The Perfect Neighbors Read Free Page B

idea for a part-time job coordinating services for the elderly, like taking them to ­doctors’ appointments or visiting them in nursing homes, had somehow grown into a booming franchise in four states. Early on, there had been an article about her in Black Enterprise magazine, and then a write-up in the Duke alumni magazine, which had helped launch her company. Now she had a syndicated weekly radio show in which she dispensed advice about elder care to callers. She gave speeches at five hundred dollars a pop. Even Mr. Brannon had become one of her clients; she’d helped the widower sort through his accumulated decades of belongings and choose an assisted living center. She visited Mr. Brannon every week to make sure he was comfortable. That service was off the books; Mr. Brannon, with his courtly manners and sad smile, had a special place in her heart. He seemed so alone in the world.
    â€œI’ll spread rumors about asbestos at Wine and Whine night, to get the neighbors we don’t like to move away, and then I can sell their houses,” Kellie said.
    â€œGreat idea,” Susan said. “I’ll bring a few bottles of Chardonnay. Last time Gigi ran out.”
    â€œMaybe she didn’t think it would be good for her husband’scongressional campaign to have a dozen drunk women lurching out of his house,” Kellie mused.
    â€œOh, come on, it never hurt Bill Clinton,” Susan said. “How’s this for a plan: we’ll get Tessa drunk and she’ll spill all her deep, dark secrets.”
    â€œI’m in,” Kellie said, laughing.

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    Chapter Two
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    Newport Cove Listserv Digest
    *Halloween party & parade!
    It isn’t too early to begin planning for everyone’s favorite holiday—­Halloween! This year at our annual Newport Cove party we’ll have a moon bounce, tasty treats for all (including gluten and nut free!), and a parade through our neighborhood for all of our little goblins and ghosts! “Opal” the fortune-­teller may make a surprise visit to read fortunes (please remind your children to refrain from pulling on Opal’s hair so we avoid painful incidents like last year’s)! Please email Shannon Dockser if you’d like to volunteer for the snack committee or activities committee. —Sincerely, Shannon Dockser, Newport Cove Manager
    *Re: Honda Mechanic?
    I don’t have a Honda, but I bring my Chrysler LeBaron into Michael at Auto Repair Unlimited. He’s a well-mannered young man, not like some these days, and his prices are reasonable. —Tally White, Iris Lane
    *Re: Dog Poop
    I’d like to second the comment by Mrs. Reiserman. I can’t imagine any Newport Cove residents would be so uncourteous as to leave canine filth in their neighbors’ yards, but several times a year I step into something most unpleasantwhen I’m out gardening and have to hose it off my shoe. Let’s all try to be better neighbors. —Ralph Zapruder, Blossom Street
    â€¢Â Â â€¢Â Â â€¢
    Gigi Kennedy rolled over in bed, lazily stretching out an arm and connecting with a cold sheet instead of a warm body.
    She yawned and blinked and the world came into focus. Her nightstand with a hefty political memoir and a treatise about microbusiness loans stacked atop the juicy novel she’d been yearning to read—but hadn’t found the time—for weeks. An expensive pot of eye cream that she’d begun to use religiously, though she suspected the cost was due to the French name rather than the quality of the ingredients. And her monthly planner filled with scribbled reminders of phone calls she needed to make, places she needed to be, people she needed to woo.
    She despised that planner with its bright red cover.
    Red signaled power, according to the image consultant her husband, Joe, had hired. Apparently crow’s-feet did not, and the eye cream had been delivered to her along with the business card of a