Page 6 of When You Least Expect It
Calista~
Luckily, Harvey was in the backyard, enjoying his freedom, none the wiser that Abrielle was here.Granted, he didn’t get snooty when we were both here, but still, it was better not to take any chances.Maybe it was because he knew that Abrielle was a cat person, and so he could sense that from her.Whatever it was, I was hoping that a week was long enough for him to forget his last encounter with her.
“So, I can’t tell you how happy I am that you and Mitchell are winning against the forces of evil,” I told her as I sat across from her at the kitchen table.“I have to confess that I was betting against you.”
“Gee, thanks a lot,” she drawled out as she passed her tablet back to me.
“Hey, you guys were going up against our parents and his,” I pointed out.“I was sure that a small wedding wasn’t going to be possible.”
“Well, it wasn’t until Mitchell threatened them with eloping,” she admitted.“He was also serious, almost like he’s afraid that I might change my mind.”
I eyed her.‘Well, I wonder why he thinks that.”
“Shut it, woman,” she replied, unconcerned.“Just do your Maid-of-Honor duties and help me pick out some invitations.”
“You know, I think this is something that you’re supposed to do with your fiancé,” I said, looking at her tablet, nonetheless.
“I can tell you with absolute certainty that Mitchell couldn’t care less about the invitations,” she said as she stood up to do whatever she was going to do.“He just wants to get married.”
I grinned.“Which is the case with most grooms.”
Busy looking at my sister’s top ten invitation choices, I wasn’t paying any attention to her when she said, “Uhm, what’s that going on next door?”
Looking away from her third choice, I asked, ‘What?”
“Your new neighbor,” she said, and that had me curious as to what she was looking at.After all, with the way that my house was positioned, you couldn’t see my neighbors from my kitchen windows.
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the tall glass of water that’s talking to Mrs.Lewis,” she said.
Now, with the way that my house had been designed, there was a small window right before you reached the garage door, and from there, you could see my neighbors, but not very well.If they weren’t in the right line of sight, then you couldn’t see anything.
“What?”I repeated.“What do you mean?”
“Come look for yourself,” she said as she stepped away from the window, then making her way to the fridge.
Getting up, I walked over to the window, and I immediately noticed a tall man speaking with Mrs.Lewis, and I could only imagine what she was talking his ear off about.Mrs.Lewis liked historical re-enactments, and she wasn’t embarrassed to let everyone know it.
“I don’t know,” I muttered.“I mean, I saw a moving truck last week, but having learned my lesson, I ignored it and everything that was happening over there.”
“Is Louise still trying to get you to go to her prayer groups?”Abrielle asked, knowing the entire story of Louise Mackrell and how she spoke to God...directly.
“No,” I answered, still eyeing my new neighbor.“But I still come home to find random fruit baskets on my doorstep.”
“Which is considered a very friendly gesture in most countries,” she replied.
That got me to look back at her.“The fruit is always rotting with flies all over the place, Abrielle.And don’t get me started about the summer months.”
“It could be worse,” my sister quipped.“She could be leaving you spiritual pamphlets.”
Ignoring her, I turned back to the window, and Mrs.Lewis was still talking our new neighbor’s ear off.The only problem was that they were standing where I could barely make out what the man looked like.As Mrs.Lewis was front and center, all I could make out of the guy was that he was tall, had dark hair, and looked like he saw a gym regularly.
“It’s going to be a real shame if his face doesn’t match that body,” Abrielle remarked, her face squeezing in next to mine.
“Shh, woman,” I chided.“You’re engaged to be married, so you shouldn’t be checking out other men’s bodies.”
“You think if some toned, built, nubile thing walked past Mitchell that he’d close his eyes?”she huffed.“We’re engaged, not dead.”
