“What?” She tore her eyes from the house and squinted down at Carly. She was cute and soft, her blonde hair up in a high ponytail that was only one clue to her cheerleader past. “Who?”
“Ben, of course.” Carly’s sunny smile gleamed in the blinding lights. “I almost never see him outside in the daytime, so I had to go and see what was going on. He got me into the spirit so much I started my cookies early.”
“It’s not even Thanksgiving,” Darcy said woodenly.
“It’s this Thursday, silly.”
“Don’t remind me.” Thanksgiving wasn’t a holiday for her. It was the precursor to madness. It used to be the start of the Christmas season. Now the day after Halloween had that place of honor. She’d been listening to Christmas music for a solid month.
She was going to commit murder. With a pen if she had to.
“I was surprised to see him working so hard on the display. You never decorate.” Carly patted her arm. “The Association is going to flip out. They wanted us all to do lights this year. How can we compete with this?”
“I have no idea,” Darcy said. How the freaking heck would Fifth Avenue in New York City compete?
“And I had no idea your neighbor was so handy and clever. He’s so sweet.”
Darcy frowned. “Are you sure you’re talking about Ben?”
Carly jammed her hands into her hoodie pockets. “He was outside all day doing this. The neighborhood kids even helped. He’s a regular Pied Piper.”
Anger welled up again. She’d loved her tenant for one reason and one reason only. He was quiet and they never saw each other. She knew his name because her rent check was, without fail, in her mailbox on the first of every month.
They rarely spoke beyond polite hellos. He was usually leaving for work as she was coming home.
And he’d ruined her house.
“Mo-o-om!”
Carly sighed. “It’s bath time. Anyway. I just wanted to say wow!” She leaned in and gave her a hug. Darcy patted her back awkwardly. Crapballs. “Great job! The Association is going to love you this year. We’re so glad you decided to join in for Christmas.” A child’s bellow came across the yard again. “I gotta go before Kaden drowns Abby.”
Numb, Darcy watched her house. The song changed to We Wish You a Merry Christmas and the lights went haywire.
And then she lost it.
“Four, five, si—” Ben paused as the Christmas song fizzled out. “Shit.” He pushed up the last two reps then dumped his weight bar back onto the rack and rolled off his bench. He thought he’d worked all the kinks out of the program.
He hurried down the steps and came to an abrupt halt. The lights on the porch were out. “Dammit.” He swung open the door and frowned. His landlady’s spectacular ass lined up perfectly with his face. Stunned for a moment, he simply stared before asking, “What are you doing?”
Their doors were side by side in the setup of the duplex. She had a pair of pliers in her hand and each of the clear clips he’d painstakingly tacked around the arched window were sprinkled across their shared deck. “I’m taking,” she grunted, “down these lights.”
The glow from the lights on the bushes highlighted the khaki material that hugged her ass a little too perfectly. He frowned and returned his focus to the window above. “Why?”
“Because,” she snarled and pulled, “I,” another clip fell and the string of lights sagged against her shoulder, “hate Christmas.”
“How can you hate Christmas?” Even his cranky old Grandpa Radley loved Christmas. “Hey, stop.”
“This is my house. And I will not have We Wish You a Merry Christmas blaring from some ridiculous speaker as lights sparkle and flash and cause seizures!”
He reached up and took the pliers from her, stuffing down a laugh. “Honestly, stop.”
She looked down at him, her eyes definitely set on death ray instead of stun.
He cleared his throat. Nope, laughing would not be smart. “You’re the one tearing up the siding. I tacked them in so that there wouldn’t be any structural damage.”
“Fine. Then take them down yourself.”
“How about I just take them down on your side of the house?”