Three
Elle
“He is the worst human I’ve ever met!”
“So he’s nice, then?” Lucy says, mocking me from the other end of the FaceTime.
“He is like the Beast. I was right. He is like a big, hairy beast that stomps around the castle roaring at innocent furniture that—”
“What do you mean you were right? Did you call this man a beast?” Lucy asks, interrupting me with a concerned tone.
“I called him the Beast, as in Beauty and the Beast,” I explain.
“Yeah, I know what Beast you mean, that doesn’t make it any better.” Lucy smacks her forehead and shakes her head in disbelief, like I’ve somehow stressed her out.
“Can I use this opportunity to chime in and request that you please not fall asleep in the hallway of your building in the middle of the night? You know, for like… safety reasons?” comes Liam’s voice from the background.
It’s Saturday morning, which means Liam, being the perfect man that he is, is in the kitchen of their house using his degree from the Culinary Institute to make some kind of delicious breakfast for Lucy.
Lucy is seated on the couch, and I can see the bar top behind her and beautiful wooden ceiling beams above her.
Lucy lives in a lake house in upstate New York, in a small town called Hudson Hollow.
Having been to the house several times, I know that she is positioned facing the wall-to-wall windows that overlook a gorgeous blue lake, which is probably covered in ice and snow right now.
“Liam, don’t take this moment to get all alpha hero on me, okay? Stay over there with your French toast,” I tease.
“They’re actually lemon ricotta pancakes,” he calls back.
“Lemon ricotta?” Lucy says, slightly turning her head toward the kitchen. She has an uneasy look on her face. “What happened to chocolate chip?”
“Lucy, I’m a chef. I can’t make chocolate chip pancakes every day. I need some creative liberty,” he replies in an exasperated voice.
“You own a restaurant. Be creative there. Your fiancé needs chocolate. It’s literally a requirement for marrying me.” Her voice is stern, but when she turns her attention back to the phone, she sticks her tongue between her teeth, silently laughing.
I own him, she mouths.
“Oh yeah, real alpha hero,” I say with a chuckle.
“I heard that and I know what it means!” Liam calls from the kitchen. “I am marrying a romance novelist, I’ve been brushing up on my terminology.”
Lucy met Liam when she was sent to Hudson Hollow for a work project. She moved in with him a few months ago. Lucy was not only my roommate, but my coworker at Heartwarming. She quit to become a writer. Her first book comes out in a few months.
“Then accept your beta hero status with pride and add some chocolate into that batter!” Lucy yells back, unable to hide the smile that forms on her face.
She turns around, and I can tell she wants to make sure that our banter hasn’t actually offended Liam.
He knows what he signed up for when he stole Lucy from me (as I frequently like to remind him).
We come with baggage, and weekly FaceTime calls. “Love you, babe,” she coos.
“Love you, babe!” I shout around a mouthful of English muffin. I look down at my depressing breakfast. I would accept pancakes even if there was no chocolate right now.
“You two are weird,” Liam mumbles in the background.
“So, Liam, pop quiz. Elle’s got a jerk for an upstairs neighbor.
What trope are we looking at?” Lucy asks, walking over to the bar in their kitchen.
Liam’s frame comes into view, and I can’t help but chuckle when I see him in an apron that says “Property of a romance author.” Liam’s dog, Blue, is splayed out across pretty much the entire kitchen floor, so Liam doesn’t have much room to maneuver.
Liam tosses him a blueberry before turning his attention to Lucy.
“Well,” he says, pretending to ponder the question by scratching his jaw. He flips a few locks of his blonde hair out of his face. “I would say neighbors-to-lovers, and from what it sounds like, some enemies-to-lovers as well.” Lucy gives him a high five.
“No! No lovers. Just enemies,” I grunt back.
The image of Oliver standing over me last night flashes through my mind.
I can’t deny that for a moment when I opened my eyes last night, I was mildly terrified.
It took me a moment to get my bearings, given that I didn’t intend to fall asleep in the hallway and leave myself exposed to, well, anything.
But when I saw Oliver standing over me, the only thing I could think was “Oh shit.” Because the man is huge.
And it wasn’t just because I was sitting down.
He is a full head taller than me, and in the middle of arguing with him, I couldn’t help but notice the solid muscles on either side of his neck.
Yes, I was standing there, fighting with a stranger, wondering how the hell this guy turns his head.
He is literally the definition of tall, dark, and handsome—however much I hate to admit it.
His brown hair looked like it had been cut short and was starting to grow back in waves.
Dark stubble lined his face, and he looked about as tired as I feel now.
“You are very sassy today,” Lucy notes, sitting on a barstool and pulling her knee into her chest. She’s wearing one of Liam’s sweatshirts, and it drapes halfway off her shoulder in the effortlessly chic way that only men’s clothes do.
I try to remember the last time I wore a guy’s sweatshirt, and a wave of sadness comes over me and settles in my chest when I realize I can’t.
These calls with Lucy used to be a solace for me, but lately my brain likes to use them as an opportunity to point out everything Lucy has that I don’t.
“I’m just tired,” I reply automatically.
“Well maybe you shouldn’t be staking out strangers’ apartments all night,” Lucy says, raising her eyebrows as if to say, “Duh!”
“Well, a normal human would think: Huh, this woman has been keeping my dog company all night, and she said she can hear me through the floorboards, maybe I should be quiet.” I deepen my voice, imitating Oliver.
“But no, not him. This jerk gets on a freaking treadmill at 7 a.m. after being out all night. Who lives like that?”
“You may be thinking about this stranger’s sleep habits a bit too much,” Lucy says, a wary look on her face.
“Only because his sleep habits are affecting mine. And you know how I feel about sleep.”
“I know, I know,” Lucy replies quickly, nodding. A beat passes between us, and although I’m fully ready to continue ranting about the inconsiderate oaf that lives upstairs, Lucy changes the subject. “Hey, what happened with that guy? James? You haven’t mentioned him lately.”
“Oh, he’s been gone for weeks. Keep up,” Liam says. Lucy narrows her eyes at him.
“It’s true,” I say.
“Why? I liked him,” Lucy whines.
“You never met him,” Liam deadpans.
“Hey you, be quiet over there!” Lucy scolds.
“I kept forgetting he existed, so I figured it was best to let him go.” I shrug. It’s the truth, and I genuinely feel nothing about it.
“Aw, Elle—”
“Don’t aww me,” I reply with an eye roll. “I’m not torn up about it. He was just so blah. All of them are.” Lucy grimaces, but she doesn’t press the issue. After all these years, she’s learned not to argue with me about my love life.
“Well, I have another bone to pick with you.”
“I never understood that expression. Why would anyone pick bones?” I make a mental note to Google it later.
“Don’t try and deflect,” Lucy says, eyeing me.
“What?” I ask, trying to remain innocent.
“Oh, I don’t know… Maybe you forgot that even though I live in Bumblefuck, Nowhere—”
“Rude,” Liam interjects.
“I still check my email,” Lucy continues. “And I still receive weekly PubLunch newsletters that update me on the goings on of the publishing industry.”
Busted.
“I was going to tell you. It just happened the other day,” I start, but Lucy raises her brows at me. “I’ve had a lot going on.”
“Assaulting people in hallways and such,” Liam mumbles.
Lucy and I ignore him. “Elle, I’m so happy for you,” she says, and the genuine pride in her voice makes me inwardly cringe.
“Thanks,” I say, feigning a smile.
“You’re… happy about this, right?” Lucy asks warily.
“Of course. I’m excited. Moving up the ladder.” Lucy doesn’t say anything, just watches me, and I can tell she’s not convinced. I speak before she has a chance to, practically stumbling over my words in my haste to get them out. “I need to plan tonight’s class. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, ’kay?”
“Okay,” Lucy agrees, clearly noting that I don’t want to talk about my promotion and respecting it. I love her for that. “And oh, before I forget, I’m coming to the city next week for a meeting in the office—and Ruby’s new book launch.”
“Ruby’s book launch? You think that’s a good idea?
” I say with a skeptical look. Lucy and Heartwarming’s most popular author aren’t on the best of terms after Lucy’s stint in Hudson Hollow resulted in Lucy writing a book for Heartwarming, not Ruby, as intended.
Even though it all worked out and Ruby started another series for the imprint, they haven’t been in a room together since.
“Anne wants me to go to try to smooth things over so maybe Ruby will write a blurb for my book.”
“Wow, a wedding and a book. When did you get so busy?” I say, shaking my head.
“I know, right? My plans used to solely consist of sweatpants and staying home,” she says with a goofy smile. “Anyway, can’t wait to see you and talk wedding planning!”
“Absolutely,” I reply. “Can’t wait.”