Bree sighed putting the last of the boxes into her trunk before slamming it shut. Over the last couple months she’d been going through her grandmothers things, tossing the old, donating the used and leaving everything else she used day to day. A lifetime collected a variety of things, especially since her grandmother had been living in this house since she’d gotten married. Bree had learned that sometimes it was hard to have an objective eye when it came to your own stuff and that’s where she came in.

Tossing her hair back she paused. She had this distinct feeling of being watched, she didn’t know why and she’d never considered herself paranoid but in the last week she’d felt it a few times. The heavy feeling of eyes tracing her movements and only ever in and around her grandmothers property, which was a strange sensation.

“Brianna you are crazy.”

Who in their right mind would be watching her and here of all places? Up until last year she hadn’t been in Victoria in years, nine to be exact and any of the people she’d known here as a kid, spending summers with her grandmother, were long gone or caught up with families of their own but even so she couldn’t shake that feeling.

Her eyes swung around the neighbourhood a typical suburban block, much like the one she’d grown up in Toronto except it had always felt different here. Her mother had grown up in this house, in college she’d met her father then a few years later marriage and a child. She’d only been two when her dad had been offered a job in Toronto and then they’d packed up their lives and she’d grown up there. Sometime along the way though her parents had started sending her back to spend summers with her grandmother and eventually, after her parents death, she’d stopped coming back. That was until she’d gotten that call any person dreaded, something was wrong. Her sweet, kind, ever faithful grandmother was dying, inoperable cancer. They’d given her a year, at best, and they’d just past that deadline. After hearing that she’d packed up everything, tied up some loose ends at her job and moved back here to take care of her. She was all the family she had left and she wasn’t about to waste what little time they had, god knows she’d wasted enough by being young and stupid.

Bree sighed rubbing her tired eyes. After she delivered this last round of boxes she was going to have to slow down for a bit before she ran herself into the ground. Just as she opened her car door her eyes landed on the house next door; spotting the neighbor in the window she reciprocated the wave before getting into the front seat of her car. She still had a lot to do before she called it a night and if she didn’t get on the road soon she’d be caught in traffic all afternoon. Bree turned on the ignition, turned up the radio then slid out of the driveway and onto the road.

---

At first he wasn’t sure if it really was her. He hadn’t seen her in years, not since he was a teenager but he’d seen her a couple times now, coming and going from her grandmothers house, always alone but as beautiful as he’d remembered her. She was different of course, nearly ten years could do that but then again so was he. He’d grown into himself and she’d done the same, only she’d done a much better job of it.

He watched her slam the trunk door then look around the neighbourhood The sun hit her face in the most amazing way; a face he’d still recognize anywhere. The last time he’d seen her he’d been fifteen and she had been eighteen. The older women fantasy every teenage boy had and to make matters worse she’d always been nice to him. For as long as he could remember she’d always had a smile and a wave for him and no matter how busy she was she’d always stop for a quick chat with him or his mom on her way out the door. Maybe the fact that she’d been nice to him had always clouded his opinion of her but seeing her again still made his heartbeat fast.

After her parents had died she’d stopped coming to visit and he’d moved on to hockey but he’d never forgotten the girl next door.

“Jamie what are you doing?”

He dropped the curtain like it was on fire and whipped around to face his mother. It really was true no matter how old you got you never wanted you parents to catch you doing anything you didn’t want them to know about.

“Nothing.”

“He’s just eyeballing his old teenage crush…” Jordie cut in dropping onto the couch. “Again.”

“I am not!”

How the hell did he know that and where had he come from?

He watched his mother walk over to the curtain before she pulled it back and waved.

“Poor girl.” His mother let go of the curtain and he watched it swing back into place. “Like she hasn’t been through enough.”

“What do you mean?”

“Her grandmothers not doing too well…” she explained. “I don’t think she has much time left.”

Her grandmother had lived next door to his parents his whole life. Had snuck them extra candy at Halloween and cookies at Christmas. She’d always been really kind to him and he was sorry to hear she wasn’t well.

“Maybe I’ll invite her for dinner.” His mom suggested. “When’s the last time you boys actually saw her?”

“Well your baby boys been seeing her all week, haven’t you Jamie?”

He could feel his face turn red all the way to his ears and he wanted to hit his brother as hard as he could. It seemed that not matter what the impulse to hit your older brother never really went away.

“I saw her last year.” Jordie continued like he hadn’t said anything. “I ran into her right before we left for Dallas.”

And he hadn’t said a thing. Jordie and Bree had hung out a lot when they were younger. They were only a year apart and had shared some friends. He’d be lying if he didn’t say that had always made him a little bit jealous.

“I haven’t seen her since I was a kid.” He confessed. “I didn’t even know she was back.”

His mom went on to explain that after her grandmothers diagnosis she’d moved back to spend as much time with her as she could and as she’d gotten worse she’d been taking care of her full-time.

“So you boys won’t mind if I invite her?” she paused for a second. “Maybe a barbecue, you can invite your friends, it might be a little more comfortable for her.”

The way his mom worked it out it sounded like maybe she’d had more contact with Bree then she’d let on.

“I’ll work it out.” She continued on like they weren’t even there, walking out of the room verbally making a list of all the things she needed to pick up. His mother had always been like that when she had made a decision; there was no changing her mind.

“Looks like we’re having a barbecue.”

“Think you can handle that?” Jordie cut in getting back to his feet.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jamie dismissed with a wave. Why wouldn’t he be able to handle it, he wasn’t some gawking teenager anymore, he was an adult now. He had experience with women and that’s what she was.

“I could help you out.”

“I don’t need your help.”

The look on Jordie’s face told him all he needed to know; like an idiot he’d walked right into his trap. When had his brother become so observant?

“Alright.” Jordie held his hands up in surrender with a laugh. “I’m just trying to help.”

He watched his brother walk out of the room, thinking about what he’d just said. The last thing he needed was for this conversation to get around so hopefully he could keep his mouth shut. When he knew he was alone he pushed the curtain open again but this time she was gone.

Notes

Just a little something I've been sitting on for a little while. Thought I'd throw it out and see what you guys think. Thanks for reading! :)