Page 13 of Late Harvest

Remy took a huge swallow. This would hit her fast, so she needed to come up with dinner plans sooner rather than later. Or not drink the entire glass. Ha!—unlikely. Abstractedly, she sifted through her mail—most of it junk—as she sipped her wine, hoping for a new delivery menu that might pique her interest and her taste buds.

Activity on her phone caught her eye—an alert from her Ring doorbell app. “Who’s at the door, Chicane? Is it finally my delivery?”

She’d been expecting new work clogs and her notifications indicated they’d been delivered, but no package had been on her doorstep. This wasn’t an area where porch pirates would be an issue, but perhaps it was just misdelivered. She savored another sip of her bold, oaky Cabernet Sauvignon and peeked at the image.

“It’s Lila. That’s odd.” She checked on Chicane, who was happily mining for lost treasure in his digging box, and unlocked the door.

When she’d accepted the role at Evangelist last year, her intention had been to rent. But then the real estate agent proffered some information on a three-bedroom Cape Cod on a small cul-de-sac that was going up for private sale. Remy fell in love with it. She’d never owned a home. Even with he whose name she tried never to say or think. No, that house had been solely his. Of course. He’d never have given up that control.

“Ugh. What is with your mind wandering to forbidden places today, Arabella Remington?” she chastised aloud. She cleared away the bad memory, fixing her face into neutrality as she opened the door to her new neighbor.

Both Remy’s and Lila’s employment by Evangelist was the result of one of those ‘small world’ overlaps of mutual connections. Lila had been Remy’s favorite orthopedics nurse at Hopkins. A casual mid-shift chat between them revealed that Lila’s late brother, Luke, had been a resident during Remy’s tenure at Georgetown as an attending surgeon. His closest friend had been Brinder Desai—and Remy respected and liked both men. Lila’s glowing praise of Brinder, on top of Remy’s own experience with him during his medical training, had sealed the deal on Remy’s decision to leave Hopkins and join Evangelist.

On her last day of inpatient rounds in Hopkins’s orthopedics unit, Remy had teased Lila about hog-tying her and forcing her to come to Evangelist too. Remy would always have a place for the best damn nurse she’d ever witnessed. Calm, unflappable, confident, compassionate, but with a bubbly nature that instantly put her patients at ease, Lila was in a league of her own. Lila had demurred, but Remy told her to keep in touch.

Several months later, a newly divorced Lila contacted both Remy and Brinder looking for a clean slate. Adding to the kismet effect, Lila’s former sister-in-law, Tiercy—who she remained close with—lived in the area with her second husband and two children.

Small world indeed

Within weeks, Lila had signed an employment contract with Evangelist and had begun apartment hunting. In another fortuitous happenstance—or a cosmic hug, as Lila had called it—the house next to Remy became available.

“Lila, hi. What brings you here? Didn’t get enough of me today?”

“Never!” Lila laughed. “I brought over my sleeping bag so we can have a slumber party and spend all our time together.”

Remy’s laugh at Lila’s slumber party joke sounded as uncomfortable as she felt. She hesitated in the doorway not quite knowing how to respond. Finally, she went with a generic, “Would you like to come in?”

Clearly perceiving Remy’s discomposure, Lila waved a hand. “No, that’s ok. I just have a package for you. It was mistakenly delivered to my house.”

“My clogs—thank you. I’ve been waiting for these.”

“No problem.” Lila’s hazel eyes shone with warmth, but with it was an ever-present sadness that was new since arriving at Evangelist.

Remy, as a rule, didn’t engage in or tolerate gossip. But she’d heard Lila herself share with another nurse how difficult her divorce had been. Remy squelched a pang of something that hit like melancholy. Lila was one of the nicest, most down-to-earth people Remy had met in a long time. If she were the type of person to have close friends—which she wasn’t—someone like Lila would definitely make the list.

“I’ll just get out of your hair.” She motioned to Remy’s glass. “Looks like I’ve interrupted your dinner.”

Remy glanced at her stemless wine glass, realizing she’d consumed most of the healthy pour. And perhaps that was the culprit that loosened her tongue enough for the unexpected to fall out of her mouth.

“Not really. So far it’s been a liquid dinner. May I offer you a glass?”

“Dinner of champions,” Lila joked, shuffling awkwardly. “Thank you for the offer, but that’s not necessary.”

Remy was not one for socializing, and she hadn’t made a new friend in a very long time. Intentionally. Brinder was probably the closest to it, and it would still be a massive stretch to use the term. Still…some company might be nice. Maybe it would take her mind off…all of it. The past. Her frustrations at work.

Sebastian Wheatley.

A chittering, clicking sound over her shoulder told her Chicane was tired of being ignored. Bossy little fellow. Remy smiled fondly.

“Is that Chicane?” Lila looked past her shoulder toward the sound.

“The one and only.” Remy wondered if this was what proud parents felt like? In her estimation, Chicane was smarter and more loving than most humans Remy had met.

“What a cutie,” Lila smiled, but it didn’t quite meet her eyes. “Makes me miss my dog.”

If Remy were a different kind of person, she might have probed a bit. But that wasn’t her style. She wasn’t one to dig into people’s lives, just as she refused to let anyone dig into hers, lest they find things better left unexcavated.

“Want to meet him?”