A Gracious Neighbor by Chris Cander

Author:Chris Cander [Cander, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Little A
Published: 2022-07-01T04:00:00+00:00

Twelve

Thursday morning, Lewis woke Martha up with a kiss. “Happy anniversary,” he whispered. She’d been dreaming again, and struggled against its pull. “I’ll be in meetings all day, starting early, but I have a surprise for you tonight. Get dudded up and I’ll pick you up at six thirty. Okay?”

“Okay,” she said, pushing herself up.

“Love you. See you tonight.”

“Love you, too.” Martha checked the clock, which also showed the date. Sure enough, it was the thirtieth of May, their sixteenth anniversary. With everything that had been going on lately, she’d completely forgotten.

She dressed, poured a cup of coffee, and because the house felt too empty, went outside to sit on her front steps. The sun was up and the birds were chirping. Everything seemed normal. Soon, she heard the Wrights’ garage door open, and Minnie backed out. She paused at the end of the driveway, waiting for another car to pass. Martha could see through the windshield that she was wearing a blazer and red lipstick and had pulled her hair into a sleek bun. She waved, even though she didn’t expect Minnie to notice her.

But to Martha’s surprise, Minnie waved back, her face breaking open into a slightly lopsided smile. She reversed her car into the street, then pulled up in front of Martha’s walkway and rolled down her window. “Good morning!” she called out.

Martha was delighted. She walked down to meet her. “Hi there! How are you? You’re off to work early today.”

“Yeah, I’m taking a big client on a gallery tour. He’s decorating a new office space,” she said.

Martha stared at Minnie’s mouth. Something looked different, but she couldn’t quite tell what it was. “Is your lip okay?” she asked. “Is that a bruise?”

Minnie’s fingers flew up to touch the bottom right side, then she angled the rearview mirror to look. “Oh gosh, is it that obvious?” She gave a sheepish smile. “I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I got Botox and a little filler injected yesterday. He must’ve hit a blood vessel or something.”

So that was why she hardly seemed to have aged since high school.

“Anyway, listen, thank you so much for the prints of Bonnie. I just love them. I’m really sorry I haven’t reached out to tell you that; I’ve just been really swamped with work.”

“Oh, that’s okay! I’m just happy you like them.” She felt a great relief. The truth was, she’d been wondering why Minnie hadn’t said anything about the photos. Martha worried that she thought they were amateurish or not artful enough.

“Are you sure I can’t pay you for them?”

“Heavens no! They’re a gift, for a friend.”

“You’re sweet,” she said. “It’s just that I deal in art, and I think artists should be paid. Even artists who are friends.” Minnie smiled and reached her hand out to touch Martha’s, accidentally bumping her with the brace. “If you won’t let me pay you in cash, then how about in cocktails?”

“That would be wonderful!” Martha said, and immediately wished she hadn’t sounded so exuberant.

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