Nora was glad she had the day off today. She not only had things she wanted to catch up on at home but was also curious to observe who her potential new neighbors might be from the privacy of her living room window. She hoped they didn’t have a dog that they intended to leave outside.
There was something about the woman. She couldn’t exactly put her finger on it, but she swore she knew her from somewhere. Nora racked her brain trying to figure out where, to no avail. Maybe she just looked like someone she knew or had known at one time. But who, when, and where?
She tried to figure it out, but eventually gave up. Instead, she got on with her life until she saw a moving truck pull up next door about a month later. Curiously, she strode up to the window and observed the scene as many boxes and pieces of furniture were moved into the house. Sometime later, she saw a blue car pull in behind the moving truck. She hadn’t paid close attention to vehicles but was pretty sure that it was what the familiar-looking woman had arrived in when she first came to look at the house. These suspicions were confirmed a moment later when the woman stepped out of the vehicle along with her husband. The husband didn’t look familiar, but the woman still struck her as faintly familiar. She had long curly reddish hair and an average body. Nothing too slim or too heavy. She was perhaps a little below average in height, though.
She would let them get settled in and then make a point of bumping into them and seeing what kind of vibe she picked up from the woman. At first, she considered going over with some kind of baked treat, but thought better of it. What if she had once met the woman and it wasn’t in a good way?
The next few weeks passed, and Nora hardly thought of the new neighbors. This was mostly because they were so quiet. Besides, the triple-digit weather made it unpleasant to be outside unless you were swimming.
It was in a nice, cool air-conditioned grocery store that they finally met again. Nora spotted Jennifer by herself, studying the items on the shelf before her. She thought she looked nice today. Her long hair was back in a French braid. She wore a sun dress with red roses against a white background that went with her hair nicely. Her jewelry consisted of colorful beaded bracelets, and her nails were well-manicured. She watched as she placed an item in her basket and then poked at her cell phone with a long red nail, probably crossing things off a list.
Nora couldn’t make up her mind whether or not she wanted to say anything, but then Jennifer spotted her and made the decision for her.
“Oh, Hello, Nora. Fancy meeting you here.”
“I thought that might be you,” Nora said, playing dumb. “How are you?”
“Great. And you?”
“I’m doing well. You getting settled in okay?” Nora asked, trying not to stare too hard at Jennifer.
“We are. It’s a lovely neighborhood. Have you lived in it for long?”
“Sure have. Since we were married in 1993.”
“Ah, just one year before Brennan and I were married.”
Nora wanted to ask more and gather more information without seeming like she was prying, but then Jennifer’s husband entered the aisle and approached his wife. She exchanged greetings with him, and then the two began heading in the opposite direction.
“Come on over for coffee sometime,” Jennifer told her as they left.
“Sure. Some time.”
The couple disappeared from view, and Nora headed to the register, still with the same sense of familiarity. She knew she knew Jennifer from somewhere. She was sure of it and so frustrated that she just couldn’t remember where they’d met. It now bugged her to the point that she would definitely be taking Jennifer up on her coffee offer.
She didn’t want to come on too strong and seem overly curious, so she gave it a few days before she decided to go next door and see Jennifer. She happened to pass by a window when she noticed the car leaving next door and that Jennifer wasn’t in it. Preferring to catch the woman alone, she took that as an opportunity to head next door.
Right away, she noticed that she was dealing with very liberal people in comparison to herself and her husband by the small It’s Okay to Say Gay flag stuck in a large planter by the door. She’d almost missed it because it was partially covered by vivid magenta petunias.
She rang the doorbell, and Jennifer appeared a minute later.
“Oh, hi, Nora. What a nice surprise. Come on in.”
Nora stepped inside. “I thought I would finally take the time to see how things are coming along over here.”
“They’re coming along well. Brennan is retired now, so he has free time to fix things up along with me.”
Jennifer led Nora through the living room and into the kitchen. It was then that Nora placed a small box on the counter. “A little housewarming present.”
“Ah, you didn’t have to do that, but thanks.” Jennifer opened the box to find some home-baked chocolate chip cookies. “Ooh, they look delicious. Would you like to share some now over a cup of coffee or tea?”
“I’ll pass on the cookies. But a cup of tea wouldn’t hurt.”
As Jennifer went about heating up some water and pulling out a couple of mugs that she had set on the counter before placing teabags in them, Nora asked, “So what did your husband do?”
“He was a phlebotomist.”
“Oh, that must have been interesting.”
“It was, well, bloody work.”
Nora made a mock grimace.
“He met a lot of interesting people along the way,” she continued.
“You’re still working?”
Jennifer nodded. “I’m a 911 operator.”
“Wow,” Nora couldn’t help but say.
“You could say it’s a very scary and heartbreaking job, but it’s also very rewarding because you’re taking part in helping someone in crisis.”
“I can see where it would be rather bittersweet.”
“Yeah, but it gets old after a while. I’ll be retiring next month anyway. Are you and your husband working?”
“We are, but we’re set to retire next year, being that we’re the same age. We’re both in the property management business.”
“You handle some rentals or something?” Kate aske,d playing dumb.
“I manage an apartment complex. Any children?”
“No. How about you?”
“Two daughters and a son. They’ve all flown the nest.”
“Sometimes I’m not sure what we’re going to do with ourselves for the remaining 20 or 30 years we have left, but I’m sure we’ll find things somehow.”
“Why not volunteer somewhere?”
Nora sensed that Jennifer was trying not to laugh at that one. Instead, she said, “Naw. I guess I’m a little too greedy for that. Helping a family member, friend, or neighbor is one thing, but if I were going to work, I would want to be paid for my time and effort. Like it or not, bills still have to be paid.”
“I get you on that one.”
She and Jennifer made small talk for another 10 minutes or so, mostly about Jennifer’s plans for the house. They discussed different colors and styles for various things like wallpaper and window coverings. Whenever Jennifer spoke, Nora would make a point of studying her face to see if she could finally figure out where she had seen her before.
“Are you sure we’ve never met? I swear there’s something about you that seems so familiar. What’s your last name?”
“Parks. I don’t think you look familiar to me. How long have you lived in Hialeah? Brennan’s from Wichita, but I’ve always been here.”
“I’m originally from Pennsylvania, but I’ve been here for over 30 years.”
“You never know. Maybe we knew each other in a past life,” Jennifer joked as Nora prepared to leave.
Nora smiled, even though something inside her highly doubted it.
“Feel free to come over anytime,” Jennifer told her.
“Thanks. You too. Take care for now.”
Nora crossed the side yards and re-entered her home. It was then that it hit her who her new neighbor was.
It was Kate.
Kate from one of the apartment complexes she managed back in the 90s. Oh God, Kate. Kate! Crazy Kate. Oh, shit, she thought. This kind of craziness was the last thing she needed living next door to her and her husband. What the hell could she do about it, though? She didn’t manage the houses on the street.
She thought back in time and realized that Kate, AKA Jennifer, resided at the apartment complex in 1992. That would have been the year before she married, making it likely that she had a different last name at the time. She struggled to remember what it was but couldn’t. It was one of those longish, unique names. It wasn’t something as quick, simple, and common as Parks or Mills.
Questions led to more questions. If Jennifer was really Kate, why was she calling herself Jennifer?
Should she confront Kate about her true identity or act like she was still clueless?
Did Kate know who she was? If she did, she was doing a great job of pretending not to. But why would she do that if she knew who she was?
Then a more chilling question occurred to her. Hialeah had nearly a quarter-million people in it. Out of that many people, what were the odds of them ending up neighbors 30 years later?
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