And for the first time in a long time, we were living exactly the way we had imagined when we bought the house.
Friday night.
Wine.
The hot tub.
And nowhere else we needed to be.
Three months later, new neighbors moved into Jim and Lisa’s old house.
Marcus and Joy were around our age and had a small dog.
They spent most Sunday mornings gardening.
The first weekend, they introduced themselves over the fence.
Joy glanced toward our hot tub.
“That looks amazing.”
“It is.”
“Maybe we’ll get one someday.”
I smiled.
“When you’re settled, you’re welcome to join us sometime.”
Her face brightened.
“That would be lovely.”
She returned to her garden.
Tom walked over and stood beside me.
“They seem nice.”
“They seem straightforward.”
“Probably the same thing.”
“Usually.”
Then we went inside.
And this time, when I looked back at the hot tub through the window, I knew exactly who had permission to use it.
