Page 10 of When You Least Expect It
“Saw that on a Hallmark card, did we?”
“Either that or one of those stupid jewelry commercials,” I snorted.
After shaking his head at me, he said, “Thank you, big brother.”
“Anytime, little brother.”
Chapter 5
Calista~
Though today hadn’t been that bad, I did have to remind the dickhead in charge at Quinten Make that my state credentials were enough to shut his plant down, making today turn out a little more eventful than I would have normally liked.
Nonetheless, my day was officially over, and I could feel that familiar sense of relief as I pulled up to my house.Now, while I had my own personal vehicle, it was secured safely in my garage as I left my work truck parked in my driveway, my car being more important to me than any work vehicle.The only problem with that was that, instead of entering my house through the garage, I had to get out of the truck, then use the front door to get inside, and that invited chitchat if any of my neighbors were out and about around the time that I got home.Still, I preferred idle bullshit to someone breaking into my car and stealing it.
Grabbing my purse and tote from the passenger side of the truck, I got out, clicked the key fob, then made my way to my mailbox before heading towards the front door, ready to greet Harvey and see how his day had gone.Granted, I had already visited him during my lunch hour, but that didn’t mean that I still didn’t care about the rest of his day.
However, as I approached my front door, the familiar sight and smell of rotting fruit and buzzing flies hit my eyeballs, and it took everything in me not to let out a frustrated scream, yelling the neighborhood down like a certified lunatic.Instead, I just stared at the basket, wondering at what point did this become harassment.Honestly, how could she not see all the damn flies?
I wasn’t sure how long I was standing in my walkway when I heard a voice speak to me from behind.“Are you okay?”
I turned to look at the newcomer, and when I did, I nearly swallowed my tongue.It was my new neighbor, and his face definitely matched his body.The man had to be an entire foot taller than me, and in addition to being tall, muscular, and having black hair, he also had a pair of green eyes that were nestled safely between his dark lashes, and his strong jaw, sharp cheekbones, and straight nose had him looking symmetrically perfect.In fact, he lookedtooperfect.
“I’m...I’m sorry?”I stammered when I finally found my voice.
“Well, I just happened to pull into my driveway, and I noticed that you seemed a bit frozen,” he said.“You’ve been kind of just standing here.”
It took me a second to get past his beauty to process what he’d said.“Oh, no...I just...”I let out a deep sigh.“It’s just the fruit again.”
His brows shot upwards at that.“The fruit?”
I gestured towards the basket.“Yeah, the fruit.”
“God in Heaven, what is that?”he asked as his head leaned forward to get a better look.
“It’s a fruit basket,” I answered as I looked back at the basket of rot, wondering if Louise was watching me right now.
