Having new neighbors can be daunting, but these turned out to be a delight! We loved having them around when they suddenly revealed someone was destroying their garden. Their confession somehow linked up with my wife’s new habit of watering our garden at night!
A few months back, new neighbors moved into the house next door, Maria and her husband, Luis. From the start, they seemed like the kind of people you’d want to have around, until they started complaining about sabotage.
A happy couple celebrating outside the house they just bought | Source: Pexels
A happy couple celebrating outside the house they just bought | Source: Pexels
When our new neighbors moved in, we quickly realized we’d be good friends! They boasted warm smiles, hearty laughs, and the kind of attentiveness that made you feel like you’d been friends for years instead of days!
They poured their energy into that old, weathered house, transforming the garden into something out of a lifestyle magazine spread! Roses bloomed along the fence line, herbs thrived in neat rows, and vines curled up trellises like they’d been there forever!
A house’s beautiful landscaped garden | Source: Pexels
A house’s beautiful landscaped garden | Source: Pexels
My wife, Teresa, immediately hit it off with Maria, and they quickly became best friends. They took to each other like long-lost sisters! They went on winding walks through the neighborhood and spent slow afternoons drinking tea on our porch.
When I say they were tight, I mean these two literally talked about everything! They spoke about kids, recipes, and even past regrets! I hadn’t seen Teresa this animated in a long time!
Happy friends | Source: Pexels
Happy friends | Source: Pexels
She’d been through rough patches; loneliness had crept into her life in ways even I couldn’t fully understand. Watching her find a friend like Maria was something I didn’t realize we both needed. For once, Teresa seemed genuinely happy to have someone she clicked with, and they were inseparable.
However, that was all about to change.
Friends embracing | Source: Pexels
Friends embracing | Source: Pexels
One evening, we invited Maria and Luis over for dinner. We set the table out back, under the twinkle lights Teresa had strung up last summer. The air smelled like grilled meat and the faint sweetness of jasmine from Maria’s garden drifting over.
Conversation and wine flowed easily on that cozy night. Luis, a history professor with a dry sense of humor, had us in stitches with stories about his students. Maria told tales about her childhood in a small coastal town. For a while, it felt perfect, until things got tense.
Two couples having dinner | Source: Pexels
Two couples having dinner | Source: Pexels
As we lingered over dessert and the last glasses of wine, Luis leaned back in his chair and let out a heavy sigh.
“You know, we love it here,” he said, swirling the wine in his glass. “But honestly? It’s been hard. Someone’s been messing with the garden. Pulling out seedlings and plants, pouring something on the soil. I’m not sure how much more it can take. If it keeps up for a few more weeks, we might just… move. It’s heartbreaking.”
He smiled, but it was brittle. Maria’s face tightened. She nodded once but said nothing.
A man smiling while having dinner with others | Source: Pexels
A man smiling while having dinner with others | Source: Pexels
While processing Luis’ confession, I felt Teresa tense beside me. Her hand, resting on the table, gripped her wineglass so hard her knuckles turned white. I glanced at her, but she quickly plastered on a tight smile and reached for a napkin.
What struck me wasn’t just Luis’s revelation; it was the timing. The sabotage had apparently started around the same time my wife had developed a curious new habit: slipping outside at midnight with her little green watering can, insisting the “moonlight made it the perfect time” to tend our garden.
A green watering can and spray bottle | Source: Pexels
A green watering can and spray bottle | Source: Pexels
At first, I thought it was odd but harmless. We’d been married long enough for me to know Teresa had her quirks. But now? Now I wasn’t so sure as suspicion set in.
That night, after we went to bed, I waited. Sure enough, around midnight, Teresa shifted under the covers. I closed my eyes, feigning sleep as she carefully slipped out of bed in her pajamas.
I listened as she walked through the house and grabbed her watering can from the laundry room. She probably crept out the back door before disappearing into the darkness.
A woman working on a garden at night | Source: Midjourney
A woman working on a garden at night | Source: Midjourney
Instead of drifting back to sleep, I slipped out of bed, pulled on a sweatshirt, and padded down the hall. I cracked open the curtain and peered through the hallway window.
What I saw made me freeze and my breath catch!
Teresa wasn’t in our garden! She was across the lawn, kneeling by Maria and Luis’s roses! Under the faint glow of the porch light, I saw her carefully scattering something white around the flower beds and gently working the soil with her hands. There was nothing destructive about it, it was careful, deliberate, and almost reverent.
A woman sprinkling salt | Source: Midjourney
A woman sprinkling salt | Source: Midjourney
I was confused because what she was doing didn’t look like sabotage. It looked… tender.
So, I waited until she finished and quietly snuck back to bed as she tiptoed back inside before slipping into bed next to me, pretending to stir.
When she moved under the covers, I whispered, “What were you doing in their garden, Teresa?”
She jumped in shock like I’d caught her robbing a bank, before going stiff!
A shocked woman in bed | Source: Midjourney
A shocked woman in bed | Source: Midjourney
For a heartbeat, she said nothing. Then, slowly, she sat upright, pulling the covers around her like a shield. In the faint light from the streetlamp outside, I could see her face, caught between fear and sadness.
“I’m sorry, baby,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “I just… I didn’t know what else to do.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, sitting up too.
A confused man in bed | Source: Midjourney
A confused man in bed | Source: Midjourney
Tears welled up in her eyes. “They’re the first good neighbors we’ve had in years, and Maria’s like the sister I never had. She told me about the garden, how someone was destroying it. I couldn’t stand the thought of them moving away. So I started trying to help. I’ve been putting salt around the edges, to keep pests and… maybe spirits away.”
She gave a watery smile. “And I’ve been replanting whatever I can, trimming damaged plants, cleaning up. I never saw who was doing it, but I thought maybe if I could undo some of the damage… they’d stay.”
A sad woman in bed | Source: Midjourney
A sad woman in bed | Source: Midjourney
“You sneak out every night just to protect their garden?” I asked softly, stunned.
She nodded, cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “I know it sounds crazy.”
“Crazy? Maybe,” I said, smiling softly. “But sweet? Definitely! Come here, you precious woman, you!” I said, grabbing her for a tight hug. I didn’t say anything, but I was relieved that I had been wrong about her intentions. My wife was good all the way down to the bone!
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