Page 45 of Playing for Keeps in Starr's Fall
“No, not in a good way,” she agreed. “We were getting along so well, and he did so much for the café, and for Ben too. But then something happened, and it made me question everything.” As succinctly as she could, Maggie explained about Memegate, forcing herself to include the salient detail that she and Zach had kissed the night before.
“Hmm…” Lynn said after she’d lapsed into a dejected silence. “That sounds… well, to quote Cicero, like a tempest in a ladle. Or as the Brits say, a storm in a teacup. But I appreciate it felt like a big deal at the time, especially for Ben.”
This was not the response Maggie had been expecting from her sister, especially not after her ominous comments when she’d first told her about Zach. “Yes, Ben is okay now,” she admitted. “Although it certainly shook him up a lot, and the last thing I needed was him going back down that rabbit hole of high school bullying.” She had to suppress a shudder at the very thought. “But… do you think I overreacted?” It was what she had been thinking herself, but if her sister, who was the Queen of Caution, agreed…
“I can’t say because I wasn’t there,” Lynn replied. “But from hearing it now, after it’s all over… maybe?” She let out a short sigh. “I guess the real question you need to ask is, Mags, was Zach a good influence in Ben’s life? I know I had my reservations at first, but the more you told me about him, the more he sounded like a pretty quality guy. So maybe you need to judge him by his actions, and not by the one thing Ben told you. I mean, Ben is fourteen. Are you sure that’s what Zach even suggested to him? It sounds, as the kids like to say, a little ‘sus.’”
“It’s what Ben took away from their conversation,” Maggie argued. “And Zach knows he’s impressionable. Vulnerable?—”
“And every adult knows you cannot be responsible for how a teenager takes your words. You’ve said yourself many times that you say one thing and Ben hears another.”
Maggie closed her eyes. The creeping suspicion she’d had over the last week that she might have made a gigantic mistake was now becoming a tsunami of doubt… and yet what could she do? “Even if you’re right,” she said in a squeezed-out voice, “it doesn’t make that much difference. I’m not ready for a relationship, and that’s where Zach seemed to want to be headed, based on some things he said.” Although maybe he’d completely changed his mind by now. She wouldn’t blame him.
“And he did kiss you,” Lynn pointed out. “How was that?”
Incredible. Maggie swallowed hard. “It was… okay.”
Her sister let out a hoot of laughter. “Maggie Parker, you cannot fool me. I bet it was amazing.”
“I thought you didn’t like Zach,” Maggie protested.
“Am I not allowed to revise my opinion based on new information?”
“Yes, but…” Maggie sighed. “Even if I was wrong about him,” she said slowly, “it’s only been a year since Matt died?—”
“Nearly a year and a half,” Lynn corrected her. “And let’s be honest, Maggie. You and Matt weren’t seeing eye to eye for a while before the accident. Years, I’d say, ever since he got that massive promotion and started insisting on country club memberships and driving a Porsche and all the rest of it. I’m not saying that means you don’t grieve him, of course, I know you do, but…” She paused before finishing quietly. “I hope I’m not hurting you by saying that to me it looked like you hadn’t had a healthy or happy marriage in some time.”
Maggie’s knuckles ached as she gripped her phone. She’d never admitted any of that to her sister before. How had she guessed? Had it been that obvious? Had she let little things slip? “Still…” was all she could manage to reply, stumbling over the single word.
“If you’re not ready for a relationship, then you’re not ready,” Lynn stated in the same matter-of-fact voice she’d used before. “And that’sfine. But don’t let fear talk you into doing—or not doing—something. And I think you owe it to Zach to get to the bottom of what happened about that stupid meme. Don’t leave it all unsaid and then try to fill in the blanks yourself, with what you’ve been catastrophizing.”
Maggie managed a weak laugh. Her sister really did know her well.
“Now, I’ve got to head back to work,” Lynn told her, “but I’ll see you Saturday, okay? Bright and early. And I’m bringing a cake, a big one, so make sure you have plenty of forks!”
“Thank you,” Maggie whispered. She really was incredibly grateful for her sister’s briskly no-nonsense approach to life. She’d needed something of a stern talking-to, and she’d gotten one.
But what was she going to do about Zach?
16
As she ended the phone call with her sister, Maggie realized she was standing in front of Midnight Fashion, the ladies’ clothing boutique that Liz Cranbury managed, under the beady eye of the original proprietor, Betty Stein. She’d been meaning to go inside, but she hadn’t had a chance yet. Now, as she glanced admiringly at the mannequins in the window with their color-coordinated outfits, she decided she might venture in. A little retail therapy would boost her mood, and maybe she could buy something new to wear to the grand opening.
“Maggie!” Liz exclaimed as she stepped inside the store with a tinkle of bells. “I’m so glad you’ve made it in. Betty’s visiting her grandson today, so I’ve got the place to myself. And look who’s here.” She nodded toward Annie, who was standing in front of the full-length mirror in a clinging navy-blue dress, looking glum.
“Oh…” Maggie smiled uncertainly, glad to see Annie, even if her expression was decidedly grim.
“She’s buying something new,” Liz explained in a stage whisper, “because she’s going on adate.”
“It’s not a date,” Annie barked. “It’s just a friendly get-together, as I told you and every other darned person in this town.”
Maggie smothered a smile. This sounded very interesting. “Oh?” she asked as she raised her eyebrows in inquiry. “Who is this friendly get-together with, Annie?”
“Mike the Mechanic,” Liz answered for her. Annie was still staring dispiritedly at her reflection. “Do you know him?” Maggie shook her head. She hadn’t had any need for a mechanic yet, thankfully, but maybe she’d meet him in relation to Annie.
“I look like I am trying to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear,” Annie stated matter-of-factly as she plucked at the dress’s stretchy material. “And I have not succeeded.”
Maggie glanced at Annie’s outfit—a navy dress made of a soft jersey that clung to her ample figure perhaps a little too closely, revealing every bulge and ripple. It wouldn’t be flattering on anyone who didn’t have a stick-thin figure, at least not without some army-grade control-top underwear to smooth everything out. But beyond that, Maggie could see that Annie wasn’t happy in the dress, that it wasn’ther, and she realized she knew what that felt like.
