“I don’t think we’ve spoken before. I talked to your husband many times. He was a great guy. We were sorry to hear about your loss.”
“Thank you.”
“This time of year can be challenging in terms of rentals, but we got an offer for your duplex, Sea Green Glory East, from a woman who wants at least a month’s stay.”
Neighbors for the month of January? “Great. I think. Is there a catch? How many are in the family?” A little noise might be fun.
“One woman. She expects her family to visit, so she wants plenty of room. She specifically requested Sea Green Glory. Said she knew someone who’d stayed there before, who recommended it. A month-long rental in January is very fortunate.”
“Well, thanks for giving me the news.”
Marisa laughed. “I like to deliver good news.”
****
Patricia O’Brien moved in at the beginning of the second week in January. She was petite and dark-haired, but the hair was liberally streaked with gray. Juli guessed she was in her fifties. Pat wore an aura of quiet confidence and competence, wrapped in a compact package.
Juli watched her stroll down the crossover toward the ocean. It was a chilly day, but there was no wind and the sun was strong.
Pat was a mystery. Juli’s instinct told her there was more to the woman’s story because something about Pat didn’t add up, but she seemed so rational and down-to-earth it was hard to work up any worry about her.
A few days earlier, the day Pat moved in, she had surprised Juli. It was a mild day and Juli was enjoying a rocker on the porch. She hadn’t heard Pat arrive because the woman had entered the house using the exterior stairs on her side of the duplex.
The woman peeked around the porch divider. “Hi, I’m Pat.”
Juli stopped mid-rock. “I’m Juli. Nice to meet you.”
“I’d better get to unpacking. See you around.” She popped back behind the divider.
Juli waved, but Pat was already gone.
She’d seen Pat a couple of times since through the window when Pat took walks. Strangely, she often returned from the opposite direction.
After a week, Juli had gotten used to the idea of Pat next door and even drew comfort from it. Honestly, anyone, including an intruder like Frankie, could move in over there and she’d never hear a sound. With Pat in residence, that couldn’t happen.
The other side of the duplex was very much like her side. Twins, but flipped. Her side had the sunset. The east side got the morning sun. Her side had slightly better furnishings, but not by much. Ben hadn’t been a ‘stuff’ person. When he’d moved into the Glory full-time he was content with the furnishings already in place.
The baby moved. It wasn’t the first time, but it was by far the strongest. She put both hands on her moderate bulge and felt movement again.
“I was thinking about your daddy. Did you know that?” Her eyes went misty but the torrential emotional storms she’d experienced in December seemed to have subsided.
She was seeing the obstetrician monthly and the doc was happy with the progress of the pregnancy. Juli wanted to be happy, too. In her heart she was quietly glowing, but she was afraid of wanting this too much and having it snatched away. “Baby, I’m looking forward to meeting you. I’ll do my best for you.”
Juli picked up the envelope with their wedding photo. She took it up to the tower, slid the photo out and clipped it to her easel.
****
Art classes resumed in the second week of January. Anna had arranged a still life on a table, draped gracefully with a white cloth. She asked the students to start with pencil or charcoal on paper. From there, with the student’s eyes more intimately familiar with curves and lines of the objects and their spatial relationships to each other, each student would move to canvas and choose whether they preferred to paint in oil or acrylic. They’d done this routine before, but this time it came more naturally. She held the vine charcoal and swept the lines, not minding the dark smudges on her hands and clothing.
Billy was attentive and the ladies talked about holding a baby shower.
Classes once a week. Errands here and there. That was about it. Juli knew she’d been inside too much. Hiding from Frankie? Maybe, but it was also the end of January at the beach and not generally inviting. This day was beautiful and much too lovely to stay inside. She took her coat from the closet. The buttons no longer met across the middle.
Juli laughed. She needed a separate coat for her tummy. She put on an oversized sweatshirt and then her coat on top of it, and stepped out. She was partway down the crossover when Pat called out.
“Taking a walk? Mind if I join you?”
“Please do.” No reason to be rude and maybe Pat would divulge how she managed to return from the wrong end of the beach on most of her walks. There was no other option but to walk along the road and through people’s yards. But why would she do that?