“I know, right?” I said, stepping back and sweeping toward the interior with my arm. “Come on in! Take a look around!” I glanced at Maddie. “Hey, kiddo! Why don’t you play for a little bit while I show Auntie Britt our new home?”
“Aw! I want to hang out with Auntie Britt!” Her eyes went wide, as if she’d suddenly realized something very, very important. “We’re getting pizza and going to the dog park. Can she come?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “Auntie Britt’s probably got to get home for dinner with her own family before too long.”
Britt waved her hand dismissively. “Nope. Sean’s got Noah over at the in-laws tonight. The only plans I had for this evening were takeout Thai and true crime binge-watching. I’d love to hang out, Mads!”
Maddie pumped her fist. “Yes!”
I raised my finger. “Here’s your bag of books. Take these and let Mommy and Auntie Britt have a little time in the kitchen before we get going, OK?”
“Alright…”
With that, she trudged into the living room with her bag of coloring books and crayons. I showed Britt around, ending the tour in the kitchen. A pair of mugs filled with oolong tea were in front of us as we sat in the adorable kitchen nook, the bay windows looking out onto the backyard.
“I still can’t get over this place,” she said, looking at the kitchen. “It’s perfect.”
“Trust me, however shocked you are that I ended up with a home like this, I’m ten times as much.”
“It really was perfect how this all worked out, right? Amanda at work inherits this place from her parents and doesn’t want it, so she sells it to you for next to nothing.”
“Timing, timing, timing,” I said. “I’ve still got a bit of a mortgage to worry about, but as long as our gigs stay steady I should have it paid off by the time Maddie’s getting ready for college. And the inheritance from my aunt took care of a big chunk of my loan.”
“You got lucky,” Britt said. “But if you ask me, you deserve a little luck. Shoot, Piper, you’ve been raising that amazing little girl on your own for four years and doing it while working full-time and living in that teensy-tiny apartment. You ask me, you’re due for a little celebration.”
She flashed me a mischievous grin before hopping out of the booth and heading over to one of the stacks of boxes.
“Now,” she said, opening the top box and rooting through it. “You remember when I brought over that case of bubbly I got from a client? You know, the one for celebrating us going into business together?”
“I remember. And why do I have a feeling I know exactly where this is going?” As she continued searching through the box, I craned my neck to look into the living room and check on Maddie. She was being good—laying on her belly, happily coloring and no doubt daydreaming about her trip to the dog park.
“Because you do. Ah ha!” she opened one of the other boxes and found the stored bubbly, holding it up triumphantly. “Now, I know this is best served ice-cold, but some ice will do just fine.”
She snatched two mugs out of another box, running them under the sink before filling them with ice from the icemaker on the fridge. God, I couldn’t believe how excited I was to have a fridge with an icemaker! She popped the bottle and poured a bit of champagne into each mug, handing one over to me.
“Cheers,” she said, raising her mug, an old cup with the word #GirlBoss I’d been given as a gift a while back. “To new beginnings, as corny as that sounds.”
“Corny but good. I’ll drink to that.” I raised my mug, tapping it with hers before sipping the bubbly, the ice tinkling.
Britt’s eyes lit up. “Oh! There’s one more thing I want to toast to.” The mischievous grin on her face grew. I knew Britt well enough to know that meant she had one thing on her mind—men.
“To sexy neighbors,” she said, raising her eyebrows up and down.
“What?” Before I had a chance to say another word, she reached in and tapped my mug with hers again. “Who’s sexy?”
She cocked her head to the side, confused. “Are you serious? You didn’t see that total babe in the Land Rover? The one with the huge house right next to yours and the super-cute dog?”
“What dog?” Maddie called in from the next room, the mere mention of dogs enough to get her to stop coloring.
“Uh, I’ll tell you in a sec, Mads,” I said, quickly turning my attention back to Britt. “Wait, you’re talking about the guy over there?” I pointed in the direction of the massive house, the one I’d noticed on the way in.
“That’s the one. I spotted the guy when I was waiting for you on the porch. He’s so freaking fine. A little older, but there’s nothing wrong with that.” She craned her neck, looking out of the window to the backyard. “Holy crap! There he is, playing with his dog.”
She took one more sip of her champagne before getting up and grabbing my wrist.
“Come on, introduce yourself.”
I shook my head. “No way. I mean, not right now.”
