“Well yeah.” She bit her lip. “I kind of feel bad about it.”
Hannah burst out laughing. Carolina joined in. Even Phoenix, wanting to be part of the group started howling.
When the laughter and the howling died down, Carolina wiped the tears from her eyes.
“Thanks for the offer. I’ll keep it in mind.” Hannah glanced at her watch. “I need to be going.”
“Wait. You didn’t write down your phone number or how much it cost for the mailbox.” Carolina held out the pen and paper.
Hannah hesitated and finally took it. She scribbled something down and handed it back to her.
Carolina glanced down and frowned. “But you only wrote down your phone number. You didn’t tell me how much I owe you for the mailbox.”
Hannah reached for the door leading out to the deck. She looked over her shoulder. “You don’t owe me anything. I didn’t really expect to get paid. I was just curious about the new neighbor. Besides, I haven’t laughed like that in a while.” She walked out the back door and back to her house.
Chapter 35
She spent the morning reading her Bible over a cup of coffee. When she was done she decided to try out the new leash she’d bought for Phoenix. She’d been there over a week and had yet to check out the whole neighborhood, so she decided to take the dog for a walk.
After changing into some yoga pants and a light jacket and sneakers, she started off.
When she reached the end of her driveway, she glanced back at the house.
The new roof was going to look good against the red siding. Her flowerbeds were popping with color and the mums were rallying despite Bernice’s doubts. The décor near the door looked really cute. Her mind was already spinning with new ideas for a Christmas theme.
Smiling with satisfaction, she started off down the road.
She passed Hannah’s house and slowed her strides so she could take it all in.
While her own red lake house was quaint, Hannah’s house was a mansion.
The two-story luxurious log cabin looked like it belonged on the ranch of a Wyoming cattle baron. Large beams and stone accentuated the front with large picture windows. Carolina could only imagine what the inside looked like.
No wonder Hannah felt so alone in the house. It was massive.
She continued her walk looking at all the different homes on the lake. Some were single stories while others were massive two-stories like Hannah’s.
She passed Bernice’s house and stopped to admire the woman’s house.
It was an older single-story home with dark-green siding and red-windows framing. It had a front porch with a swing and a few plants along the steps leading up to the house.
The place was certainly charming and it totally did not suit Bernice.
“She could use some fall décor on her porch,” she muttered aloud. She looked down at Phoenix. “How mad will she be if I took some items from her nursery and arranged them on the porch?”
Phoenix whined.
“You’re probably right. I’ll have to think about it before I dare move forward with that decision.” She urged the dog on and they continued their walk.
The house next to Bernice’s was a newer model house. It was painted a cute shade of yellow with flower boxes in the window and a large porch with wicker furniture.
She could imagine a retired couple drinking coffee on that porch and reading the newspaper.
The idea caused something to twinge in her chest.
She never really thought about the future when she was with Chris. It was like she was just barely hanging on, day by day, to see if he would wake up to the fact he’d married beneath him and leave.
In the end, that’s exactly what had happened.
