Page 15 of Playing for Keeps in Starr's Fall
“I will,” Maggie replied, her voice coming out slightly strangled. “Nice to meet you all.” Her gaze moved around the kitchen once more, this time not resting on Zach, something he suspected was deliberate.
“Mom, we already know Zach,” Ben told her, sounding exasperated, like she was just being slow, and Zach took another swallow of his beer to smother his laugh. Maggie’s cheeks had flared pink again.
“You do?” Jenna asked, sounding both curious and a little miffed.
“I came into their café,” Zach explained. “Yesterday.”
“Why?” Now his sister sounded mystified.
“Because I wanted to know when it was opening,” Zach replied mildly. He smiled at Ben as he cocked his beer bottle toward him. “February first, right?”
Ben grinned back. “Right!”
“Well, we’ll see,” Maggie murmured. She tucked a tendril of hair behind her ear, her composure seeming mostly restored. She looked understatedly elegant in a fitted gray cashmere V-neck sweater paired with wide-legged black pants and black leather ankle boots. Discreet diamonds winked at her ears. Zach wondered how old she was. Forty?
As she tucked her hair behind her ears again—clearly something of a nervous tic—he saw the glinting flash of a platinum wedding ring on her finger. Huh. He’d definitely been getting single mom vibes from her, but who could tell? Maybe her husband worked in the city and would be joining them on the weekend… a prospect that made him feel like kicking something.
“I’d never heard of a boardgame café before,” Laurie told her as she took the wine and handed it to Joshua to open. “But that sounds like such a cool idea.”
“Oh, well, it was Ben’s idea, actually,” Maggie said. She smiled at her son, her hands fluttering by her sides like she didn’t know what to do with them. “I’m just along for the ride.”
Laurie’s smile was warm as she turned to Ben. “So, tell us, Ben, what exactlyisa boardgame café?”
“It’s, um, a café with boardgames.” Ben flushed, looking as flustered as his mother. “I mean, you play them while you’re having a coffee or hot chocolate or whatever. And there’s someone in the store, staff, I mean, who knows how to play all the games and can help you with learning the rules and stuff.”
“That sounds so cool,” Laurie enthused. “Did you think of it yourself, or had you been to one before?”
“Oh, I’ve been to one,” Ben said quickly. “There’s one in New Haven, and I mean, in general, there are lots all over the country.”
“And now one in Starr’s Fall,” Jenna chimed in with a smile. “Nice. We could use some more entertainment, along with a place to have decent coffee.”
“Let’s hope the coffee’s decent,” Maggie joked, a tremor to her voice. She really was nervous, Zach realized, with a twist of sympathy. What had happened—or not happened—in her life to make her so uncertain of herself in what was a pretty basic social situation?
And Ben too… He glanced at the teenager, noticing the way he hid his hands in his sweatshirt, ducked his head. They both seemed out of their element, in a way that made Zach feel both curious and sympathetic. How could two people who were so uncertain about themselves work up the courage to move to a new town, where they seemingly knew no one, and open a business?
Unless it wasn’t courage, but desperation? And yet even that required its own sort of bravery.
Zach realized he’d missed the rest of the conversation, and everyone was staring at him. He raised his eyebrows in query as Jenna said dryly, “Earth to Zach. Did you hear Laurie’s question?”
“Sorry, I was a million miles away.” He gave his hostess an apologetic grin. “What were you asking me, Laurie?”
“Just if you liked boardgames,” Laurie replied. “Since you went into the café. I’ve pretty much only ever played Monopoly, myself.”
“Yeah, I like games.” He glanced at Ben, who was frowning slightly, looking apprehensive and maybe even a little confused, no doubt by Zach’s measured reply. The truth was, he didn’t particularly want to explain about his gaming life; a lot of people, his sister most likely included, assumed a thirty-one-year-old guy with a gaming interest was, well,weird. And yet… what was he saying to Ben, bynotmentioning it? Ben was obviously a diehard RQ fan. Zach had a sudden, strong sense that not mentioning his gaming would feel like some kind of betrayal.
“I play an online game,” he stated, like an announcement. “RainQuest. Ben does, too.” He nodded toward Ben. “I was asking about it because the café’s logo had one of the characters from the game on it.”
“An online game?” Jenna looked incredulous. “Wait,what?”
“It’s fun,” Zach replied, a slight warning note to his tone. The last thing he needed was Jenna sounding scathing about a game Ben clearly loved, never mind how he felt about it. He had a feeling the kid wouldn’t be able to take that kind of implied criticism. “Right, Ben?” he asked, with a pointed look at his sister.
“Yeah, really fun.” As Zach had expected, Ben sounded cautious, like he didn’t want to admit too much to this crowd. Zach didn’t blame him.
“RainQuest,” Jenna mused, clearly getting the warning and moderating her tone. “Wow. Well, I’ve, um, never heard of it.”
“It’s a fantasy game,” Joshua chimed in. He also sounded cautious, but he shot Zach a commiserating smile, which he returned with a grin. He should have figured Joshua played RQ. “I’ve played it a little.”
“Really?” Ben looked heartened by this news. “What’s your username?”
