Page 60 of Tell Me All Your Lies
“Ouch, you wound me,” I say with a hand over my heart.
She lets out a light laugh as she finishes buckling the last shoe.
“An underground casino for the wealthy. Makes sense they finally made it official.”
“Yeah, you mentioned last time it wasn’t under the Carolinas mafia, right?”
“Right. Well, not officially. Not like this.”
“It’s been some time. Makes sense with all the expansion into different trades they’ve been getting into the past couple of years.”
Cara gets up and walks over to where I’m waiting with the pies in hand.
“Ready?” she asks.
“Ready.”
Ms. Miller’shouse is one of the largest in the neighborhood, potentially the most acreage, at least with the size of this backyard.
I laugh to myself. Calling this a backyard doesn’t do it justice.
The back gate was left open for guests to enter through. There are dozens of people dressed like they all just came out of a catalog. With bright colors everywhere, it’s as if they match the tropical greenery of the yard.
It’s flawless.
“Are you thinking what I am?” Cara asks as we simultaneously spot a large spread of food.
We both start walking in that direction to set down the pie, a gesture for the party that won’t go unnoticed as the two outsiders here.
“Brad and Noelle are over there,” I whisper.
Cara’s eyes dart over to where I’m subtly gesturing. She spots them talking to one of the neighbors we brought a pie over to earlier this week, Fred. He’s a single man who lives in a house that looks to be the same model as ours.
“Let’s go,” she says.
We walk across the wooden deck and down the other set of steps. Brad spots us and waves us over. Cara gives him one of her breathtaking smiles, and a sting of jealousy courses through me.
I pause to compose myself. There’s nothing to be jealous of because Cara isn’t mine.
“You okay?” she whispers as we continue forward.
“All good.”
I keep hold of the last pie as we close the remaining distance.
Who would have guessed I would be thinking about pies this much? Certainly not me in this lifetime.
“Hey there!” Cara beams.
“Hi!” Noelle responds as she gives Cara a side hug. They step to the side and start chatting about how our move-in is going.
“Good to see you could make it,” Brad says.
“Wouldn’t miss it.”
He looks over to Fred.
“Have you had a chance to meet Ace yet?”
