Page 10 of Faking it with my Off Limits Neighbor

Milly always does this. She has this skillful way of always managing to talk you around, no matter what it was or how busy you were. Her father, Mr. Heaton, always chuckled and called her a master manipulator. I can’t say I disagree with him. We’ve been friends for what feels like forever, and I’ve seen her in action many times.

“Fine,” I relent. There’s no point in doing anything else. She’ll just make me feel guilty somehow.

“Yay!” she cries. “Okay. Withering’s at 6:45 sharp.”

“I’ll see you there,” I say before hanging up.

It’s Thursday night, and Withering’s is packed with the local clientele. I went with smart casual and wore a pencil dress with heels. It’s too warm for a jacket, so I brought a light chiffon scarf.

Sheila, the hostess and a woman I’ve known since high school, greets me as I enter. “Hey, Charlie,” she says with a warm smile. “I haven’t seen you in a while.”

“It’s the price of success,” I joke. “More clients means less time.”

“Yes, but more money, right?” she counters.

“A girl’s gotta eat,” I banter back. “Speaking of eating, I’m meeting Milly for dinner. Is she here yet?”

“Oh, sure. Your party’s in the back.” Sheila points toward the back of the restaurant. It’s a small, intimate area with a few tables, affectionately known by all the locals as the snug.

I frown, and I’m about to ask her what party when someone comes in behind me and takes her attention. Still frowning, I begin to weave my way through the tables to get to where Sheila directed me. As I round the corner to the snug, my brow furrows even deeper.

“Charlie.” Milly waves at me from the far end of a large table.

It’s not actually a large table; clearly, all the smaller tables have been pushed together to form a large table. But that’s not the surprising—or should I say, confusing—part. What’s really baking my noodle is the fact that the snug is full of people I’ve known for years, and they’re all seated around the gathered tables.

As I pass each one, they all greet me.

“Hey, Charlie,” Chris Phillips says.

Mike Walden lifts a hand. “Good to see you, Charlie.”

“Hi, Charlie. How’s it going?” Dave Kilburn asks.

“Good, Dave, what about you?” I reply, stopping beside him.

Dave—a big burly guy who, once upon a time, used to be a muscular broad linebacker, but whose love of beer has changed his physique rather dramatically—shrugs and looks complacent. “Ah, you know. Same old, same old. You look great, though.” He smiles, his eyes flicking over my figure.

“You’re married,” I smirk, “remember?”

“Hey, no harm in looking,” he sniggers back.

I roll my eyes and give him a lopsided grin. He was always an opportunist with the girls. Not me, of course; I was too dorky to warrant his attention back then. Strange how the tables turn, isn’t it?

I scan my eyes over all those gathered, still wondering what on Earth is going on. Milly invited me to dinner to say sorry for not giving me a heads-up about Troy’s arrival. So why are all these people here?

When you live in a small town, one of two things happens. Either the people who grew up there stay put and set down roots to raise their own family, or they move away and never return. Every single person at this table, apart from two, still lives in the town. Which makes me wonder why those who moved away are here right now.

“Milly,” I say when I finally reach her. “What’s going on?”

She gives me a quick glance, and in her usual hyperactive way, says, “I will tell you, Charlie, but right now, I have to go and do something. Here. Take a seat.” She points to a chair on my left.

A second later, the whirlwind that is my best friend suddenly spins away and flies off in the direction I have just come from.

“Hi, Charlie,” Kate Black says as I sit down beside her. Kate and I were in the same class at school. She’s now settled down with her childhood sweetheart and about to add another addition to their family of four.

I glance down at her large, swollen belly. “It can’t be long now,” I say.

“No, thank heavens,” she sighs with a pleasant smile. “I’m at the stage where I just want it out of me.”

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