Little Wonders

The Girl Next Door

Teri Hatcher moves in next door (continuation of previous part)

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"It's how bad?" Teri pressed her free hand against her forehead. "Oh, that bad." She sighed. "So we can live in the house?" She listened for several minutes. "I see. Well, whatever it takes."

She groaned and leaned back against the sofa. Her ex husband raised an eyebrow from his seat across his living room at her. "So how bad is it?"

Yesterday morning, Teri and their daughter had woken up to find their entire lower level flooded. She and Jon were divorced but still friends, so they'd stayed the night with him.

"The pipe that burst was in the kitchen." Teri groaned.

"But you just had that renovated! And it's not like it's cold."

"Apparently someone took a short cut. The kitchen is a loss." She sighed. "Because I had insurance and it was the fault of the contractor I won't have to pay for it, but it's gonna be weeks if not months. I'm already so far behind in the cookbook."

Jon shook his head. "I mean you guys can stay with me for a few days but I doubt you'd want to test recipes in my kitchen." He looked over at the small kitchen in his condo. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know." She covered her face with her hands and groaned again. "I spent the advance already."

"Ouch," Jon said, shaking his head. "I can take Emerson more if you need to rent out a commercial kitchen or something."

Teri nodded. "Thank you so much, I can't thank you enough for taking care of us."

"Hey, just because we shouldn't have gotten married doesn't mean you're not still my best friend and the mother of our child. I take care of my girls."

"Your girlfriend is not gonna be thrilled by us being here. I mean she won't mind Emerson, but I'm a different story."

"She's fine, she knows where we stand. It's gonna be okay, Teri, you'll figure it out."

"Well in the meantime, how about I cook breakfast?"

Jon grinned. "That was the best part of being married to you, all the food."

She smacked him good naturedly. "Shut up. Let's see what magic I can work."

The next day, she was in a chat with her cousin Charlotte and she'd mentioned her kitchen disaster. About five minutes later, her cousin called her.

"So I spoke to my mom," Charlotte said without much more than a greeting.

"About what?" Teri was perplexed.

"Oh," Charlotte said. "I'm sorry I sometimes think of plans without putting them to words. You know how my mom has that rental house?"

Teri hummed, thinking, she dimly remembered her aunt having a large house back in her dad's hometown, a small town that sat just outside of suburbia, close enough that shopping for any ingredients wouldn't be a problem. "It has a big kitchen doesn't it? But isn't the house old?"

Charlotte answered, "yes but it was renovated just last year. The kitchen is ultra modern. Mom's debating selling it. The town is small but the suburbs are getting closer all the time and people are moving in who want small town life but easy access to the suburbs. But she's not got it on the market yet and she's not got a renter lined up. She'd be happy to let you stay there for a few weeks to let you work on your book."

"Well I . . . ."

"Rent free."

That pretty much sold it and with some discussion with Jon about their daughter, it was decided. Emerson was in pre-K, quite happy and with two months left of school. Jon was eager to have her for those two months and Teri could see the advantage of having two months to concentrate solely on her cookbook.

"I'll miss her a lot."

"But you'll get so much done, you might not even need to stay too long. And if things get bad, we can always come out for a weekend or you can come home for a bit. And I love the idea of having one on one Emme time."

"You know, I'm glad you're her dad," Teri grinned at him, giving him a hug. "Well then, I better get packing!"

A week later and Teri was having tea with her aunt in the beautiful kitchen of her new temporary quarters. She made a mental note to have the photographer come here to take photos for the book, the light was perfect and the kitchen gorgeous. The big windows overlooked the backyard and from there she could make out the backyard of the more modest home next door.

She giggled as she watched a small boy, no more than 2, probably younger than that, playing with a dog twice his size. She caught a glimpse through the trees of a man coming out the back door, obviously calling for both child and dog as they both suddenly jumped up and made for the house.

"Earth to Teri," her aunt's voice broke into her watching.

"Oh sorry, I was distracted by the dog next door."

Aunt Ida chuckled. "Ah yes, the Cains. Cute little boy and his dog and his father. Some sort of tragedy there but I don't really pry. Your cousin would probably know his social security number though if you asked."

"Uh, no," Teri laughed. "I'm here to work, not get to know the neighbors. The sooner I get started the sooner I can get back to my little girl."

Aunt Ida smiled and put down her teacup. "And that my dear is my cue. Good luck and be sure to call me if you need anything."

"I will. Thanks again Aunt Ida, for everything. You're getting a mention in my book, big time."

"And an advance copy?"

"Always."

With that, Aunt Ida was gone. Teri looked around and smiled. Then she got up, pulled some pans out and grabbed her tablet. It was time to get to work.