Laura sipped her coffee, absently listening to the rapid hammering of a woodpecker over in one of Cassidy Anderson’s trees. It was barely daylight, but cardinals were already at the feeders, their sharp, metallic calls piercing the air. Thick clouds drifted over, and she wondered if they might get rain this morning. The lawn could use it, that was for sure.
She stretched her legs out, mentally planning her day. She would take a few hours to write. Yeah, right. Then, her mother had wanted to get out of the house so they were going to meet Carla for lunch. Laura was having Mexican food withdrawals, and Carla was happy to recommend a place. On the way home, they would make a quick trip to the grocery store—her mother had requested an old-fashioned roast with potatoes and carrots for their Sunday dinner.
She had to admit, it had been fun cooking. When she lived alone, it wasn’t something she did often. Even though she complained to her mother that she didn’t like to cook, she had been enjoying it. And occasionally her mother would venture into the kitchen to help, if only to peel potatoes or chop veggies.
“Hey…you out there?”
Laura’s head popped up and she stared at the fence. “It’s not even seven. What are you doing up?”
“What? Do you know my sleep schedule?”
“Just assumed…since you have company and all.”
“Oh? How do you know I have company?”
Damn! “I heard voices.”
“Oh? Now you’re hearing voices? Have you seen a doctor for that?”
Laura rolled her eyes. “What do you want?”
“The yard looks nice. And the flowers.”
“Yeah…I’m just getting started with the flowers.”
“Did you keep the receipts?”
“I did.”
“Okay.” A pause. “So I’m having coffee.”
Laura raised her eyebrows. “Is that…not a good thing?”
Cassidy laughed. “I mean, I’m standing here with a cup of coffee. I’m assuming you have coffee too. I thought I’d pop over and pay you for the flowers and…and maybe discuss what else you’re going to do.”
“It’s…it’s seven.”
“And? You’re up. I’m up.”
“I have bedhead,” she said as she quickly ran a hand over her hair, trying to tame it.
Cassidy laughed. “So do I. I’ll be over in a second.”
Oh, crap. She was still in her sleep shirt. She was barefoot. Did she have time to run upstairs and put on a bra? No. But she shouldn’t care. This was her time. Her quiet time. She shouldn’t have to be concerned with neighbors popping over at daybreak!
She narrowed her eyes as Cassidy walked through the dew-dampened grass in flip-flops. She was dressed similarly in a T-shirt and loose-fitting cotton shorts. However, that’s where the similarities ended.
“You so do not have bedhead,” she accused.
“No? I just assumed. I haven’t looked in a mirror yet.” She smiled. “Or brushed my teeth.”
God…so this is how she looks when she gets out of bed? That is so not fair, she thought as she again ran a hand over her unruly hair.
Cassidy pointed at one of the patio chairs. “May I?”
Not only did she probably look a hot mess with her bedhead, but she’d apparently forgotten all her manners. She nodded. “Of course.”
“This patio is great. Inviting,” Cassidy said as she looked around. “Love all the flowers. Have you always had a green thumb?”
Laura shrugged. “I’m not sure. This is my first attempt at it.”
“Really?”
“My mother…well, flowers—plants—that was always her thing. She can’t do it anymore, so when I moved here…”
Cassidy nodded. “Oh, that’s right. You said your mother was an invalid.”
Laura felt herself blush. “Well, I may have exaggerated a bit. She uses a walker to get around, mostly. Wheelchair too.” At Cassidy’s raised eyebrows, she explained. “She was in a car accident three years ago. Frankie was driving.”
“Ah. Your stepfather.”
“Again…not my stepfather. I couldn’t stand the man.”
“Yeah, he was a bit on the obnoxious side. To be honest, I couldn’t get that privacy fence up fast enough.”
“I guessed he was the cause of it. But with the pool and all…I suppose you need one.”
Cassidy met her gaze and smiled. “Yes. Especially since I enjoy skinny-dipping.”
Laura tried. She really, really tried. But the blush started at her toes and crept up to her face anyway. She wanted to look away, mainly because she was embarrassed. Cassidy’s expression told her she knew Laura had seen the activity at the pool. Well, there was no sense in trying to deny it.
“You have the worst taste in women,” she blurted out.
Cassidy raised her eyebrows. “You think so?”
“So what happened to the anorexic blonde?”
Cassidy laughed. “You must mean Claudia. She…well, she wasn’t really my type. I ended that.”
“And the tall brunette?”
Cassidy frowned, then nodded. “Oh…Larson.”
“Interesting name. What happened with her?”
“Yeah. She was a little…well, she called me old…in so many words. But she was very complimentary about it.”
“She called you old, but it was a compliment?”
“She said I had a nice body for my age and that nothing was sagging yet.”
“Oh my God.”
Cassidy wiggled her eyebrows. “Well, I don’t really have enough to sag,” she said, pointing at her chest. “I was told that yesterday.”
Laura refused to stare at her breasts. And why should she? She’d seen her at the pool, naked. She had nice breasts. Small, but nice. At least from a distance. It wasn’t like she’d had her binoculars trained on her. And that was a damn shame. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her thighs. “So really…where do you find all these women? The only time I go out is when friends set me up on blind dates.”
Cassidy gave her a flirty smile. “What? Do you want to share?”
“God, no. Like I said, you have bad taste. I’m just wondering where you find them. They’re all thin, pretty…girlie. If you like that sort of thing. I don’t,” she added quickly.
“I meet them through mutual friends, at parties. Some blind dates too, which I hate.”
“Me too. They’re the worst.”
“Some are straight.”
“That’s creepy.”
Cassidy smiled. “They’re being adventurous.”
“They’re being stupid.”
“Okay, yeah, they are. But at least we got that out of the way. You know…I’m gay, you’re gay.”
“And you have horrible taste in women.”
Cassidy laughed again. “If you say so.” Laura watched her watch a male cardinal at the feeder. “The flowers you did for me look good.” Cassidy turned back to her. “What else do you have planned?”
“That small flowerbed was something I put in so you’d have some color when you came this weekend. Begonias. Nothing fancy. I think you need at least two more—larger ones— in the front.”
“Okay. What else?”
“I was thinking some sort of planters out by the pool would be nice, but I didn’t know how much you wanted to spend. Those large pots are quite expensive. I was thinking I could fill them with something that would flow over the sides, like portulacas—moss rose—or purslane or something like that. Those flowers will last all summer long.”
Cassidy waved her hand in the air. “Whatever you think. Flowers out by the pool would look good. How much do I owe you so far?”
“That little flowerbed, including the compost and mulch, was only about thirty bucks. I thought, though, since you’ve got stone on your house, you might want me to get some stone to line the bed with.”
Cassidy nodded. “Sure. Can you do that?”
“Hauling stone is a little more labor intensive than just mowing,” she said.
“So you want more money?”
Laura smiled. “I was thinking we could trade.”
Cassidy raised her eyebrows. “Trade?”
“Yes. I’ll do labor intensive—for the original agreed-upon price—if I can use your pool afterward.”
Cassidy met her gaze and grinned. “I think that’s a fair trade. You’re not going to drown, are you? Or slip and fall and sue me?”
Laura stood up. “I won’t drown. I won’t sue you. Can’t guarantee I won’t slip and fall.” She motioned to the house. “You want another cup of coffee?”
Cassidy hesitated. “I should probably get back. My company might be looking for me.”
“Oh, that’s right. The young blonde.”
Cassidy stood up too. “Yes. Becki. And unless you need the thirty bucks now, I’ll add it to whatever you do next week.”
“Sounds good.”
Cassidy nodded. “Well…then I guess I’ll see you later.”
“Enjoy the rest of your weekend.”
Cassidy sighed. “Yeah. You too.”
Laura watched her walk away, wondering at the heavy sigh. Well, not really wondering. The blonde she’d seen her with at the pool would make Laura sigh heavily too.
She went back in the house and poured another cup of coffee. Cassidy was nice, she decided. For that reason alone, she should ditch Frankie’s binoculars. And she should also stop spying on her when she knew Cassidy had company out at the pool. That would be the proper thing to do. In fact, she vowed right then and there that she would not peek out of her window later today when they were at the pool.
That is, of course, providing they weren’t naked. If they were, then all bets were off.
She rolled her eyes. She really needed to get out of the house.