“You’re kidding me.” Maggie eyed my boots.
“They’re not the newest fashion, mind you. This shirt probably goes back two seasons. The tights I got at Wal-Mart a year ago, but they still look great.”
“Okay, you’re going shopping with me for my honeymoon outfits. That’s if Seth ever tells me where we are going.”
“He hasn’t told you yet?”
“He wants to surprise me, but he’s going to have to give me hints so I know what to pack,” she said, stopping dead. I almost ran into the back of her.
“What’s the matter?” I asked, seeing her eyes and mouth tighten.
“See that girl crossing the parking lot toward us?” I glanced up to see a pretty girl with long strawberry blonde hair strutting our way.
“Yup. Let me guess, she’s a little too good for just about everyone on the planet,” I said as she drew near.
“Hillary thinks she’s too good for everyone, except Seth.”
Ah, now I understood completely. The girl strolled straight up to Maggie. Her sneer darkened her otherwise pretty features.
“I heard you and Seth moved the date up. So when’s the baby due?” Her eyes dropped to Maggie’s stomach.
“Three months. You can’t even tell.” Without missing a beat, Maggie twisted sideways and rubbed her flat tummy.
“I knew it. The only way he’d marry someone like you would be if you were pregnant. Melody tried to tell me I was wrong.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder, grinning smugly.
This girl got under my skin faster than anyone I’d ever met. Her smug smile, the lofty way she carried her head screamed, ‘I’m better than you.’ Not being a patient person to begin with, her condescending tone pushed me over the edge. “Excuse me. My name is Lilah. Have we met?”
Hillary gave me the once over, lingering on my designer footwear and handbag. Her dark face lightened. Clearly I met with her approval.
“Hillary Jeffers.” she said boldly, as if it should mean something to me.
“Hillary Jepson?” I said, just to bother her.
“Jeffers. As in Jeffers Automotive, and Jeffers Antiques.”
“And the Jeffers Pawn Shop,” I asked. “Over on Main Street, next to the gas station, right?” The place was a seedy little dive. I’d driven by daily on my way to the hospital.
“Yes.” She twisted uncomfortably.
“I didn’t know people could pawn shoes and purses.” I point to hers, both so last year.
Her face went from peaches and cream to green in a matter of seconds. “You clearly have zero fashion sense,” she barked. She turned to Maggie. “I can see you still hang out with trailer trash.” She stormed off with another flip of her hair.
“The girl’s going to get whiplash if she keeps doing that,” I said, dramatically flipping my hair.
We laughed to the point of tears crossing the parking lot toward Maggie’s car. A small red sports car came out of nowhere. I grabbed Maggie’s arm, jerking her away. The guy barely missed her as he blitzed past, not even noticing what he’d done. She stumbled and landed on her butt.
“Are you okay?” I asked, helping her up.
“Thanks to you. I didn’t even see that guy.” She held up the bag, inspecting it. Luckily the heavy-duty garment bag kept the dress protected.
“Me neither, not until he almost hit you.”
“Please don’t mention this to Seth. He’ll freak.” As she smoothed her shirt down, I noticed her hands shaking a bit and the rapid rise and fall of her chest. She eyed the parking lot before starting for her car again.
“I think the veil is perfect for the dress, don’t you?” I asked, hoping to take her mind off the idiot driver.
“Yes. Thanks again for the hair ideas. I’ve been struggling with what to do with my hair for the wedding.” She rolled her eyes. “Who am I kidding? I struggle to know what to do with this limp mess every day of my life.” She picked up a pathetic strand of hair and frowned.
I held out a small section and felt the texture. “What kind of shampoo do you use?” I laughed out loud as she told me. “Seriously? That’s half, if not two-thirds of your problem. That and maybe having a few layers cut into your hair.”
“Really?”
“Truthfully, I’d trim off a few inches. The ends are in bad shape.”
“How do you know so much about hair?” Maggie asked as she settled into a gorgeous red Lexus and unrolled the window.
“I studied cosmetology after high school.” Another thing I didn’t finish. My life was full of unfinished things: horseback riding lessons that lasted a week; ballet class I skipped out on more than I went; violin lessons, which thankfully, I only had to endure for six months before Birdie relented and let me quit.
“If you want to get together sometime, I’ll give your hair a makeover,” I offered.
“I’d love to! Maybe next Saturday if you’re available.”
“Sounds great. Say around one?”
“Sure. Give me your cell number and I’ll text you my address.”
We quickly exchanged numbers before she drove off. Spending a Saturday with her would really help expedite my plan, only instead of feeling good about it, a twinge of guilt twisted in my belly. Once again I was left to believe that things didn’t add up. Execution was cold and heartless. Maggie was neither. There was no way she was responsible for killing Alan, at least not intentionally. I needed to call Daddy tonight. Maybe I’d talk some sense into him . . . Right, who am I kidding?
Chapter 6
Cole
“Seth! You’re home!” With her exclamation, Maggie jumped into Seth’s arms and kissed him. I loved to be in the room when she came in and saw him. Her face lit up like a Christmas tree; actually, both of their faces did. It also frustrated me. Why couldn’t I find that kind of happiness?
I looked away, allowing them a private moment. Booker and Seth had redone the house a few years back. I liked the kitchen the most, with its black slate countertops and tall cherry cabinets Booker built. I needed to get a hobby. I spent way too much time at the hospital.
“Don’t forget we have company,” Seth said after a few moments. I noted the hint of regret in his voice. I’d come to stay with them as the wedding drew closer. It’d become too hard not to cross the lines they had set up for themselves. They wanted to wait until they were married before sleeping together. Mags was at Booker’s but that all fell apart six months ago.
“Hello, Cole,” Maggie said without taking her eyes off of Seth.
“Hello, Maggie.” I dropped onto a barstool. “Okay, enough, you two. You’re making me nauseous. Can we just have dinner?” I teased … a little.
“Sorry.” Seth set a chicken roasted in something that looked delicious on the table. Staying here had its perks, like not having to prepare my own meals. Cooking and I were not on speaking terms anymore.
“How did the dress shopping go with Lilah?” I tried sounding casual. I didn’t want them to get the wrong idea about my interest in the girl. Child, really. She couldn’t possibly be more than nineteen or twenty.
“Great. She helped me find the prettiest dress. And she’s going to help me with my hair.” She flipped a strand of her brown hair, which really wasn’t that bad, but Maggie sure thought so. “I was a little nervous about asking her.”
“Why?” Seth asked, turning off the stove.
“She’s really out there in her choice of clothing. I mean, she can pull it off, don’t get me wrong, but I was afraid she’d suggest I get an edgy dress, you know, maybe black or even red?” Maggie set the table as she spoke.
“How does she dress?” Seth began carving the chicken, setting the pieces on a platter I’d placed next to it.
“Remember Bambi from the Library?” Seth nodded to Maggie’s question. “Like that, only more colorful. Very eccentric. Don’t misunderstand, she looks adorable. I wish I could get away with what she wears, it just isn’t wedding style, well, my wedding style anyway. But she is very nice and qui
te pretty. Don’t you agree, Cole?” Maggie said, a grin filling her face.
“Um, yes. She’s a nice girl.” I heavily emphasized the word girl. A girl who wouldn’t stop touching me all the time.
“So what is this new girl like?” Seth asked me.
“Nice. Hard worker. Booker hired her to decorate my new office,” I answered, trying to deflect what was surely coming next. Ever since these two got engaged all I ever heard out of them was why don’t you date?
“Maggie says she’s cute. Do you agree?” prodded Seth.
I shrugged. “Yes.”
“She’s adorable,” supplied Maggie, a playful grin still on her face.
“And?”
“And what? She’s very young, close to your age, Maggie,” I pointed out.
“Oh, I think she’s younger than me.”
“You think she’s younger than twenty one?” I asked, knowing I didn’t want to hear the answer.
“She looks about sixteen, but I’m guessing she’s nineteen. At the most.” Seth flopped back his head and laughed. Maggie continued. “She’s not very tall. She’s probably only five foot two. She has brown hair—”
“Wavy, chestnut brown hair.”
“And her eyes are…blue.”
“Maggie, they’re brown.”
“I know, just checking,” she teased.
“Cole, you should ask her out. Maybe we can squeeze in a double date before the wedding?” Seth offered.
“One small problem. If she is only nineteen that means she’s barely legal, as in graduated a year ago from high school.” I shook my head. “She may be older. She does have an associate’s degree in design.”
“Sounds like you’re reaching to me, my friend,” Maggie grinned as we sat around the table. She set a place for Booker, but I was starving and hoped we didn’t have to wait.
“She earned her degree while still in high school, at least partly,” Maggie said. “She told me that during her senior year in high school, she began working on her associates.”
Seth passed me the chicken platter. I took several slices of white meat.
“She may be older, Cole.” Maggie took the platter from me and placed some meat on Booker’s plate. “She acts older, that’s for sure. She’s very sure of herself, confident. She stood up to the lady at the bridal shop when she tried to get me to buy this ridiculously expensive dress.”
“You’re right, Lilah does act much older,” I quickly agreed. “She isn’t the least bit silly and giggly like some other high school girls we’ve hired in the past. And, man alive, can she organize. You should see my office. She’s funny too, and full of life.” And confident, outgoing, pretty.
“I hope she’s getting hazard pay for tackling that hot mess you call an office.” Seth scooped up the broccoli and passed Maggie the bowl.
“Maggie helped, as you know, and so did I.” I took a bite of chicken. Delicious. I needed to learn how to cook. “And I’d appreciate it if you two would stop trying to fix me up. I’m more than capable of finding my own woman when I’m ready. Why don’t you fix Booker up?” I suggested.
“Yeah, right. Where do you suggest we find a woman for Booker? I can’t wait to see the woman who finally nails him down,” Maggie said with a laugh. “She’ll have to be a saint.”
“True, a mere mortal will never do for me,” Booker said, waltzing into the room.
“Hello, Book,” Seth said. “How did you get out of work already?”
“I can do whatever I want. Remember, I’m sleeping with the captain, my friend,” he grinned.
“You are the captain,” I laughed.
“And I sleep with myself every night.” His eyes darted to the table. “Hey, I’m just in time. Lemon chicken.” He grabbed a piece, but paused before putting it in his mouth. He sniffed at it, as if testing a fine wine. “Wait, who made this?” He eyeballed Maggie playfully. “You did, didn’t you, Magpie?” Booker guessed.
“I ’m not telling, Sylvester,” she retorted as he scooped a second piece and slipped it into his mouth. “Bad kitty. It’s terrible manners to eat from the serving plate. Sit.” Maggie pulled out his chair.
He grabbed the plate and serviced up a larger portion than Maggie had already given him. The guy could pack it away.
“Everything is great, Maggie. Thank you for dinner,” I said, serving up another helping. “I do believe this is my new favorite dish.”
“Thank you. At least some people have manners,” she said, tapping Booker on the head with a clean fork—well, I think it was clean. Those two were fun to watch. They couldn’t be more like brother and sister if they were born into the same family.
“So, Cole, how’s your girlfriend doing?” Booker asked, taking a large bite.
“She’s not my girlfriend. She’s a nice girl you hired to redo my office,” I said, slightly exasperated with all this Lilah talk. I’d been fighting to keep her off my mind. I certainly didn’t need everyone bringing her front and center into the conversation. “Seth’s trying to convince me to ask her out.”
“How come you never try and fix me up?” Booker complained.
“We haven’t found anyone special enough,” Seth answered. We all laughed, even Booker.
“Good, I’ll never marry ever again. Never. Mark my words. I don’t even want to date. I’m enjoying the carefree life I live. No woman around to demand I fix this, or watch some silly chick flick.” He shuddered playfully.
“Going home to an empty house, and sleeping in an empty bed. No one to talk with at night or go on long walks with in the fall,” I added softly.
Everyone got quiet.
“I am so fixing you up with Lilah,” Maggie said, breaking the awkward silence.
“No, she’s too young.” I reminded myself of that little fact often. Statistically speaking, a nineteen year old girl wouldn’t be in the same place in life I was. I wanted to settle down and start a family.
“Remember Tess from down in the file room?” I asked Booker. He could only nod with his mouth full of broccoli. “She transferred to the ER. She was being let go since we switched to digital medical records, but this job opened up just last week. She’s nice. I like her.”
“She’s cute, too,” Booker said, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “She’s in her mid-twenties, probably a bit old for you after Miss Nineteen, but still, maybe you should ask her out instead.”
“She doesn’t talk much,” I said, ignoring him. “It’s like pulling teeth to get her to say anything,” Two quiet people on a date equaled disaster, that I knew first hand.
“Maybe you should ask her out, Booker. Then you can talk about your favorite subject uninterrupted,” Maggie suggested.
“And what subject would that be?” Booker sat up straight, clearly bracing for her retort.
Maggie got up and walked over to the other side of Seth, strategically putting him between her and Booker before she answered. “Yourself,” she said simply. He flung a roll at her, but Seth caught it. “Nice try. And good catch, sweetie.” She swung around and plopped onto his lap and they began kissing, again.
“Cut it out, you’re making me sick,” Book pretended to gag.
“Leave then,” Seth said, without breaking the kiss.
“Come on, Book, let’s go sit on the porch,” I suggested. We walked out and sat on the swing attached to the front porch. It was already humid, not typical weather for June in upstate New York. We usually had to wait until July for the thick, wet air to invade.
“So tell me about your day with jailbait,” Booker egged.
“She’s not jailbait, Book,” I complained drily.
“Barely,” Booker laughed.
“She’s sweet and a hard worker,” came my very lame reply.
“You already said that.” Booker’s face split into a wide grin. “Hanging around these two rubbing off on you?” he laughed. “All that doe-eyed staring, giggling in the kitchen, and all-around drooling getting to ya?”
“And it doesn’t get to you?
Come on, you’re only human, well, almost anyway.” I punched his arm. “I never really thought about marriage. I mean, I knew someday I’d settle down, but I’m thirty now. I don’t want to be an old man having kids.”
“Yeah, those two got to me too,” he laughed. “Then I remembered, been there, done that, failed miserably.” He grimaced. “Never again.”
“Never again what, Garfield?” Maggie stepped out onto the porch with a hideous orange ball. I hate basketball.
“Marriage. It’s for chumps,” Booker smiled mischievously. “Present company included.”
“Oh, man. I can’t wait for the day you find the one,” she added quote marks in the air with her last two words.
“I’m telling you, Magpie, it ain’t going to happen.” He stretched out his legs and leaned back in the swing.
“Let’s just say it did.” Maggie said, bouncing the ball a few times and pretending to shoot a basket. “Let’s pretend God actually made a girl just for you. What are the musts she’d have to have?”
“She’d have to be tall. I don’t want a kink in my neck every time I kiss her. And trust me, with a guy like me, she’s going to want to kiss, a lot.” Maggie pretended to gag at his words. Undaunted, Booker continued. “She’d have to know how to handle a gun,” he said with a glint in his eye. Maggie ignored his poke at her. She hated guns and had lousy aim—most to the time.
“I mean deal breaker stuff, Garfield. What does she absolutely have to have or not have before it’s a no deal?” Maggie pressed.
“I told you, tall and a good shot,” Booker assured her while trying to steal the basketball away. She spun in a circle and faked left as he went right. “Oh, and I’d like her to have red hair. I’ve never dated a red head before.”
“Booker, there are a lot of women that fit the bill. I know a girl in my health class who would be perfect,” Maggie began.
“Wait, I’m not done,” he said, pausing in his pursuit of the ball. “There’s one more thing. She’d have to have AB negative blood.” He swooped in, grabbed the ball and spun around for a perfect three point shot.
Unbelievable Page 5