Next-Door Nemesis(89)

We stand arm in arm in front of the conveyer belt waiting for my suitcase to come through. Not surprisingly, the airport isn’t packed at this time of day. But of course, my suitcase is taking forever to come through.

“Nobody told Kimberly I’m back, right?” I ask the two women sandwiching me between them.

“Not even a clue.” Ruby could not be more pleased with herself and I can’t blame her. Pulling the wool over my mom’s eyes is a feat to be admired. “And your dad asked her to go with him to the garden center, so I think that should buy us a few hours.”

After all it took for me and Nate to come together in the first place, it didn’t feel right to barge back into his life by knocking on his door. He’s done so much for me, it’s my turn to do something for him.

I just really hope that he likes it . . . and that he hasn’t moved on yet.



* * *



? ? ?

I might’ve gone a little overboard.

“This. Is. Amazing!” Ashleigh can’t contain her excitement as she takes in the makeshift carnival once we’re all finished setting up.

Carnival games intermix with the giant inflatable slide and bounce house behind the clubhouse. I wanted to get a Ferris wheel to really re-create our date, but it was like five thousand dollars, so inflatables are going to have to cut it. The sun is beginning to set and the fairy lights we spent much too long hanging up sparkle overhead. I connected my playlist to the built-in speakers and the random playlist of all Nate’s favorite songs from when we were kids is playing in the background.

When I first came up with the idea, it seemed perfect. At the clubhouse where I first challenged him for HOA president, but with elements from our date to the fair. But as I look at it sprawled out in front of me, I worry I’ve done just a tad bit too much.

“You don’t think it’s too much?” I gnaw on my bottom lip. “I think maybe I took this rom-com-movie-writer thing too far.”

Maybe I only need two games instead of all six. People don’t do things like this in real life. He’s going to think I’m proposing and run for the hills.

“It’s a lot,” Ruby says and I feel my blood pressure spike. “But it’s not too much.”

“Are you sure?”

Ruby is my honest friend, so I know she’s not lying. But my nerves are beginning to ramp up and I don’t know how to calm myself down. Because even though Nate and I ended things on really good terms, there’s still the fact that I haven’t talked to him in a month.

Soon after I left, we sent each other a few text messages, but that was it.

He went back to his life. My mom always filled me in on who he went on his morning walks with, while Ashleigh kept me up-to-date on what he was planning as the HOA’s newly instated president. Ruby, despite her feelings for men in general, reached out to him to help her look for a condo. It was like he didn’t miss a beat settling back into his old life.

I, on the other hand, was a complete mess and I’m freaking out that instead of reading this grand gesture as romantic, it’s going to come off more as a crazy stalker he needs to escape from. Who’s to say he hasn’t met someone else and realized, just like he did with Elizabeth, that I wasn’t the person for him?

If I thought having my writing rejected hurt, I could be in for a world of pain.

“Stop it right now.” Ashleigh, not Ruby, grabs me by the shoulders. “You’re getting in your head and I don’t know what you’re telling yourself in order to get out of this, but you need to stop. Nate was head over heels for you and trust me when I say that doesn’t just go away in a month. Go pour yourself a glass of champagne and relax. Ruby and I will take care of the rest.”

I’m not used to Ashleigh being the truth teller, but I appreciate it.

I give them both a quick hug, then I do as they say.

I pour a glass of champagne for me and Nate, only taking small sips of mine because bubbly tends to go straight to my head, and just like the last time we were together, I want to remember every moment.

I’m fighting the urge to pull out my phone and check the time when I see Ruby and Ashleigh escorting a blindfolded Nate down the staircase leading to our carnival.

“You two better not be planning on throwing me in the pool,” he says. “I know how to swim. You won’t be able to take me out that easy.”

“I don’t know why you don’t trust us.” Ruby winks at me over his shoulder. “If this surprise kills you, you’ll come back from the afterlife to thank us.”

“I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing.” He’s starting to fidget beneath the blindfold. I silently motion for Ruby and Ashleigh to speed it up.

“Why don’t you see for yourself then?” Ashleigh asks, and knowing what’s about to happen, the butterflies in my stomach start a riot. “Take it off in three . . . two . . . one.”

Ruby and Ashleigh let go of his arms and take a step back. Even though I know they want to stay and watch, they turn and hurry away instead.

Have I mentioned before that I have the best friends?

The second prior to him pulling off the blindfold feels like an eternity. Every worst-case scenario runs through my head, but the second his hazel eyes meet mine, all my worries drift away.

It’s only been a month, but somehow, he’s even more handsome than he was before. His haircut is different—shorter, and I wonder what it will feel like to run my fingers through it. He’s a little bit tanner, probably from all the walks he’s taking without me, but mainly, it’s the way he’s looking at me, like I’m the most incredible sight in the entire world, that turns me upside down.