I chuckle. “Isn’t that what marriage is, though?”
Maggie looks confused and says, “I’m not talking about marriage. I’m talking about the contracts you have people sign and then suck the life out of them when they can’t pay it.”
Hope looks at me again and says, “Maggie, I think I hear the truck out back. Will you go get the order?”
Their dynamic is strange, but I’m a little worried about being here with only one of them.
Once Maggie disappears through the back door, Hope turns to me. “Her grandmother bought a timeshare. They charged her so much, she went through her savings pretty quickly.”
Realization dawns. Maggie has some bad history with my kind of business. “That makes sense why she hid last night. Thank you, Hope.”
“She hid?” Hope asks, looking horrified.
“Yeah, behind the planter. That’s why she’s got a minor cut on her forehead.”
Shaking her head, Hope says, “I don’t know what to do with her.”
“I can hear you, you know,” Maggie says, glowering at the two of us as she walks in with a large box.
“We’re having an intervention on your behalf,” Hope says with a half-smile.
Maggie drops the box she was holding and stomps over to us. “With Duke? Please tell me you’re joking.”
“We’ve got to try,” Hope says, looking more defiant.
And that’s my cue to leave.
“Thanks for the chat, ladies. I’ll see you around. Maybe try another flavor of ice cream later. Let me know if you want me to organize that travel package, Hope.”
She nods and smiles at me before I dart out of The Candy Jar. Nothing like anger to kill off the sweetness.
FIVE
MAGGIE
“Why would you tell him all that? It’s not like we’re best friends and need to get over the obstacles between us.”
I’m so mad at my cousin right now. I love her, but she’s good at overstepping boundaries. Too bad she wasn’t like this when I was with Zander.
“Because you’ve got to get your life together. That guy is hot. And you hid from him?”
“You know what he did to my grandma.” I focus on the box I brought out from the back room and open it.
Hope is right next to me, leaning down to get me to look at her. “What he did? He wasn’t even old enough to sell things when Grandma Dean passed. He isn’t the one who caused your grandma to buy too many points.”
“It’s what he represents, Hope. That’s how they all are. They’ll be nice until you sign the contract and then they treat you like garbage when you’re trying to figure out if there’s anything they can take back because of the excess of fees.”
“Okay, this sounds like a lot more than just the timeshares. What’s going on?”
“I’m just saying that I don’t trust Mr. Moose Tracks. The less time I have to spend with him, the better I’ll be.”
“Let’s change the subject. It’s too early to be fighting like this,” Hope says.
“We’re not fighting. We’re discussing.”
Hope raises an eyebrow. “Discussing with raised voices usually means fighting.”
I swallow hard, knowing I need to rein in my feelings on this, but it's like I’m pushing the pedal to the metal and I can’t back down now.