Page 45 of Savannah Sweethearts

In the car he looked at me before starting the engine. “You were staring out the window for twenty minutes?”

Rolling my eyes away from him, I scoffed. “My mother likes to exaggerate. I had just glanced outside because it was about time for you to arrive.” There was no way I was telling him I had been looking out for him for about ten minutes. Purely because I prefer people to run early, not late.

In no time we were at the facility where Maggie lived. Alonso had told me she was mostly independent but there was a small staff on hand to help when needed. He had wanted his sister to live with him, but with his schedule he wasn’t as available as he would have liked to be for her. It had been Maggie’s idea to move into the residential home with other adults who were mostly on their own but needed occasional assistance.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised by a building that presented as a regular apartment complex. There was a small lobby and desk with a cheerful woman behind it. She wore a staff shirt, not scrubs. Her attention elsewhere, she merely waved to us in greeting. I had thought maybe we would need to sign in. But perhaps she was used to seeing Alonso. We took the elevator up to the third floor and I followed him to the second door on the right.

“She’s excited to meet you.” Three knocks sounded and it was just a second before the door jerked open.

“Alonso!” The siblings didn’t hesitate to quickly wrap each other into a bear hug.

Once they broke apart, I got a good look at the pretty young woman before me. Her long hair hung around her shoulders in soft waves and she wore light make-up. Maggie only came up to my armpit in height, but I could tell immediately she possessed a large personality.

“Piper!” Before I knew it, I was wrapped in a bear hug of my own. Tiny arms wrapped around my waist and squeezed.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the display of affection. “It’s so nice to meet you, Maggie. Your brother has told me all about you.”

She stepped back and led us inside. “Well, he’s been telling me about you for weeks.”

I side-eyed Alonso. “Weeks? That’s a lot longer than my twenty minutes.”

He held up his hands as if in surrender. “Listen, she asks about you. That’s all.”

There went those stomach flips again. They needed to learn to go away. I turned back to Maggie and let her show me around her apartment.

Lemonade and cookies waited for us at her small table. It took Alonso seconds to sniff out the baked goods. “This looks great, Mags. You know I love lemonade.”

“That’s why I made it. Piper, do you like lemonade? I have bottled water, too.” Maggie was a great hostess.

“Lemonade sounds perfect.” We sat down and chatted while we ate cookies and drank lemonade.

I was grilled on everything related to the news station. Then Maggie grilled her brother about his relationship with me.

“We’re just co-workers, Mags. She wanted to meet you after I told her about you.” Alonso cast a fleeting glance my way and I saw a slight smirk cross his face before he looked away.

“Well, are you dating anyone?” This question was aimed at me. This girl was definitely direct.

I cleared my throat. “Oh, no. I’m not seeing anyone. But I just got out of a relationship. I’m certainly not looking.” Parched, I took several gulps from the lemonade and refilled my glass from the pitcher. “More?”

Without waiting for any reply, I topped off both the other glasses. Alonso quickly grabbed his and took a long drink.

We chatted for almost two hours, Maggie showing me childhood photos of her and Alonso with their grandparents. We talked about her favorite shows, what music we all enjoyed, and joked about some of the silly stories we had been assigned over the years. The time passed faster than I had expected and my cheeks hurt from so much smiling.

“It’s getting late, we should be going.” Alonso set his glass down firmly, as if he was finalizing an edict. “Maggie, I’ll be back Wednesday and we’ll go shopping, okay?”

She crinkled her eyes as she smiled. “I love shopping day.”

“I know. You love it—me not as much.” He mussed his sister’s hair and got a playful smack in return.

I giggled at their interaction. My sister and I weren’t close anymore and I missed the interaction. “What kind of shopping?”

Maggie beamed. “We go to Target and we get lunch.” She clapped her hands with excitement.

“Oh, I love Target. It’s my favorite place.”

Alonso laid his hands on his sister’s shoulders. “Well, Wednesday we need to do some special shopping. Night to Shine is coming up and you need a dress.”

Night to Shine is a sort of prom set up specifically for adults with special needs. I had covered it for the station in Richmond and had loved the whole concept. Events were held all across the country. It warmed my heart to think that Maggie got to enjoy such a special night.

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