2. Chapter Two
Chapter Two
The day was done.
Even though it was going on nine o’clock, there was still a little bit of daylight. Jenna loved this time of the year. The days seemed to go on forever.
When she pulled up in front of her duplex, there was a soft glow of lights from the unit next to hers. Without any porch lights on, she wasn’t able to make out in the shadows if the boxes were still there.
A cool breeze rushed over her skin. It was soothing after the heat of the day. When she reached the porch, she found the boxes were indeed gone. Her gaze moved to the neighbor’s place. The blinds were drawn, and she didn’t hear anything.
She smiled. Things were looking up. They may have gotten off to a bumpy start, but it looked like the cute guy next door was going to be a good neighbor after all.
She rushed inside. She had her evening planned out. It included putting on an old comfy pair of shorts and a T-shirt. Then she was going to grab the thriller she had to read for her book club and curl up on the couch.
There might even be some ice cream involved. A grin pulled at her lips. It was going to be the perfect evening. And after her brother brushed off her attempt to tell him about some changes she had in mind for the Island Market, she needed a way to relax.
She grabbed the paperback from next to her bed and headed downstairs.
Her foot hadn’t even touched the bottom step when her stomach let out a loud growl.
She hadn’t eaten much during her break at the market so she made a detour to the kitchen.
She grabbed a bag of popcorn and tossed it into the microwave.
Ninety-five seconds later, she had hot buttered popcorn, and it smelled amazing. The trick was to open the bag without the steam burning her fingers. It took her a moment, but she achieved it.
With a bag of popcorn, a can of soda, and her paperback, she headed for the couch. She turned on a lamp, grabbed the throw blanket from the back of the couch, and made herself comfortable.
The book she was reading was supposed to be amazing. It was at the top of all of the bestseller lists. And she’d had it on pre-order for months.
She’d started reading it the night before, but it had been late, and she was so tired she’d fallen asleep before she even made it through the first chapter.
However, it was much earlier tonight. She could read quite a bit of it, which was a good thing because her book club meeting was in a couple of days.
And so, she began devouring word after word as the author built a charming world, but Jenna had read enough of this genre to know that looks could be deceiving. The heroine’s car had broken down, and she walked to the closest house. She had just knocked on the door and—
Thump!
The unexpected noise startled Jenna right out of the fictional world. What was that?
She waited and listened, but she didn’t hear it again. She shrugged it off and went back to her book. Where was she?
Her gaze skimmed the page until she found the right paragraph. The heroine had just approached an unassuming house, but Jenna already expected this house, or rather its inhabitants, had secrets. The heroine knocked—
Thump...
Thump...
Thump...
What was that sound? Jenna set aside the book and got up. Was the noise coming from a pipe in the wall? But that made no sense. She wasn’t running any water.
The sound started again. She walked around the room to determine where the sound was coming from. And then she realized it was coming from the shared wall.
She pressed her ear to the wall. The thumping grew louder. It was coming from her neighbor’s place. What was the man doing?
Well, this had to stop. There was no way she was going to listen to that noise for the rest of the evening. It hadn’t been her best shift at work after dealing with some unruly teenage tourists.
She headed for the door, and in her bare feet she walked across the porch to the neighbor’s place. She rapped her knuckles on the door, perhaps with a little more force than was necessary. And then she waited.
Even though the door hadn’t opened, she sensed someone was looking at her.
She glanced around, but didn’t see anyone in the moonlight.
As she turned around, she noticed the peephole in the door.
Her door had one, too, but she’d never used it.
After all, this was Bluestar Island. She felt completely safe here.
She was about to knock again, when the door opened. There was her neighbor in a pair of red basketball shorts and a white T-shirt with some sort of sports logo printed on it.
She didn’t remember his shoulders being quite so broad when they first met or that he was so tall she had to tilt her chin upward in order to look into his eyes. Without his sunglasses, she was able to see that he had blue eyes that reminded her of the summer sky. She swallowed hard.
For a moment, she’d forgotten why she’d knocked on his door. Her mind and her tongue were at a complete disconnect. All she could think about was his piercing blue eyes.
His dark brows were scrunched together. “Can I help you?”
Oh, yeah. It took her a moment to remember what she wanted to say to him. “Did you hear that noise?” When his brow scrunched up and confusion shone in his eyes, she said, “The strange noise in the wall?”
He arched a brow. “I’ve been here all day. I didn’t notice any strange noises. Is there anything else?”
“Um, no.”
“Okay. Goodbye.” He closed the door.
Shocked at how abruptly that encounter ended, she headed back to her place.
He definitely wasn’t very friendly, but maybe that had something to do with their prior encounter—maybe he was still miffed with her complaining about the boxes being all over the porch.
Maybe tomorrow she’d bring him a pie from the bakery at the Island Market—a welcome gesture.
And then she could ask him if he’d seen the other high heel that was still missing.
She returned to the couch, snuggled under the throw blanket, and picked up her book. She hadn’t marked her page, so she had to skim through the book. It took her a moment, but she eventually found the spot.
The front door opened and—
Thump...
Thump...
Thump...
The noise continued. Jenna’s gaze moved to the wall where the offending noise was coming from. She stared at the wall as the noise continued at a steady beat.
She waited for it to stop. It did not.
She tossed aside her book and with a groan, she got up. The thumping continued as she went to the door. Surely this time her neighbor had heard it too.
In bare feet, she stomped over to the neighbor’s door. Her knuckles pounded on the door.
This time the door opened almost immediately. The man’s body filled the doorway. “What?”
“Surely, this time you heard the noise.”
He frowned. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Maybe you have mice or something.”
“Mice?” Was he serious? “They’d have to be pretty big mice.”
“Call the landlord.” He was about to close the door.
It was then that she noticed something yellow in his hand. When he lifted his arm to push the door closed, she realized it was a bright yellow tennis ball. In that moment, she put it all together. He was bouncing the ball off the wall.
She narrowed her gaze on him. “It was you.”
“Me what?” His brows scrunched together, as though he truly didn’t know what she was talking about.
“You’re making the sound.” When he continued to give her a puzzled look, she nodded toward his hand with the ball in it. “You were bouncing the ball off of the wall.”
He lowered his gaze to his hand with the ball. He at least had the decency to look a bit flustered. “I didn’t even think about it making a noise. I’m so used to it.”
Used to it? Why would he be used to bouncing the ball off the wall? She had so many questions, but it was none of her business. And now that his frown had deepened, she doubted he would take the time to explain why he was bouncing the ball off the wall.
“And here I was going to buy you a pie.”
His brows rose. “Buy me a pie?”
“Because we didn’t get off to a good start with the boxes and all.”
He nodded. “But aren’t you supposed to bake the pie, not buy it?”
“I don’t bake.” That gene skipped her. “Please, don’t bounce the ball against the wall again.” This time she turned and walked away before he had a chance to close the door.
However, when she returned to her spot on the couch, her thoughts were far from the book she was reading. Instead, her thoughts were on her neighbor. Her sister Lily was right. He was good-looking.
But he was grumpy. He wore that frown like some sort of do-not-disturb sign. That was fine with her. So long as he didn’t bounce that ball off the wall one more time. He didn’t want her to knock on his door again that evening or she would be the grumpy one.