The street was bare as Wynn drove to the end of the cul-de-sac. Mr. Pritchard was sitting on the porch in his chair, as usual, next to the one his wife used to occupy. She waved at Mr. P, but he didn’t acknowledge her. The unseasonably hot, rainy weather had become a glorious incubator for the weeds that had overtaken the flowerbed. Until this past year, their yard had always been pristine, the most beautiful on the block, and due to Mrs. Pritchard’s help, Wynn’s had been a close second. Once Mrs. P had retired from her elementary-school teaching position, she’d kept the flowers and the lawn meticulously groomed.
Not having any children of their own, Mrs. P had adopted her students and the people who lived in the neighborhood as family. Wynn missed Mrs. P’s friendly face. On most days when she came home, she and her husband would be out front to greet her with a pitcher of iced tea or at least throw her a wave as she drove up. Mrs. P seemed to make a special effort to be outside just as she came home. Their conversations always brightened her day.
She’d declined a few of their invitations for dinner over the years, but the many she’d accepted had been filled with great food and plenty of laughter. She’d also had a standing dinner date with Mrs. P on Mr. P’s bowling night, something she’d always looked forward to. After Mrs. P died, life was a struggle for everyone in the neighborhood, including Wynn. She’d invited Mr. P for dinner several times, and he’d accepted once or twice but eventually began declining each of her invitations and slowly slipped into the shell he kept himself isolated in now. Mr. P just wasn’t the same without Mrs. P. None of them were, really.
She hit the clicker and pulled into the garage before she walked down the driveway to get the mail. Junk, junk, bills, and a letter from her neighbor next door. What the fuck was that about? Couldn’t he just walk over and talk to her? What was up with people these days? She was so not in the mood for this today.
Your yard service was here at the crack of dawn again. If you don’t tell them to come after ten, I’m going to call the city and complain.
Your favorite neighbor, Jack.
The service had a schedule, so she didn’t decide when they came, and the city knew that about every lawn service and didn’t care as long as no one complained. After folding the letter and placing it neatly back into the envelope, she glanced up to see Jack staring at her from his porch, his chocolate Labrador retriever by his side. Most days she tossed his letters into the trash without a response, but what the hell? Why not top off this mega-shitty day with an argument?
She paced back toward the house. “If you’d stop letting your seventy-pound dog use my yard as a bathroom, I’d be more likely to take care of the noise issue.” She stopped halfway up the driveway, narrowed her eyes, and raised an eyebrow. “What in the world do you feed that animal?”
Jack waved a hand in front of him. “She’s a big dog, and she likes to explore.”
“That’s why they make leashes.” Buttercup ran across the lawn and nudged her head under Wynn’s hand. She stared straight ahead at her jackass of a neighbor and did her best to ignore the dog. Damn it. She squatted down in front of the huge, lovable, chocolate Lab and rubbed her ears. Trying to avoid the numerous sloppy kisses Buttercup gave was useless. She’d have to wash her face immediately when she got in the house. The dog was sweet as could be, but her neighbor was an astronomical asshole. If the ears of her own black Lab, Shadow, didn’t perk up every time she saw Buttercup, she’d have called animal control long ago. Until this point, she’d found it easier to just pay the lawn service an additional fee to clean up the mess.
“She hates leashes. I got her from the animal shelter last year. She’s a puppy-mill rescue, was chained up all the time.”
Her stomach clenched. She hadn’t known that. She stared into the dog’s beautiful brown eyes. She’d give Buttercup a pass on her bathroom habits, but Jack was getting nothing from her.
She kissed Buttercup on the nose. “I’ll look into getting the schedule changed,” she said as she stood. That would go on the bottom of her to-do list.
The shrill of Jack’s whistle pierced her ears, and Buttercup started running to him. “Gotta go. Work is calling.” He pointed to the headset around his neck.
“Right. Work,” she said as she hurried to her porch. He’d already taken too much of her time. Time she could be spending with her niece and nephew.
Dressed in a T-shirt and sweatpants, with a headset hanging around his neck, the guy looked like a gamer. In his mid-thirties, bloodshot eyes, uncombed hair, rubbing the shadow of a beard on his chin, he scored high on the nerd-cred scale. Probably stayed up all night playing in game forums. She couldn’t help but wonder what his gamer name was—Househoney, Eightoclock shadow, or just plain Jackass. He seemed to be home all the time, and Wynn rarely saw his wife anymore. She was probably out making the dollars to support his gaming habit. With that scenario in mind, she didn’t intend to change the lawn schedule. Nine o’clock was plenty late for mowing on a weekday. He just needed to get his lazy ass out of bed and find a job.
* * *
Carly felt Maryanne gently shaking her arm. “Don’t you need to get ready for dinner, dear?”
She pried open her eyes. “What?”
“I thought you and Jordan were going out tonight. Isn’t it your anniversary?”
She bolted forward and rubbed her face. “Oh my gosh. Yes. It was sort of our first date. How long was I out?” She’d dozed in the lounger, letting the sun warm her like a blanket.
“Not very long.” Maryanne smiled. “You were sleeping so peacefully, I didn’t want to wake you. She scrunched her forehead. “Did you have a rough day?”
She moved her legs to the side of the lounger as she tried to shake the sleepy haze. “Not rough, just different than I expected. Some couples aren’t meant to be together.”
Maryanne smiled slightly. “Exactly my point earlier.” She patted Carly’s leg. “Think about what I said.”
“I will.” She took in a deep breath. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately.” She stood, wrapped her towel around her, and walked toward the house.
Carly stopped in the kitchen to pour herself a glass of merlot before she continued through the hallway and into the bedroom to shower and get ready for dinner. She’d taken a couple sips of wine and had just set the wineglass on the bathroom counter when she heard the kids shouting outside. She glanced through the window of the bedroom and saw Wynn running to the pool and launching into the water with her dog, Shadow, soaring in after her. The kids quickly swam to her and grabbed hold, one hanging on each of her shoulders. Shadow circled them briefly before she swam to the steps and sat.
Carly smiled widely as happiness captured her. Watching Wynn with the kids stirred something deep inside her. Wynn was full of energy, just like them, and Carly immediately wanted to go outside and be part of the fun. She’d pondered more than once how things had changed between them after the fund-raiser last year. She still had no idea why Wynn had completely disappeared from her life until after she and Jordan were married. She hadn’t even come to the wedding, which Jordan had found disappointing.
The alarm on her phone rang, and she hit the snooze button. She couldn’t go back in the pool because she was out of time. The reservation she’d made for dinner was for seven o’clock, and she still had to shower and get ready. Any other day she’d have canceled and told Jordan to come here instead, and they’d spend the evening with her family. But she’d planned the whole night to perfection. She stood at the window and watched Wynn interact with the kids, standing in the shallow end while picking each one up and tossing them into the water like they were as light as beach balls. The strength in her arms made it look so easy. It had taken all Carly’s strength to pick up Julianna earlier. The kids loved Wynn and she loved them back, seeming totally in her element with them. Did Wynn ever think about having kids of her own? She seemed to be a natural with Julianna and Josh. Why didn’t Jordan have those same instincts?
Carly’s life would be so different now if she’d made another choice last year. She thought about what her mother-in-law had said earlier about her and Jordan’s lack of compatibility. A life with Wynn seemed so much more joyful than the one she was living now. The thought of Wynn’s arms around her, her lips pressed to hers, and body contact from head to toe floated through her mind.
Her phone alarm jolted her from her thoughts. How could she remember one kiss so vividly? She shook her head and cleared the visions from her mind. Unbidden notions like that should remain only in her dreams. Sadness swept over her as she walked into the bathroom, turned on the water, and took a gulp of wine. The woman she saw in the mirror wasn’t the woman she knew anymore. She was sad and unhappy with the way her life was now, not anything like she’d planned. She finished the rest of the wine before she peeled off her swimsuit and stepped into the shower.
The hot water felt good spraying across her shoulders. She turned around and let it wash her face, clearing her sad thoughts and replacing them with the excitement of the night ahead. It had been a while since she and Jordan had spent actual quality time together, and she’d been looking forward to it all week. The fact that it was a special night wasn’t important. She just needed some time to feel loved by Jordan without her job getting in the way. She’d always been attracted to women who knew what they wanted. She’d never thought being with someone who was so driven would be an issue, but it had certainly created a few obstacles for them to overcome.
Carly heard Jordan’s voice through the door and was happy that she’d been able to pick her up rather than meeting her at the restaurant. She stepped out of the shower, draped herself in a bath towel, and pulled open the door. She froze when her eyes locked with the electric-blue eyes staring back at her across the bedroom. The look of surprise she saw in them immediately turned to something else, and Carly fumbled with the towel beginning to come loose around her.
“Oh my God. I’m so sorry. I heard the voice through the door and thought you were Jordan.”
“No, no. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were in here. I thought you were in Jordan’s room.” Wynn’s eyes never left Carly’s as the phone slid from her ear.
“Right. This is your room.” She’d always used this room to change and had forgotten it had belonged to Wynn when she and Jordan were children.
“I’ll call you later,” Wynn said and ended the call she’d been on. “Well, technically it’s no one’s room now, but it was mine for a time.” Wynn smiled and let her eyes veer lower. “I’ll change in Jordan’s room.”
The royal-blue, two-piece sport swimsuit enhanced Wynn’s muscles perfectly. Heat rushed Carly as she stared at the water glistening all over Wynn’s face, shoulders, legs, belly. She almost couldn’t speak and had totally lost sight of the fact that she was standing in the bathroom doorway wearing only a towel. “Sure. Or I can go.”
“No.” Wynn swallowed hard and held up a hand as though afraid for Carly to come any closer. “You stay here.” She grabbed her bag from the bed and backed out of the room.
Immediately after the door closed, Carly’s phone chimed, a text from Jordan.
Looks like I’m going to be late.
What? I don’t want to drive into the city alone. Then we’ll have two cars to deal with.
Is Wynn there?
Yes. The uninterpretable look on Wynn’s face she’d seen a few moments ago flashed through her head.
Ask her to drive you. She can join us for dinner. It’s her birthday tomorrow.
She closed her eyes and let out a sigh as she dropped onto the bed. Jordan remembered Wynn’s birthday but had clearly forgotten it was their first date.
She typed a few angry responses and immediately erased them before she typed simply, Okay.
Then she tossed her phone onto the bed, not knowing what to do. Without thinking any longer, she stood, crossed the room to the door, and pulled it open, surprised to find Wynn still standing in the hallway. Once their eyes met, her decision was made. “Do you want to grab some dinner tonight?”
She couldn’t read the look on Wynn’s face. “I think Mom’s cooking.”
“I have reservations at the Waterbar. Jordan was supposed to pick me up, but she’s going to be late. If she makes it at all.” She shook her head. “Never mind.” Maybe she’d just stay and have dinner here.
Wynn stepped forward quickly. “I’d love…to have dinner with you.” She seemed to stumble over her words. “I mean, it’d be nice to catch up.”
“Okay.” An odd sense of excitement filled her. “The reservation is at seven. I’ll be ready in a half hour, give or take a few minutes.”
“Same.” Wynn smiled, backed up, and rushed down the hallway to Jordan’s room.
It seemed Carly’s evening hadn’t been ruined after all.