“She actually said that?”
“Every word.”
His jaw tightened.
“Then I’m done helping her.”
And he meant it.
When Vanessa called about scratching sounds in her garage, he told her to contact pest control.
When she complained about a sticking door, he sent her a handyman’s number.
But Vanessa didn’t stop.
She simply stopped pretending.
Whenever Irvin worked outside, she leaned over the fence to talk to him.
She brought homemade cookies and claimed she had made too many.
She found reasons to touch his arm.
And every time, Irvin stepped away.
Then she announced a neighborhood barbecue.
Irvin received an invitation.
I didn’t.
He showed it to me.
“I’m not going.”
I looked through the kitchen window toward Vanessa’s house.
Then I thought about the pickle jar.
The shelf.
The batteries.
Every fake little emergency she had used to borrow my husband.
And suddenly, I had an idea.
“Actually,” I said, “I think you should go.”
Irvin stared at me.
“Why?”
“Trust me.”
He studied my expression.
“Should I be worried?”
I smiled.
“Not about me.”
The following afternoon, Irvin went to Vanessa’s barbecue alone.
I waited thirty minutes.
Then I walked next door carrying a large gift box.
The backyard was packed with neighbors holding drinks and paper plates.
Conversations slowed when I entered through the gate.
Irvin saw me first and immediately had to hide a smile.
Vanessa didn’t bother hiding her irritation.
“What are you doing here?”
“I brought you a gift.”
I placed the box on the patio table.
“Go ahead. Open it.”
Half the neighborhood was watching.
Vanessa lifted the lid.
Inside was a hammer.
A screwdriver set.
Several kinds of batteries.
Lightbulbs.
A jar opener.
A basic home-repair manual.
And a printed list of local handymen.
Her smile vanished.
“Now you don’t need my husband every time something breaks.”
A nervous laugh moved through the crowd.
Vanessa forced one of her own.
“Oh my God, Claire. You’re being dramatic. I was joking.”
I looked directly at her.
“No, you weren’t. You sat in my kitchen and told me to prepare for divorce because you were going to take my husband.”
The laughter stopped instantly.
Vanessa turned toward Irvin as though she expected him to rescue her.
