She scanned the crowd and the pool, trying to determine who their neighbor was. It had to have been one of the four women in the pool that morning. Surely to God not the anorexic blonde. No, not her. She spotted a woman—dark hair—making the rounds. She nodded. Yes, same woman from the pool, the one the blonde had been latched onto.

Tall, dark…handsome, almost. Certainly too handsome to be called pretty. Her dark hair was a little shorter than shoulder length, parted on the side. Oh…she’s got bangs. How cute. Not young, though. In her early forties, she guessed. She rolled her eyes. Forty was sounding younger and younger, wasn’t it? Should you still have bangs when you’re in your forties? She had a nice body, though, regardless of her age. Skimpy bikini top, white shorts. Tan legs…firm. Really nice legs. A runner, maybe? Definitely athletic. She made the return trip up the woman’s body, back up from her legs to her face, then gasped as the woman seemed to be looking right at her.

She froze in place, not even daring to breathe. Surely she couldn’t see her. Surely to God she couldn’t see her spying. Then the anorexic blonde approached, getting the attention of tall, dark and handsome. As soon as her head was turned, Laura literally dropped to the floor, below the windowsill.

“That was close,” she murmured. Then she smiled. “But kinda fun.”

Chapter Five

“So you survived the week?”

“That better be two loaded pizzas and I get to keep the leftovers.”

Carla leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “Yes. As you requested.” She pulled away. “So?”

“I survived. We’ve made a truce. We don’t talk about Frankie. I pretend he never existed and she pretends I loved him.”

“See? I knew you could do it.” Carla paused to look around. “You mowed. It looks good.”

Laura took the pizza boxes from her. “I’m a yard gal, yes. This week I have been cleaning out flowerbeds too.”

“You got Mom’s green thumb. I never was much into planting stuff.” She bent closer. “Where is she?” she whispered.

“Living room. TV. Go say hello.”

Laura went into the kitchen with the pizza. While the house had a separate dining room, they always used the small kitchen table for their meals. She put the pizza down, then pulled out three plates and put them on the table.

“What do you want to drink?” she called.

Carla came into the kitchen. “What have you done to our mother?”

“What are you talking about?”

“She’s actually in a good mood. Have you been spiking her drinks?”

Laura laughed. “I told you she’s been different.” She opened the fridge. “I’ve got beer.”

Carla shook her head. “No. Beer makes me sleepy. I’ll just have a Coke or something.”