neighbor. I bet she’d back down.”
“That intimidating?”
“Yes, which is another reason you should get a security system.”
“You want my neighbor to be an attack dog for my other neighbor while I guard myself against both of them?” I asked.
“A woman can never be too careful,” she said with a grin.
“So I take it you’ve dug into this guy with your super-secret spy skills?” I asked.