Lisa chuckled. “She’ll be dating before you know it.”
He puffed out his chest. “The guys will have to get through me first.”
“Or girls,” Lisa said casually. It was no secret she was gay.
“Or girls,” he agreed.
Once they had all their tools, he slammed the back door of the van and led the way into the Plaza. The next few hours passed in a flurry of securing wires with cable ties and running new cables.
By ten o’clock, Lisa’s tongue was sticking to the roof of her mouth. Being in an enclosed space was hot, thirsty work.
She wiped a bead of sweat off her forehead. “I need a break.”
Paul looked at his watch. “Shit. I didn’t realise the time.” He tucked his crimpers into his tool belt and scuttled under a length of cable ladder, his back brushing the underside of the metal tray.
“Wanna go down?”
Unable to help herself, Lisa burst out laughing.
He gave her a what’d I say look? before his eyes went wide. “Oh my God, that is not what I meant.” Laughing, he shook his head. “Did anyone ever tell you, you have a filthy mind, Lisa Barnett?”
She shrugged. “Maybe.”
Grinning, he grabbed his water bottle and popped the top. “Looks like we’re staying up here.”
“Yep.” It would be cooler in the mall than the roof space, but she couldn’t be bothered crawling all the way back out.
She picked up her drink in its insulated cover, tipped her head back and emptied half the contents in one long pull. The icy cold water trickled down her throat and settled in her stomach, cooling her body temperature a few degrees.
Sitting cross-legged, Lisa grabbed a banana out of her Esky bag. Paul looked at the curved fruit pointedly.
Lisa aimed it at him like a gun. “Don’t.”
“Hey, don’t blame me.” He held up his hands in surrender. “You started with the innuendos.”
“Fine. Tell me more about Emma.”
“You seriously want to talk about dirty nappies and a screaming baby?”
“You make parenthood sound like so much fun.” She poked her tongue out with a lump of chewed-up banana on the end.
“Good God, it’s just like being at home.”
Grinning, she took another bite of her banana.
“Speaking of being at home,” Paul continued, “what was interesting about your weekend?”
“I told you. I went to the pub, played some pool, kicked arse and went home again.”
He tossed his apple core into his lunchbox and grabbed the electrical tape from his belt. “Now tell me what you’re not telling me.”
“I ran into my high school crush-turned-enemy.”
“Where? At the pub?” He wrapped tape around the wires he’d just connected.
“Nope. She moved in next door.”
His head shot up so fast he donked it on a low-hanging beam. He grimaced and rubbed the sore spot, eyeing her dubiously. “Are you fucking with me?”
“I hope you don’t kiss your baby with that potty mouth.”
“Stop deflecting.”
She let out a sigh, her amusement turning to angst. “No, true story. Right fucking next door.”
“Okay, that’s one each.” He held out a pinkie and she did the same.
One firm shake and they broke apart. Months ago, they’d made a pact to curb their language. Swearing wasn’t attractive, but sometimes no other word had the same impact.
“How much do you hate this woman?”
That was just it. Lisa didn’t hate her. But she hadn’t forgiven her either. “Hate’s a bit strong.”
“So was your reaction.” Paul gave her a kind smile. “Wanna tell me about it?”
“She’s not an it.”
“Oh, now you’re defending her.” He drew out the word. “I’m sensing a tragic love story.”
If only he knew how close it came to just that. “Nope, never got that far.”
She shook her head, the humiliation of that day coming back to her. She didn’t give a shit what Bella’s high school minions thought of her, but the pain of Bella throwing her under the bus had left bruises that were yet to heal.
Paul touched her arm. “Hey, I didn’t mean to be a dick. If you don’t want to talk about it, we can talk about dirty diapers.”
“They’re nappies.”
“Yeah, but dirty diapers has a better ring to it.”
“True, like Lisa the Lezzy.” Hearing the words, even from her own mouth, made her chest tight.
“Ouch.” He sat back on his heels, and Lisa opened up to him, like she always did. He didn’t say a word until she’d told him the entire story.
“And you haven’t seen her since…until yesterday?”
“Correct.” She exhaled, feeling exhausted.
The saying a problem shared is a problem halved didn’t apply in that instance. She didn’t feel lighter. The reality of going home and knowing Bella was right next door weighed heavily on her shoulders.
“What are you going to do now?”
“Nothing.” Lisa had no fucking clue what to do. Was it okay to swear in your head?
“You can’t do nothing. You’re going to have to face her.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” Lisa gritted her teeth, tamping down her frustration.
“I’m not the bad guy here.” Paul backed up, hands in the air.
“Sorry.” Lisa’s shoulders sagged. “To be honest, I don’t know what the f—”
Paul shot her a look, and she swallowed the word.
“I have no idea. Avoid her, I guess.”
“That’s mature.”
“That’s life in New Zealand. Avoiding your neighbours.”
“True.”
The majority of houses were fenced in like fortresses, and for the most part, people kept to themselves. She could count on one hand the number of times she’d spoken to her neighbour on the far side of the house. Perhaps avoiding Bella wouldn’t be so difficult after all.
With that happy thought, she put Bella out of her mind and got back to work.
Chapter 4
Over the following week, no matter how often Lisa cursed herself for obsessively watching her neighbour, she couldn’t stop. She felt possessed.
The crazy hours Bella kept were more than a little intriguing; the huge suitcases she carted to and from her car even more so. Not that Lisa was looking. Yeah, right.
Whatever Bella did for a living, she clearly didn’t work from nine to five, and what was with the bags?
Saturday night, Lisa hadn’t long been home from the pub when she heard the familiar rumble of Bella’s car. She threw her toothbrush back in the holder, bolted out to the living room and jumped up on the couch. Hating herself yet unable to stop, she peered through a gap in the drapes.
It was dark, too dark, and she could barely make out Bella’s silhouette. With the hours she kept, the stupid woman should have security lights.
Perhaps Lisa could offer her services. Oh, wait, she did that for friends, not for people who threw her to the wolves. What an idiot. Why was she wasting her time?
She dropped the curtain and hopped off the couch. A light came on next door, filtering through the drapes.