Growing Up Neighbors Read online

  Neighbors Series #1

  GROWING UP

  NEIGHBORS

  By Frances Hoelsema

  © 2014 by Frances Hoelsema

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any way by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the author as provided by USA copyright law.

  This novel is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are from the author’s imagination. Any similarities to real people, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.

  Published in the United States of America.

  Book cover photos curtesy of pixabay.com.

  *************************************

  I first want to say thank you to God, lover of my soul, for creating the idea of and ability to love, and for giving me my own personal love story.

  I want to express my deepest gratitude to my husband for not only helping me in the writing process, but for also being my better half by far. I look forward to continuing our story, babe!

  Thank you, mom, for encouraging me to write the story my way and for reading through the early manuscripts.

  I need to give a huge shout out to my sister for her countless hours of editing and constructively criticizing my work so I can be the best I can be. Not only that, but she turned my ideas for a cover page into a work of art. I can't thank her enough!

  And last, but certainly not least, I thank all romantic drama authors out there. I've read numerous stories from many writers and each has left a lasting impression on me. There's no doubt it was their work that helped me shape the writing in my own book.

  *************************************

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Epilogue

  1

  “Who do ya think they are?” eight-year-old Deborah Harrington asked her younger sister, as she stared across the street, watching an unfamiliar family pull up the driveway. They parked in front of the house and started to unload boxes from their black SUV.

  “I dunno,” six-year-old Robyn replied while also looking across the street from their shared upstairs bedroom.

  "Do ya think there'll be anyone to play with like the last family that lived there?"

  “Doesn’t look like it. Looks like there’s just boys,” Robyn answered. Then she turned to Deborah, tugged on her arm and pleaded, "C-mon, let’s go ride our bikes. Please, please, pretty please!”

  After Robyn tugged on her sister’s arm and begged for what seemed like forever, Deborah finally obliged.

  It could be a better and easier way to see the new neighbors from outside than from our window anyway, she thought.

  “Let’s race to our bikes!” Robyn insisted enthusiastically.

  Deborah liked racing her sister because she usually won. Her and Robyn ran down the stairs, through the large living room where they had to both jump over a cord to the gaming system they owned, through the screened-in front porch and then out the door to the garage. This time Robyn was the first to find her bike and hop on while Deborah was shortly behind, wanting to make sure to close the door behind them. They’ve already gotten in trouble numerous times for accidently leaving the front door open and Deborah didn’t want to risk getting in trouble again. That would just get in the way of her trying to watch what was going on across the street.

  Their ten-year-old brother, Alex, who was standing in the kitchen getting a drink of water, heard them running down the stairs and out of the house. Curiosity wanted him to know what was going on. He had a feeling, though, it might be something to do with the new neighbors moving in that their dad had mentioned earlier that morning before he left for work.

  Mr. Harrington was a realtor and it was his business partner who sold the house across the street. Therefore, he had the inside scoop on who would be living across the street from his family. When Alex overheard him discussing the details with his wife, he incessantly began asking questions. To satisfy his son and regain some alone time with his spouse, Mr. Harrington told Alex how the new neighbors would have boys his own age he could play with.

  The plan worked and Alex left his parents alone. He was ecstatic over the tidbit of news he received. The neighbors that lived across the street previously only had twin girls that were aged between his sisters’ ages and a younger girl that they never actually met. Living in the country meant that houses were few and far between. In this case, the house across the street was the only one close by except for the one about an eighth of a mile down the road. However, only an old couple lived there so that one didn’t count in the kids' eyes. Needless to say, Alex felt he didn’t have any neighbor friends to play with.

  Until now that is.

  Alex finally caught up with the girls just as they were about to open the garage door and head out. He did, in fact, notice, while going through the screened-in front porch, that there was a black SUV parked in front of the house across the street.

  “What are you guys up to?” he asked them, looking at Deborah specifically.

  “Duh! What does it look like we’re up to? Can’t you see that we’re on our bikes? We’re going to go ride them around the house,” Deborah answered annoyingly.

  She was eager to get outside to keep an eye on the new family and didn’t want her pesky, older brother getting in the way.

  For the most part, Deborah and Alex got along well, but there were times, like this one, where Deborah wished her brother would leave her alone. And if she had to choose, she would rather play with her sister because Alex could be a little bossy and not nearly as imaginative or as fun.

  “Well, I can see that,” Alex said cockily with his arms crossed in front of his chest. “But I think you want to go and spy on the neighbors that moved in across the street. I know how nosy you can be, Deborah.”

  “Hey! Riding bikes was Robyn’s idea. Not mine. But even if we want to see who the new neighbors are while riding, who cares? It’s not like we’re hurting anyone. We’re just curious. You can always join us if you want,” she added, secretly hoping he wouldn’t.

  “Nah, I’m in the middle of a game. Once I’m done, though, I will. Just remember to mind your own business though. I’m sure that we’ll get to meet them soon,” Alex answered back.

  Whatever, Deborah thought, shrugging her shoulders as her older brother went back inside.

  She then turned to her sister and said, “Come on, Robyn. Let’s go. First one to make it around the house five times wins!” This brought a huge smile to Robyn’s face as she eagerly anticipated beating Deborah for once.

  Deborah opened the garage door and she and Robyn started pedaling out of the garage and into the front yard. The two girls loved biking around their house. Circling the house was always fun as it was situated on a piece of land that was a lot like a maze. Not only were there trees placed strategically around the sides and back of the home that they could weave in and out of, but the house was on a slope so they were able to go up and down hill as well.

  On this particular day, the weather outside was beautiful. Living in Western Michigan, no one knew what kind of weather one could expect in the fall. Sometimes it could be warm and sunny and other times it could be cold and rainy or even snowy. There were days that the weather could shift from one to another at the drop of a hat and sometimes every kind of weather pos
sible could be experienced all in the same day. On this particular Saturday in late September, though, not only was it a warm, sunny day with just a few clouds in sight, but there was barely a breeze among the color-changing tree leaves. The birds and squirrels were enjoying the fall day so much so that they stayed out even as Deborah and Robyn whooshed by on their bikes, Robyn in the lead.

  After going around their two-story, blue and gray house twice, and with Robyn still ahead of her, Deborah decided to stop in the front yard and watch what was going on across the street. Robyn was very excited to be in the lead and didn’t even realize that Deborah had stopped. By the time she noticed, she was already in the back of the house and decided to take a break as well. She hopped off her bike to lie on the ground and watch the few clouds that drifted by.

  Meanwhile, Deborah sat on her bike with both feet on the ground in front of the garage, staring across the street, even though at this point no one was even outside.

  They sure must be busy, she thought.

  Just then one of the boys came out. However, she figured that since he probably had a lot of things to do that he most likely wouldn’t notice her staring.

  Boy was she wrong.

  After only a couple of minutes of watching him go in and out of the house carrying boxes, he had caught her looking his way and decided to wave at her. Even though the wave was a small, kind gesture, it still startled Deborah to the point that she looked away, put her feet back on the pedals of her pink bike and started circling the house again without so much as waving back.

  ---------------

  “Nicholas, where are you? I need you to get the rest of the car unloaded!” Ms. Michaels said frustratingly when she noticed that no one was unloading the SUV.

  She had clearly instructed Nicholas that after they got to their new home, they’d each bring in a box or two. Then she’d start unpacking while they continued unloading their vehicle.

  “Oh, do I have to go and get more boxes, mom?” ten-year-old Nicholas Michaels whined. “I’ve already brought in a few boxes. I’m so tired. Can’t you at least make Robert help me? He’s not that sick. Why only me? It’s just not fair!”

  Nicholas put down one of his comic books from his collection that he found packed in one of the boxes he brought in and starting heading towards the front door with his shoulders slumped and head down, silently complaining that he had to do most of the work.

  “Because I said so, that’s why!” his mom shouted back as Nicholas slowly made his way out the door. “Plus, Robert needs his rest so he’s ready for school come Monday,” she added.

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he mumbled back.

  Nicholas slammed the door behind him, angry over the life he now had to live. It all started about a year ago when his mom broke the news to him and his brother that their father would no longer be living with them. When they had asked their mom further about it, they found out that their father no longer wanted anything to do with all three of them. Nicholas knew that his father wasn’t home all that often, but he thought it was because he was working hard, not because he didn’t want to be a part of the family anymore. Nicholas had even found out later, through eavesdropping, that his dad was cheating on his mom. Had been for years. His mom was the one stupid enough, as she said in her own words, to keep taking him back. She was even willing to forget about it all and keep it all hush, hush so that no one would find out. Until, that is, his father asked for a divorce. Apparently his dad was in love with some other woman that didn’t even look old enough to drive yet.

  Nicholas remembered that moment when he and his brother cried on each other’s shoulders, miserable that they would probably no longer see their dad again. As he grabbed a box from the car, he thought about how his father left without turning back.

  Without saying a proper goodbye.

  Neither him nor Robert had seen or heard from him since.

  If that wasn’t hard enough, earlier this summer their mom told them that they were no longer going to live in their home. Not only were they going to move across the state, but that they were obviously going to have to change schools! Nicholas had so many close friends at school and hated his mom for ripping him from them. He didn’t care that it was because his mom could no longer afford their five bedroom, three bath home on her meager teacher’s aide salary.

  Nicholas put the box into the correct room inside the house and went back outside to grab another box. As he headed out the door, he saw two girls across the street hopping on their bikes and starting to go around their house.

  Must be nice to play and not have to work, he groaned within.

  Even though he didn’t know who they were, he wished he could be riding his bike with them right now too because the weather was nice. He hated the fact that he had to waste this day carrying boxes into the house that he felt his brother, and mom for that matter, could be helping with to make things move along quicker.

  Life just isn’t fair!

  Nicholas stuck his head in their SUV to see what box he was going to grab next. He spotted one that was labeled Kitchen and decided to grab it since he was starting to get a little hungry. Hopefully either this box would have some food in it he could quickly grab or that when he delivered the box to the kitchen he could find something that might be already there to eat. However, as Nicholas got to the kitchen, he opened the box to find that there were only paper towels and utensils in it.

  He spotted his mom in the next room and asked, “Is there something I can grab to eat while I get the boxes?”

  “Dinner will be in about an hour. You can wait until then, Nick,” his mother responded.

  “Ugh, fine. What are we going to have?”

  “Food, Nicholas! Now please get out there and finish unloading the car!” Nicholas’ mom nearly yelled.

  She was a bit on edge because of the move and the fact that Robert wasn’t feeling well. That meant that only she and Nicholas would be able to do the bulk of the unloading and unpacking while Robert rested. She figured the best way to have this go quickly was for him to unload the car and for her to unpack the boxes seeing as she couldn’t trust Nicholas to put things away in the right place and neatly.

  In addition, she was nervous about starting her new job. She would be a real teacher, not aide this time, in just two days. Even though the school district she was going to be working for had started a week or two ago, they had made prior arrangements to have her classroom covered until she was able to come in. Being her first real teaching job and starting after school was in session made Nicholas' mom eager to make a great first impression. She did not have the strength or emotional stability to put up with any nonsense from the boys, especially Nicholas, who was known to put up a good fight now and then. All she wanted to do was get everything in the new house and semi-organized before Monday morning when her and her boys would head off to their new schools in their new town to start their new life together and get a fresh start.

  After a few minutes of dinking around, Nicholas saw his mom give him the evil eye as she cleared her throat. That was code for he’d be in huge trouble if he didn’t get his butt in gear. So get his butt in gear he did. He didn't like it when his mom glared and cleared her throat.

  Nor the consequences of ignoring such gestures.

  With a huge sigh, he went out the front door yet again.

  For the next several minutes, Nicholas continued to go back and forth between the SUV and the respective rooms in the house where the boxes told him they belonged.

  Just as he was heading out to get one of the last boxes, he noticed that one of the girls he saw earlier on her bike was just sitting there in front of her garage looking in his direction. He at first didn’t know what to think.

  Is she sick of circling her house? Did she need to rest? Why in the world is she staring at me though?

  He decided that it didn’t matter why she was staring. Nicholas thought that he’d be nice and give her a little wave to show her that he saw her. Just as he wave
d, she quickly got on her bike and went to the back of the house.

  How rude! he thought, rubbing the back of his neck. She could have at least waved back!

  He shrugged his shoulders and continued unpacking the car until at last he was finished.

  ---------------

  As Deborah got to the back of the house, she spotted Robyn lying on the bright green, freshly mowed grass, looking up at the sky.

  “What ya doing, Robyn?” asked Deborah, acting nonchalant as if her rude blunder of being caught spying never happened.

  “Oh, just trying to see what kind of animals I can make out of the clouds. Look! I see a horse in that cloud. Doesn’t that cloud look like a horse?” she asked enthusiastically, pointing with her left hand at the cloud that was to the left of where she was lying down.

  Deborah got off her bike and joined her sister on the ground. As she looked at the cloud that Robyn was pointing at, she replied, “Sure does. Good job, Robyn!”

  After a few minutes of staring up into the sky and pointing out various cloud animals, Deborah decided to switch topics and bravely share about what had happened in the front yard.

  “So, Robyn, guess what just happened?”

  “What?”

  “As I was in the front yard looking across the street, one of the boys that is moving in saw me looking his way and waved at me,” Deborah confessed. She still wasn't sure how she felt about getting caught spying on him or how she practically ignored his wave.

  “Really? Which one? And ooh, ooh, ooh, did you wave back?” Robyn started to sit up from excitement as she rattled off the questions.

  “Hold your horses! I don’t know which one yet. I think it was the younger one, but I’m not sure. I just know that he was the only one unloading their car. Not sure where the rest of his family went. Anyway, yes, one of the boys did wave at me,” Deborah said as she tried to keep Robyn tame.