Road on the border between the suburbs of Pittsford and Fairport.
There were no headstones, only grave markers that lay flat, flush
with the thick, green grass. If one didn’t know it was a cemetery,
one might have assumed it was simply a gorgeous park, dotted with
old, majestic trees and sporadic bunches of colorful flowers, with a
beautiful fountain sprouting up in the center.
The day was a bit gloomy and still cool, even for early June; it
seemed appropriate for a visit to the cemetery. Jennifer eased her
car along the winding, paved path, following a route she had grown
to know well, over the last nine months. She coasted to a stop, put
the car in park, and sat for a moment or two, just looking out over
the expanse of flawlessly manicured lawn.
Michael Remington had died the previous August of a massive
heart attack. Though nearly a year had passed, Jennifer still had a
hard time with the fact that she’d never see him again, and it was
still difficult for her to accept that he wasn’t available to give her
advice anymore. He was the only member of the family who seemed
to understand her. She knew it sounded cliché, but it was true. They
were very much alike, so they tended to stick together on most
issues. He had worked hard for his success, as well as his money,
and he’d never taken it for granted. Over the years, they had sadly
watched together as Jennifer’s mother became more and more
wrapped up in her image and her wealth. She hadn’t started out that
way, and Jennifer believed that at one time, long ago, her parents
really were in love with one another. By the time her father passed
away, though, they’d been basically roommates…and Jennifer won-
dered if they even liked each other all that much at that point. She
had no idea why they never divorced. Maybe they would have even-
tually. That was something she’d never know.
She got out of the car, grabbed the small, Ziploc baggie from
46 Georgia Beers
her purse, and walked past several markers until she came to his.
Her brow furrowed as she stood there, looking at the small bouquet
of white daisies that graced his plot. They were obviously fresh,
bringing a splash of beauty to the otherwise dreary day. She knew
her mother had only been there once or twice since Michael’s
death, so the flowers were a small mystery. Jennifer squatted down,
surprised to find the grass dry, and took a seat.
“Who brought the daisies, Daddy?” she asked softly. The
breeze blew delicately. Sometimes she would swear she’d hear his
voice traveling by on it.
She picked a few stray blades of grass from his marker and lov-
ingly ran her fingers over the chiseled lettering. She scooped out a
handful of birdseed from the Ziploc baggie and sprinkled it evenly
all around him. She doubted anybody else in the family had any
idea that he loved to birdwatch. It was her own special connection
with him now. Instead of bringing flowers, which is what just about
anybody would do, she brought birdseed, so that even when he
didn’t have human visitors, he’d have animal ones.
She settled herself comfortably and prattled on, telling him
about her life. It was something she did several times a month, and
it was akin to a therapy session for her. She didn’t think her father
would mind.
“The girls are coming by for lunch today.” The flat and unen-
thusiastic tone of her voice told him exactly how she felt about that.
And they were people she called her friends. How sad for me. “They
want to see the new lake house. I hope they go easy on me. I’m not
sure it fits their ‘image.’” She made the quotations marks in the air
to demonstrate the sarcasm to him. “It’s probably not quite artifi-
cial enough for them. I love it, though, Daddy. You would, too. It’s
peaceful and beautiful and being on the water is so incredibly calm-
ing. I’ve been working my butt off on the interior. The previous
owner was a little too into reds and golds; you know, that oriental
look? Ugh. Way too loud and heavy for me. I’ve been painting, and
trying some new stuff I’ve been reading about in that book you got
me for my birthday last year. Remember? The living room looks fan-
tastic! You’d love it. I color washed the walls in some warm, earthy
tones. It was definitely not an easy process, but I think I did it right.
It looks pretty good. It feels a lot like your den. You know, cozy and
inviting, like you want to sit down and read a book or something?
Dawn’s going to hate it. You know how she is. She’s going to say it
feels like a den instead of a living room and she’s going to ask
where I’d put the guests for a dinner party, because they certainly
won’t be comfortable in a den.” She sighed, feeling the dread come
over her. She knew that she shouldn’t be so concerned about what
other people thought, but it seemed she was always searching for
Thy Neighbor’s Wife 47
somebody’s approval. Apparently, it was her curse in life.
“But Alex liked it. A lot.”
That sentence alone brought a smile to her face, and she could
actually hear her father’s voice, colored with a grin of his own.
Alex? Who’s Alex? He’d always made it his job to know who Jenni-
fer’s friends were, and he had his own opinion of each of them. He
would have loved Alex, Jennifer was sure of it. “She’s my new
neighbor. She lives next door to our lake house and she’s very
sweet. We’ve become good friends. She talked me into playing on
her volleyball team this summer. In the sand! I haven’t played in so
long and it felt great! My legs are still sore.” She could hear his
hearty laugh. A little out of shape, pumpkin? “Yeah, a little. But
Alex was sore, too. First practice of the season and all, so I didn’t
feel so bad. She liked the living room, Daddy. Very much. She got
it, you know? She got the exact feel that I was going for, the exact
mood. It was very cool. Made me feel like I actually learned some-
thing during the time I was at school, like I knew what I was
doing.”
She sat quietly for a while, watching as the gentle breeze grad-
ually swept the clouds from the sky and slivers of blue began to
show. The sun kept peeking through, as if trying to decide if it was
safe to make a full-fledged appearance. “Looks like it’s going to
clear up, Dad. I suppose I should get back and make some appropri-
ate hors d’oeuvres for my visitors.” She sighed at the prospect of the
afternoon. “Kayla and Dawn hardly do anything apart anymore.
It’s kind of weird. When she’s around Dawn, Kayla almost absorbs
her personality. Like the world needs two Dawns.” She shuddered
at the thought. “I wish Kayla was coming alone. That’s the only
time she acts like herself any more.” She shrugged, taking a deep
breath of the clean, crisp air.
She kissed her fingers and pressed them to her father’s grave
marker. “I’ll come by again soon, Daddy. I miss you.” She stood
and brushed off the grass and dirt from her behind, crumpled the
baggie and stuffed it into her pocket, and waited for the tears that
misted her eyes each time she visited to clear away. She bent once
more and straightened the daisies, wondering again, where they
might have come from. Then she walked slowly back to her car,
shaking her head in disgust at the fact that she was about to have
her so-called friends over to her brand new house on the lake and
she was positively dreading it. At that moment, the sun broke
through fully, as if to laugh at her.
* * *
“It’s very…nice, Jen.”
48 Georgia Beers
Only Dawn Chambers could make a compliment sound so
uncomplimentary. She stood in Jennifer’s living room surveying the
walls, the furniture, the art, turning in a slow circle, disapproval
written all over her impossibly perfect face, even as her lips spoke
the opposite.
“Mm hmm. Very…nice,” she repeated. Jennifer had to fight to
keep from rolling her eyes.
Dawn was Eric’s older sister. With her tan and trim body, rich,
dark hair, and huge green eyes framed by astonishingly dark lashes
and brows, she was stunningly gorgeous. It’s a damn good thing she
looks like that, Jennifer thought often. She needs all the help she
can get. Dawn was the epitome of haughty and she treated most
other people as if they weren’t nearly as worthy of life as she was.
She was definitely Claire’s daughter. If Jennifer hadn’t been related
to her, she never, ever would have had any sort of contact with her.
Ever.
“Well, I’m very happy with the way it turned out,” Jennifer
offered, trying not to let Dawn’s obvious condemnation get to her.
This is my house, damn it. Why do I care what you think?
“It’s a little…casual, though, don’t you think? Is that what you
wanted?”
Here we go, Jennifer thought, thinking how her father was
probably watching and chuckling as her earlier prediction came
true.
“I mean, what if you have dinner guests or, heaven forbid, a
party? Won’t you want to have a space that’s a bit more…formal?”
Jennifer bit back the urge to stick her tongue out at her sister-
in-law.
Dawn shrugged and took her Chardonnay out onto the deck.
That was all she had to say about the living room of which Jennifer
was so proud. She stood in the center of the room, holding her own
wineglass and trying not to look completely dejected, which was
how she felt. Dawn had had exactly the reaction Jennifer had
expected, so she wasn’t sure why it still bothered her so much. She
tried hard not to let her disappointment show on her face as she
stood there alone with Kayla, waiting for her oldest friend to echo
Dawn’s opinion.
“I don’t know, Jen. I kind of like it.” Kayla’s blue eyes moved
slowly around the room, taking in every detail. “It feels kind
of…warm. Inviting.”
The compliment made Jennifer so happy that she decided to
ignore the fact Kayla had waited until Dawn was out of earshot
before she said anything.
“Thanks, Kay. I like it, too.”
Kayla and Jennifer had graduated from Mercy together and
Thy Neighbor’s Wife 49
had known one another since they were twelve. They had bonded
instantly then and Kayla was Jennifer’s one constant all through
school. She knew more of Jennifer’s secrets than anybody else,
including her father. Their families were very much alike and they
faced many of the same struggles. Like Jennifer, Kayla also battled
with her desire to be her own person, not what her family thought
she should be. Unfortunately, Jennifer was sure Kayla was losing
that one. It seemed to Jennifer that, not only did Kayla tend to lean
toward being more like Dawn, saying things that she knew would
please her and hoping to stay on her good side, but she was doing it
more and more often. She was sure that Dawn noticed it, too, and
liked to toy with Kayla, watching her paint herself into a corner try-
ing to say what she thought Dawn wanted her to say instead of what
she really thought or felt. It was painful for the spectators as well as
Kayla, and there were countless times when Jennifer had wanted to
scream at her to open her eyes and see what was really happening.
Kayla never did, though, and it made her old friend sad.
The only saving grace was that every so often, a little bit of the
old Kayla would peek through, saying something sweet or voicing
an original thought—like commenting on the living room—and Jen-
nifer would know that she was still in there.
Jennifer touched her arm and smiled. “You want some more
wine?”
“No, I’m good.” Kayla smiled back, then followed Dawn out
onto the deck while Jennifer topped off her own glass, hoping to
numb herself enough to make it through the rest of the visit. When
she finally joined them on the deck, they were chuckling in amuse-
ment at the sight in the backyard.
A blur of white shot by, down near the water. Jennifer was sur-
prised that he was actually heading toward his own house rather
than away from it until she saw Alex, coming from the opposite
direction, also running toward her own house. Apparently, she’d
been chasing him for some time. The tone of her voice confirmed
that assumption.
“God damn it, Kinsey! When I get my hands on you…”
Jennifer was glad she’d left the sentence dangling. Alex was not
looking the slightest bit pleased. Jennifer quickly set her wine glass
down and, much to the horror of her uppity sister-in-law, scrambled
down the steps and into the yard, clapping her hands loudly.
“Come here, Kinsey! Here, boy!”
To the surprise of everybody, Kinsey stopped dead in his
tracks. His ears pricked up and he turned his head in Jennifer’s
direction.
“That’s it. Come here, handsome. Come on.” She squatted
down and continued to call to him. He tucked his tail and sprinted
50 Georgia Beers
full speed to her, where he put his front paws on her knee and pro-
ceeded to wash her entire face with his tongue.
“Oh, good Lord,” she heard Dawn mutter in disgust.