“That’ll be hard since she’s going to the back to school barbecue next week.”
I cringed. The back to school barbecue was a big party in our development to celebrate the end of summer and give kids one last hoorah before they headed back to school. It was also a way to welcome new residents, and I had stupidly volunteered to be on the welcoming committee.
“How do you know she’s going?”
Bo averted his gaze. “I told her about it.”
I let out a low growl. “And why would you do that, Bo?”
Bo shrugged. “Because she’s hot.”
When I rolled my eyes, the look on his face became more sincere. “She also has a daughter who is the same age as a bunch of kids in the neighborhood and I thought it would be nice to help her make some friends.” He reached out and squeezed my hand. “Plus, this will give you a chance for closure, which you desperately need. Never in my life have I been hung up on a girl like you are with this one. Well, at least not since Susan Delanco kissed me behind the bleachers in fifth grade, then told me I couldn’t be her boyfriend because we weren’t in the same math class.”
“Isn’t Susan Delanco the girl you told me you lost your virginity to after your junior prom?”
A smirk appeared on Bo’s face. “Exactly. Closure.”
“I really hope you’re not suggesting I have sex with her because that’s not happening.”
Bo’s face lit up. “That’s totally not where I was going with that, but it’s a great idea. Who needs to talk when you could have one last passion filled angry f—”
I put up my hand. “Absolutely not.”
Just the mention of sex with Kacey had my body in overdrive. My mind drifted to what it felt like to touch her. How it felt when she touched me. The way her every move was strong yet delicate.
The sound of Bo clearing his throat brought me back to reality. When I looked at him, he had a goofy smile on his face. “I feel like you could use some alone time.” He made an obscene gesture with his hand while wiggling his eyebrows.
“Ew. Stop.”
Bo held both hands in the air and stood from the bed, slowly backing away. “Hey, I’m just saying. You have to work out all of this frustration in one way or another. Just think about how much better Kacey Caldwell would be than your hand.”
I threw a pillow at him just as he dashed out my bedroom door and closed it behind him. I listened as he laughed all the way down the stairs until he left.
I shook my head, but knew he was right. Not about the sex, but about the closure. If I was going to make it through being her next-door neighbor, I had to find a way to get closure with Kacey.
***
I stood behind a table filled with community information pamphlets and event calendars and watched as Mr. Prince, the homeowners’ association president, made his way over to me. He was a short, graying man in his late seventies and had been the only president since the first houses were built twenty years ago. Every few years, someone new would try to take over, but he refused to back down. His wife was gone and his kids had moved away, so I think the community felt like family to him, and he worried about losing that.
I stepped around the table and gave him a big hug. “Mr. Prince, it’s so nice to see you.”
He nodded his head seriously, the way he always did, as if he were the president of the country, rather than just the neighborhood. He scanned the table before looking back at me. “Everything looks great. It turns out Tom won’t be around to help you today, but there’s only one house that sold over the last few months so you shouldn’t be too busy. I visited your new neighbors yesterday. Girl looks to be about your age. Seems nice. Not very talkative, but that’s okay. Her daughter makes up for that. Cutest little girl. Quite the chatterbox. Reminds me of my youngest granddaughter. Speak of the devil. Here they come.”
I turned to look in the direction of Mr. Prince’s stare, hoping my body’s reaction to Kacey would have simmered down in the past week of avoiding her. Maybe I could see her as just another neighbor.
That wasn’t the case though. Of course it wasn’t. Kacey had her long dark hair pulled into a ponytail and hidden underneath a hat. She was wearing jean shorts and a white V-neck T-shirt, that revealed the very top of her blue bikini. I relished the view, but cursed it at the same time. Why did I have to have such a hot ex? Why wasn’t I one of those people whose tastes had gotten better with time? Nope, my taste was spot-on when I fell for Kacey.
“Kacey. Bailey. It’s great to see you both,” Mr. Prince said cheerfully after they reached us.
Kacey gave him a polite smile. “It’s nice to see you too.” She looked toward me and her smile faltered. “Kari.”
That was it. Not even a ‘nice to see you’ this time around. I tried not to think about it too much and looked toward Bailey instead. “How’s it going, kiddo?”
Bailey shrugged and smiled sweetly at me. “Everything is copacetic here.”
Mr. Prince chuckled. “That’s a big word for such a little girl.”
“Let me guess. Was that a word of the day?” I asked as cheerfully as possible, trying to ignore the fact that Kacey had yet to take her eyes off of me.
“Sure was,” Bailey answered proudly. “In case you were wondering, it means all is well.”
This time, the smile that came to my face was sincere. “I’m very happy to hear that. Are you excited for school to start tomorrow?”
Bailey’s smile dropped for the first time since walking over to us, and she looked toward the ground. “I’m a little nervous. Mom says I’m going to love it here. She calls it a fresh start, but I’m worried about making friends.”
I knelt down so I was eye to eye with the little girl. “You’ll have no problem making friends. In fact, I would bet money that by the end of the day, you’re already running around and playing with the neighborhood kids.”
Bailey lifted an eyebrow as the grin returned to her face. “How much money?”
“Bailey Grace Caldwell, don’t—”
“Five dollars,” I said, interrupting Kacey’s words. I’m not sure why I was bent on befriending Bailey. Maybe it was because it was easier to face her than her mom. Or maybe part of me believed she was my key to closure. If I could see Kacey as Bailey’s mom, I’d no longer see her as the girl I fell in love with in college, because she clearly wasn’t that girl anymore.
Bailey stuck her hand out toward me and giggled as I shook it. “At the end of the day, I’m going to have five dollars or new friends. Either way I win.”
“You’re a very smart girl.”
Bailey nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah. I get that from my mom. She’s the smartest person I know.”
Kacey cleared her throat and finally tore her eyes away from me. “Come on, Bailey. I’m sure Miss Adelberg has her own friends to hang out with, and we get to explore the neighborhood with the welcoming committee.”
“Actually, I am the welcoming committee,” I said softly.
Kacey’s eyes snapped toward mine again, but I couldn’t read her thoughts. We stared at each other for a moment before Mr. Prince interrupted, oblivious to the tension palpating between the two of us. “You’re going to love this town. The college kids get a bit rowdy at times, but there are plenty of places where you can go to escape from them. I can tell you the best restaurants to go to if you want me to.”