Page 52 of Playing for Keeps in Starr's Fall
“Thank you.”
“But,” Lynn continued, and Maggie couldn’t help but laugh because her sister always had a but, “you need to talk to Zach. I saw you sneaking looks at him all afternoon. Whatever is or isn’t between you, you need to clear the air. Soon. Today, if possible.”
“I know.” Maggie quailed at the thought. Zach had absolutelynotbeen sending her any positive overtures—no chitchat, no quick, smiling glance, no wryly arched eyebrow,nothing. What was she meant to take from the absence of all contact? Nothing good, she feared, but as she’d told Ben many times, just because something was hard didn’t mean you didn’t do it.
“I just need to find the time,” she told Lynn.
Lynn nodded toward the group still sprawled on the sofa. “No time like the present.”
“They’re playing RainQuest.” Even if Zoe looked like she wanted to be put out of her misery.
“But Bella’s looking pretty into it,” Lynn remarked with an arched eyebrow. “And into Ben, frankly.”
“You think?” As discreetly as she could, Maggie glanced at her son and Bella, who was sitting next to him, heads close together as they chatted earnestly about the game. “Maybe…” She wasn’t sure she was ready for Ben to be into girls, or girls to be into Ben, but it was an interesting and hopeful development.
“Go over there and ask him if you can talk,” Lynn urged. “There’s never going to be a perfect time, Mags.”
“I know…” Maggie knew she did not sound enthused by the prospect. She really did not want to ask Zach to have a private word in front of Joshua, Ben, Zoe,andBella. But she knew she had to figure out something.
She finished tidying the kitchen, taking her time to give the espresso machine areallygood polish, and then finally, knowing she could put it off no longer, she steeled herself to go over to their table and clear up the empty coffee cups and plates. As she stooped to collect the dishes, she glanced at Zach. As usual, he wasn’t looking at her, but she was the closest to him she’d been all afternoon, so she could see the glint of stubble on his jaw and the way his lashes swept downward as he studied his cards.
“Having fun?” she asked lightly, making sure to look around at the whole group.
“My brain hurts,” Zoe admitted. “But this café is such a cool idea. I’ll definitely be coming back, although, sorry, guys, maybe not to play RainQuest.”
“That’s great to hear,” Maggie told her warmly. “We’ve got plenty of other games.”
“But I should probably go,” Zoe continued, rising from her chair. “I closed The Latest Scoop for this, but I might open it for the evening now that it’s getting warmer.”
“If you call this warm, you really are a New Englander,” Zach told her, and Zoe rolled her eyes.
“Aren’t we all?”
Her departure invariably caused that of the whole group, and within a few minutes, with a scraping of chair legs and gathering of coats, Joshua and Bella had gone as well, although not before Bella had promised Ben she’d come back so he could keep teaching her the game. Ben was clearing up, and Zach started helping him. Maggie watched them for a few seconds before she took the dirty cups and plates back to the kitchen.
“Did you say anything?” Lynn whispered, and mutely she shook her head.
“Maggie…”
“I know.” She took a deep breath. “I will.” Resolutely, Maggie went back to the table. Ben was just putting the lid on the box, and Zach was reaching for his jacket. It was now or never. “It would be great if you could stay for a little while,” she blurted. “I’d love to, um, talk with you.” Cringe. That had sounded so clunky and awkward, but how else could she have put it?
Zach looked, crushingly, like he was going to refuse. He had one arm already in the sleeve of his jacket, a look of resolute regret hardening his features.Ouch.
“Yeah,” Ben chimed in. “You should totally stay, Zach. You aren’t doing anything now, are you?”
Zach glanced at Ben, and then finally,finally, at Maggie. The look in his eyes was veiled, but also decidedly cool.
“I can stay for a little while,” he said, the words aimed at Ben.
Maggie’s spirits plummeted at that reserved, even reluctant, response, but then she told herself she’d just have to take what she could get.
“Great,” she told him, and her voice came out in that high, slightly manic tone she’d once used with Ben. “Thanks,” she added in a more normal voice. “I appreciate it.”
Zach just nodded.
18
Zach had no idea what to expect as Maggie fidgeted and fiddled with her hair while Ben cleaned up the game and he simply waited, wondering what she wanted. Wondering also whathewanted, because ever since that talk with Jenna—and then Maggie had come blazing in with her assumptions and accusations—he’d realized he really hadn’t known. He’dthoughthe’d known what he wanted out of life for years, but those two conversations had scattered all his certainties. It wasn’t a nice feeling.
