The Neighbor Favor(53)

“Well, that’s a shame.” Iris started the car and glanced at Nick in her rearview mirror. “I hope you’re up for some good old Greene family fun.”

Nick smiled, but he scratched the back of his neck. Lily noticed that it was something he did fairly often. Maybe he was nervous. He’d have to summon all of his extroverting powers to survive the day. She was nervous for him to meet her family, and she didn’t know why. It wasn’t like he was her boyfriend or something.





The women in Lily’s family basically fawned over Nick. You would think she’d never brought a man home to meet them before! Well . . . actually, she hadn’t.

As soon as they walked into the backyard, Lily’s mom and aunts flocked to them like bees to pollen.

“Oh, who is this? Lily’s boyfriend?”

“What a handsome fella you are!”

“Oh, you smell so good! What kind of cologne is that? I need to buy it for my husband.”

“Ooh, he’s got muscles! Feel those biceps!”

“Lily, where have you been hiding this fine man?!”

Lily wished that the ground would open up and swallow her.

“This is Nick, our neighbor,” she explained, angling herself in front of her aunt Doreen, who was busy feeling up Nick’s arm. “We’re just friends.”

“It’s nice to meet y’all,” Nick said, flashing a charming smile.

The realization that there was no romantic entanglement between Lily and Nick dulled the excitement, but Lily knew her aunts would be gossiping about them later.

The Greene clan was spread out across the patio and backyard. Lily’s dad was on grill duty, and his old boom box was behind him, blasting the throwback R&B radio station. Lily’s cousins in her generation were all boys, which meant she and her sisters had teamed up to do a lot of fighting as kids. Now her cousins’ children ran in between the adults and some were jumping on the trampoline that Lily’s parents had bought for Calla.

“You made cupcakes for us? How sweet,” Dahlia said to Nick, ushering him inside the house. Lily followed behind with Violet, while Iris went to check on Calla at the trampoline.

“The cupcakes are good too, addictively so,” Violet said as they entered the kitchen. “He laced them with drugs.”

“What?” Dahlia turned to Nick, confused.

“Ma’am, I promise you that there are no drugs in the cupcakes,” Nick said quickly.

Lily noticed the sudden southern twang to Nick’s voice. His manners brought out his inner North Carolinian.

“Violet’s kidding,” Lily said, pinching her sister’s arm. Violet swatted at her and went to make a plate. Lily began to prepare a plate too. Her mouth watered at the baked macaroni and cheese and potato salad. But Nick paused, standing by her mom.

“Mrs. Greene, I want to thank you for inviting me to your home today,” he said. “It means a lot to me. I hope you have a wonderful birthday.”

Dahlia sported a delighted smile. “Thank you, Nick. Please help yourself to some food.”

As Dahlia passed Lily on her way outside, she paused and whispered, “Handsome and has manners? You sure you don’t want him to be your boyfriend?”

“Mom,” Lily groaned.

Dahlia giggled and looped her arm through Violet’s. “Where’s Big Time Eddy?”

“Mom.” Violet rolled her eyes.

Outside, Lily introduced Nick to her dad. Benjamin was a simple man of few words. He stood at the grill and lowered his sunglasses to get a better look at Nick. He grasped Nick’s hand in a firm shake.

“And what are you doing for work up there in New York?” he asked.

“I’m a writer, sir,” Nick said.

“So you like to read?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Lily’s a big reader.” He eyed Nick for another beat and then glanced at Lily. “Y’all enjoy yourselves.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Lily said, kissing him on the cheek.

“It was nice to meet you, sir,” Nick said.

Benjamin nodded. “Likewise.”

Lily and Nick found an empty table.

“I can’t tell if your dad likes me or not,” Nick admitted, brows creased in worry.

“Oh, he likes you. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have told you to enjoy yourself. You should see the way he used to ice out Violet’s boyfriends. Well, everyone except her on-and-off-again high school sweetheart, Xavier. He and Violet got into so much trouble together, but Xavier was so charming, he always found a way back into my parents’ good graces.”

Nick grinned. “What about Iris? Did he like her boyfriends?”

“Iris didn’t really date in high school. She was too focused on world domination. But he loved her husband, Terry. We all did.” She paused. “He died a couple years ago. Car accident.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Nick said softly.

“I think he would have liked you. Terry liked everyone. I guess he was the opposite of Iris in that way.”

She smiled, and Nick did too. Her pulse quickened as she stared at his upturned mouth, and she made herself look away, searching the backyard until she spotted Calla jumping on the trampoline with the other little cousins. Iris stood close by, glancing up from her phone every now and then to check on her daughter.