Page 52 of Claimed By my Frenemy

When I go back inside, I head over to my computer. It’s time to upload the pictures of my place onto all the different places I’m listing it. I want to start taking reservations for August, even though it’s only the first week of June.

I keep glancing over my shoulder, though, at the wooden box and where it still rests on the kitchen counter. Finally, I get up and place the wooden box on a shelf in the living room. I don’t want to get rid of it, because what he did was sweet, but I also need to maintain some boundaries, healthy boundaries.

As the day goes on, I find myself checking my phone, half-expecting another message from Theo. But there’s nothing. I focus on updating the bed and breakfast’s webpage, adding the final touches and trying to look at the description like an outsider might.

Just as I’m finishing up, there’s a knock on the door. My heart leaps into my throat as I walk over, half-hoping and half-dreading that it’s Theo. But when I open the door, it’s not Theo standing there.

It’s just one of the neighbors from across the street. I’ve seen her off and on, out walking the dog, with a toddler in the front yard. Right now, the toddler is on her hip, and she’s got a tin can in her hands.

She passes over the container. “Cookies,” she says. “I think old-fashioned, welcome-to-the-neighborhood cookies are a good tradition to keep. I know you’ve been here a couple of weeks already, but I’ve been so busy keeping up with this one.”

I smile at the little girl on her hip. “Hey there! Well, thanks. I can always use some cookies.”

“I can’t help but notice you’ve been doing a lot of fixing up. Are you planning on reselling it?”

“No, actually, it’s going to be a bed and breakfast. Would you like a tour of all the newly renovated rooms?”

The woman looks at the toddler on her hip, then nods. “Sure, why not?”

I walk her through the house, showing off its best features. We end the tour in the sunroom. The little girl gets down and starts running around the room squealing. We both laugh at her.

“This is just perfect. We always have relatives wanting to come and stay with us, but our house is small. We just don’t have the room. Now, I can send them over here.”

I beam at the idea of customers. “I would love that.”

“Of course! It’s lovely, and I know they would love it.” The woman glances in the direction of the resort. “But that… I don’t know how I feel about that going up across the street from us. Two years ago, this street was quiet, but with that resort, people are going to be speeding down here. I’m worried that Isabel might get hurt.”

I watch the little girl’s reckless running, and I can understand her mom’s concern. “Well, there’s not much we can do about it. It’s being built now.”

The woman purses her lips. “I know. I tried talking to one of the men working on it and?—”

“Which one?”

The woman blinks and describes Steve. “Dark hair, slicked back like he’s some sort of multi-millionaire. He nodded and smiled, but I could tell that underneath, he didn’t really care what I thought. He cares about the money.”

I confess that they’ve been badgering me about buying my property despite my dream for what it could be. The woman clasps my arm, her face the picture of shock.

“Honey, you stand your ground. You tell them they can’t push you out of this home. It was your grandmother’s, right? I remember her, sweet lady.”

“You knew Grandma Mary?”

“Yes, we moved in five years ago. She was still living here then. She moved into an assisted care facility last year, right?”

“That’s right.” I’m barely able to get the words out, though, because I can’t believe this woman really knew my grandma.

“She was so sweet. Isabel and I used to come over and play once in a while. She loved watching Isabel learn to crawl, then walk. Now, she’s running. Mary was a wise, wise woman.”

I turn away so I can keep back the tears in my eyes. I don’t want to get too emotional, but this meeting feels like it was meant to be.

“Well, I’ll be right here, across the street. You let me know if you need anything. We women have to have each other’s backs.”

When the woman and her child leave, I realize I never got her name. But I’m not worried about that. We’ll have time for names later. I feel like I have a friend, an alliance in the neighborhood.

And right now, I could really use someone who has my back.

As I head back into the living room, my eyes stray to the box of mementos that Theo brought me. Did he think that would fix everything? It is tugging at my heart, but I’m not ready to move forward, not when I can’t trust that he cares about me more than his project.

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