“I barely know her, and now she’s coming to dinner?” Sawyer kept her voice low and made surreptitious glances down the aisle. She could still see Jenna, but she was far away.
“I can’t think of a better way to get to know someone than to have them over for dinner, can you?” They moved on to the next table.
Sawyer shouldn’t have been surprised. This was how her mom operated, and it wasn’t for any other reason than she wanted to help. Telling her she was butting in or her opinions were unwelcome never went over well and always ended with her mom either in tears or feeling very insulted or hurt, or both. The best thing Sawyer could do now was let it be. Her mom meant well. She always had Sawyer’s best interests at heart, even when she went about things the absolutely one hundred percent worst way possible.
When she saw Jenna at home later, she’d just tell her it was totally okay to bow out, that she was under no obligation to come to dinner. No pressure at all.
“Why would I want to bow out?” Jenna asked, her key halfway into her front door, one of the bouquets of flowers she’d purchased earlier cradled in the crook of her arm.
Sawyer stood half in and half out of her own door and blinked at her. She must’ve been watching and waiting for Jenna, because the second she was on the porch, Sawyer’s door had been whipped open, startling her enough to make her jump. “I, um, it’s just my mom kind of ambushed you at the market this morning, so I wanted to let you know you could totally cancel, and I won’t be offended. At all.”
“Do youwantme to cancel?”
Sawyer’s brow furrowed adorably under her glasses. “Do I want—no. No, of course not. I just want you to know that there’s no obligation. My mom can be a bit of a bulldozer. But she means well. She just doesn’t get how she comes across, all pushy.”
Jenna twisted the key in the lock and turned her head to meet Sawyer’s uncertain gaze. She was nervous, Jenna could see that. Squirming on the inside, which she found amusing. “No, dinner sounds nice. I was planning to come.”
“Oh. Well, good. Okay then.”
Not the response Sawyer was expecting, that was clear, and Jenna rolled her lips in to keep from smiling like the Cheshire Cat. “Night,” she said, then let herself in and shut the door behind her. Then she leaned back against the door and laughed quietly. Why did seeing Sawyer uncomfortable give her a little jolt of adrenaline? She wasn’t proud of it, but she could admit it was true.
At the vibration of the door closing, Arnold jumped off the couch and ran to her, tail wagging like crazy, and she squatted down to lavish him with kisses and love.
Surprisingly, she found she’d like to learn about Sawyer Hall. Get to know her. Those were the facts of the matter, and with Sawyer’s mom there as a buffer, she might actually get some information.
Business had been decent today; weekends usually were. Her time at the market earlier had been her break, and Delia had held down the fort until she showed back up with the fresh flowers she’d bought, one bouquet for the shop and one for home. She took them into the kitchen, let Arnold out the back door, and fished in the cupboards for a vase. When she found one the right size, she set to trimming the stems and arranging the flowers so they looked pretty. The full vase went onto the center of the dining room table, and the flowers gave the room a lovely pop of fall colors.
Back in the kitchen, she made herself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, poured a glass of sparkling water, and took it all out onto the porch. It was cool and crisp but lovely out, and she knew she wouldn’t get a whole lot more days when she could sit outside, so she found the gate, set it up at the stairs, let Arnold in from the back, and stopped to give Wallace and Gromit kisses as she passed their cat tree where they lounged in the evening sunlight coming through the window. Then she grabbed a blanket off the couch, Arnold’s soft and cozy bed, and her book, and headed out to the porch.
Her intention had been to read, but she found herself simply watching the neighborhood go by as she ate her sandwich. The house across the street was the home of a young couple and their newborn. They’d only just taken theIt’s a Girl!sign down a couple weeks ago, and Jenna watched as they maneuvered the stroller down the front steps. They waved to her as they headed out for a walk, leaves crunching under the wheels. Next door, Mr. Sullivan was raking his front yard.He was elderly but kept himself in good shape by constantly moving, even if he was slow. She glanced at her own front yard and wondered if Uncle David was planning to have the leaves taken care of. She’d be willing to rake if he wanted her to. There weren’t a ton of leaves, but she knew in the next few weeks, they’d all come down.
She was about to pop the last bite of her sandwich into her mouth when she saw the big, brown, hopeful eyes watching her, and she chuckled softly. Biting it in two, she ate one piece and gave the other to Arnold, then scratched the top of his head as he chewed. “Good?”
She picked up her book and opened it when her phone buzzed an incoming text. Ronni.
Hey, bitch. How was biz?Ronni almost always checked in on Sunday nights, just to say hi and see how her day was. It always warmed Jenna a bit, the routine of it.
Great, she typed back.No complaints. How was your weekend?
The dots bounced. Then,Had an emergency with a client, but all ended up okay. A little stressful. On my second glass of wine.That was followed by a gif of a woman drinking out of a comically large wine glass.
Jenna laughed, then typed,Glad it ended up okay.Then she let go of a little gasp when she realized she had news.OMG, you’ll never guess what happened to me today.She typed up a paragraph about running into Sawyer and her mom at the market and how she’d been invited to dinner tomorrow night.How crazy is that?
The next thing she knew, her entire paragraph had been cut and pasted into the group thread, because apparently, Ronni thought Dakota needed to be in on this conversation.
WHAT???came Dakota’s immediate response, and Jenna couldn’t help but sit there laughing on her porch swing.
Yeah, and I think S is a little freaked, she typed.The second I got home, she popped her head out and told me I was free to “bow out” if I wanted.
This is amazing, better than reality TV, Dakota said.And there will be no bowing.
I want to be a fly on the wall, came Ronni’s next comment.
Jenna typed,At the very least, I’ll get some insight into my neighbor. Who better than to give me all the info than her MOM?
I’m really going to need you to start referring to her as your HOT neighbor, please.That was Ronni, and it was followed up with a flame emoji.For specificity.
Because I have so many neighbors?Jenna typed back with a grin.
