The Good Neighbors

by Kiersten Modglin

  “Just ignore her,” Jason said.

  “I hardly think I’m the one you should be mad at, baby,” Tori told Jason, touching his cheek. “I’m the only one who seems to be telling the truth around here.”

  “You need to leave,” Bryant said, stepping in front of Harper. “Before we call the police.”

  “You wouldn’t dare—”

  “We already have—”

  “You mother—”

  “Stop it!” Harper yelled, hands up in the air to her sides. “I want to know what you’re talking about.” She reached for the door handle on the screen door without allowing herself to reconsider. “Come inside.”

  Without waiting for a further invitation, Tori stormed past Jason, who looked apprehensive at best as he entered the house. “Tor, this isn’t the time. Let’s just go.”

  Tori smiled at her husband, though the smile was filled with venom. “I think we all have a lot to discuss, and if we’re going to make this work…well, we’ll have to work together, won’t we? We’re going to be a family, after all.” Her lips pursed as she placed an arm on the edge of their mantle, and Harper noticed for the first time how her hand rubbed across the small bump protruding from her abdomen.

  Forty-Six

  Harper

  “A family?” Harper asked, reaching for the edge of the couch. Jason reached for her instinctively, and she pulled away, slipping and landing on the floor. Bryant was still staring at Tori in disbelief as Jason reached his hand out to help Harper up.

  “Here,” he said softly. His eyes were kind—the way she’d remembered. She took his hand, letting him lift her up. Her husband’s eyes never left Tori.

  “You’re…you’re pregnant?” Harper asked.

  “I thought you knew,” Jason said, his brow furrowed. “When I asked if you knew…you said you did.”

  “When did you ask me?” she demanded.

  “When I came over the other day…”

  “That’s what you were talking about? I thought you just meant the affair. How would I have known about the pregnancy?”

  “I assumed he told you,” Tori said firmly.

  “You knew?” Harper asked Bryant, her body on fire with fury as she stared at the dumbfounded, guilty look on his face. “How could you not tell me?”

  “I don’t trust them, Harp. I don’t trust that it’s mine. We’ve only had sex twice. How can you be sure it’s not his? You planned this all along, didn’t you?” he demanded, standing up to face Tori.

  She didn’t flinch as he moved closer, unwavering in her power. “Planned what?” she dared him, and Harper saw Bryant’s eyes dart toward her before he swallowed.

  “You have no idea that the baby is mine, if there even is a baby,” he said hatefully.

  “It’ll be easy enough to prove once it’s born,” Tori said coldly.

  “What do you want from us?” Bryant demanded, his voice shaking. Whether it was shaking from fear or anger, Harper couldn’t tell.

  “In the beginning? Your friendship,” Tori answered. “But at this point? We really don’t know that you’re worth it. But this baby is yours, Bryant. So, I do expect you to be a part of its life.”

  “You’re okay with this?” Harper asked Jason, trying to keep her voice low.

  “Like I said before,” Jason said, his voice a low growl, “we’ve been together long enough to know when we see something better. I knew what would happen the moment you two moved in.” He didn’t sound entirely fine with what was happening, but what choice did he have? What choice did she have? Bryant and Tori were leading the show, and it was obvious she and Jason were going to be expected to go along with it.

  “Well, we’re moving. We’re selling the house,” Harper said, attempting to regain some power. Was that even true anymore? Would Bryant leave Tori knowing what he knew?

  “We noticed the sign,” Jason said. “But it won’t sell quickly. It’s likely you’ll still be here when the babies are born.”

  “Babies?” Harper asked, shocked by his words. “As in…twins?”

  Jason scowled. “No. As in, both babies. Yours and ours.”

  “So you did know that I’m pregnant, then?” Harper asked, something she hadn’t confirmed completely before then.

  “The nurse congratulated me when we left the hospital that day. She assumed I was the father.”

  “But…you didn’t say anything?”

  “It wasn’t my place,” he told her. “And it wasn’t any of my business. I thought we were friends…all of us. But I see now that I was wrong.” He reached for Tori’s hand. “That we were wrong.”

  Tori’s eyes met Harper’s suddenly, full of disdain. “Apparently so.”

  Harper furrowed her brow. “I could never be friends with someone like you. You slept with my husband.”

  “It takes two,” she said simply. “And from what Jay has said, you were only a few minutes alone with him from doing the same.”

  “Tori—” Jason said angrily.

  “What?” Bryant yelled at the same time. “You were going to sleep with him?”

  “No!” she exclaimed. “Of course not. We just kissed—”

  “Kissed?” Bryant demanded. “You kissed him?”

  “Like you have room to talk,” Jason said hatefully.

  “Please just go,” Harper begged. “Please. We don’t need this right now.” She clutched her stomach for emphasis.

  Jason sighed, looking her over. “Look, she’s right. We need to go. We don’t have to figure this all out right now. This was not why we came over here. We just…wanted to check on you. But, obviously we aren’t welcome.” He pulled Tori’s hand, leading her toward the door.

  “Good night, Harper,” he said to her. “Good night, Bryant.”

  “Good night, Jason,” Harper said, “or whoever you are.” The words slipped from her tongue, surprising everyone including herself. His eyes locked with hers, and she knew in that moment that he knew what she meant. He stood, frozen, studying her for a few seconds before he blinked and looked down.

  As she shut the door, he looked back up, his eyes were locking back with hers through the screened door and then the beveled glass of the wooden door. His expression said it all. It told her everything she needed to know. She’d discovered something big, whether the police believed her or not.

  As their shadows finally left their doorway, Harper released a breath she hadn’t meant to be holding.

  Forty-Seven

  Bryant

  The next morning, Bryant climbed out of bed at the first sign of light. He hadn’t slept at all—his mind racing all night long—which had given him plenty of time to sort everything out.

  The first, and most important, thing he needed to do was to call their realtor. He pulled his phone from the charger, scrolling through his contacts until he saw her name. He clicked on it, listening to it ring a few times before her groggy sounding voice came across the line. He’d obviously woken her up.

  “Joan Walden Real Estate, how may I help you?”

  “Hey, Joan, it’s Bryant Page. From Lancaster Mills.”

  “Hi, Bryant, how are you?” she asked.

  “I was just calling to see how many people we’ve had interested in the house. You haven’t done any showings yet. We’re considering lowering the price.”

  She made a ‘hmm’ noise and cleared her throat. “How many? None yet. You could lower the price if you want, but I’d suggest leaving it at the price we have listed for a few months.”

  “Months?” he exclaimed, shocked by her words. “What do you mean months?”

  “Bryant, the house was listed for four years before you guys came along.” She let out a soft chuckle. “I’m sorry. I’ll do everything I can to get it sold for you, but the fact is that no one is moving to Lancaster Mills. You aren’t in Chicago anymore.”

  His heart raced as she said the words he would’ve never guessed could be coming. “We don’t have years to wait. We need to sell this house, like…yesterday
.”

  “I understand,” she said, “and I promise you I’m doing all I can. But, it’s not going to happen overnight. It’s a rural area. I sell a house or two a month on a good month, and that’s within five towns. I’ll get the house sold for you guys, but you’re going to have to be patient with it, okay?”

  He groaned. “Thanks, Joan.”

  “Don’t get discouraged, okay? It’s going to be fine.”

  He nodded, though she couldn’t see him. “Thanks.”

  When he slid his phone back onto the dresser and looked over, Harper’s eyes were open, staring at him. “Not good news?” she asked, though she seemed to already know the answer.

  “We’re going to figure it out,” he promised.

  She nodded. “Are we going to talk about…last night?” She wouldn’t meet his eye as she asked the question he’d known was coming.

  “There’s no way she could know that the baby is mine, Harp.”

  “But what if it is?” she asked. “How long were you planning to keep that secret from me?”

  “I…don’t know.”

  “Would you want to be a part of its life?”

  “I don’t know what I want,” he said, sinking into the bed and patting her leg. “Besides you. And us. And our baby. That’s what I’m certain about. The rest…it’s too hard to figure out.”

  She pulled her leg away from him. “I don’t know what I want either,” she said firmly. “But I want to get out of here. For good. I don’t care if we have to foreclose. I don’t care anymore. I can’t stand to be here. I can’t stand to watch her and think about what you did. I made my decision last night. I’m going back to Chicago.”

  “You know we can’t afford to—”

  “Me, Bryant. I’m going. On my own.” She swallowed, finally looking up to meet his eyes. “You can do what you want. It’s your mess to clean up, anyway.”

  “You’re leaving me?” he asked, his eyes burning with sudden tears.

  To his dismay, she didn’t deny it instantly. “I thought I was okay with this. I thought I could…learn to be okay with it. To accept what you did and to move on. But, last night made it clear that I can’t. That we’ll always be running from your mistakes. When you cheated on me, I thought it would kill me. But somehow I made it through,” she said, tears forming in her eyes. “But last night, when Tori said she was pregnant, the wound was ripped open again. I can’t do this anymore, Bryant. I can’t,” she took a sharp breath, “I just can’t do it.”

  “You know that I love you,” he said, reaching to cup her cheek.

  She grasped his hand, moving it from her face slowly. Her expression wasn’t angry, but full of sorrow. He wasn’t sure which would hurt worse. “I do know that,” she told him with a nod. “And I love you, too. But, it’s not just about that anymore. I want to be the best momma to this little baby, and I’m not sure I can do that in this situation. I need time to figure everything out. Which means I need time away from this place…and from you.”

  He swallowed, looking away as he attempted to blink the tears back from his eyes. “Okay,” he said finally, unable to form even one more word.

  Harper slid her legs out from under the covers, walking past him as her hand grazed his shoulder. He watched her walk out the door, knowing she may as well have been walking away from him for good. It was only a matter of time before she realized she was better off without him. She always had been. His life had been one screw up after the other—until her. Until she brought light into his world. It was only fitting he’d managed to mess that up, too.

  He laid down where she had been, pulling the covers up to his chest. He’d made his bed, he may as well lie in it.

  Forty-Eight

  Harper

  That night, Harper woke up on the couch. Truth was, she hadn’t been sleeping well, and she couldn’t decide if it was the entire situation, the ever-growing baby resting on her bladder, or the lumpy couch that was causing most of her distress.

  As she rolled over, trying to stand up, she was reminded again of just how much her body was changing by the day. She stood, walking up the stairs quietly with one hand resting on her growing belly. She rushed into the bathroom, emptying her bladder with sleep-filled eyes.

  When she was done, she wandered into the office, wanting to check and see if there was an earlier flight available than the one she’d booked this morning. She needed one for that day, if possible, because she couldn’t run on such little sleep for much longer.

  She opened the browser, watching as it took her to the last open page—Bryant’s email. There was one unopened email from Donna Brooks, the woman who had sold them their home. Out of curiosity, Harper clicked on it, reading through the email.

  No, it read, I never really had any trouble out of them. They tend to keep to themselves. Is everything okay?

  Harper cocked her head to the side, reading over the message once again. She searched for the sent message that she’d been replying to but didn’t see it. She clicked the button labeled ‘Inbox’ on the far left hand side of her screen and searched through his messages. Hadn’t he just told her that Donna said she always felt like something was strange with them? That she felt like they were watching her?

  There. Seven messages down was another message, also from Donna Brooks. I did my best to stay away from them…they just always seemed odd to me. They knew things they shouldn’t have known, like they were watching me or something. My advice? Keep far away.

  She read the message he’d sent her: Donna, my name is Bryant Page. My wife and I recently purchased and moved into your home in Lancaster Mills. We are truly loving it here but we are having some issues with the neighbors—Jason and Tori Fuller. I was wondering if you could give me some insight into them? Did you ever have any issues? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

  So, Donna had told him at first that there were problems and then later responded that there were none. What did that mean? Why would she change her mind so suddenly?

  Out of the corner of her eye, something caught her attention. She turned her head toward the window and gasped. No.

  Forty-Nine

  Harper

  Harper dashed down the stairs as quickly as she could run. She grabbed her phone from the end table near the couch.

  “Bryant!” she called up the stairs, yelling at her sleeping husband as she darted out the door, dialing 911 with shaking hands.

  “Hello, 911, what’s your emergency?”

  “I…there’s a fire.” She stared up at the flames in front of her, heat from the blaze warming her skin as smoke filled the air. How long had the Fullers’ house been on fire? How had it started? The house was nearly completely black, charred from the inside out as the flames continued to grow and climb, bringing large parts of the house down easily with loud crashes.

  “Jason! Tori!” she called, trying to get as close to the fire as possible without endangering her life. Please, God, don’t let them still be in there.

  She stepped back as she listened to the dispatcher’s calm voice on the line, requesting her address and trying to let her know help was on the way. She held onto the phone, her heart pounding as she watched the disaster unfold in horror. She had fallen to her knees, though she couldn’t remember when it happened, the phone beside her in the grass as cool tears collected on her cheeks. She’d never witnessed anything so terrible—for a girl who’d grown up in Chicago, that was saying something. She took short, sharp breaths, trying her best to maintain composure.

  When another section of the once beautiful house collapsed, sending ashes and soot toward her, she lunged backward, landing face first in the dirt. She watched as Bryant’s house shoes came hurrying toward her from the porch.

  “Are you okay?” he demanded, scooping her up. “Jesus Christ, Harp, what happened?” As she looked up at him, his eyes were on the neighbors’ house, watching as it continued to burn.

  “We need to go in there,” she said, staring at the reflection of the flames in
the vehicles in their driveway. “Tori and Jason could still be inside.”

  “Are you crazy?” Bryant asked. “You’re pregnant. You aren’t going anywhere. We need to call the police.”

  “I already did,” she told him, looking around for her phone. She spied the light in the grass, walking over to it and picking it up. A few neighbors down the road had started coming out onto their porches, and suddenly she filled with relief as she heard the sirens assuring her that help was on the way.

  She watched as two fire trucks pulled up, their sirens still blaring as they stopped in front of the house, and the men began to climb out of the trucks. They moved quickly, talking to no one as they went to work, trying and failing to put out the large flames.

  They were clad in their suits, and Harper watched in awe as they bravely fought their way closer and closer toward the flame. A man approached her, his helmet off. “Do you know if anyone is inside?” he asked.

  “We have neighbors that live there,” she told him. “A man and woman about our age. I don’t know if they were home or not, but their cars are there.”

  The man nodded, turning and running back toward the house. He threw on his helmet, grabbed another fireman, and together they made their way into the house.

  Harper covered her mouth in horror, holding her breath as she waited to see them emerge. She may not like Tori and Jason, but the thought of them dying—the thought of them dying like this—was enough to make her sick.

  Bryant stood behind her, his hands caressing her arms. “It’s going to be okay,” he whispered in her ear. “They’ll find them.”

  She couldn’t help noticing the way he held her extra close, and she wondered if he wished it were Tori in his arms instead.

  Fifty

  Harper