Number Neighbors - Emma Hart Page 0,39
consequences?”
“Honey, I’ve paid my politeness dues. Now I’m old I can say whatever the fuck I want.”
“I could deal with that philosophy,” I replied, pulling up in front of the house she pointed to. “I could deal with that now, and I’m not thirty yet.”
“Oh, you can do it now. The secret is not giving a shit about what anyone else thinks.” She winked and pushed open the door.
I darted out to help her. She pretended to fan herself and I laughed as I helped her up to the front door. Jen unlocked it and held up a finger for me to wait.
Two minutes later, she came out with a slice of chocolate cake on a plate covered in clear wrap. “This is yours.”
“Did you make it?”
She nodded once. “Don’t think I’m doing this because you brought me home. I’m actually not happy about that at all.” She winked again. “But I am trying to bribe you into the bookshelf.”
“Duly noted, ma’am.” I grinned. “I’ll bring this back tomorrow for you.”
She tapped the side of her nose with an exaggerated smile and shut the door in my face.
Of course.
That woman was an enigma.
CHAPTER TWELVE – HANNAH
The Night Before The Morning After
“No, Lil. If you leave your house tonight, I’m going to lose my mind.”
The leather pants clad pensioner got out of my car with a sigh. “You used to be fun. What happened to you? Is it that British boy? He’s a cutie.”
“Goodnight, Lil,” I drawled. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Ooh, do you know if my paint is in the store yet?”
“Being delivered before noon. Come in in the afternoon for it.” I smiled. Despite the fact my grandmother and all her friends drove me crazy, I had a soft spot for Lil. She was a little crazy and a little wild, but she had the best stories known to mankind.
I wasn’t sure they were all true, but it sure was fun hearing about them.
That said, I’d had my fill for tonight.
Lil was my last drop-off, and I was glad to turn off the radio and dial Immy’s number for the call to connect through Bluetooth before I pulled away.
“Hey, what’s up?” she answered.
“Did Mason tell you that the book club crashed the sports bar?”
“Mmm,” she replied. “Hold on, let me put you on speaker. I’m sorting the canvases.” Crashes and clunks and an “oh, shit!” came down the line before there was a moment of silence. “Sorry about that. The canvases are rioting.”
“Why? Have they gone all Toy Story on you?”
“May as well have. Did the book club behave themselves?”
“Only because we were there!” Mason yelled from somewhere on the other side.
“Basically,” I replied, hitting the blinker before I made a turn. “How did they even get to the bar?”
Immy sighed. “They asked me to take them to Bingo before I came here, and I said sure, I’d pick them up when the night was over at nine. I guess they played a round and went to the bar after.”
“Yeah, but how? There’s no way they walked.”
“Called a cab, I guess. I don’t know. I’ll speak to Johnny and make sure his guys know to call me if Grandma calls and wants to go to a bar again.”
“Not a bad idea.”
“Where is Grandma, anyway? Did you drop her off already?”
“No, Isaac took her.” I turned onto my street. “She clamped onto him like a limpet and that was the end of that.”
“Sounds about right. I bet she’s bullied him into putting up the bookshelf I won’t go and take her to buy.”
“Probably. Hey, he’s sitting on my porch. Give me a minute and I’ll—he’s eating Grandma’s cake.” I sighed and rolled down my window. “Is that Grandma’s?” I called.
“Yep,” Isaac called back. “Why? Do you want some?”
“How likely are you to build her shelves for her?”
“If her cheesecake is as good as this, guaranteed.”
“Yep, she bribed him,” I said into the phone. “Anyway, the book club are all home, and so am I. I can do some of that stuff in the morning if you want me to.”
“We should get the worst of it done, but I’ll text you. Now go have sex with Isaac.”
“Immy! Shut—” The line cut out before I was done telling her to shut the fuck up.
Oh, my God.
I grabbed my phone and keys and got out of the car before anything else went wrong. “Did you hear that?”
Isaac grinned as I was walking up the path. “Yep. I agree with her, for what it’s worth.”
“Of