“Are you gonna get that?” I asked.
“No.” He kept eyes focused on mine. The phone continued to ring… light up, and vibrate. A couple more rings and the phone stopped the irritating interruption, although, our conversation seemed to have stopped as well.
Again, his phone began to ring, light up, and dance across the surface between us. Joe sighed, and painstakingly looked down to see who was calling. He blew out a frustrated breath, and picked it up. “Hello?”... “What?”... “Fine.”… “I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Joe disconnected, setting the phone down beside him. “I have to go to the bar. There was a problem with one of the shipments today, and I need to go sort it out. I’m sorry.”
I waved him off with nonchalance, hoping I didn’t look as disappointed as I felt. “It’s okay. You have a business to run. No need to apologize for that.” I stood, picked up both of our plates. “I’ll clean up. Go take care of it.” I carried the plates to the sink. “I need to call Lily, anyway.”
Joe came up behind me and stood, not speaking. I glanced at him over my shoulder. “It’s okay, Joe. I’ve got this.”
“Call me if you need anything. I shouldn’t be gone that long. But call me if you need anything. Okay?”
“Okay.”
I felt him walk up, getting closer. One – two – three steps and he was at my back. He placed his hands on the top of my shoulders, and gently kissed the top of my head. My thoughts flashed back to the last time I stood at his sink. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
“I’ll be back.”
“I’ll be here.”
He squeezed my shoulders, and then I felt his breath in my ear. “Miss me,” he said, and walked away, leaving me standing alone in his kitchen.
“I already do,” I whispered to myself.
Joe
“It’s what?
“You heard me,” Maggie said with a gleam in her eye.
“No, I don’t think I did.” I couldn’t help paying attention to the way Maggie moved around my kitchen in her silk pajamas while I replayed last night in my head. By the time I had returned she was asleep on the couch, curled up with a blanket, the movie Tombstone playing on the television. She looked so peaceful. I sat down on the edge of the coffee table and watched her as she slept. She was dreaming, her eyes moving back and forth behind her eyelids. I slid off the coffee table and knelt down beside her, breathing her in. She smelled like sunshine to me, a light and airy mixture of vanilla and golden musk. I laughed quietly when she let out a tiny snore, but when she said my name in her sleep I stopped laughing. “Joe.” That one syllable on her lips made my whole body lock up stiff as a board. I waited to see if she would say anything else. I leaned in closer, and angled my ear to her mouth, listening to the sounds she made as she breathed in and out. My face was mere inches from hers.
“Don’t go.”
I pulled back so I could see her face. Part of me felt like I was intruding on her privacy. Another part of me was desperate to hear anything else she might say. I was torn whether to stay or go.
Then she laughed. Her sweet and serene face was smiling and I would have paid any price to know what made her laugh and smile like that. The room was bathed in a soft glow from the fireplace and shadows danced between us. I wanted to touch her so fucking bad. So, I did. I scooped her up in my arms and held her close to me, her head resting on my shoulder while she mumbled something incoherent. I carried her to the guestroom and laid her down on the bed, tucking her in and trying to be as quiet as possible. When I turned to leave, her hand caught mine. I stopped and stared at her hand, then made a gradual climb up her arm, stopping briefly at her mouth, which was curled upwards, and then met her eyes. The warmth behind those emerald greens was captivating, so I remained rooted in place, not wanting to leave, and needing to at the same time, because my need to touch her, to hold her, to kiss her – it was fucking with my head.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“Get some sleep, baby,” I said back. I leaned down and kissed her forehead. I started for the door again. She stopped me when she refused let go of my hand.
“Tell me something you’ve never told another soul,” Maggie said.
I cocked my head to the side. “Like what?”
“It doesn’t matter, as long as you’ve never told anyone else.”
I brought my hands up and rubbed my face while I scrambled for something I could tell her. My mind was all over the place and nowhere at the same time. I couldn’t think of anything. “All right. Do I have to tell you right now? You’re kind of putting me on the spot.” I chuckled. “You’re awfully demanding.”
She chuckled too. “No, you don’t have to tell me tonight. I’ll wait.”
“Thanks,” I said, and smiled at her. “‘Preciate it.”
“No problem. See? I’m not demanding.”
“That’s debatable.”
“Whatever,” she said, snuggling further beneath the covers.
I made my way to the door, glancing back at her briefly, hoping to catch that smile of hers again. Her face had already resumed the peaceful state it had been in before I had woken her, so I pulled her door closed quietly and headed off to my room.
Now this morning she’s making us breakfast, which consisted of all things chocolate. When she set my plate down in front of me, all I could do was stare at it.
“You’re gonna have to repeat that,” I said.
“It’s chocolate covered anything day.”
“Chocolate covered anything day,” I mumbled back. I flipped over the bacon on my plate. It was covered in chocolate, along with chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate pancakes. “Is this a real day or are you messin’ with me?”
She grinned. “It’s a real day, according to the ‘Trending Now’ section on Yahoo, anyway. I did look it up to make sure it was today.”
I bit into the chocolate bacon. “I’ll be damned. This is actually pretty good.”
“Well, yeah. What’s not to like about that? Bacon is good with anything. So is chocolate. You get the best of both worlds.”
You dipped in chocolate would actually be the best of both worlds, I thought to myself. I cleared my throat. “I think I’m gonna have to keep you here for this reason alone,” I said.
“Well, you wouldn’t get that,” she said pointing to the bacon, “…for another whole year. Chocolate covered anything day only comes around once a year.”
“Well damn.” I roamed my eyes over her body with a smirk. “What about a chocolate covered Maggie day? Are there any of those on the calendar?”
“Nope. Afraid not.”
“There will be now. Who do I call to get this officially added to the calendar?”
“Ha ha,” she said. “Finish eating, I’m gonna go get dressed.”
I gave her a salute and she sauntered to her room. I leaned over so I could watch her. Damn, her walk alone was going to be the death of me.
My phone rang. I glanced at it to see who was calling. “Yo, Coop.”
“Hey, man…we still getting together tonight?”
“Yeah. Hey, did you know today was chocolate covered anything day?” I asked.
“Is this a real question?”
“You wouldn’t believe what I’m eating right now. Maggie made chocolate covered bacon.”
“Lily!” Cooper called. “I know what I want for breakfast!”
Maggie and Lily went Christmas shopping, and I went to the bar to do some paperwork and inventory. Brice would be in later, and then I would head over to Cooper and Lily’s. It would be the first time we all hung out together since Maggie got to town.
Thinking about Maggie now, I realized I was missing her. I missed her before, and now I miss her even when she’s next to me. I miss her all the damn time. I miss her smile when she’s not smiling. I miss her smile when she is smiling, because I’m anxious for the next one.
Jesus Christ.
I scrubbed my hands over my face and tried to figure out ho
w much longer I could do this. To pretend to not be in love with her was a hell of a lot harder than I anticipated. I blew out a breath, recalling Cooper’s advice… Be her friend – for now. “I’m trying,” I mumbled to myself.
“Trying what?”
I spun around to find the voice behind me. I placed my hand over my heart. “Jesus, you scared the shi… I mean the crap outta me, Ms. Sophie. What are you doing here? I thought you were sick. Shouldn’t you be resting?”
“I needed to run a couple of errands.” Ms. Sophie waved her hands at me like it was no big deal. “I saw your car outside as I was passing by, dear. Are you alone?”
I glanced around the office. “It appears that we are, but I thought I was alone before, so I could be wrong.”
“Yes, about that... you should really keep your door locked when you’re here by yourself. No telling who could walk in and surprise you.”
“Yeah, no kidding.” I crossed my arms in front of me and leaned my backside against my desk. “So, how are you feeling?”
She quirked her lip, raised her eyes to me, and took a seat. “She’s a lovely girl, isn’t she?”
“Who is?”
“Maggie, dear.”
I nodded my head. “Yes, she is.”
“What do you think of her?”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, don’t be coy with me, dear. I see how you look at her.”
I uncrossed my arms and placed my palms down on the edge of the desk. “I haven’t even seen you since Maggie got to town, so I have no idea how–”
“Oh stop. I saw how you looked at her the night of Lily and Cooper’s wedding. So, tell me, what do you think of her?”
I tilted my head slightly. “Let’s try something else. Why don’t you tell me how you think I look at her.”
“Like she’s your next breath, dear.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that, so I said the only thing that was going through my mind. “I do?”
Ms. Sophie asked with fondness in her tone, “Have you told her yet?”
“Told her what?”
“That you love her?”
“Ms. Sophie,” I said running my hands though my hair, a bit embarrassed to be having this conversation. “No, I haven’t. And I’m not even gonna ask how it is you seem to know everything.”
“What are you waiting for?”
“Why are you here? I mean, why aren’t you in bed resting?”
She looked away briefly, and then looked back at me. “I want my boys to be happy.”
Well damn. I stood up straight and held my arms open to invite her in so I could wrap her in a hug. “I appreciate that. I do. But I’m a big boy. I think I can handle this on my own.”
“Of course you can, dear. Listen; don’t forget everyone is coming to my house for Christmas dinner. Now,” she said as she made her way toward the door, “this old lady is going back home. I think I might have overdone it today.”
“You shouldn’t have come here. You should be taking it easy.”
“Right,” she said. ‘I’m going.”
“Ms. Sophie?” I called out. “Thank you.”
She looked at me thoughtfully. “When you decide to tell Maggie, speak with your heart, dear. The heart never lies.” And with that, she was gone.
We were all at Coop and Lily’s having a good time together. Beth was the last to show up, and as always she lit up the room when she made her entrance.
“Hey guys,” she said. She went around the room greeting everybody. When she got to Hayden her expression changed. It was brief – very brief, and if I hadn’t been paying attention I probably wouldn’t have noticed it. Her smile wavered and was replaced by… embarrassment? It was hard to decipher. Hayden had a look on his face that I couldn’t quite figure out either, and before I had a chance to study their expressions, her face was back bright as ever. “Hello, Hayden,” Beth said, quickly averting her eyes from his gaze.
“Hello, Beth,” Hayden answered, smiling at her. “How have you been?” He towered over her at six–foot-two. I noticed that he bent his knees slightly and tilted his head in an attempt to regain eye contact with her. Weird.
“Good. Busy working; you know…” She glanced around the room.
“Hey, Beth,” Lily called. “Come taste this sauce for me and tell me if you think it needs anything.” Beth looked immediately relieved and scurried over to the stove where Lily waited.
Hayden continued to watch Beth as she tasted Lily’s sauce.
“Mmm, that’s so good, Lily.” Beth beamed. “Don’t add anything. It’s perfect.” When Beth turned around she looked right at Hayden and then looked away just as quickly.
What the hell? I thought to myself. Was anyone else seeing this?
“Joe!” Cooper yelled, interrupting my thoughts.
I walked over to where he was talking to Maggie. He was grinning as I approached.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“Maggie was telling me how sorry she is that Grams is sick with the flu.” Cooper seemed amused for some reason.
“Yeah?” I asked again.
“She’s not too sick. I talked to her a few minutes ago and she is still planning on everyone coming over for Christmas dinner.”
“She stopped by the bar earlier and mentioned that to me. I thought it was odd she was out running errands.”
Cooper shook his head and bit back a smirk. “She’s playing you two, you know.”
“What do you mean?”
“My grandmother likes to play matchmaker. You two are obviously her latest victims. Let me guess,” Cooper said, “she suggested that Maggie stay at your house this week. Am I right?”
Maggie and I both looked at each other as the pieces clicked together. “I’ll be damned,” I said, shaking my head.
“You mean Ms. Sophie lied to us?” Maggie asked.
“Well, she’s not feeling as spry as she normally does, although she fudged a little on the facts, that’s for sure.” Cooper laughed. “Hey, Lily, you and I are officially off Cupid’s list.” He hitched his thumb at Maggie and me and continued, “Meet our newest prey.”
“You’re joking!” Lily exclaimed.
Cooper filled her in on Ms. Sophie’s latest scheme while Lily tried to hold back her amusement. Lily then told us how Ms. Sophie had set her and Cooper up on a lunch date by inviting both of them to eat with her separately and then having an “emergency” phone call that left them alone at the restaurant. Cooper had cornered his grandmother later and asked who had called her and what was so urgent that she had to leave. She admitted bribing Margaret, one of her quilting friends, to call her at exactly the time she knew we would all be arriving for lunch. She’d promised to do all of the handwork on Margaret’s next quilt for the favor and had said to Cooper, “The sore fingertips will be all worth it when I gain a lovely granddaughter!” I gotta admit, I never would have thought Ms. Sophie could be so cunning. I laughed to myself as I considered how she plotted and planned this whole thing. Her little visit today certainly made more sense in light of this information.
I looked up at Maggie, who seemed equally impressed with our dear Ms. Sophie.
“I knew something seemed peculiar with her. I had no idea she was a con artist though,” Maggie said with a shake of her head. “The little sneak.”
Cooper said, “Welcome to my world.”
“Come on guys, let’s eat,” Lily said, leading us all to the kitchen.
After dinner we moved into the living room, continuing to catch up and reminisce. We started talking about how Cooper got Lily to sing in public the first time when Maggie spoke up and said, “Hey! I have yet to hear Lily sing!”
Lily instantly started to blush. “I – I still get uncomfortable singing in front of people.”
“Well, I’m not people. I’m your best friend!” Maggie said with her hands on her hips.
Beth chimed in. “You haven’t? Ohmygod, I heard her sing at Joe’s bar one night; she and Cooper sang a duet
together.” She shot her eyes over to Cooper. “He declared his love for Lily on stage that night,” Beth said with a giggle and a fake swoon.
“Oh yeah, I heard about that,” Maggie said. “I wish I could have been there to see Lily’s face.” She turned to look at Lily with a playful scowl, “And to hear my best friend sing.”
“I know, but I…” Lily looked at Cooper, hoping he would rescue her from being the center of attention, but Hayden spoke up first.
“Lily is awesome, Maggie. The first time we heard her sing,” he said, pointing to me, “we were both floored.”
“Okay, okay, I’m awesome!” Lily exclaimed, throwing her hands up. “Can we please move on to another subject? Beth, do you have any hidden talents we could over-discuss and embarrass you about?” she asked, laughing. Beth turned red and shook her head, while Hayden looked at the floor.
I had walked over and absentmindedly picked up Cooper’s guitar and started strumming it. Concentrating on what I was playing, I tuned everyone else out. When I realized the room had gone silent, I stopped playing and looked up. “What?”
“You gonna play something?” Hayden asked.
“Maybe,” I replied, shrugging as I started strumming again.
“You play too?” Maggie and Lily asked at the same time.
Cooper said, “Who do you think taught me how to play?”
“What?” Maggie asked.
“We practically grew up together, the three of us.” I nodded toward Cooper and Hayden. “Whenever Coop came down to visit his grandparents we would always hang out. Hayden and I lived on the same street. My dad taught me how to play when I was little, and Cooper hounded me until I agreed to teach him.”
“Why didn’t I know that?” Lily asked, looking at Cooper.
Shrugging, Cooper said, “I don’t know. It never came up, I guess.” Then Cooper grinned. “Play Maggie a song, Joe. Grams would insist!”
Play Maggie a song.
I tumbled that idea in my head wondering if I should.
“Well, are you going to perform or not?” Hayden asked, a little too amused.
I glanced up, made eye contact with Maggie, and said, “Alright.”
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