Sunday Snippet: Neighbors

Yeesh. Still dealing with the tire issue but have an appointment to get the replacements on Tuesday. I can't wait. But … we now have to get two new tires for my husband's vehicle. It's like dominoes falling … one thing after another.

Had some seriously cool temperatures this week. Also rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. We're supposed to have clear weather for the beginning of the week but more rain from Thursday through the weekend.

Work projects were pretty smooth this week. I finished up the wild ride copy edit and completed a proofread that had a few issues but overall ended up being great. Still working on the evaluation and making good project. I have another back burner project I'm hoping to get to this week.

Had a solid viewing week. I made it through my usual slate of shows and got to binge Death in Paradise a couple of days.

Started with Marple again and enjoyed the mystery. There were a lot of twists and turns with a resolution that ended up being sad but excellent.

Finished up the first season of Britain's Most Scenic Counties. Thoroughly enjoyed visiting Kent and look forward to the next season and new location.

Caught another episode of Return to Paradise and enjoyed it again. Reggie reminds me of Margo from Beyond Paradise. Both are filled with local knowledge and wield their power when it counts the most. Great mystery also.

Watched another Poirot and liked the twists and turns. Very interesting to hear all the discussion of the upcoming war and having three mysteries instead of one ended up being quite fun.

Elementary got a little freaky. The possible serial killer struck very close to home, and I really hope things don't go in an obvious direction. Can't wait to watch the next episode to see if they do or don't.

Enjoyed an episode of Young Justice and loved seeing the young team dealing with being the grown-ups in the room. Kind of interested to see what happens with the stolen bit.

Ended the week with an episode of Star Trek Lower Decks and totally loved the call back to the original series. Fun episode with plenty of weird thrown in for good measure. I'm going to be very sad when I finish this one.

That's the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Neighbors, a novella that has a couple who broke up living across the street from each other.

Here's the miniblurb:

When Vonnie Caldwell and Glenn Doyle break up, Vonnie's brother moves in with her to help with expenses. Glenn heads out to live with his sister, and he doesn't have far to go … she's across the street, which gives the former couple's siblings ringside seats while Vonnie and Glenn try to navigate being neighbors.

And a snippet preview…

Glenn stared out the window of his sister's condo, watching Vonnie's brother move more stuff in. "I guess this is a permanent thing." He really didn't think his life would implode this badly when he moved across the street.

Gina came up from the basement with a laundry basket of clean clothes. "If you're not careful, you're going to be accused of being a full-on stalker." She dumped the plastic container on the sofa and started folding items.

Glenn gave her a side-eye. "From looking out a window?" He snorted.

Gina made a rude noise. "At your ex's residence where you used to live. It always starts small, Glenn." She tossed his garments on the end of the cushion.

Glenn pushed away from the wall and moved to gather his stuff. "Thanks for washing these. I'll do the next load." The least he could do after she let him move in.

Gina rolled her eyes. "You could go talk to her. Or hell, send her a text. Check in." Putting her folded laundry in neat stacks, she picked one up.

Glenn shook his head. "Nah. She'd accuse me of being wishy-washy and not being able to make up my mind. It's kind of her go to." Which annoyed him a lot.

Gina sighed and trotted up the steps to put her clothes away.

Glenn made a neat pile of his then went back to the window.

Gina came back down. "You know what? I'm calling bullshit here. Vonnie didn't say you were wishy-washy. She said you refuse to act like you're part of a couple." She paused for a moment then started back in. "Let me ask you something. How would you like it if some man-ape had his hands all over Vonnie and you came over to hang with her? Would it piss you off?"

Glenn shrugged. "Probably." Not that he'd ever had to worry about that.

Gina made a garbled choking sound. "So, why shouldn't it piss Vonnie off? And has she ever not stopped a conversation to acknowledge you or your status as her boyfriend when you have come around?"

He grimaced. "No. Usually she makes this slick and sly move where she shifts her position and slides her arm around my waist or moves to stand in front of me. Sometimes she'll lean up for a kiss." She always made that so smooth also. "She makes it pretty clear we're together without being rude."

Gina flung her arm out. "Then why the fuck can't you do the same?" She shook her head. "Geez, Glenn. Letting some hoochie mama paw all over you because you don't want to be rude is stupid … especially when it makes you a dick for letting it happen in front of the person you're supposed to be in love with."

Glenn grunted. "Yeah … when you put it that way, I do sound like a dick."

Gina snorted. "There's no sounding like one about it. When you do that shit, you are being a grade-A, total-shit asshole. And I'm embarrassed to call you my brother." With another disgusted sound, she grabbed the basket and headed back down to the basement.

Glenn winced. Leave it to his sister to lay out his biggest fault with brutal precision.

I love writing siblings, and this has a double shot of them. Glenn and Vonnie will end up owing their family members a lot.

 

That's it for this week. Happy reading!

Skylin