Page 12 of Worthy of Sunsets and Second Chances

“Hey, wow. Sold, huh? That was so fast.” I try my best to sound cheerful.

“Yes! We were surprised too, but it’s all working out perfectly. The man buying the place we actually know quite well, so you will be in good hands. We don’t officially close for thirty days. Since we are moving across the country, a lot of the larger pieces of furniture we planned to donate or try to sell, but we’re just going to leave right here for him.” Dom smiles at his good fortune.

“That works out well for both of you, how lucky.” I nod in agreement.

“Yes, and it allows me and Nicola to leave sooner. We are packing everything up and hitting the road early next week! Then he’s just going to move right in.”

“Before you sign the papers?” I ask, suspiciously.

“I know it’s not conventional as far as sales go, but we have known him and his family his whole life. We trust him implicitly and know that this was all meant to be.” He reaches out and rubs my arm reassuringly.

“Okay, I just don’t want you to get screwed over and have some squatter camped out in your house. And me stuck with a loser, scary neighbor.” I lean into his side as Dom pulls me into a fatherly hug.

“Kendra, we’d never leave here knowing you were not staying next to good people. We love you like family, and family looks out for one another. Trust me, this is a good thing.” He plants a kiss on the top of my head.

“Okay, Dom. I trust you.”

A few days later I am in my pottery studio, losing myself to the hypnotic therapy of throwing clay on my wheel. Letting my hands slide through the cool, slippery mass that waits to become whatever I want, whatever inspiration has wedged its way into my artist soul. Sometimes I have little control over what pours out, hands and heart taking over and working in tandem to create what I need.

I have been out here since before the sun yawned over the hazy summer clouds, trying to beat the heat. Also, sleep has been elusive ever since the hospital. I toss and turn, unable to find any real comfort or rest. I have been avoiding everyone, including Lainey, which makes me feel guilty and like a shit best friend. Not only do we have wedding things to work on, I know that she is actually worried about me, as evidenced by her endless text messages and threats to no longer give me the space I asked for in a clipped text, acknowledgment that I was in fact alive.

A car door slams nearby making my practiced hands slip, squishing the oversized mug I was forming out of my favorite stoneware clay.

“Damn it!” I sigh with a mix of deep frustration and exhaustion.

Looking at the table of ten other mugs I threw successfully this morning, I decide to call it quits. After putting the clay away and cleaning up, I lock my garage and set out into the bright morning light. Having been hunched over my wheel, my back aches and I long for a good stretch and a scorching hot bath.

Then coffee. So much coffee.

As I’m about to go through my kitchen door, someone steps out into the Savellis’ backyard, deck boards creaking under heavy feet. If I could take back my words that I said to Dom standing in my driveway last week and shove them down his old throat, I would.

This cannot be happening.

“Good morning, neighbor!” Eli greets me cheerily, bouncing his baby girl in his arms.

10

Eli

Iknew as soon as I brought Wren home that my apartment was not going to work for us. It made me have a damn near panic attack. Thankfully, after talking with my mom, she told me that she knew of a perfect home that just went on the market—a family we’d known forever was selling. And the best part is that it’s only a couple blocks from my mom’s house, so I can take Wren for walks there easily. It will also be convenient for our schedule that we came up with for when I have to work.

Once I go back after my paternity leave, my mom is going to be my full-time help with Wren. She retired from her teaching career last year but still does part-time work at the library. She is going to change her library work hours around to fit with my schedule. When I’m on shift for days at the fire station, I will drop off Wren on my way there and my mom will take care of her, keeping her overnight, and I will pick her up on my way back home when I get done with work. My typical schedule is twenty-four-hour shifts every other day for five days, then I get four days off.

Thank fuck we get family and visitors up at the station all the time, because I already feel a ton of anxiety about being away from Wren so much. Mom promised me daily visits when I’m on shift and I am going to hold her to it.

When I saw the Savelli house, I knew right away that it would be a perfect place for me to raise Wren. It has plenty of room, I have always loved this street, and when I found out that Kendra was going to be my neighbor, it was the cherry on top. I knew her nana’s house was on this street but honestly didn’t know which one it was until my mom casually mentioned that her friend Stella Clark from the library used to live there.

“No,” Kendra says to me. Her wild blonde waves with streaks of pink are piled up on top of her head in a bun. She is wearing messy overalls with nothing on underneath but a bright green lace, cropped tank top of some kind. There is a line of clay haphazardly wiped across her left cheek.

It is adorable. Hot. Distracting as fuck.

“No?”

“You cannot be my new neighbor. It has to be someone else.” She almost chokes on the words.

“It’s me. Well, not just me,” I say looking down. “Me and Wren.”

“Wren,” Kendra says on barely a whisper.