“I was.” Vivien adjusted the heavy bag of food from her hip to balance the weight on her arms in front of her. She might have over-ordered, but when it came to entertaining, she would rather have too much food than not enough. “Or I thought I was. Rex had me ambushed by his lawyer.”
“Really?” Lorna dropped the curtain to look at her. “Why? I thought the divorce was long over.”
“It is. Rex is trying to get out of his alimony payments because he’s about to make partner, which comes with a raise.” Vivien pushed the front door closed with her foot and carried the bag toward the coffee table. She set it down before going to grab plates and napkins from the kitchen.
They’d only been roommates for about two weeks. Before then, Vivien had lived alone. Lorna had been staying in the studio apartment above the Warrick Theater, where she worked as the manager. The apartment came with the job, which would have been great except that the theater had been haunted by the demon they’d summoned while trying to talk to dead loved ones.
Oops.
Vivien was reasonably sure they’d sent the demon back to hell, but regardless, Lorna had moved out of the apartment.
Vivien found she enjoyed having company. The house was more space than she needed and had felt empty since she’d won the home in the divorce. She hated how they’d said it like that. Won the house, like it was some kind of carnival prize.
The house had not been changed in the seven years since her divorce. She’d left the décor exactly the same—art prints and boring vases, a couch that didn’t invite people to sit on it. Everything was perfectly matched, measured, and placed. And it was boring as hell. Rex hadn’t wanted a home. He wanted a house that could be photographed at a moment’s notice. He wanted an event venue near the beach to entertain business associates.
Vivien had told herself she’d left it that way as a reminder not to make the same mistake again. In truth, she worried she’d done it as a form of self-punishment for having married a man she didn’t love.
“So, if you were with Rex, where did you pick up the hottie?” Lorna asked, pulling back the curtain to check the driveway when Vivien returned from the kitchen. “Do you want me to hide in the guest room so you can be alone with him? I can pretend I’m not here.”
“Oh, crap, he’s not coming over here, is he?” She dropped the plates and napkins by the food bag.
“Maybe… Wait, no. He just picked up a plastic bottle out of the lawn. It looks like he’s going next door,” Lorna answered.
“Good,” Vivien said. “That’s our neighbor, Troy.”
“Our neighbor is cute,” Lorna said. “You never told me our neighbor was cute.”
“Because I thought you were all about dating William,” Vivien countered. “You know, William, Heather’s brother, the dreamboat who keeps sneaking over every night like I won’t notice when he triggers the motion sensors.”
Vivien gave a small laugh. She’d known William and Heather since middle school. Lorna was a new friend, but it felt like she’d known her just as long. She was glad William and Lorna were working out as a couple. Lorna had been hurt badly in the past, and William had never known the joy of having his entire world turned upside-down by a woman.
Vivien thought her triple-cheating ex won the asshole prize, but Lorna’s dead husband had taken it to the next level. Lorna had found out at the funeral that her husband of twenty years had been hiding another wife. With Lorna, he’d had three kids, a paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle, and a modest home. With Cheryl, he’d been rich. The bigamy was terrible enough, but it turned out Lorna was the second wife, not the first, and she’d not been entitled to anything but public humiliation.
No, that’s not true. Lorna had come out ahead. She was infinitely the better person, and she had her three kids. Fortunately by the time Glenn’s secret came out, they were all adults living on their own.
“Does it bother you?” Lorna released the curtain and turned to study her. Vivien was glad that Lorna couldn’t read her thoughts.
“That William sets off the motion sensors?” Vivien shrugged. “Not really. I only have them because we occasionally get drunk tourists trying to come through the back gate. I wake up just long enough to check it and ignore it.”
“I meant that William is over here all the time?” Lorna asked.
Vivien couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped her. She knew Lorna had concerns about Vivien and William’s closeness. Yes, the two of them were close—like annoying-brother and awesome-perfect-sister close. But there had been nothing romantic between them.
“I promise you, it doesn’t bother me,” Vivien said, mostly because she felt like Lorna needed to hear it. “I’m happy for both of you. I like the look I see on your face when he’s around. That kind of feeling is worth holding on to with both hands.”
“Just my face?” Lorna asked. Her husband had done a number on her. Vivien couldn’t blame the woman for her trust issues.
“His affection for you is so obvious that it’s actually a little embarrassing,” Vivien assured her.
Lorna visibly relaxed, and the corner of her lips curled up in a tiny smile.
“What are you doing out of bed? Shouldn’t you be resting?” Vivien asked.
“I feel better. Moving around seems to help. Plus, a woman can only watch so much television and read so many books.” She made a point of leaning to the side and bending her knees. “My hip is still a little sore from where I landed on it, but I can tell it’s getting better.”
It was good to see her friend on her feet. The demon had come after Lorna in two brutal attacks. The first had put her in the hospital. With the second, Lorna had refused to see a doctor for fear of more bills that she couldn’t afford.
Before Lorna had been discharged from Freewild Cove Hospital, Vivien had written a check for the bulk of the outstanding balance and ordered Nancy in accounts receivable to hide the payment when it came time to send the billing statement. Lorna had a lot of pride, and she didn’t need to know what Vivien had done for her.
Lorna could have healed herself by dispersing her pain over several people, but she refused to harm anyone else, and so she lived with her injuries. With her empathic gift, Vivien could sense how much pain her friend was in. She had tried to convince Lorna to transfer some of the pain to her, but Lorna had declined the offer.
“You never answered about the cute neighbor.” Lorna lowered herself onto one of the cream-colored couches and angled her body to take the pressure off her hip. “How is it you’re driving around with him?”
“I ran into him outside Rex’s office and saved him the cab fare home.” Vivien dismissed the teasing tone. “I hope you’re hungry. I bought tamales, tacos, taquitos, burritos, churros, street corn, all the food groups.”
“Yes, that sounds—” Lorna lifted her hand, touching the large, black stone ring on her forefinger as if sensing the same thing Vivien did. “Heather’s here.”
A few seconds later, the sound of Heather’s car pulled into the drive. Headlights flashed along the windowsill beneath the edge of the curtains even though it was still fairly light outside.