“Oh, all the time,” she laughed. “My brother, especially. He’s always ragging on me to stop talking. He’s not exactly a morning person. He’s probably still in there sleeping. Snoring, more like. And when it gets really loud, that means no sleep for me. I usually end up playing white noise to drown him out. Which doesn’t always work, so then I put in noise-cancelling earbuds, but have you ever tried sleeping with those in?”
“Nope.”
“It really hurts your ears, and when you try to sleep on your side, they push into the cartilage. It’s so annoying.”
Finished with the front, I moved to the side window. This was fucking ridiculous. Who lived with this much ice all the time? I hadn’t noticed the past two days because I hadn’t left so early in the morning. Now, I was regretting my decision.
“So, how long are you in town for?”
“Hopefully, not more than today.”
“Oh, really? Have you seen all that the town has to offer? I don’t know many people who want to leave after they’ve taken a stroll down Main Street. Or visited the falls, for that matter. Murky Falls is such a beautiful place. Not that you can access it easily. You have to get permission from the owners to go there, but that’s never been a problem for me.”
“Because you know the family,” I mused.
“Exactly,” she laughed.
I only had two windows scraped, but that was really all I could tolerate. I’d never met a person who talked so much to someone before the sun was even fully up.
“Thanks for the scraper.” Giving it back, I didn’t stick around to find out if she would say anything else.
“Oh, no problem!” she shouted after I slammed my door. “You know, the back window isn’t scraped! You should really do something about that!”
I gave a slight wave, about to back out, when I saw my side mirrors were still iced over. There was no fucking way I was going out to talk to a person that damn bouncy at seven in the morning.
Rolling down my window, I craned my head out and backed up, ignoring the way she was yelling at me. Whatever she had to say, I didn’t want to hear it.
“Wait! Stop!” she screeched.
I hit the gas and slammed right into something behind me. Sighing, I shifted into park and flung the door open. “Just what I fucking need,” I grumbled, then stopped when I saw a cop get out of his car, eyeing me with disdain. “Fuck.”
After scoping out the damage to his cruiser, he strode over, his eyes immediately scanning my truck.
And the damn window I didn’t bother to scrape.
“Well, now I can see why you couldn’t see me driving down the road. Are you aware that scraping the ice from your windows allows you to see out of them?”
I was about to say something really stupid when the neighbor came bouncing up behind me, all full of smiles and sunshine.
“Hey, Remi! It’s such a nice morning, isn’t it?”
“Not particularly,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Oh, right!” she laughed, bonking her hand to her forehead like she hadn’t noticed the accident that occurred right in front of her. “Well, aside from that, I mean. The sun is rising and spring is in the air. It really is a wonderful day.”
Her eyes flicked to the damage on the cruiser. “Aside from that.”
“Josie, always in a good mood, I see.”
“Well, you have to be when the sun rises after winter,” she smiled. “How’s your momma?”
“Fine.”
“Oh, come on. I know she’s more than fine. I heard that she’s thinking of entering the Great American Pie Baking Contest this year. I know she’ll win. I don’t think I’ve ever had a pie so good as her caramel apple pie.”
“Well, she does bake a pretty mean pie,” he grinned, a dimple popping out pointed directly at her.
Were they flirting over pie?
