Page 30 of Captiva Book Club

Claire nodded. “I think that’s a wonderful idea, except my house is upside down right now.”

“Not to worry, I’ll host it.”

Maggie was just as busy as any of them, but she needed to be. Regardless of the news from Dr. Renolt, she was prepared to work around the clock to prepare for Christmas if necessary.

“Really? That would be great,” Claire said.

“How many members do we have thus far?” Ciara asked.

“Well, there’s the four of us, Maggie’s mother, Millie, Iris, Kristin, Katie and Sarah. Jacqui Hutchins said she was too busy, and Linda St. James is mad at me, so I’m not sure what to think about her.”

“I thought Linda was away until after Christmas.” Chelsea said.

Claire nodded. “She is, but I called her to let her know about the book club, and she was very snippy with me. I’m not sure what I did to upset her. She seemed pleasant at Thanksgiving.”

Maggie looked at Chelsea and sighed. “You did nothing wrong, Claire. Linda is likely upset because she’s been trying to get a book club going for a long time, and we’ve all been avoiding her.”

“We pretty much told her in no uncertain terms that we weren’t interested,” Chelsea said.

“So, you see, Claire, this isn’t about you as much as it is about her being mad at the rest of us. She’ll get over it…she always does.”

“Eventually,” Ciara added.

Maggie counted. “So, there’s ten of us, unless Linda joins, then we’ll have eleven. I think that’s a nice number…not too big. How does two o’clock this Sunday afternoon sound? My son, Christopher, and his wife, Becca, will be here Sunday night, so that should work. I’ll talk to Oliver and Iris about putting together a menu. I was going to do that anyway for Chris and Becca, now we’ll have to make a little more.”

“Sounds like fun,” Claire said.

Ciara looked at Maggie, encouraging her to bring up the matter of Luke and Katie.

“Claire, I wondered about your daughter, Katie. Not that I’ve seen her often, but when I do, I notice she’s usually alone. Is she dating anyone?” Maggie asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.

Claire waved her hand in the air and shook her head. “Don’t get me started on Katie’s dating life. The way things are going, I don’t think I’ll ever be a grandmother.”

“Does that mean she’s seeing someone or that she and her significant other aren’t in a hurry to marry?” Ciara asked.

“Ha! I wish there was a significant other, at least then there’d be a chance for a wedding. I love my daughter, but sometimes I wonder if she’s too difficult to keep a guy interested. She’s had a few boyfriends, but she’s never been serious with any of them. Her reasoning is that her work comes first, and she has little time for romance.”

“That sounds like my stepson, Luke. The only difference is he had a girlfriend, but he was always too busy to give her the attention he should have. It caught up to him, and now he’s alone.”

Claire nodded. “I hear you. It sounds like those two are cut from the same cloth. Don’t expect any wedding for him anytime soon,” Claire teased.

“I’m not going to lie to you, Claire. Other than enjoying this beautiful day with you, I wanted to talk about the possibility of Luke and Katie possibly getting together. Ciara thinks it’s a good idea, but my best friend Chelsea here thinks we’re crazy.”

Claire laughed until she realized Maggie was serious. “You’re serious? You want to play match-maker to Luke and Katie?”

“Tell them they’re nuts,” Chelsea directed Claire.

Claire shook her head. “They’re not crazy, and I have no doubt your stepson is a lovely boy, but…well, I don’t see how you’ll pull this off.”

Maggie smiled and leaned in. “You mean, how we’ll pull it off? I doubt we’d be able to accomplish this without your help. You know your daughter better than anyone, and we know Luke. If the two of them continue to keep their minds and hearts only focused on their careers, they’ll stay single forever.”

“Okay, I’m in, but you’ll need to fill me in on what the plan is, and what you want me to do,” Claire said.

Maggie smiled and looked at Chelsea, who, by this time, appeared to have completely given up trying to stop her.

“What did you call me? Crazy? Nuts? Sit back and watch how it’s done, Chelsea Marsden, then we’ll see who’s crazy.”

CHAPTER 10

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