“Everything okay, Jace?” he asked, looking briefly at the woman and then to me.
I brought my attention to Shannon, who seemed speechless before she finally answered, “Yes, everything’s—”
Before she could finish, the angry, short woman exploded, “This is outrageous. It’s intimidation is what it is. Gary and I will be making an official complaint to the residents’ board.” With that, she turned and stomped into the house next door, and things began to make a little more sense. This was Shannon’snext door neighbour. The same one who’d been twitching her curtains every morning since I’d started taking Zara to school.
She slammed her door shut, and I cast Shannon a wide eyed look. “Who the hell is that ray of sunshine, and when exactly did you piss in her cornflakes?”
“My neighbour, unfortunately. It’s a shame you didn’t get to meet her husband, Gary. He’s a real delight, too,” she replied with no small amount of sarcasm. My lips twitched in amusement.
I glanced at Dixon, giving him the nod that he could go back to his car as I followed Shannon into her house. “What’s their deal? They been bothering you?”
She let out a sigh as we entered her kitchen, and Shannon walked to the coffee machine. She pulled out the reusable mug she’d given me before and started making me coffee on autopilot. I loved that she made it for me every day now. I always held off on having any at home because I preferred when Shannon made it for me. Yes, I had itbad.
While we waited, she brought her own mug to her lips, blowing gently over the steaming beverage. My gaze fixed on her lightly pursed mouth, almost mesmerised, and I shoved my hands deep into the pockets of my jeans to stop myself from reaching for her. Being around her was intoxicating … and torturous all at once.
“They’re annoying, but it’s nothing I can’t handle,” she said, her tone evasive just as the machine started humming loudly.
“Want me to have a word? Better yet, I’ll have Isla and Dixon do their good cop, bad cop routine. That’ll sort out Gary and Little Miss Sunshine.”
I kept my eyes trained on her lips as she took a sip from the mug, fighting the urge to lean closer, to touch her hand, to close the small distance between us. Every tiny movement of hersmade my chest tighten; every glance reminded me of how little control I had when she was around.
Shannon chuckled at my nickname for her neighbour, but I could tell by the faint indent between her eyebrows that the encounter had left her off balance. I had the irrational need to eliminate all her troubles, no matter how small.
“You don’t need to do that,” she said, handing me my coffee just as Zara bounced into the room, full of exuberant eight-year-old energy. “Morning, Dad! Let’s go. I can’t be late today. Our teacher is holding auditions for the nativity, and I’m trying out for the part of Melchior.”
I smiled. “Who’s that?”
“He’s one of the wise men, the one who brought gold, dummy,” she replied, full of sass, and I chuckled.
Shannon frowned. “Zara.”
Zara dipped her head, glancing at me with a look of chagrin. “Sorry, Dad.”
“It’s fine,” I said, then bent to whisper, “To be honest, I am kind of a dummy sometimes.”
“No, you’re not. You’re the smartest man in the world. Well, the second smartest. Granddad is the smartest because he knows magic.”
“I’ll tell him you said that. He’ll be delighted to hear it.”
Zara giggled while heading out the door, and I wanted to hold back and question Shannon a little more about the conflict with her neighbours, but there was no time. I was also keeping Zara after school today and taking her to visit her uncles at Elias’ apartment, so I wouldn’t see Shannon again until late evening.
Well, I could wait until then. Her neighbour had seemed rattled enough by Dixon’s and my appearance not to bother Shannon again for a while.
When I dropped Zara off at her school, I wished her good luck with her audition. She skipped away happily, joining herpals just inside the gates. I was about to pull away when a tall, slim woman appeared at my driver’s side window. She wore an expensive-looking puffer jacket with leggings, and her hair was up in a tidy ponytail. I vaguely recalled Shannon warning me about a nosy mother with a ponytail, but I couldn’t remember the name. Was it Leona? Lisa?
Rolling down my window, I cast her a mildly impatient look that asked,“What do you need, lady?”before she thrust her hand at me, a big smile plastered across her face.
“We haven’t had the chance to formally meet yet. I’m Laura Delamare, head of the parents’ association. I just wanted to introduce myself. You’re Zara’s father, right?”
“That’s right,” I replied, warily shaking with her through the open window. “Jace. Nice to meet you.”
“And you! My daughter, Kelly, is in the same class as Zara and she has nothing but wonderful things to say. If you ever want to set up a play date, I’d be happy to have you both over to my house.”
She smiled once again, this time in a weirdly sultry way that made me realise she was flirting. She wore a giant glittering engagement ring and wedding band on her ring finger, so she was obviously married. Then again, some people just liked to flirt. It gave them a little ego boost, but they didn’t really have any intention of doing anything about it.
“Well, that’d be up to Zara,” I told her firmly, but she already had her phone out.
“Can I get your number? That way we can arrange it when we have time in our schedules.”
