Mrs. Avery's Adventures

Chapter 1

Piper Avery groaned out loud and let her head fall into her hands in frustration. Sitting on the table in front of her was a neatly typed letter, and although it wasn"t pink, she knew what it meant.

But as disturbing as the piece of paper was, it wasn"t the reason for her groan. Lifting her head back up, she looked at her phone sitting on the table next to the letter and read the text message one more time. Unfortunately, it still said the same thing it had a minute ago, and she groaned out loud again.

Thankfully, her groan was drowned out by the laughter from the table next to her. It was a busy time of day at The Eatery, a popular lunch spot, and she’d been lucky to grab a table. The restaurant was packed with men and women from the nearby office center, all busy talking and trying to eat a quick lunch.

Her attention was diverted by a brightly colored envelope placed on the table from behind her. Okay, that was strike three. The envelope most certainly contained a birthday card. The last thing she needed to be reminded of right now was that her 50th birthday was upon her.

Piper looked up as her best friend sat down next to her, her long dark hair pulled back in a hair clip, her slim figure sporting a pencil skirt and her dark tan shown off by her white blouse.

"Oh, come on Piper, it’s just another day. Turning fifty is not that big of a deal."

Piper attempted a weak smile at her friend. She knew the woman was right; it was just another day, just another number on the calendar. But there was something ominous about that age, and suddenly she felt a little bit older than she had the day before.

"From now on, I can call you an old lady and get away with it,” teased her friend.

"Like you have so much experience, Courtney. You"re only a month older than me. And I seem to remember you had a major meltdown on your fiftieth birthday.”

"And don"t you forget it. I"ll always be older and wiser than you. I"ve been telling you that since we were teenagers." Waving off Piper’s last comment, she continued with a wicked grin. “There was no meltdown. Your memory’s playing tricks on you—comes with the old age.”

That got a smile out of Piper, and she looked at her best friend whom she"d known for far too many years and shrugged her shoulders. With lifelong friends, words were often not necessary, and the two women were as close as sisters.

"You"re right, Courtney. Besides, it"s really not my birthday that has me in a tizzy. Look at this."

She shoved the letter across the table as her friend sat down across from her and watched her read it.

"Well, that stinks,” Courtney said. “But, let’s be honest. Since the company bought you out, you"ve kind of been expecting this. The new owners have drained all they can out of you, and now it’s time to let you go. Big deal. Take the money and run and enjoy your life."

"I know you"re right, and secretly I have been expecting it, but it still hurts. I built the business up from nothing. Granted, I did sell it, but I really thought I would be needed longer than six weeks." Piper picked up the brightly colored envelope in front of her and burst out laughing at the comic verse inside the card.

"Leave it to you to find the perfect card. Thanks, I needed this. You always seem to know just what to say or do, Courtney."

The two women exchanged knowing looks. A card could only say so much, but their years of shared experiences together said a lot more.

"I’ll give you your gift tonight at Mooney’s."

Piper shook her finger at Courtney. “I thought we decided we weren’t exchanging birthday gifts anymore."

"Yeah, like you remembered that on my birthday. Anyway, you were expecting the pink slip, and you knew it was your birthday. What else is bothering you?"

Piper looked back at the phone and groaned again. Courtney was right; it was the text message she"d received that was bothering her the most. Without saying a word, she slid the phone over to her friend, watching to see how Courtney would react when she read the message.

"Oh my God, they didn"t!"

"Well, it looks like they did. My life is over. I"ll never have another minute to myself."

Courtney looked back at the phone as if she couldn"t believe the message. She read it out loud to further prove it really was there.

"Great news! We just signed the paperwork on the house across the street. We"re your new neighbors! We’ll fill you in on all the details tonight. Love you and happy birthday, your moms."

Courtney tried to hold back the laughter, and as a result, a loud snort erupted. Piper looked at her with disgust and grabbed her phone back.

“Just remember, they’ll be sticking their noses in your business too,” Piper said. “Remember? You’re currently my house guest.”

As fast as her friend’s laughter had started, it ended with a gasp. Eyes wide, Courtney looked at her friend.

In an instant, it became clear to Courtney that she would also be in the line of fire of the mothers’ meddling.

Then, with perfect timing that came from years of saying the same catchphrase, they spoke out loud as one:

“We’re doomed!”

They were silent for a moment, each of them contemplating what was in store for them.

“You couldn’t talk them into a nice condo across town?” Courtney finally asked.

“I wish. Honestly, I didn’t think the mothers were serious about moving in together. Neither has been having any financial problems that would cause this. They’re acting like they’re back in their college days when they shared a dorm room.”

“Well, seriously, they might be lonely,” Courtney said. “I mean, each of them had huge houses that they lived in alone. And they are always together. I guess it makes sense.”

“But across the street? What grown woman wants her mother and her mother-in-law living that close?”