In My Neighbor's Bed

Ch. 1: Welcome to the Neighborhood

Routine. Once, that word was a safe haven for me. A sense of stability in an uncertain world. But now? I'd rather chew my arm off than have to live through one more day of its endless monotony.

"Oh, I won't be home for dinner tonight," Phil explained. "Greg and I have a meeting later with some potential clients and we might grab a few drinks afterward depending on how it goes."

I rolled my eyes. Wow. How surprising. Another late meeting.

Why did he even bother to call me about these anymore? I mean, we'd had dinner together maybe what? Three times since last month? I'd be more surprised if he told me that he'd actually be here for once.

"Oh, really..." I said, doing my best to sound disappointed. "Well... I guess it can't be helped. You just do your best to bag those new clients, okay?"

"You know I will. Anyway, I have to get back to work, Mags. I'll see you tomorrow. Love you. Bye."

"Lov-"

The line cut off before I even finished the word. I sighed and stared down at the phone in my hand. Why did I even bother trying? Love. That dream was already dead between us. We'd buried it a long time ago.

But I had to stay with him. For Eli. I didn't have a choice. If it wasn't for that damn prenup...

A sudden beeping cut my moping short. I glanced outside to see a large truck towering over the back fence.

Odd. This was a residential neighborhood. What was a truck doing here? I hopped out of my chair and went out back to take a look.

The words Pearson's Moving Company greeted me as I made my way to the fence. No prizes for guessing what they were here for. Still, it wouldn't hurt to take a peek at the new neighbors.

I'd asked Phil ages ago to fix the loose boards in the fence, but he never did. Much to my annoyance. Although, I guess it worked out in the end. I had a convenient little passageway to the back road whenever I needed it now.

Phil always hated that I used it like that. "Letting every robber in the neighborhood know we were easy pickings" and all that. Not that it ever worried him enough to actually make him fix it though.

I pushed the boards aside and squeezed my way through the gap. Only to find myself face-to-face with a very confused stranger.

He stared at me blankly, as if trying to piece together exactly where I came from. While he was busy doing that, I decided to give him a quick once-over myself.

Baggy sweatpants and a worn-out tank top half-drenched in sweat. A mess of dark, disheveled hair clinging to his neck and forehead. A pair of muscular, tattooed arms gripping a poorly taped box. And, to top it all off, large, dark eyes, still blank with confusion.

I smiled at him warmly as I held out my hand. "Hi! I'm Maggie Henderson. Are you the new neighbor?"

He fumbled with the box for a second as he tried to carefully maneuver it to his side. However, once that obstacle was out of the way, he returned my smile and reached out to shake my hand.

"Ah, sorry about that. I've been cooped up in the car all day. Made my head kind of spacey," he explained. "Yes, I'm the new neighbor. Mason Kendall. Nice to meet you, Maggie."

"You too. And don't worry about it. If I saw some random woman suddenly pop out of the fence, I'd probably be thrown off too."

He laughed and nodded vaguely. "You aren't kidding. You sure it's safe to keep your fence like that though? Seems like an easy place to break into."