Thy Neighbor's Wife (10 page)

“Good boy. You’re such a good boy.” Jennifer lavished him

with attention while holding firmly to his collar and waited as Alex

approached, out of breath, disheveled, and very pissed off.

“Looks like you bought a house in the lower class neighbor-

hood, dear sister-in-law,” Dawn muttered under her breath. Jennifer

blanched at the remark, praying Alex hadn’t heard.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Alex said, putting her

hands on her knees, her lungs still heaving. “He jumped on the

storm door and I hadn’t latched it tightly. He was out before I even

had time to think.” She shook her head ruefully, the concern in her

eyes clearly stating that this was not funny, that she had been seri-

ously worried.

“I think we need to build him a little kennel with a doggie door

so you don’t have to keep dealing with this.”

Alex blinked at her. “You know, that’s not a bad idea.”

“Of course it isn’t.”

They smiled at each other.

The sudden clearing of a throat reminded them that they were

not alone. Jennifer closed her eyes briefly, a move that didn’t escape

Alex’s notice. She picked Kinsey up, not quite ready to give him up,

and turned to her guests. “Alex Foster, this is my sister-in-law,

Dawn Chambers, and my friend, Kayla Prince. Alex lives next

door.”

Alex, smiling, reached up and shook hands with each of them

over the railing. “Nice to meet you.”

“And this bad boy is Kinsey,” Jennifer grinned, affectionately

ruffling the dog’s fur.

“Don’t they have a leash law around here?” Dawn asked point-

edly.

Alex’s smiled tightly. “Yes. He got out accidentally.”

“Mm.”

Kayla grinned at Kinsey and leaned over the deck’s railing to

scratch his head. “He’s adorable.”

Alex smiled gratefully at her. “Well, there’s something not

quite right when he obeys the neighbor lady better than his

mommy.”

Jennifer laughed and made a comment about his good taste.

Dawn rolled her eyes.

Alex decided to take her leave, certain she couldn’t get away

from Dawn fast enough. The woman was making her very uncom-

fortable the way she kept looking at her. She gently took Kinsey

from Jennifer’s arms, meeting her blue eyes. “Thanks again,” she

Thy Neighbor’s Wife 51

said softly. “I owe you.” Looking up and raising her voice a bit, she

nodded. “Nice to meet you both. Enjoy your visit.”

Dawn had the decency to wait until Alex was out of earshot

before she commented, “Well. That was…interesting.” Her voice

dripped with censure and Jennifer felt the sudden urge to leap to

Alex’s defense.

“Alex is great. She’s a writer. She’s working on a novel.”

“A writer? Are you sure?” Dawn crinkled her brow as if trying

to place a small detail. “She looks so familiar…I’m sure I’ve seen

her before. Foster…Foster…”

“She’s very nice,” Jennifer reiterated.

“Oh my God!” Dawn exclaimed. “She’s the teacher!”

“What teacher?” Kayla and Jennifer asked simultaneously.

“The teacher from the kids’ school. The one who was fired a

couple months ago.”

“She was fired?” The question slipped out of Jennifer’s mouth

before she could catch it.

Dawn was absurdly pleased to have dirt on Jennifer’s new pal

and she took great pleasure in passing it on. “Apparently, she was

exchanging love notes with a student. A female student. A parent

brought the letters in to the principal. It was a scandal.”

Jennifer felt sick to her stomach. “I’m sure there was an expla-

nation,” she said, irritated at the glee in Dawn’s voice.

“Who knows? She was gone so fast nobody had a chance to ask

questions. Makes her seem awfully guilty, doesn’t it?”

Jennifer had the urge to change the subject. Dawn was enjoying

this far too much and Jennifer didn’t want to hear any more of her

opinions about Alex. “Shall we go back inside? I’ve got lunch ready

for us.” She ushered them through the door, pausing to glance back

in the direction of her neighbor. Something inside her just wouldn’t

allow her to believe Dawn’s story. There was more to it. She was

sure of it.

* * *

“Wow,” Alex commented aloud as she set Kinsey down once

they were safely inside the house and she had double-checked the

latch on the storm door. “What a bitch, huh, buddy? We should

introduce that one to Diane. Maybe we’d get lucky and they’d kill

each other.” She was sure the temperature was a good ten degrees

cooler on Jennifer’s deck that day.

She shook her head as she sat back down at the desk to pick up

where she had left off when Kinsey had decided to bolt. She

couldn’t understand how somebody as sweet and kind as Jennifer

could stand to be around such a shallow and rude person, relative

52 Georgia Beers

or not. Didn’t she see it? Didn’t she think she deserved better? Alex

stared off into space for a minute, pondering the train of thought.

“Huh,” she said to nobody, realization dawning on her. “What

if she doesn’t think she deserves better?” Kinsey sat by her chair,

cocking his head, his pointed ears perked like he was really listen-

ing.

Alex picked up a pen and jotted notes on the description of the

character she’d named Kristen. She took the idea of a young woman

who lacked the confidence and self-esteem she ought to have and

ran with it. She created a back story that told of Kristen’s domineer-

ing mother, her absentee father, and the importance of appearance

in regards to the family name and image. Poor Kristen could barely

think for herself, let alone choose a direction in life. She was a good

girl and did what she was told without question, and often without

any consideration of how she really felt. She managed to get away

to college, but something happened there—something near scandal-

ous—and she was forced to come home before the end of her second

semester. When her high school sweetheart, Raymond, proposed to

her, she knew she was supposed to say yes, so she did. The fact that

she was not in love with him never entered into things.

“So, this is it, huh? You’re really going to do it. You’re really

getting married.” Something in Meg’s tone seemed uneasy, but

Kristen tried to pretend she didn’t notice as they waited for the

bridal shop saleswoman. Meg knew her very well, and often Kristen

felt that her best friend could see right into her soul, could see

exactly what she was thinking. She pasted what she hoped was a

convincing smile onto her face.

“Raymond is a wonderful man. I’m very lucky, Meg.”

Meg squinted at her until Kristen shifted uncomfortably. “Do

you love him?”

“Of course I love him,” she responded indignantly.

“You know what I mean. Are you in love with him?”

Kristen opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came out and

she closed it again. The two friends held one another’s gaze for

what seemed like an eternity, the answer to the question sitting

between them, as obvious as an elephant in the room.

“Ms. Stoddard? We’re ready for you now.” The pixie-like sales-

girl smiled widely and gestured for them to follow her.

Alex blinked rapidly in the waning light as if awakening from a

trance. She was surprised by how dark the house had grown and

was shocked when she looked up at the clock on the wall. Four

hours had passed since she sat down to start writing. Kinsey was

curled up in a ball at the end of the couch, snoring softly and she

Thy Neighbor’s Wife 53

chuckled at the fact that he’d slept right through his usual feeding

time. Apparently, the early afternoon jog had tuckered the poor lit-

tle guy right out.

Eight pages registered on her laptop and she sat up straighter,

proud of such an accomplishment. She was usually only able to

work a couple hours at a time, totaling maybe three pages. But,

things were flowing and the character of Kristen was developing

nicely. She was beautiful and sad and Alex wanted to save her. She

hoped her readers would feel the same way. Before she was able to

pat herself on the back any more, her stomach growled loudly,

reminding her that she’d skipped lunch and it was time for dinner.

She stood up slowly, stretching and working out the kinks that

tended to settle in on her after several hours in the same position.

Kinsey lifted his head to regard her, looking irritated that she made

what little noise she did.

“Don’t look at me like that, mister. You’re still on my shit list.”

He yawned widely, telling her exactly how much he cared about

her shit list.

“You want some dinner?”

His ears perked up at that, as she knew they would. He slid

slowly off the couch, stretching as he did so, and followed her into

the kitchen to watch her pull some ingredients out of the cupboard

and refrigerator.

She heard a light tap at the side door just as she set Kinsey’s

bowl down. She smiled and Kinsey barked as they recognized Jen-

nifer and let her in.

“Hey there. Come on in.”

Jennifer glanced around the kitchen. “Have I interrupted your

dinner? I’m sorry. I can come back.” She made a move to the door,

but Alex grabbed her arm.

“No, no. Please. I was just going to make some grilled cheese.

Why don’t you join me?” She looked skeptical. “You wouldn’t want

me to eat dinner alone, would you? Besides, I promised that we’d

cook for you.”

That made Jennifer smile. “Well, I was going to eat alone, too,

and I was certainly not looking forward to it.”

“Great. Have a seat.”

Alex pulled out a stool from the breakfast bar and gestured for

Jennifer to sit there while she cooked. Jennifer had changed her

clothes and was now looking much more comfortable in old, faded

jeans and a white Gap T-shirt. “Lots of cheese or a little?”

“Are you kidding? Lots.”

“Girl after my own heart.” Alex got out the frying pan and

started constructing dinner.

“I wanted to apologize for my friends earlier.” Jennifer shifted

54 Georgia Beers

uncomfortably.

“Oh? What do mean?”

“Well, Dawn’s not always…as polite as she could be.”

“Really? I hadn’t noticed.”

“Liar.”

Alex laughed. “She certainly didn’t win Miss Congeniality.”

“No, I suppose not. I just wanted to tell you I’m sorry.”

“Mm. It’s okay. No big deal.” She put two slices of buttered

bread butter side down into the warm pan. “You said Dawn was

your sister-in-law?” she asked as she put a tall glass of milk in front

of Jennifer.

“She’s Eric’s sister.”

“And is she always a bitch on wheels to people she’s just met?”

Jennifer was quiet for a minute, before answering softly. “Not

always, no.” She chewed on her bottom lip and studied her hands.

Knowing she’d made her feel bad, Alex’s anger dissipated and

she decided to let it go, for the time being. “And how do you know

the other one? Kayla, was it?”

“Yeah. We went to school together.”

“High school or college?”

“Both. But she stayed in college and graduated. She works for

an ad agency in the city.”

She sounded both proud of Kayla and jealous, which Alex

thought was interesting. “Graphic design?”

“Sales.”

Alex nodded, flipping the sandwiches over and smiling at the

perfect golden brownness of the bread. “Is that the first time they’ve

seen your new place?”

“Yup.”

“What did they think?”

“Exactly what I thought they’d think,” Jennifer replied with a

bitter grimace.

“Meaning…?” Alex slid a plate with her sandwich in front of

her.

“Dawn said the living room was too casual.”

Alex made a face. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? It’s

a house on the lake, for Christ’s sake. Casual is the name of the

game.”

“It just means that it’s not what Dawn would have done with

it.”

“So? Why does it matter what Dawn thinks?”

They stared at one another as Jennifer absorbed the question,

chewing slowly, then swallowing.

Alex tried again. “It’s a terrific room, Jennifer. You did a great

job on it.”

Thy Neighbor’s Wife 55

She nodded and took another bite.

Alex put her elbows on the counter and looked Jennifer right in

the eye. “It’s your house. Who gives a shit what anybody else

thinks?”

“You really think it’s a terrific room?” Her voice sounded small

and Alex had to consciously keep herself from wrapping the smaller

woman in a big, warm hug.

“Absolutely. Dawn doesn’t know what the hell she’s talking

about.”

Jennifer smiled then, and Alex felt absurdly pleased with her-

self. “Thanks, Alex,” she said softly, taking another bite.

“Any time.”

Chapter

Seven

“I feel like I haven’t seen you in days.” Jennifer smiled across

the table at Eric.

“I know, baby. I’m sorry. Things have been insane at the

office.” Eric’s ruggedly handsome face was drawn and dark circles

were under his eyes.

“You look so tired. Are you getting enough sleep?”

“Of course I’m not. What do you think?” His voice was cooler