Been There Done That (Leffersbee #1) - Hope Ellis Page 0,13

muscle in my neck, straightened, and glared at the irritated woman framed in the doorway. In that moment, it was hard to imagine that a world existed where other people didn’t live next door to their annoying, intrusive best friend who used her just-for-emergencies key way too freely.

“God, Zora. I was about to go out there and get you. How long were you planning to sit in your car all spaced out? Were you playing that depressing-ass jazz on repeat again?” Leigh pursed her lips. “And you look awful.” Her gaze moved over me. “Come inside.”

I let out a sigh, casting a pointed look to the other side of the duplex and her designated front door. “How gracious of you to welcome me into my own home. Did you forget where you live? Or did you start out drunk and somehow end up passed out in my living room again?”

Man. I sound like Fate, i.e. a bitch.

Her eyebrows went up. “What crawled up your ass?”

I closed my eyes. “Sorry. I’ve had a rough day. I’m not at my best.”

She turned to head back inside the house. As usual, her short-legged Pomeranian, Felicia, was tucked under one arm. I stepped over the threshold and followed them in.

“I wasn’t drunk that time, for your information. But I was tipsy enough to know I’d be better off spending the night with someone who could turn me over if I choked on my vomit in the middle of the night.”

“You’re my best friend. I’ll always be here to turn you over. Even if you work my last nerve at times.”

“Back at you, babe. And you best believe you’ve been sawing away at mine lately, what with your self-neglect and disappearing act.”

I turned my back to her and closed and locked the door, fighting the urge to roll my eyes.

“I know you’re over there rolling your eyes. And you have some nerve. You still owe me from that time you came over in your swimsuit asking if you could get by without shaving. My eyes still haven’t recovered. Would it kill you to wax year-round? Does Jackson bring his own chainsaw when he goes down there?”

Despite myself, I chuckled. “I could’ve made it work,” I said automatically, dropping my bag on the couch as I stepped from the living room to the kitchen. “The bottom was full coverage—” I stopped at the sight of my kitchen. Styrofoam containers, cottage cheese and yogurt tubs, Tupperware containers, and foil bundles covered my kitchen counters.

“What’s going on? What is this?”

Leigh parked Felicia on the floor then planted a hand on her hip, head cocked as she aimed a “don’t play dumb” look at me. “You should recognize it all. It’s from your refrigerator. I’ve been trying to figure out where the smell is coming from, now that you apparently don’t live here anymore.”

I sniffed experimentally at the air and, sure enough, detected something pungent and vile. “I live here—”

“You’re back to sleeping in your office again. No one’s heard from you, your brother is worried—”

“Walker’s worried about me?”

“Do you have another brother I don’t know about? Stop repeating everything I say. Just listen. Your brother called me because he hasn’t heard from you in over a week and he got worried. Said you were supposed to get something with the sink fixed with some guy in town. Then the plumber told him he never heard from you. Then I had to tell him I hadn’t heard from you either and your car hasn’t been here in three days so he’s on his way over—”

I slapped my forehead as cumulative exhaustion settled over me like a weighted blanket. “He’s coming over here? God, I feel awful. He’s already so busy. Why didn’t you just call me? On my cell, my desk phone at work?”

“Your voicemail at work is full. So is the one for your phone. I’d have emailed you if I thought that would work.” Her Jersey accent was more pronounced now, as it always was when she was frustrated or angry. “I sent him a text when you pulled up, but he’s still coming over to chew you out and fix the sink.”

I turned away from her exasperated expression and returned to the living room to retrieve my phone from the work bag.

It was dead.

“Let me guess,” Leigh said as I trudged back into the kitchen like penitent child. “You’ve been working on some super important deadline, probably a grant. So you put your phone on airplane