Perfectly Nice Neighbors by Kia Abdullah

Perfectly Nice Neighbors by Kia Abdullah

Author:Kia Abdullah [Abdullah, Kia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Crime, Contemporary
ISBN: 9780593713815
Amazon: B0BQG1ZTGX
Goodreads: 70585312
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Published: 2023-01-19T07:00:00+00:00


* * *

—

it was an hour later that Bil came down to the kitchen, by which time Salma was showered and dressed. She prepared a breakfast of poached eggs, toast, and avocado with lashings of salt and chili flakes.

Bil sat down, rumpled from sleep, warmth still in his clothes. “How are you feeling?” he asked.

She didn’t speak for a beat. She was bothered not just by his reaction last night but his broader absence. There was a quiet battle raging at Blenheim and Bil had not been present. She knew he was tired from work, but she needed some support.

“Fine,” she said, unable to keep the edge from her voice.

“Have you heard anything?” He smoothly poked an egg so the yolk ran in rivulets toward the edge of the plate.

“Willa lost her baby.”

“Oh god.” Bil set down his fork.

Salma filled the silence. “I shouldn’t have gone over there. Now she’s lost her baby and it’s my fault. I—”

“Don’t say that,” Bil cut in. He scraped back his chair and stepped swiftly to her side. “Don’t say that in front of anybody.”

“I just wasn’t thinking.”

“It was an accident, Salma.”

“But if I hadn’t gone over there, it wouldn’t have happened.”

“You don’t know that.” His voice was low and urgent. “We both know how much she smokes and that she hides it from her husband.”

“Come on, Bil. Don’t blame her.”

“It’s true though.” He grimaced as if the truth pained him. “You’ve seen the way she jumps to high hell when her husband walks into the garden.”

Salma had seen Willa sneak a cigarette—but people already judged mothers harshly and damn Salma if she were to join them. “I think I should talk to her.”

“No. Absolutely not.”

“But, Bil—”

“I’m a five on that.”

Salma sighed. Early in their relationship, they had devised a system to express how strongly they felt in the midst of a disagreement. If Salma was a four and Bil was a two, then they went with Salma’s choice. Bil never invoked a five, and the fact that he did so now made Salma concede. “So what do we do? We can’t just ignore them.”

“Yes, we can. They started this, Salma, but we can finish it. We just don’t rise to it.”

“They still have Molly.”

“I’ll get her back.”

“How?”

“Somehow. I’ll buy her if I have to.”

“But we can’t afford that.”

“Then what do you want me to do, Salma?”

She saw the strain in his face and realized how much pressure he was under—not just now but for months. Bil had always dreamed of running a Michelin restaurant. Jakoni’s had been his first step—but it had failed, and though he cheerily assured her it was a bump in the road, she could see how much it pained him.

“I’m sorry.” She fit her hand over his. “We’ll be okay. I promise.”

“Promise me something else. You’ll stay away from those people.”

“But, Bil, how can we live next door to them and not sort this out?”

“We ignore them, Salma. We keep our heads down and we get on with it.”

But will they do the same? She didn’t ask the question, for Bil was under enough stress.



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