That afternoon, a guy turned up at Bella’s and Lisa immediately recognised him as her brother. Dean, from memory. He was older than them, but she’d seen him at a few sporting events.
Even if she hadn’t, she’d have to be blind not to notice they were related. He was a striking guy with chestnut-brown hair and vibrant green eyes, just like his sister.
Yes, she was still perving on her neighbour, despite her resolve to cut it out. A tiny piece of her hoped Dean didn’t have the know-how to fix her light.
It was Lisa who should be keeping her turned on. Stop it, Barnett!
He handed over a toddler looking adorable in green shorts and a camouflage T-shirt—ah, the kid she’d seen Bella looking after—then retrieved a stepladder and climbed up. Lisa’s gaze flicked from Bella bouncing the kid on her hip to what Dean was doing. He changed the bulb, then motioned to Bella.
Lisa held her breath praying it wouldn’t turn on. Her stomach plummeted when it flickered to life. Then, something fantastic happened. It blew. Lisa did a happy dance on the couch, then ducked down again.
She popped up just in time to see Dean shaking his head. Bella and Dean exchanged a few words, then went inside.
A few minutes later, the phone rang, and Lisa wandered into the kitchen to retrieve it. “Hello.”
“Hey,” Cherie said. “What are you doing?”
Spying on my neighbour. She kept the words to herself. It was something she was yet to tell Cherie, and she didn’t want to start now. Yes, they were friends, but Lisa kept her personal life close to her chest. “Just chilling. Why’s that?”
“It’s such a nice day, I was going to head to the beach. Wanna come?”
Boy, did she ever! Preferably with Bella on her knees and her face buried between Lisa’s thighs.
“Have you been running?”
“What?” She frowned. “Why?”
“Your breath hitched.”
Fuck. She cleared her throat. “Nah, I was just doing the vacuuming.” Did looking at Bella’s vacuum cleaner count? Probably not, but it made her feel better, like she wasn’t outright lying.
“So, what do you say to the beach?”
“Foxton or Himitangi?”
“Kai Iwi beach in Whanganui.”
“That’s an hour away.”
“Yeah, I know. But Alice loves it there.”
“Oh my God, you hooked up with her, didn’t you?” Lisa narrowed her eyes, even though Cherie couldn’t see her through the phone. “Did you call to rub it in my face?” She laughed, not the least bit upset.
“Never. But it was about as close as I could get to asking for your permission. You kind of said it would be okay.”
Her actual words had been you’re welcome to my leftovers, but Cherie didn’t need to hear that. She was doing the best she could in typical Cherie fashion, and Lisa couldn’t begrudge her.
“Have fun. No sex in the dunes.”
“No way. The beach and sex don’t mix.”
Lisa snorted. “Yeah, there are some places sand has no right to be.”
“Spoken like a trooper.”
She’d had sex once at the beach, parked up in her car with people milling around, beach towels blacking out the windows. It’d been risky, hot and awkward all at once. It’d been a one-time thing and just what she needed after Bella blew up her life and blew out of town.
And she was back to thinking about Bella. Now that she was living next door, that seemed to be all Lisa could think about.
Bella’s dismissal had hurt more than she cared to admit, and with Cherie seeing Alice, Lisa felt like she was going to be left behind. The next decade would roll by and before she knew it, it would be 2015 and she’d be thirty-five and still single.
Maybe she should get a cat or five and become a crazy cat lady. The problem with that was, she wasn’t particularly fond of cats. All they did was dig up her garden and poop in it.
After rubbing on a liberal amount of sunscreen and stripping down to as few clothes as possible without risk of being arrested for indecent exposure, Lisa grabbed her gardening gloves and headed for the door.
She caught a glimpse of herself as she strolled past the mirror in the hallway. Cargo shorts hung low on her hips, and her cut-off T-shirt revealed her toned arms and flat stomach. She didn’t have many curves to speak of, and that was okay; she preferred to admire them on other women…like Bella.
Shit, why couldn’t she get Bella out of her head? Because she was totally going outside, half-naked, in the hopes Bella would catch a glimpse of her through the fence palings.
It was a scorcher of a day, and after ten minutes of pulling weeds, Lisa’s scalp felt like it was on fire. She ducked inside, threw on a cap, and popped back out again.
A few minutes later, she heard a vehicle arrive next door. Doing her best to ignore whoever was visiting Bella, she focused on her garden, digging out weeds and sifting dirt through her hands.
The distant murmur of a male’s voice drew her attention. Acting as nonchalant as possible, she picked up the trowel and wandered over to the fence line. If anyone noticed her, she was simply pulling weeds.
Her blood boiled when her gaze landed on an electrician’s van, not because it was the opposition, but because it was a slap in the face.
Well, fuck it. This had to stop. Perhaps she should poke her head over the fence and thank Bella, or jump up and down flipping her the bird.
She did neither. She straightened her spine and strode inside. She didn’t need Bella in her life. That ship had sailed and sunk ten years ago.
Chapter 7
Bella shut Max in the living room before answering the door. He was still adjusting to the move, and she was yet to let him outside. She’d adopted the big grey Tom when he was eight weeks old, and he’d been her constant companion for the past three years.
She opened the door and was met by an elderly gentleman with a grandfatherly disposition. “Hi, thanks for coming out on a Sunday.”
“No problem. The name’s Marty.”
She needed her porch light fixed, and it hadn’t felt right to accept Lisa’s generous offer, not while there was so much hostility between them. If only Lisa would listen to her, but she’d made it clear she didn’t want to hear it. Bella was doing her best to accept that, and the last thing she needed was to be indebted to her.
When she saw movement on the other side of the fence, her stomach lurched. Knowing Lisa had probably seen she’d called in someone else made her feel like an ungrateful arse.
“What seems to be the problem?” Marty asked.
She pointed to the porch light. “It keeps blowing.”
“Well, you can always count on an electrician to get rid of your shorts.” He chuckled like it was the funniest joke in the world, but to Bella it sounded creepy.
“That’s not very appropriate.”
“My apologies. You look like the type of person who can appreciate a good joke. Never can tell, though. I got a punch in the nose once.” He gave her a playful wink, and she felt like a prude.
“Sorry. It’s been a long day.” She didn’t get to sleep until one in the morning and was up and out again by six.
“You don’t have to stand watch. I’ll call out once I’m done.”