“Good. Don’t like you much either. Night, Arilyn.”
She gasped, slammed the door, and turned. He grinned, roared away, and turned on the radio. Yeah, that was almost worth the trip. Something about getting her all irritated satisfied him on a deeper scale. He sang aloud to some pop music and headed to Ray’s Billiards. It may be a long six weeks, but at least he’d manage to keep himself entertained.
six
ARILYN SLOWLY OPENED her eyes and eased out of her pranayama practice, going back to regular breathing. The soft sounds of a flute whispered past her ears.
With slow motions, she stretched out her legs in front, raising her arms to the ceiling and stretching straight out and dropping her head to her calves. The delicious stretch loosened the last of her stress. Rising back up, she pressed her palms together, bowed her head, and said a quick prayer of gratitude.
Finally. Her emotions were back under control. A lightness flowed through her body, her mind was crystal clear, and she was ready to face the day.
No more thinking of Stone Petty and his aggravating ways.
Arilyn parted the Chinese painted screens that blocked off her meditation center. The scratch of paws on the floor echoed in the air, and she braced herself as the two piles of fluff threw themselves at her, wiggling and slurping at her in ecstasy. It had taken a while to get them past whimpering and crying behind the screens. Dogs had no sense of time, and to Lenny and Mike, it was hours that she had isolated herself from them in a maddening game. They heard her breathing but couldn’t get to her. Now, thank goodness, they slept behind the screen as close as possible and waited for her to come back.
She laughed and gave them snuggles, refilled their water bowl, and began making a cup of ginger tea. Piling fresh berries in a ceramic bowl, she added organic granola and Greek yogurt. Today was going to be great. She’d focus better, be more balanced, and complete the multitude of tasks needed. The big bachelorette party for Kate was coming up fast, and she needed her strength. Kennedy was scaring the hell out of her about the strippers. Or exotic male dancers, as she corrected. She was insistent on hiring a cop to arrest Kate, but Arilyn hoped she went with her suggestion and got a fireman instead.
She couldn’t take any more sexy cops.
Arilyn gobbled the rest of her breakfast and made a plan of attack for the day. She meditated, ingested protein and antioxidants, and owned a clean, pure aura. For good measure, she grabbed some crystals from her meditation corner. Definitely some turquoise to advance healing, communication skills, and prana, the essential life energy. She’d tackle the anger management course with tranquillity. No more losing her temper over Stone’s sarcastic comments or deep drawls or confident male grins.
Arilyn washed the bowl and spoon, dried her hands, and grabbed her purse.
The doorbell rang.
She frowned. What now? She peeked out the window, then held back a groan. No. Not now. But she had no other choice, so she pasted on a smile and opened the door.
Mrs. Blackfire stood on the porch. Her new next-door neighbor, dubbed the Wicked Witch of Verily by Genevieve, and the Spawn of the Devil by Kate, glared from behind her thick-framed glasses. She was a short, petite woman but made up for it in crankiness. Gray tufts of hair sprouted from her head. Her face was a road map of wrinkles that couldn’t have been laugh lines. She wore a faded pink housedress with snaps down the front, support stockings that sagged around her ankles, and thick-soled old-lady shoes. She held on to a walker in her brown-spotted hands, but Arilyn suspected she didn’t need it and only used it for a prop or weapon.
Genevieve and Kate had warned her before she moved in about their problem neighbor. Seems she counted the wine bottles in their recycling bins, used a telescope to spy on people in the neighborhood, and had been previously kicked out of visiting the Best Friends Senior Home for calling the food inspector in to check out the Jell-O. She despised animals, including Kate’s beautiful dog, Robert. And now she stood on her doorstep when Arilyn was already running late.
“Mrs. Blackfire,” she greeted politely. “How are you? It’s a lovely fall day, don’t you think?”
“Not when you have to rake up all the leaves,” her neighbor spat out. “I wanted to talk to you about your property.”
She held back a sigh. “Well, you’d need to speak with Genevieve, since I only rent. Is there a problem?”
“Besides that tree ready to fall on my house?” Her bony finger jabbed at the towering pine tree in the front lawn leaning gently to the right. Genevieve called it the Tree of Spite, since they’d gone to the mats regarding its condition and right to stay.