Page 85

He raises his glass to me, then spins on his heel and stalks off toward the grill.

A half hour later, we’re all seated outside on the patio, with plates full of food. The Windell’s have a large, farmhouse-style outdoor table. It’s perfect for seating large groups of people like this. Bradley and I sat at opposite ends, obviously not wanting to be near each other.

Sophie didn’t sit right next to me, which is probably good. Not sure I could keep my hands to myself if she was that close. But she’s sitting across from me. David is next to her and Brooks is next to me. Penny, Samantha and Oliver are seated in the middle of the group. Ted and Diane are next to them, helping their grandkids cut up their meat into small bite-sized pieces.

“So, David. How’s the neighbor situation? You guys best friends yet?” Brooks asks before taking a bite of his steak.

David rolls his eyes. “Not even close. The other evening, I opened my windows because there was a nice cool breeze. So there I was, minding my own business in my living room, reading The Journal of Accountancy, when I heard a meow.”

Sophie giggles. “A meow?”

“Yep. So I glanced over and saw her cat had crawled through my window and was sitting on my dining room table. It scared the shit out of me.”

“Language!” Diane scolds from the opposite end of the table.

David grimaces. “Sorry, Mom.” Then continues, “But it’s not a normal cat. That thing is huge. It looks more like a baby tiger, or a bobcat.”

Brooks and Sophie are about to fall out of their seats laughing.

“You’re so dramatic, David.” Sophie spits out between fits of laughter.

“I’m serious! It’s huge!” He holds his hands out about two feet apart. “It’s like this big!”

“There’s no way.” Brooks chuckles. “So what did you do?”

“I opened my front door and tried to shoo him out. But he just sat there with this look on his face like I was the one in his space.”

Sophie, who has just taken a sip of water, nearly spews it out of her mouth. Brooks and I are trying, unsuccessfully, not to laugh at his story. He seems genuinely upset about his neighbor’s cat invading his house.

“So I go over to my neighbor’s house, fuming. I rang her doorbell, probably more times than I needed to. And she flings the door open, looking annoyed with me. So I tell her to come get her dam—I mean—dang cat.”

At this point, the entire table is listening to David’s story. Even Bradley Vanderven looks amused, and I’ve never seen him genuinely smile.

“So she walks over to my house, waltzes inside like she owns the place, grabs her giant cat—who is seriously like half her size. Then walks back to her house. And right before she closed her front door, she grinned at me.”

The entire table erupts in laughter.

“It’s not funny,” David mutters.

Brooks raises one eyebrow at him. “You know, there’s a fine line between love and hate.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” David snaps back.

“I think you and your neighbor secretly have the hots for each other,” Brooks says nonchalantly, popping another bite of steak into his mouth.

“That’s absurd.” David’s jaw tightens.

“Next time, just kiss her and see what happens.” Brooks shrugs, as if it’s no big deal.

“A man should only kiss a woman when he actually likes her.” David snaps back.

Penny, who I didn’t even realize was still listening to the conversation, pipes up, drawing everyone’s attention. “My dad must really like Sophie then!” She beams.

Everyone’s eyes nearly bug out of their eye sockets as they stare between me and Sophie. She nearly chokes on the bite of steak she has in her mouth.

I laugh nervously and rub the back of my neck, which suddenly feels very hot. “Penny … what on earth are you talking about, sweetheart?”

Everyone’s eyes turn to my daughter, waiting expectantly for her response.