Finding Mayhem

by Layla Frost

Something smelled good. With one foot still in the Uber, I inhaled again as my mouth watered. I was wrong. Something smelled amazing. And I bet I knew who was responsible. Climbing out of the Uber, I closed the car door and walked toward my house. Every step was a battle, and not just because my muscles ached from overdoing it. I was fighting the urge to veer into my neighbor’s backyard where the delicious scent was undoubtedly emanating from. Between the barbecue feast followed by pizza the night before, Ward had fed me enough. More than enough. I had leftover slices for at least a couple of days. I wasn’t going to intrude again. I had plans, anyway. Going inside, I dumped my load of replacement spices and cookie sheets onto the couch before grabbing the one from the small hardware store I’d impulsively stopped at. I pulled out the paper strips I’d collected. I wasn’t going to paint. That was a waste of time, money, and energy—none of which I had to spare. But I could pick paint colors and pass my suggestions on to Alice. Hopefully, that would calm my desire to go all HGTV on the place. It would be fun to imagine. To pretend. Taking the swatches and tape, I moved into the living room and held them up until I found a very light sage. I tapped that one before adding a blue-gray below it. I moved on to the bathroom, adding possible colors there. I had a lot of options. Anything was better than the teddy bear wallpaper. I forced myself to do a little more before giving up. I ...