Apples Should Be Red by Penny Watson Read Free Book Online

eye.
    He didn’t like it one bit.
    “You know what your problem is?” she asked.
    “I don’t have a problem. And to be perfectly frank, I could give a shit what you think.”
    She continued on, ignoring his comment. “Your problem is you’ve turned into a hermit. You’ve isolated yourself. Alberta connected you to the community, and now that she’s gone, you’re all alone in this house. Puttering .”
    Tom’s left eyelid twitched. She’d put enough emphasis on the word “puttering” to piss him off.
    She started it.
    He would end it.
    “Are you psychoanalyzing me, Bev? I didn’t realize you got your degree in bullshit.”
    “That’s why your front yard is a mess and so unwelcoming. You’re trying to keep folks out. Why not invite them in and see what happens?”
    “Should I call you Dr. Beverly now? Are you getting your own talk show soon?”
    “Also, Tom, not everything is warfare. The garden is at Defcon One. The neighbors are a bunch of no-good moochers. Your poor late wife was a babbler who drove you crazy.” She paused for effect. “You sure are hard to please.”
    “Well, at least I’m honest. And I don’t pretend to be something I’m not. Ms. Stepford Wife with her perfect strand of pearls and manicured garden and bastard of a husband.”
    Her eyes narrowed. “You’re a hermit. And you’re scared. What are you scared of?”
    He shoved a cigarette in his mouth. “I’m scared your motherfucking termites will never leave your house, and I’ll be stuck with you forever. That’s my biggest nightmare.”
    She smiled sweetly at him. “You’re scared of being rejected. That’s why you won’t reach out to anyone.”
    He lit his cigarette angrily. “Your psychobabble is starting to get on my nerves, Bev. You’re embarrassing yourself.”
    She shook her head. “No, no, I don’t think I am. I think my observations are hitting just a little too close to home, and it’s making you uncomfortable.”
    “You know what? I think that eggplant parmesan gave me indigestion. You need to work on that recipe.” He stood up abruptly and pushed his chair back.
    He stomped out to the porch, sat on the stoop, and took a long, hard drag on his cigarette.
    Beverly Anderson was a pain in the ass and he was not the slightest bit interested in her evaluation of his life and shortcomings.
    Too bad he couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss and the little whimpers she’d made.
    Damn him for a fool.

 

    “Y ou sure are up early.” Tom narrowed his eyes as Beverly nibbled on her morning toast. “I heard you take the car out. Where’d you go?”
    Beverly tried to paste an innocent expression on her face. Tom slid a cigarette out of his pack and added hot water to the coffee grinds.
    “Is that your breakfast every day? Coffee and cigarettes?”
    “Yep. Breakfast of champions.” His look dared her to comment.
    She stayed silent and sipped her tea.
    “So where’d you go?”
    Bev cleared her throat. “I have a little project I’m going to be working on this morning. Then I’ll start cooking this afternoon.”
    “Project? What sort of project?”
    “Just something I think you’ll like. In spite of yourself.”
    “Just what the hell is that supposed to mean? What are you planning, Beverly?”
    She carried her dirty dishes to the sink. “Something to brighten up the front of your property. Make it look more welcoming and improve your curb appeal. Not scare off the new neighbors.”
    His cigarette almost fell out of his mouth. “Are you kidding me? What is this? A new reality TV show for HGTV? Fix up the old geezer’s house? No thank you.”
    “I’ll do all the work myself. I got delphinium and English daisies, some baskets of pansies for the porch. Compost…”
    “Compost! I have enough compost in the back to fertilize the whole fucking state of California. You didn’t need to get any compost.”
    Beverly folded her arms across her chest. “Well, I didn’t think of that. I wanted to make