“Abby Ruth, please don’t—” Maggie started.
But the tall Texan kept rolling. “So next time you decide to pitch a hissy fit and demand people undo all the nice things they’ve done for you, you might want to think about how that would all play out.”
With Angelina’s threat looming, that was pretty much all Lil could think about.
Meltdown City. That was what Maggie was thinking of renaming Summer Haven after the past few days. Between Lil’s anger and angsty mood swings, and trying to keep Abby Ruth in check, she’d had her hands full. Maybe Colton would make her a nice sign for the estate from Slinkys, yo-yos and possibly an old merry-go-round. Because that was what life around here felt like these days.
The only two things keeping Maggie going were the art forgery case and the thought of her date with Bruce this afternoon.
“Don’t frown like that. Retinol can only do so much,” Sera said, pulling Maggie’s hair into a tight French braid. “You look so pretty, and you don’t want to ruin it.”
“Thank you for doing my hair.”
“Are you nervous?”
Maggie surveyed the emotion she was feeling. Nerves? Not exactly. “Maybe a little. Bruce seems so nice, and he couldn’t have come up with a better first date. I love doing stuff like building birdhouses. The only way it would be better is if it was with my own grandchildren.”
“He likes you. I could tell when he came up asking about you at the High on the Hog meeting.”
“He did?”
“Sure did. Cornered me as soon as I walked in like he’d been lying in wait.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“He’s kind of shy. I had no idea how long it might take him to make a move. Didn’t want to ruin the surprise if it took him forever, but he didn’t waste any time. That means he’s into you.” Sera reached forward and tugged a couple small pieces of hair out of the braid and twirled them toward the front. “Don’t want to look too perfect. Nice.” She placed her hand on Maggie’s cheek and smiled. “You are beautiful. Inside and out. Now, what are you going to wear?”
Maggie glanced down at her ratty terrycloth robe. “Not this.” She got up and crossed the floral carpet of the Azalea room. She pushed hangers to the left and right, assessing her options. Pants were easy. The ones she’d worn to break into the high school would work for any occasion. She pulled a bright blue blouse with shimmering pearls from the rod. Then a red top, plain except for a drawstring at the waist giving it a faux layered look. She’d slowly been adding new items to her wardrobe since she’d begun toning up. She held them both up. “Which do you think?”
“Definitely the red. You wear it so well.”
Maggie put the blue one back in the closet. Then hung the outfit from the knob on her dresser. She quickly dropped her robe and began to pull on the pants.
Sera gasped. “You’re not wearing those panties.”
“What?”
“Those are granny panties.”
Maggie looked down at the high-waisted beige undies she’d bought at the discount store. Frou-frou they weren’t, but they served their purpose. “Well, I am a granny. Give me a break. I’m sure not wearing one of those skimpy thong numbers again. You’re obsessed with underwear that crawls in places it shouldn’t.”
“Mags, those are cotton. Cotton is for when you’re at home watching Lifetime movies and chowing down on popcorn. Now, silk and satin, those are for dates. Surely you have some sexier underwear than those. Something with some high cut legs or at least a little lace.”
“No one will see them. If we’re in a wreck, I won’t be embarrassed.”
“I’m not worried about the EMTs seeing you in granny panties. I’m worried about poor Bruce. Doesn’t he deserve something pretty?”
“He’s not going to see my panties. Not today and maybe not ever. Stop it.”
“Don’t say that. You don’t know what the future will hold. If you shut down the possibilities now, you and Bruce will never have a chance to flourish. Promise me you won’t do that.”
Maggie let out a breath. “Fine. I’ll leave open the possibilities. But I’ll be honest, my heart still belongs to George, and Bruce’s wife has been gone about the same amount of time. I think George probably will want to move as slowly as I do.”
“You mean Bruce.”
“What?”
“You said George.”
“Oh.”
“It’s okay, Maggie. That means Bruce has touched, if not pried open, a teensy part of you that was closed off to anyone but George until now. We totally need to get your star chart done. Trust me, you’re moving into a new phase in your life. A good one. I just know it.”
“Then why am I sweating?”
“Because you’re human. Arms up.”
Maggie raised her arms on command and Sera took a powder puff from Maggie’s dresser and pushed her hand right up the front of Maggie’s blouse to sweep a perfumed dusting of powder under each of her pits. “Good as new.”
Maggie laughed. “Not sure I was ever that good.”
“Pu-lease.”
A soft knock came from the door, and Maggie and Sera both spun around to see Lil standing there.
“Mind if I come in?”
Maggie hesitated for a moment. “Of course not.”
“You look pretty,” Lil said. “Where are you two going?”
Maggie reached for her hair. She wished she knew how to braid one of these herself. It made her feel extra feminine. Sera made it fun to girly up.
Sera gave Maggie a hug. “You’ll have a wonderful time. I can’t wait to hear every single detail.” She skipped out of the room and Maggie felt her mood dip at the sad look in Lil’s eyes.
“I have a date, Lil.”
“A date?”
Maggie couldn’t help but run a hand down her hip. She’d never be skinny, but she was healthy. And darned if that didn’t make her feel sexy. “Bruce and I have a date.”
“I don’t even know who this Bruce is.”
Tension crawled up Maggie’s throat, but she choked it back. “He works over at Dogwood Ridge Assisted Living. He’s a computer guy.”
Lil’s lips trembled. “I can’t imagine you with anyone but George.”
“Me either, but he’s nice. And I liked going out on those dates when we were checking out that scam of a matchmaking site, even if it was just for research.”
“I’d have helped you get ready,” she said.
She could tell her new friendship with Sera annoyed Lil, but their friendship was so different from hers and Lil’s. Only she didn’t know what quite to say to smooth it over.
“I’m getting ready to head out. Wish me luck,” she said.
Lil nodded. “You don’t need it. And Mags…”
Maggie paused just as the doorbell rang.
“I’m so sorry I’ve been so hard to get along with. I do appreciate everything you girls have done for me. Really.”
Maggie gave Lil a hug. “We’re all going to be fine.” She stepped back with her hands on Lil’s shoulders. “I’ve got to run, but I love you, and Sera and Abby Ruth will too once they get to know the real you.”
She checked herself one more time in the bedroom mirror, then said a little prayer to George. Honey, I hope you know that no one will ever fill the space in my heart, my soul, my life that you did. And if anyone can ever come a close second to the happiness you gave me, it will be a miracle. I love you.
Maggie swept at the tears that nearly always fell when she talked to George in heaven, then headed downstairs. She could have glided down the stairs on butterfly power for all the flapping occurring in her stomach right now.
Before she could make it to the foyer, Sera was already there opening the door.
“Hi, Sera. I’m here to pick up—” Bruce glanced toward where Maggie stood on the stairs and simply stared, his gaze full of appreciation, “—Maggie.”
Maggie’s heart zinged. He had a way of making her feel special.
/> “You must be Bruce,” Lillian said.
Maggie turned, not realizing Lil was right on her heels. “Bruce, this is my very best friend in the world, Lillian.”
He held out his hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Miss Lillian. Glad to see you’re home from your trip.”
Lillian looked at Bruce’s outstretched hand as though it were a three-day old fish, but she finally put hers in his. “Thank you.” Then Lil’s expression softened. “You better treat my dear friend right. Or else you’ll have us girls to deal with.”
“No worries about that,” he said.
Maggie glanced at her watch. Quarter till noon. If she and Bruce didn’t get a move on, they’d be late to pick up his grandson and miss the start of class. And Maggie was itching to get started on that birdhouse. “We should probably head out.”
“Why don’t you invite Bruce in for some tea and we can all get to know—”
“Sorry, Lil, but we have to be somewhere in fifteen minutes. No time to chat now.”
Lil’s expression closed up like chickweed just before the rain.
Patience, Maggie. She needs you, and doesn’t quite know how to fit back into regular life.
Maggie squeezed Lil’s hand. “Maybe another time.”
“Maybe.”
Chapter 19
When Maggie, Bruce and his grandson arrived at Curl Up and Read, the whole bottom floor of what used to be the old five-and-dime had been renovated and split into multiple stores. When the local hair salon had been bursting from its trailer seams, it had moved here and added a bookstore. The only one in Summer Shoals.
The salon side was hopping, with the cackle of gossip and the whir of blow-dryers, but the bookstore was packing them in today too. Little squeaks and whoops peppered the normal shoppers’ chatter. It felt familiar in a nice way, just like back home in her and George’s hardware store. Boy, she missed that place some days.
Bruce led his towheaded grandson, Austin, over to a table already set up with pre-cut boards and a bottle of glue. A proud grandpa. She knew the feeling. Next time she was on the phone with Pam, she would ask her to bring Chloe and Clint to Summer Shoals when school released in the summer.
She hung back, watching Bruce and his grandson for a minute and giving her wobbly knees time to steady themselves. Before she could make her way through the crowd, the salon receptionist sang out her name, “Maggie. Are you here to get your roots done?”
Maggie felt herself go as red as her shirt. She hoped Bruce hadn’t heard. “No. I’m actually here for the bookstore project.”
“Oh, sorry. Well, we’ll see you soon.”
Lord, did she look like she needed the salon? Doubting the braid now, she felt a sweat break across her forehead. But Bruce was waving at her from across the room, and he’d saved a stool for her.
When she walked over, he looked up and smiled. “Your hair looks really pretty like that.”
She lifted a hand to Sera’s handiwork. “Thank you. So—” she aimed what she hoped was a confident smile in Austin’s direction, “—are you excited to build a birdhouse today?”
“Yes, ma’am. Pawpaw says you’re real good at stuff like this and you’re gonna help us make the bestest birdhouse ever.”
Nothing like a little pressure to get a gal motivated, but flattery would win both Austin and Bruce a few extra points today. Especially delivered with a yes, ma’am and all. “You better believe it,” she assured her new best friend.
Maggie grabbed a copy of the step-by-step instructions and glanced over them as the librarian gathered the children at the front of the room and read Even Birds Need Homes to them.
“Excuse me,” Bruce said to her. “I’ll be right back.”
When he returned, he had a cup of sweet tea for each of them. “Thought you might be thirsty.”
“Thanks, Bruce.” She pointed to the two long tables set up at the back of the room. “Looks like they want us to work back there.”
She and Bruce found their reserved spot at the table, and Maggie was impressed with Darrell Holloway’s clever marketing. “Look, the license plates for the roof of the birdhouse have the hardware store logo on them. Genius!”
“Thanks for coming today.” Bruce took out his phone and snapped a picture of Maggie standing in front of the project.
“I’m glad you asked, and look, here come the kids.”
The kids rounded up their parents, and the team projects began in a joyful ruckus of giggles and banging and clanging. Bruce was right, he wasn’t very handy but he was playing photographer, and Maggie was having fun feeling like his favorite subject.
An hour later, Austin was beaming from ear to ear. “We have the best birdhouse in the whole place!” He held the length of twine from his fingers, the birdhouse swaying left and right.
“You’re a natural craftsman, Austin,” Maggie said, and she meant it. She couldn’t wait until Pam and the kids came this summer. Now she would have someone local for them to meet and play with. And Abby Ruth’s grandson would be here too. What a fun summer it would be.
“Can you come over to Pawpaw’s house in two weeks and help paint the birdhouse?”
Maggie could see the likeness across the generations. Little Austin had his pawpaw’s kind eyes. “How could I ever say no? If it’s okay with your pawpaw, I’d love to come and help.” She glanced over at Bruce, hoping she hadn’t just overstepped his boundaries.
“Are you kidding? We’d love to have you over,” he said.
Not exactly a date, but one didn’t turn away the love of a child and the opportunity to be a part of something that might make a memory of a lifetime for him.
“And since we’re on the subject,” Bruce said. “There’s somewhere else I’d like to take you. I have an invitation to the big charity auction over at the new Gypsy Cotton Gallery. Would you like to join me?”
And she thought she’d been nervous when he’d asked her out to build a birdhouse? The auction was even higher stakes—a public date. Maggie didn’t even try to calm her ba-booming heart. “I’d love to. When is it?”
He rolled his lips in. “It’s kinda short notice, so if you can’t, I understand—”
“Bruce, just tell me.”
“This Tuesday.”
Goodness gracious, he was cutting it close. “Is it black tie?”
“The invitation said cocktail attire. I’ll be honest, I’m not totally sure what that means.”
Maggie reached up and straightened Bruce’s collar. If he wasn’t the cutest darned thing in the world, she didn’t know what was. “It means if you have a tie and jacket, you’ll be just fine.” She, on the other hand, would have to find an outfit.
“Hey, Dad. Over here.” A tall, younger version of Bruce waved from an aisle over.
“There’s my son now.”
Austin ran and jumped into his dad’s arms, nearly bopping him in the head with the birdhouse.
Bruce and Maggie caught up to them.
“Sorry I’m late, Pops,” Bruce’s son said, his handsome face so similar to Bruce’s. “I lost track of time.”
“No worries. We had a great time. Didn’t we, Austin?”
“Yes, sir. Dad, this is Maggie. She’s a girl but she knows everything about tools. She’s really cool.”
Bruce’s son reached to shake her hand. “You’ve made quite an impression on my boy. Nice to meet you.”
Bruce beamed, and the approving glance Bruce’s son flashed toward his dad didn’t go unnoticed by Maggie. A million bucks? No, she felt like all the cash in banks all across the South.
She and Bruce left the store. As they walked toward the diner, he took her hand in his. “You were great back there.”
His palm was a little damp, or maybe it was hers, but holding hands was nice. “Thanks. I love that kind of stuff.”
“I could tell. You’re good with kids too.” He held the door for her at the Atlanta Highway Diner and led her to a corner booth.
After a meal of fried catfis
h and macaroni and cheese, Bruce left the payment on the table, along with a very generous tip. He was so easy to talk to that time had flown by and Maggie was sorry the date was over.
He opened her car door for her. “I’m looking forward to doing this again.”
“Me too.” Maggie couldn’t hide her delight, her grin spreading across her face. For the first time in her life, she felt like the parade queen.
When Lil had imagined her first few days out of prison, she’d pictured home-cooked meals, working in her gardens, and rolling through town in Daddy’s Tucker. Spending hours sitting on the front porch with Maggie, sipping her special tea even if the air was still chilly, anything that would make her feel alive and free again. But with Angelina’s deadline looming, Lil felt more like hiding in the root cellar.
And now Maggie was out on a date.
Somehow that almost made Lil feel worse than her friend being the ringleader of a pseudo-detective group.
Regardless, there was no way she was about to get on board with their little investigative sideline. It was potentially dangerous, both to them and her. And prison wasn’t a predicament she ever wanted to find herself in again. She’d survived it once. But twice? Well, that probably would send her into a deep, dark depression. Or kill her altogether.
Although she dreaded it, she needed to get her rear off this front porch rocker and let Angelina know she couldn’t deliver the Tucker by next Friday like they’d agreed. In fact, Maggie had put in a call to the detailer and received the news it might take even longer than they’d originally promised. What were those people doing—scrubbing it down with a toothbrush? If so, Lil sure hoped it was a soft-bristled one.
Since Maggie had gone with Bruce, Lil grabbed Maggie’s keys and headed toward Broussard Bed and Breakfast. In the few miles between Summer Haven and Angelina’s, Lil gave herself whiplash fifty times. Amazing how easy it was to forget how to properly use a brake pedal.
In High Cotton Page 16
