her garage, he told her to contact pest control. When she texted about a sticking door, he sent her the number of a handyman.
But Vanessa didn’t stop. She simply stopped pretending.
“She actually said that?”
She leaned over the fence whenever Irvin was outside.
She brought homemade cookies and said she’d made too many. She found excuses to touch his arm during conversations, and every time she did, he stepped away.
Then she announced a big backyard barbecue for the neighborhood.
Irvin received an invitation.
I didn’t.
She announced a big backyard barbecue
He showed it to me at the kitchen counter and frowned. “I’m not going.”
I looked through the window toward Vanessa’s house. Then I thought about the jar, the shelf, the lightbulbs, and every helpless little emergency she’d invented to borrow my husband.
An idea clicked into place.
“Actually,” I said, “I think you should.”
Irvin
stared at me. “Why?”
“I’m not going.”
“Trust me.”
He studied my face for a moment, then slowly smiled. “Should I be worried?”
“Not about me.”
***
The next afternoon, he went to Vanessa’s barbecue alone.
I waited half an hour. Then I walked next door uninvited, carrying a large gift box in both arms.
“Should I be worried?”
Vanessa’s yard was crowded with neighbors holding paper plates and plastic cups. Conversations slowed as I came through the gate. Irvin saw me first and had to hide a smile.
Vanessa didn’t bother hiding anything.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I brought the hostess a gift.” I set the box on the patio table in front of her. “Go ahead. Open it.”
Vanessa didn’t bother hiding anything.
Half the neighborhood was watching by then.
