Thy Neighbor's Wife (5 page)

one eye.

“I was quick and to the point,” Jackie said.

“Hope you’re not like that in bed,” Alex teased.

“Funny.”

Alex took the bowl from Rita’s arms and led them into the

house. “As you know, I was staying here on and off, keeping an eye

on the place for Aunt Margie while she was away with Rafael. The

lease on my apartment was up at the end of February and Aunt

Margie suggested I just move my stuff in and live here indefinitely. I

didn’t want to, really, but after the fiasco at school, things were get-

ting tight money-wise so I took her up on it. Earlier this month, I

got a call from her. She said she was going to stay in Cancun with

Rafael.” She could still remember the giddiness in her aunt’s voice.

“Permanently?” Rita asked incredulously. “Aunt Margie’s

become a one-man woman?”

“Apparently.” Alex nodded with a smile. “She sounded so

happy about it. Anyway, she said that since I was in need of a place

and she didn’t really want to go through the hassle of getting a real-

tor and trying to sell, that I should just have it.”

“No way!” Rita shrieked.

“I know! I couldn’t believe it, either. I told her I’d be glad to

take care of selling it for her, but she said she knew how much I

loved it when I was growing up and if I wanted it, she wanted me to

have it.”

“Oh my God,” Rita said.

“I tried to argue with her,” she turned to Jackie, “but you know

what it’s like to take on Aunt Margie when she’s got an idea in her

head.”

“Yeah. Impossible. I spent enough time here as a kid to know

that.”

“Her lawyer contacted me with all the paperwork the next day,

the deed was transferred into my name, and that was that.”

“Free and clear?” Rita asked in disbelief as she unloaded some

of Hannah’s toys and got her settled on the floor with her crayons.

“Well, I have taxes and utilities, but nothing I can’t handle.”

The tone in Alex’s voice made it clear that she too was still in awe.

Jackie helped herself to a beer from the fridge. “What does

Leona think of all this?”

At the mention of her mother’s name, Alex rolled her eyes—her

usual reaction. “What do you think?”

Jackie smirked and swigged from her bottle.

“What?” Rita asked. Not hooking up with Jackie until after

Thy Neighbor’s Wife 23

college, she had missed the pleasure of growing up around Alex’s

mother.

“She’s pissed off and upset that Margie gave the house to Alex

and not her,” Jackie predicted.

Alex tapped her forefinger to the tip of her nose. “Bingo. That

phone call was fun. Not.”

“Awek, will you cuwwer wiff me?” Hannah’s sweet little voice

drifted up from the floor where she was spread out with her color-

ing books and crayons.

“I would love to color with you, baby.” Alex stretched out on

her stomach and picked up a burnt sienna crayon.

“You cuwwer dis one,” the toddler directed, pointing to the

opposite page.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Alex looked up and smiled at her friends. The house was set up

so that the kitchen looked across the small dining area and into the

living room. Rita had made herself at home near the sink, as she

always did, taking it upon herself to cut up different cheeses and

veggies and laying out several varieties of crackers. Jackie fondly

watched her daughter and best friend, sipped her beer as she leaned

against the counter that separated the kitchen from the dining area,

and propped her foot on one of the chairs.

“So, this writing thing.” She always referred to Alex’s writing

as such. “How’s that going?”

“Very well. I came up with what I think might really be a good

tale. Something new. Not the one I told you about before.” She

stopped and continued working on her picture.

“Yeah—?” Jackie prompted, making continuation motions with

her arm.

“A little mystery, a little romance…”

“And—?”

Alex took a big breath, trying to decide on how much to reveal.

“It’s about a guy who falls desperately in love with the new girl next

door. Problem is, she’s married.”

Jackie blinked at her for several seconds, waiting. Finally,

when it was clear Alex would say no more, she whined, “That’s it?

That’s all I get?”

“For now.” Alex smiled and went back to her picture as Jackie

grumbled on and on about how she was the best friend and she of

all people should get a full synopsis of the story and so on and so

forth. Alex kept coloring and smiling, noting Kinsey with amuse-

ment. He had settled next to Hannah, his snout resting possessively

on her butt as she colored. Her swinging feet occasionally bonked

him in the head, but he didn’t seem to mind. He was as enamored of

her as Alex was.

24 Georgia Beers

It wasn’t long before slamming car doors could be heard and

Kinsey jumped up to bark at the sound.

“More guests,” Jackie commented. “Whoa! What have we

here?”

Alex looked up and tried to follow Jackie’s gaze out the win-

dow, but couldn’t from her spot on the floor. She stood up, much to

Hannah’s annoyance.

Across the way, Jennifer was out on her deck working on some

flowerpots. She wore a tight, red, scoop-neck t-shirt and snug,

ripped jeans. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a loose, casual

ponytail and she looked good enough to eat. Alex swallowed hard,

wondering why she couldn’t quite catch her breath.

“That’s Jennifer. My new neighbor.”

“New neighbor?” Jackie smiled at her knowingly. Alex gri-

maced, hating the feeling that Jackie could see exactly what was in

her head. “Well, at least you’ll have some inspiration for the story,

hmm?”

Alex felt herself flush a deep, deep red.

* * *

The day had somehow managed to stay gorgeous, which was a

miracle in itself. Alex and her guests sat on the deck eating, drink-

ing, and shooting the breeze, soaking up the rays of sunshine and

planning the upcoming summer. In addition to Jackie and Rita,

there was Alex’s good friend Steve and his girlfriend, Shelley. At

the end of the deck on one of the lounges was Alex’s ex, Nikki, and

her girlfriend Diane. The atmosphere was one of fun and anticipa-

tion and laughter surrounded them.

Throughout the afternoon, out of the corner of her eye, Alex

kept unintentional track of Jennifer as she practically landscaped

her entire yard. She was sure Jackie caught her once or twice, but

wisely said nothing. She was also sure Jackie would use it against

her later.

“Hey, volleyball starts in a couple weeks, you know.” Steve was

one of Alex’s most cherished friends. The two of them had worked

together while in college making pizza for Vito’s in an attempt to

cover the unexpected costs of college life—like food and beer. They

had a lot in common and became instant buddies. It was during col-

lege that Alex had struggled with her sexuality, and when poor

Steve had pursued her romantically, she ran away screaming like the

last female left in a horror movie, leaving him dazed and confused.

Fortunately, she’d accepted things readily and Steve was the first

close friend to whom she had ever come out. He had always

remained sweet and supportive and she couldn’t imagine her life

Thy Neighbor’s Wife 25

without him. “We should get in a couple practices. Work out the

kinks.” His dark, unruly hair always looked like it needed to be cut

and he regularly tossed his head to the side, temporarily flinging his

bangs out of his eyes.

“Kinks?” Jackie teased. “Getting old, Stevie my boy?”

“I’m afraid so,” he responded with an easy smile. “I spend a lot

more time stretching these days.”

“Those early thirties are a killer,” Rita commented. At thirty-

nine she was the eldest of the group.

Alex smirked. “Apparently, Shelley’s not giving you enough of

a workout.”

“Hey!” Shelley protested from her spot at the table. She was a

petite blonde who had been with Steve for three years and simply

adored him. “I give him plenty of workouts. It’s not my fault he

can’t keep up any more.”

That earned Steve a couple of sympathetic pats on the shoulder

and many pitiful looks. He blushed, even though he knew Shelley

was just teasing him. He was so easy to embarrass.

“We still need a setter,” Alex said as she flipped a burger on the

grill. “I don’t think three days after giving birth is enough time for

Tina to come back, do you?”

Jackie chuckled at the mention of her work friend who had

served as their setter last year. “Are you kidding me? I talked to her

on the phone yesterday. She’s so in love with her son, we may never

see her again. You sure you don’t want to play, Di? We could use

you.”

Alex cringed, but hid it well by pretending to fuss with a

burger.

Diane turned her sunglassed face toward Jackie as she sat on

the lounge, her feet in Nikki’s lap. “Nah. I don’t think so.”

Kinsey wandered over to them, sniffing. Diane blatantly

pushed him away and he moved on to Nikki, who scratched his

head sweetly. “You’d be a great setter, honey,” she said to Diane,

smiling gently.

“Yeah, I know I would. Volleyball’s just not my thing; it never

has been. They wanted me to play in school, too, but I turned them

down. It’s kind of boring.”

Alex rolled her eyes. Yes, I can see how a game where you

don’t physically knock down your opponent would be boring for

you, she thought—and actually managed to keep herself from mut-

tering it out loud. She shot Jackie a look. Jackie’s return expression

told her to keep quiet, for Nikki’s sake.

She flipped another burger and tightly clenched her teeth.

26 Georgia Beers

* * *

Jennifer was having a hard time explaining to herself why she

felt such a pang in her stomach when she realized Alex was having

some sort of party. After all, she’d only known the woman for a

very short time, so it wasn’t like she expected to be invited. After a

long while of listening to the laughing and joking coming from the

deck as she worked on her plants, she decided she was simply envi-

ous of the good time they were having.

She thought about the get-togethers that she and Eric had

thrown in the past; there weren’t very many, aside from the house-

warming party they’d thrown when they’d moved into their house in

Pittsford. It had included some of their school friends and had been

a good time, but they had drifted from that group since. Eric’s job

required long hours and constant contact with the same group of

people in his office, so Jennifer thought it might be good to get to

know some of them on a more personal level. She decided to have a

sort of happy hour at their house, telling Eric to invite his col-

leagues from the office and their spouses to drop by after work one

Friday night. It had turned out to be one of the most boring affairs

she’d ever been a part of. The people were wooden to say the least,

talking only of money and their clients. The group was almost

unbelievably stereotypical. If she did her best to picture a room full

of snooty, rich people, she invariably came up with the exact group

that had occupied her home that night. It was a chillingly sterile

party. When the last guest had departed, she and Eric had stood in

the foyer, looking at each other in disbelief.

“Wow,” he’d said, eyes wide. “That was…frightening.”

“I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought so,” she’d

responded. “You work all day long with them?”

He nodded. “Thus, the term ‘frightening.’ Let’s not do that

again, okay?”

“You’ve got yourself a deal, babe.”

There were still occasions where they had to socialize with

Eric’s colleagues, but they hadn’t invited any of them over since

that night.

The party going on next door was obviously not like that at all,

and that’s where the pang of envy came from. They were laughing.

They laughed a lot. Jennifer managed to keep herself from glancing

often in their direction, but she had no trouble picking Alex’s rum-

bling chuckle out of the air; hers seemed to carry further than the

rest and was contagious. More than once, she caught herself smiling

at the sound of it.

Finding it difficult to look in from the outside as it were, she

concentrated on her flowers. She’d filled several flowerpots and

Thy Neighbor’s Wife 27

flower boxes with various annuals, adding a satisfying splash of

color to the other wise monochromatic deck. That morning, she had

taken Alex’s advice and had stood on the deck with her coffee, sur-

veying the entire area. Alex had been right: the air was fresh and

crisp, the lake smooth and quiet. It was incredibly peaceful and

she’d taken the opportunity to visualize what she wanted the deck

and yard to look like, deciding what colors would go where, how

she would arrange things, where she would dig. It was relaxing and

invigorating at the same time. Having a plan for the day was some-

thing that always got her going and helped her look forward to the