Chapter Four
Maci
By six-thirty, the heat finally let up. The sun hung low, spreading a golden glow across the Estates.
I tugged my baseball cap lower and made my way to the front door.
"You going to gossip or actually walk?" Zaire called from the living room.
I glanced back and smiled.
"I'll let you know when I get back."
"Tell Nia I said she's a bad influence."
"I think she already knows."
He laughed and went back to watching the sports highlights on TV.
"Don't stay out too late."
"I won't."
He got up just long enough to kiss me on the forehead.
"Have fun."
"I plan to."
As soon as I stepped onto the porch, my phone buzzed.
Lemon Ladies
Nia: Everybody outside! Don't make me come knocking on doors.
I laughed and slipped my phone into my pocket. Across the street, Camille stepped outside in a sleeveless yellow athletic dress and white sneakers. She looked polished, her hair pulled back in a neat low ponytail.
"Perfect timing," she called.
"I was about to text you. I figured I was late."
"Oh, honey," Camille said, waving me over. "Nobody's ever on time except Jade."
Right then, Jade's garage door opened. She came out with a stainless-steel water bottle and sunglasses on her head.
"I heard that."
"And?"
"I was exactly on time."
"See?" Camille said, glancing at me. "Every single time."
A horn honked twice from down the street. Nia leaned out of the driver’s window of a white golf cart, grinning widely.
"I wasn't walking all the way down here!"
Tasha got out of the passenger seat with a small tote bag in her hand.
"You mean you didn't feel like walking before the walk."
"Details," Nia replied.
All four of us started laughing.
A few seconds later, Simone jogged up the sidewalk, pretending to be out of breath.
"Don't judge me."
"We absolutely are," Jade said.
"I changed outfits twice."
"I believe it," Tasha teased.
“You should do it. Looking cute counts as cardio.”
"That's the most Simone thing you've ever said," Camille laughed.
A few minutes later, we headed out together, following the winding sidewalks through Lemon Grove Estates.
We chatted easily, letting the conversation flow naturally from one person to the next.
Nia started complaining about a florist who brought cream-colored roses instead of ivory ones.
"There is a difference."
"There isn't," Jade replied.
"There absolutely is."
Simone nodded.
"I know exactly what she means."
"You would," Tasha muttered.
"What does that mean?"
"It means y'all spend too much money on making things pretty."
"They are pretty."
"They're flowers."
"They're art."
"They're flowers."
I laughed so hard my stomach hurt.
"This is what y'all argue about?"
"This?" Camille smiled. "This is a calm evening."
"You should've heard the debate over outdoor Christmas lights last year."
"Oh, don't start," Nia groaned.
"It lasted three weeks."
"It lasted because somebody kept adding to the group chat."
"That somebody was you."
"It was all of us," Simone admitted.
"It really was," Tasha agreed.
As we walked, I slowed down and really noticed the neighborhood. A young couple pushed a stroller and shared an ice cream cone. Under the pavilion, two older men played chess and argued about whose turn it was.
Somewhere in the distance, music played softly from a backyard. The whole neighborhood felt alive.
"You've been awfully quiet."
I looked over to find Camille watching me.
"I'm just taking it all in."
"And what do you think?"
I smiled.
"I think I'm starting to understand why everybody loves it here."
The women exchanged knowing smiles. Tasha bumped my shoulder.
"Told you."
"Give it another month," Nia said. "You'll be volunteering for every committee we have."
"I don't know about all that."
"Oh, you will," Simone laughed. "This neighborhood has a way of pulling you in."
I glanced around once more. Maybe she was right. I wasn’t thinking about the life I’d left behind. I was starting to let this place become something new.
We smelled grilled onions and garlic in the air before we reached the clubhouse parking lot.
"Food truck!" Nia announced dramatically.
"I knew y'all weren't really walking," I laughed.
"Told you," Tasha said. "It's dessert with cardio."
Three food trucks lined the curb under café lights. Families sat at picnic tables while kids chased bubbles on the grass. One truck sold tacos, another offered homemade lemonade and cookies, and the last had lobster rolls, crab cakes, shrimp baskets, and seafood boils written on a chalkboard menu.
"Oh," Camille sighed. "Now that's just rude."
"You love seafood," Simone said.
"I do."
"So, eat."
"I also enjoy breathing."
Everyone laughed.
"You really are that allergic?" I asked.
Camille nodded.
"Unfortunately."
She took a bright yellow injector from the small belt bag at her waist, showed it for a moment, then put it back.
"I don't leave home without it."
I caught myself looking her over. Some habits stay with you.
"You looked me over just now."
I blinked.
"What?"
"The nurse in you."
All the women looked at me.
"You checked to make sure I was prepared."
I laughed softly.
"I guess I did."
"See?" Tasha said. "You never stop being a nurse."
I smiled.
"I haven't worked in a very long time."
"But your brain still does."
She was right. Some things just stay with you.
You pick up on things others miss. Maybe it’s a toddler left alone, or someone limping down the street.
You hear a cough that sounds worse than allergies.
Or you see someone say they’re fine, but their eyes say otherwise.
The body tells the truth, even when people don’t.
"You okay?"
I looked up. Camille was watching me.
"Hm?"
"You drifted off."
"Oh."
I smiled.
"Occupational hazard."
No one asked any more questions, which was a relief. Nia clapped her hands together.
"Okay! Everybody order."
"I'll save us a table."
While everyone else debated tacos or burgers, I walked over to the lemonade stand. The counter was stacked with wooden crates full of fresh lemons.
A handwritten sign read:
Fresh Squeezed Daily
The girl working at the stand smiled.
"Can I get you anything?"
"I'll take a classic."
As she made my drink, I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye. It was Miss Evelyn, sitting alone under an old oak tree by the pond. She rocked slowly in a white Adirondack chair, a glass of iced tea beside her.
She didn’t watch the crowd. She kept her eyes on the water. Before I realized it, I was already walking over to her.
"You mind if I join you?"
She smiled before looking up.
"I was beginning to think you never would."
I sat beside her.
We sat quietly for a while as dragonflies zipped across the pond.
"You settling in?" she finally asked.
"I think so."
"You sleep any better?"
Her question surprised me.
"A little."
She nodded as if she already knew what I would say.
"Houses take time."
I gave her a polite smile.
"I suppose they do."
"No."
She looked toward my house in the distance.
"I'm talking about that one."
A breeze moved the branches above us.
"It remembers."
I frowned slightly.
"What do you mean?"
Miss Evelyn smiled into her tea.
"I'm just an old woman who talks too much."
Before I could ask another question, Nia's voice came across the lawn.
"Maci! Save us! Simone's trying to convince everybody that truffle fries count as a vegetable!"
I laughed.
"I should probably go."
Miss Evelyn reached over and gently squeezed my hand.
"You should."
Then she added softly, almost as if it was an afterthought,
"Some people spend their whole lives running from the past."
Her warm brown eyes met mine.
"Others move right back into it."
A chill ran down my neck.
I looked at her, trying to see if she meant more. But she just smiled, the same sweet smile she’d had since I first met her.
"Go on," she said. "Your friends are waiting."
As I walked away, I couldn’t help but feel that Miss Evelyn wasn’t talking about the neighborhood. She was talking about me.
I made my way back to the picnic tables just as Nia was dramatically waving both arms over her head.
"There she is!" she called. "Y'all, she abandoned us."
"I was talking to Miss Evelyn."
"That woman will keep you for an hour if you let her," Tasha laughed.
"And you'll enjoy every minute of it," Camille added.
I slid into the empty seat beside Simone.
"What'd I miss?"
"Nia ordered enough fries to feed the entire neighborhood."
"They were family-sized."
"There are six of us."
"Exactly."
We laughed as we passed around trays of burgers, chicken sandwiches, loaded fries, and fresh lemonade.
Our conversation flowed from vacation plans to reality TV, and then, somehow, to which husband was the worst at loading the dishwasher.
"It's weaponized incompetence," Jade said matter-of-factly.
"I've accepted my fate," Simone sighed.
"I refuse," Tasha laughed. "If you can operate a forty-thousand-dollar riding mower, you can figure out where the forks go."
"I'll drink to that," Nia said, raising her lemonade.
Camille chuckled beside me.
"I swear, y'all make marriage sound exhausting."
"It is," Tasha answered.
"It's also worth it."
I couldn't help but smile. My Zaire really was one of a kind. The women talked over each other with the ease of people who had shared everything for years. No one tried to stand out or be the loudest. They just fit together.
For a moment, I wondered what it would have been like to have friendships like this earlier in life. The kind that last through every stage, not just out of convenience.
"You got quiet again."
Camille nudged my shoulder.
"I’m just observing."
"So I've noticed."
"It's the nurse in her," Simone said.
"No," Jade corrected with a grin. "I think that's just Maci."
Everyone laughed. I’ve always been the one who listens while others talk. It feels natural to me.
As the evening went on, families slowly headed home. The neighborhood looked even more beautiful at night.
As we walked back to our street, something caught my eye. Across the road, a black SUV pulled into a driveway.
A man got out. He wore tailored slacks and a crisp white shirt, looking expensive. His Rolex caught the light from the streetlamps.
He shut the driver’s door with more force than necessary. A moment later, a woman rushed out onto the porch.
She smiled before he reached the steps, but he didn’t smile back. He said something I couldn’t make out. Her shoulders dropped right away. She nodded twice and looked down. The whole thing was over in less than fifteen seconds.
By the time we reached the corner, they were both inside. Maybe I would have forgotten it if I hadn’t seen her flinch when he lifted his hand to point at the front door.
He wasn’t trying to hit her, just making a gesture, but she flinched anyway. No one else seemed to notice. If they did, they stayed quiet.
I glanced at the women beside me. The conversation kept going. Nia kept laughing. Simone talked about a new boutique opening downtown. Camille smiled at something Tasha said.
I looked back at the house. The curtains were already drawn.
"You coming?" Jade asked.
I blinked.
"Yeah."
I made myself walk. Maybe I was reading too much into it. Or maybe some bruises start long before they ever show on the skin.
I didn’t mention what I saw. Not because I forgot, but because I knew I wouldn’t forget that house anytime soon.