“She wasn’t yours, either,” said Marcia with a smirk as she held up her left hand, on which glittered a gold wedding band. The two had gotten married this past summer, happy to be in a city that celebrated freedom and let them live their lives exactly as they wanted to.
“And I wouldn’t have it any other way,” said Peggy, lightly kissing her wife’s cheek. Turning to Lulu, she asked, “Where you off to?”
“Just out for a walk. It’s too nice to stay inside.”
“Definitely. Tomorrow’s supposed to be even nicer. Why don’t you join us out back for dinner then? We’re going to have one final grill-out of the fall. The couple from the first floor is coming. It’ll be a BYOM party.”
“BYOM?”
“Bring your own meat.”
Promising she would join them the next day, Lulu said goodbye to the couple and headed outside. She turned right at the sidewalk, as usual. Then she hesitated. Chaz’s house was so close, she’d have to walk right past it. He might be sleeping off his travel jet lag. Or he might be sleeping because he’d been up all night wondering about the woman who’d run out on him. Or he might be wide awake, plotting his revenge.
Hell. It was worth taking a different route today.
She spun around, ready to do exactly that, when a male voice called out, “Hey, you! Wait a minute—stop!”
There was no denying that voice, or the demanding tone.
It was Chaz.
Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she turned around to face the music. There was no point delaying the inevitable. She’d have to see him sometime and part of her just wanted to get it over with and stop worrying about it.
Another part was wondering how, exactly, she would react if he recognized her not as his childhood nemesis, but as his almost-lover of the previous night. He’d seen her from behind, but had called out with something that sounded like desperation. So she suspected he’d been searching for his mystery woman, and believed he’d spotted her.
Now the question remained: was this morning’s encounter going to end in anger, ambivalence or attempted seduction?
Chaz was jogging up the sidewalk, looking determined, but he slowed to a walk when he got a good look at her. A confused frown tugged at his brow as he studied her, his gaze resting on her long brown hair, then traveling over her face. She knew the exact moment he recognized her, because his mouth opened in a quick, surprised inhalation, and his eyes widened in shock.
“Lulu? Is that you?”
She pasted a smile on her lips. “It sure is. Hi, Chaz!” She cursed herself for sounding giddy—and guilty. “Er, how are you doing? I guess you’re home from your trip?” She made sure to keep her voice pitched up a bit, wanting to sound as far from the throaty-voiced temptress of the night as possible.
His long-legged strides brought him to within a few feet of her, and he stopped, staring into her face as if searching for something. Or someone?
Don’t find her. Please don’t find her in me.
“It’s really you?” he asked.
“Yup.” She forced the brightest, most unconcerned smile she could manage. “I guess I turned up just like the proverbial bad penny.”
“This is a surprise.”
More like a shock, judging by his expression.
“A nice one, I hope,” she said, just to needle him a little.
“Sure. Definitely.”
Deciding to remind him it had been partially his fault that they’d ended up neighbors, she said, “Oh, thanks bunches for putting me in touch with your Realtor. She was such a big help. She told me this was the best street in the city to live on.”
She waved toward the building she’d just left, and Chaz glanced at it, then back at her.
“You live here?”
“Yes.”
“Right here,” he clarified, tensing. “Three doors down from me?”
“’Fraid so.”
He continued to stare, and she shifted uncomfortably on her sneakered feet. She hadn’t expected Chaz to bring out the welcome wagon, but yeesh, he acted as if she’d contaminated his street.
Finally she asked, “Do I have dirt on my face or something?”
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “When I first saw you, from behind, I thought you were somebody else. But of course, I was wrong.”
“They say everybody has a double.”
He slowly shook his head, and she’d swear disappointment had darkened his eyes. “No, it was just a mistake. She didn’t really look like you at all.”
Huh. What was that supposed to mean? She felt as if she’d been judged and found lacking. What, exactly, did the green-faced witch have that she didn’t, aside from red hair and a mask?
Oh. Right. An untainted history and a name other than Lulu Vandenberg. Even if she were a real redhead, and still had on the dumb mask, she suspected that Chaz would have worn that same expression of disappointment the moment he realized who she truly was.
Shoving aside the sharp feeling of regret, she tried to appear chipper. “So, how’s your family?”
“They seem fine. I talked to my dad this morning.” He chuckled. “Did you hear? We’re all being abandoned for Thanksgiving.”
Her jaw dropped. “What?”
“Yeah. My family usually meets up at my grandparents’ house down in Virginia for the holiday weekend.”
“I remember.” That was one reason she hadn’t seen Chaz in so many years. He never came home for Thanksgiving, as his family was always traveling elsewhere. And it seemed the two of them had alternated Christmases for the past several years, never making a holiday trip home at the same time.
“Well, apparently our parents—yours and mine—have decided to go on a couples cruise to the Caribbean over Thanksgiving weekend. They’re leaving the Tuesday before and will be gone for ten days.”
“Nice of them to tell a person,” she said, indignant. Then mischief tickled her lips and she grinned. “You’d think they had a life other than us, or something.”
“I know, right?” he replied, sounding just as indignant-yet-amused.
Just to rile him up, she smirked. “I bet yours have already turned your room into a sex den like out of that Fifty Shades book.”
He grimaced. “I know you opened your mouth and said something, but all I heard was mwah mwah mwah mwah mwah.”
She couldn’t hold back
