Page 12 of Playing for Keeps in Starr's Fall
But she couldn’t let herself think like that, not here in Starr’s Fall, which was meant to be a new beginning for them both. Taking a deep breath, Maggie reached for her laptop and headed back to the desk in the stockroom that also served as an office. The least she could do was to start figuring out an accounting system for Your Turn Next.
Half an hour later her eyeballs were aching, and she’d waded through pages and pages of how to navigate the red tape of small business ownership. She desperately needed a coffee, and she should probably check that Ben was actually doing his schoolwork. With a sigh, Maggie pushed away from the desk, only to still when a woman’s voice called out, “Hello…?”
“Hi, can I help you?” Maggie asked as she came into the front room. A woman stood in the doorway, balancing a bouquet of early daffodils and a plastic-wrapped plate, a little wiry-haired dog at her feet, his head tucked firmly between her ankles. It was Laurie Ellis, Maggie recalled, from Thanksgiving. “Hi,” she said again. “Nice to see you.”
“Welcome to Starr’s Fall!” Laurie’s smile was bright as she held the flowers out. “I brought you some housewarming flowers?—”
“That’s so kind.” Maggie came forward to take the flowers, smiling down at their cheerful yellow heads. “They’re lovely.”
“And some chocolate chip cookies,” Laurie continued, brandishing the plate. “How are you settling in?”
Considering the rush of loneliness she’d just experienced, Maggie wasn’t sure how to answer. “Mixed,” she finally admitted. She felt too tired to be anything but honest right then. “But it is early days, I know, so that’s to be expected.”
“Moving is hard,” Laurie agreed sagely. “I only moved here myself in September, so it hasn’t been that long for me, either.”
“Really, only September?” Maggie experienced a pang of envy. That was four months longer than they’d had here. “You seem so settled already.”
“The people of Starr’s Fall were very welcoming,” Laurie replied. “Wait until you meet them all—you’ll have to join the Starr’s Fall Business Association! And I came here to invite you and your son to dinner, actually, if you’re free. Nothing fancy, just a few people over, so you can meet some of the locals.”
“Oh… that’s…” For a second, Maggie floundered. As much as she wanted to make friends, she’d been in a state of social hibernation for so long that the thought of having dinner with strangers, well-meaning as they most likely all were, was nothing short of terrifying. “Very nice,” she finished a bit lamely. She couldn’t say no, she already knew that. It had to be glaringly obvious that both she and Ben were free, and if she turned down the first invitation she’d received in Starr’s Fall, chances were she might not get another one. This was all part of making an effort. It was just so hard todo.
“Tomorrow night?” Laurie asked, eyebrows raised in expectation.
So soon?Panic swirled in Maggie’s stomach and crawled up her throat. “Umm…” There was absolutely no good reason why not. “Sure.” She smiled weakly. “Thank you.” Ben was not going to be pleased, she knew. His state of social hibernation had been even more pronounced than hers. Yet this was why they were here, wasn’t it? Why they’d come to Starr’s Fall in the first place. To start over. To make friends. To have a total life reset, if such a thing was possible.
“Great.” Laurie beamed at her and then, after thrusting the plate of cookies at Maggie, who took it, she bent down and scooped up the little dog. “This is Max,” she told her. “He can be a little shy at first, but then can’t we all?” Her smile was so full of warmth and understanding that for a second, Maggie’s eyes stung.
“Yes,” she agreed as she scratched Max under his chin. “We can.” Maybe they really should get a dog, she reflected. Or a cat. Or both, even. Why not? Matt had been allergic to cats and hadn’t wanted the hassle of a dog, but she and Ben were free agents now. They could finally do what they wanted, with no one to sigh or scowl or make pointed remarks under his breath.
Stop thinking like that.
“Great.” Maggie found she had to clear her throat. “Thank you so much for being so welcoming. It’s really kind of you.”
“No problem. Shall we say six-thirty? Tomorrow?”
Panic fluttered once more beneath Maggie’s ribcage, but not quite as strongly as before. Maybe they could do this. It would no doubt be stressful and emotionally exhausting, but still… possible.
“Six-thirty tomorrow,” she repeated as firmly as she could. “Wonderful. Can I bring anything?”
“Just yourselves,” Laurie replied, and with one last sunny smile and a wave, she turned for the door. “See you then!”
“See you then,” Maggie agreed. The door closed behind her, and she sagged where she stood. Now she had to break the news to Ben that they were going to have to be sociable. That conversation was going to go well… not.
With a sigh, she turned and headed upstairs. Their apartment, at least, was becoming cozy; their old family room sofa dominated the living room but there was still room for the painted armoire that hadn’t fit up the stairs to her bedroom. It had been too shabby chic for their house in Greenwich, but was now filled with books and pottery that had been in boxes since her marriage. Was it wrong, Maggie wondered, to feel a sense of liberation at having her own things displayed around their little home? It wasn’t as if Matt hadforbiddenher from having them in their old house. It had just felt a little like he had.
“Ben?” she called as she headed into the kitchen, where her son’s desk was wedged under a window. After what they referred to as an accident, although it really hadn’t been, she’d insisted his computer be in a public space rather than his bedroom. Too many bad things could happen behind closed doors. Too many bad thingshad.
Ben was hunched over the computer, clicking madly on the mouse.
“You’re not doing schoolwork,” she observed as she gazed at the screen that was full of the vivid green and purple graphics of RainQuest.
“I finished it,” he replied. “It was easy.”
“Already?” He shrugged in reply, and she suppressed a sigh. The online school she’d enrolled him in was supposed to be challenging, but surely there was something wrong with the educational system if he could finish a day’s work in less than ninety minutes. Or was Ben really that smart? “What are you doing?” she asked.
“Checking Zach’s stats. He’s, like,reallycracked.”
His awed tone almost made her smile. Maggie leaned against the doorframe as she watched Ben continued to click. “What does cracked mean in this scenario?” she asked.
