Neighborly Complications (Stories of Serendipity #1) (5 page)

“No problem. Do you want my number? In case you have any other problems?”

She shrugged, and he pulled a business card out of his wallet to give her. It was worn and dirty, like the business card of a man who’d bought too many cards, and carried them around too long before handing them out. But it had his cell number on it, and she put it in the pocket of her robe. “Max Houston?”

“Yeah.”

“So, I can call and say, ‘Houston, we have a problem?’”

He smiled, “Yeah. You can.”

“Okay, great. Thanks again, Max. I’ll see you around.” She ushered him out the door, still unsure of what had happened in her house, but feeling the uncontrollable urge to get out of it.

She started downtown, where all the antique shops were, and found a lovely kitchen table and chairs. She found a pair of wing backed chairs as well. As she went around town, arranging deliveries, she delighted in her independence. She paid too much for a sofa that wasn’t really all that old, but she needed a couch and this one was really pretty, a plush soft article that would be a nice accent piece for the colors she had planned in the living room. And people needed to sit somewhere, didn’t they? She had managed to move her own bedroom furniture, even though she hadn’t unpacked into it yet, but it was good furniture. She did buy another head and foot board for a guest room, even though she didn’t find mattresses she liked for the right price.

She continued her impromptu shopping spree, doing everything she could to keep her mind off her neighbor, and whoever was trying to scare her in her house.

Back at his own house, Max stalked to his bedroom and pounded on the wall with his fist.

For a woman he’d only known a week, he’d seen an awful lot of Claire. The image of her running down her stairs naked and wet was seared in his brain. The sound of her screams brought back horrific dreams he had spent years trying to bury, and was reluctant to dig back up.

Max’s past held him in a tight grip, at times it was asphyxiating, but lately the clasp had loosened a bit. Today had brought it back, scrabbling for purchase with Claire’s screams. What was it about her that he couldn’t shake?

He knew that Katherine would want him to move on, but the other party had to be willing, didn’t she? Claire definitely didn’t seem too willing.

Max decided he would quit with Claire. He needed to go out and get drunk, maybe bring home a strange woman, if he could find one.

What would Katherine think of him bringing home a stranger to fuck? Guilt stabbed his heart. Okay, no fucking. But drinking was definitely in the cards.

Anything to get Claire out of his head. After he finished this grant proposal, he would go tie one on. He would lock himself in his house until it was finished, and go out tomorrow night to celebrate.

But who the hell had been in her bathroom?

Not his problem.

C
laire wanted to move. She wasn’t cut out for this. The work was overwhelming her, and she hadn’t even started the hard stuff. Add to that the meddling hunk next door, and whoever was trying to scare her shitless, and she was really ready to give up on the whole b and b idea. Everywhere she looked was a job that needed to be done, and she was feeling a little overwhelmed. Not that she would admit it to anyone, but she was wondering what she had gotten herself into. This wasn’t really something she could learn to do by herself, just from watching a whole bunch of HGTV.

And the well…Claire had some seriously mixed emotions when she thought of the well. Yesterday, she’d gone to the garden center of the home improvement mega-store and bought some flowering trees and shrubs to plant in the bare spots she’d dug up in the garden. She brought them home, unloaded them, and come inside to eat. When she’d gone outside, they’d been moved. It took her forever to realize that someone, probably Max, had moved them to the side of the house. They were arranged in a ring around the well. When she’d looked in, she’d seen it was only about four feet deep. Somebody had cemented it up, since it wasn’t a functioning well anymore, and Max was probably drawing her attention to the fact that she had been a complete idiot to think she would die a horrible death falling into it.

Chagrined, she’d covered it with a fresh piece of plywood, moved her plants back where she wanted them, and vowed to think nasty thoughts about her meddling neighbor.

She was stripping wallpaper in the living room, marveling at how poorly the super-awesome spray that was supposed to make it peel off effortlessly worked, when a knock on her front door interrupted her.

Her heart immediately started pounding a staccato beat that took her breath away. She had to admit, she was scared after yesterday. She’d spent most of the night jumping at every sound the old house made. She’d gotten out of bed and double-checked the locks and windows too many times to count.

She didn’t really think it was Max. The look on his face when she’d said it was him was enough for her. His face was a mask of transparency, and when she’d accused him of sneaking into her bathroom to scare her, he’d been indignant, but she’d persisted in her accusations because if it was Max it was okay. Some saying about the enemy you know versus the one you didn’t played in her mind. It was a familiar power struggle that guys played to exert their dominance over the weaker sex. She was familiar with power struggles. A stranger trying to scare her was a different story altogether.

Looking through the peephole of the massive door, Claire was relieved to see Summer standing there, looking eager. She opened the door to see the woman standing in a pair of paint-splattered overalls with tiny sparkly barrettes in her platinum hair.

“The store’s not open today. I figured you could use some help with your project?” She looked hopeful, as if Claire would turn down free help. She was getting a little stir-crazy in the house by herself.

“Sure. I would love it!” She backed up and let Summer in, who looked around with awe in her eyes.

“Wow…I always forget how amazing this place is. You’ve really worked hard here. It’s looking good.” The reverence in her voice sent a tingle of pride up Claire’s spine.

“Thanks. It’s mostly been just elbow grease. I need to work myself up for the stuff that requires actual skill.”

“What are we working on today?” Summer asked.

“You like peeling wallpaper?”

“It’s my favorite thing ever.” Summer laughed and turned to a wall to start peeling. “So, how’ve you been?”

Claire debated whether or not to tell Summer about her visitor yesterday. On one hand, she didn’t want to sound crazy, or whiny. On the other hand, the more people that knew about the interloper, the more clues there would be when her body showed up strung up like a side of beef in her kitchen.

“Somebody came into the house yesterday and scared the bejesus out of me.”

Summer’s eyes widened and she stopped peeling to turn to Claire. “What?”

Claire told her about her shower incident, and then told her about the circle of boxes a few days prior. She neglected to mention the ring of plants around the well, because in her mind, that was Max’s way of making her feel stupid.

“It’s just weird. Nothing’s ever missing, and there’s no obvious threats, but somebody’s messing with me. I think it’s Max.”

Summer looked thoughtful, biting her lip before she spoke again. “Can I tell you something? You won’t think I’m nuts?”

Claire nodded, eager for insight into her predicament.

“I see things…I get it from my Nana. She saw things too.”

“Things?”

“Like stuff others can’t see. Like…ghosts and stuff.” Summer turned back to her wall and started peeling with more vigor.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Your house has been haunted by Edie for years,” Summer said quietly.

Claire stared at her dumbstruck. “What?”

Summer turned back to her. “Your uncle was Eddie, right?” Claire nodded. “Edie was his twin sister. They were friends with my Nana. They all grew up together. Well, until Edie died, then just your uncle and my Nana. But Edie never left.”

“Is she…a nice ghost?” Claire had never had any personal experience with ghosts, but she’d never been a disbeliever either. Having a ghost in the house was a little exciting, as long as it wasn’t going to eat her soul or anything. It also meant the hunky neighbor wasn’t a creepy stalker.

Summer nodded enthusiastically. “Oh, yes. According to Nana, she likes to play, and make scavenger hunts and stuff. They used to play with her a lot. Then Nana and Eddie got older, moved on with their lives. But Edie stayed little. When they quit playing with her, she sort of went into hiding. But she would come out occasionally and say hello.”

“Scavenger hunts?”

“Yeah, she would hide something and then leave clues for the kids to find.”

Claire thought about it for a minute. “That’s just…weird.” She finally said.

“Yeah, but it would make sense about the shower thing. And the boxes.” Summer went back to working on the wallpaper.

“But what does it mean?”

“I’ve lived next door my entire life. I’ve seen things over here. Lots of circles, Claire. It’s Edie. She draws circles on frosted windows when the weather gets cold. There are circles drawn in dust when you walk into the house. She likes circles.”

Claire honestly didn’t know what to think about that, but she had to admit that the idea of a friendly little girl ghost was much less scary than a maniacal serial killer.

They continued peeling wallpaper in companiable silence, while Claire digested what Summer had told her.

“How did she die?”

“Measles.”

“How awful for her family. Did everybody else see her too?”

Summer shook her head. “No. Eddie was her twin, and they had that twin bond thing going. Nana was just…special.”

“Have you seen her?”

Summer shook her head again. “No, but there’s something here. I can definitely feel her. It’s like somebody’s watching all the time.”

Claire nodded, having had that sensation several times over the past couple of weeks that she’d been here.

“Has Max been back over?” Summer changed the subject, probably being friendly or something. Claire actually welcomed the change in subject. She needed another woman’s take on that man.

She sighed heavily. “Yes.” Trying to figure out how to word what she said next, she started slowly. “Does he…?” She stopped peeling and turned to her new friend. “Does butt into your business?”

“What do you mean?”

“Does he boss you around? Tell you how to do stuff? Point out stuff you do wrong? Make you feel stupid?”

Summer laughed. “Wow.”

“What?”

“Well, no. He doesn’t.” Summer stopped peeling and looked at Claire. “He likes you, Claire. That’s why he does that. He’s trying to help, he just doesn’t know how anymore. He’s clumsy with women, out of practice. But the fact that he’s trying with you is a good sign.”

“He came over yesterday, when I was screaming and running around the house naked from being scared crapless in the shower.” Her voice got quieter. “He saw me naked.”

Summer sank to the floor in a giggle-fit. Claire had to admit, it did sound sort of funny.

“Stop. It was really embarrassing. I accused him of doing it.” She couldn’t stop the smile on her face at the memory. Max standing at eye-level with her boobs, trying desperately not to look at her in all her glory. A hot flush stole over her body.

“I haven’t seen him have a genuine interest in anyone since Katherine died.” Summer’s laugh stopped, but she still smiled warmly at Claire.

Laughter stilled in Claire’s throat. “Who’s Katherine?”

“It’s his story to tell, Claire. I’m not going to tell you the details, but I will say she was his wife. He’s a widower.” She stood again and grabbed a corner of paper that was peeling from the wall and gave an experimental tug. “And he’s been in a dark place a long time. I’m glad to see him crawling out of it.”

Claire was taken aback. He’d been married. And now his wife was dead. Wow. That was a lot of baggage.

She peeled paper in silence, lost in her thoughts.

In a weird way, it made sense. If what Summer said was true, and he wasn’t like this with other people, then it did mean he liked her, and was trying to protect her. To keep her safe.

A warm tingly feeling filled her bones and she suddenly felt lighter. The wallpaper came off the wall easier, and she started humming softly to herself, an old Etta James tune.

Max was beautiful, and her thoughts had been consumed by him since she’d moved here, whether she’d wanted it or not. She had dreamed some pretty hot scenarios involving her next-door neighbor.

Claire’s biggest problem though was that she didn’t
want
a relationship. She had moved to Serendipity specifically to start over. She was no longer a woman who needed to be defined by her relationships. She was her own woman, who could do things on her own. Without help from a man.

It shouldn’t matter how god-awful gorgeous the man was.

“Got you thinking, didn’t I?”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah.” Claire didn’t want Summer thinking she needed a man. “I don’t want a set-up, Summer. Please?”