Page 23 of Fumbling for Affection

“Maggie, hi. How are you?”

“Busy.” She didn’t blink an eye at the lie. Brewster’s was less than a quarter full, and there was no one behind him. Maggie was the opposite of busy. Unless she has work in the office? he thought, giving her the benefit of the doubt. “What can I get you?”

Lucas eyed the display case with its meager offering of plastic-wrapped treats. “Must have been a busy day. You’re almost wiped out.”

“Yes. And I don’t see anything likable either,” she said, looking at him. Lucas leaned on the counter.

“I think there’s plenty to like. You just need to get past the crusty exterior and bitter pieces.” He smiled at her as if they really were talking about the remaining lemon bar with the dent in the middle. “I’ll take the lemon bar, the blondie, and one of each of the cookies. Wait, make that two for the cookies. I’ll share with Bash and Cal.”

“Same bag?” she asked, sounding hopeful.

“Cookies in the bag, but I’ll eat the bars now.”

Her face fell. “Drink?”

“A bottle of water, please, and a cup of coffee.” Maggie bagged the cookies, plopped the bars on a plate, and slammed the water on the counter. Her hands shook as she rang in his order. So, not dead inside, Lucas thought, opening his phone’s payment app.

“Enjoy,” she said, as she shoved everything toward him.

“Say it, Maggie. I can almost see the steam coming out of your ears.”

Her nose flared as she leaned forward, but Lucas didn’t flinch. “You could have gotten water, black coffee, and subpar baked goods at the gas station by your house,” she growled.

“Service isn’t as friendly.” He shrugged. “And I like to drive. Helps to clear my head. Thanks.” He grabbed everything and escaped to a table across from the registers before she could say anything else. Something one of them would regret, most likely her. Lucas needed to get her out of this funk and get his old Maggie back. He couldn’t move forward without her.

He opened his laptop and glared at the bars. Lucas didn’t want to eat. He wasn’t hungry, but the coaches wanted him to gain more weight and they kept pressing him to eat more. Lucas knew the only way to keep them off his back was to play at the top of his game each week. And he had, mostly, but the memory of Maggie’s crushed face crept up on him during practices and he missed opportunities. It wouldn’t be long before she found her way into his head on game day, too. For her sake and his, she needed to get over herself.

Lucas choked down the lemon bar and rinsed the artificially sweet taste out of his mouth with water, grateful he hadn’t ordered tea. It would have ruined his preferred drink. After several minutes surfing the internet, he found what he was looking for and opened his note-taking app, feeling like he was back in college.

The first article led him to the second and then another, and then he fell into a rabbit hole that had nothing to do with his original search. He reached for the mug—forgetting it was coffee—and sipped the bitter poison. Lucas grimaced and glared at the cup as a shudder ripped through him. He moved the mug toward his left hand since he couldn’t trust his right hand to keep him safe.

“We’re closing,” Maggie said from behind him, and he almost choked on his water. Thank goodness she hadn’t been there to witness his poisoning. She couldn’t find out his secret. Not until she knew him well enough to overlook it.

“Can you give me a few more minutes? I’m almost done.”

“That’s a lot of open tabs.” She reached around him and collected his wrappers. “You like bees?” she asked, and Lucas felt the same rush as when they made a good play on the field. Maggie was talking to him.

“Yes. I’ve been going out to the farm with Cal on our days off and helping Barbara with them. Helped inspect the goats’ hooves last week, too.”

“That’s helpful of you.”

“I’m a helpful guy.” Maggie rolled her eyes, but she didn’t walk away. Lucas wanted to punch the air in celebration, so he sat on his hand. “In fact, I’m researching to see how much demand there would be for renting out the hives. Barbara is thinking of doing it.” He knew better than to mention his involvement. It was a long journey from eye-roll to yay!-he’s-in-business-with-my-Nanna.

“Are you kidding me?” She leaned so close he felt her breath against his cheek. “Haven’t you done enough to help? When are you planning to stop? After you’ve destroyed all of us?” Her hand smacked the table and his coffee cup jumped. “Stay away from me and my family, Lucas,” she hissed, and he didn’t miss the moisture gathering in her eyes. Maggie turned on her heel and strode toward the barista stand, shaking her hand.

Vivi came closer, carrying the dirty dish bin and gave him an embarrassed look. Lucas shrugged. He was sorry she’d had to witness that. But on the plus side, Maggie wasn’t dead inside. She’d breathed fire. Aimed at him. And he knew she’d love nothing better than to turn him into toast.

“Can I clear anything?” Vivi asked.

“Take it.”

“This too?” she pointed at the almost full coffee mug.

“Oh, yes. I’m done with it,” Lucas said, shutting his laptop. But not with Maggie. She just needed to give him a chance.

Chapter 11

Maggie brushed the potato chip crumbs from her sweatshirt as she hauled herself off her couch. Stupid food catchers, she grumbled at her chest as she trudged to her door. The security app on her phone showed Penny and Harper on the other side. She’d blown Penny off twice this week, and she hadn’t seen Harper in almost a month—back when her life was on track, and she was buying Brewster’s.

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