“I’m just starting to figure out who I am.”
Josh regarded her with surprise. “You’ve never known that before?”
Nadine shook her head. “I always let myself be defined by the men I was with.” She smiled at him. “I owe it to you, you know. Making me work here has turned things around for me. I’ve realized that I have a lot to offer besides my body. I might even take some college classes one of these days.”
He stared at her in shock. “You’re kidding!”
“Why shouldn’t I?” she asked defensively.
“There’s no reason at all why you shouldn’t. I’m just surprised you want to.”
“To be honest, so am I, but George says I don’t have to study for a degree. I can just take classes that interest me. He’s taking art appreciation right now, something he never had time for years ago when he was getting his business degree. I thought I might sign up for music appreciation with him next semester.”
“Good for you,” Josh said, his admiration deepening.
“We’re going to take tango lessons, too.”
“George is going to take tango lessons?” The image boggled Josh’s mind.
Nadine grinned. “I’ve told him it’s a very sensual dance. I think that convinced him.”
“Then there is a relationship here.”
“There’s a friendship,” she corrected again, then winked and added, “with sexual overtones. Maybe it’s something you and Maggie should try to get the hang of.”
“Maggie and I are doing just fine,” Josh said.
At least he thought they were, as long as he didn’t think too far into the future. Maybe that was how relationships worked, like a twelve-step program—one tentative, hopeful day at a time.
22
It was still a shock to Maggie to walk into her house and find telltale evidence that a man was living there. Not just any man, she amended. Josh.
He’d kicked off his filthy work boots in the front hall, which might have made her cringe a few weeks ago. Now it merely made her smile. There were sports magazines mixed in with her interior-design and regional-lifestyle magazines. She found two coffee cups left in the kitchen sink and two juice glasses, one of them extra large. The laundry basket was overflowing with his jeans and work shirts.
It was the latter that actually shook her. She picked up one of his work shirts and breathed in the masculine scent that was all Josh. In one way it was still an alien, unfamiliar scent. In another it had become an aphrodisiac.
Panic began to twist in her gut. She had never gotten this far in a relationship before, had never allowed anyone to get this close. She’d been intimate, but there was a huge difference between allowing a man into your bed and permitting him to share your life. She’d always been about doing the unconventional. This seemed a whole lot like conventional. What was she thinking?
“Hi, honey, I’m home!” Josh called out just then, his tone filled with amusement at the trite phrase.
“How can he joke about this?” Maggie muttered, tossing aside his shirt and retreating to the kitchen, where she could pour herself a much-needed glass of wine. Out of habit, she pulled a beer from the fridge for Josh, then cursed yet another sign of this recent domesticity.
He walked into the kitchen and, as it had for more than a week, her heart did a little stutter-step at the sight of him. He leaned down, kissed the stuffing out of her, then reached for the beer she’d set on the counter. When he glanced back at her, he frowned.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she said.
His gaze narrowed. “Not buying it. Try again.”
“Okay, it’s this,” she said, gesturing around vaguely.
He merely looked confused. “The kitchen?”
She scowled at him.
“Okay, not the kitchen. You’re going to have to clarify, sugar.”
“You, me, all this domestic bliss,” she said. “Doesn’t it scare you?”
A grin began to spread across his face. “Bliss, huh? Yeah, I guess it should.”
“But it doesn’t?”
“A little, but not nearly as much as I thought it might,” he admitted.
Maggie was unreasonably irritated by his reaction. “I’m doing your laundry, dammit. You’re fixing my breakfast. Doesn’t that bother you?”
“You want me to do the laundry, too?”
She studied his expression to see if he was making fun of her, but he looked totally sincere. “It’s not about who does the laundry,” she said impatiently.
He pulled out a chair and gestured toward it. “Sit down and tell me what’s really going on here.”
Maggie sat, but she couldn’t find the words to express what was bothering her. “I don’t know exactly,” she said finally. “I got home just now and I looked around and you’re everywhere.”
He feigned indignation. “Are you suggesting I’m a slob, Magnolia?”
Her lips twitched despite her sour mood. “No, of course not. You’re actually amazingly neat. It’s the implication, I think. You’re really living here.”
“That’s what we agreed to,” he said.
“I know.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“I like it,” she said at last. “I didn’t expect to, but I do.”
“And that’s what scares you?”
She nodded.
He hunkered down in front of her and gazed into her eyes. “Me, too. Sometimes, anyway,” he admitted. “But there’s nowhere I’d rather be.”
“And that’s not just because of Brian?” she asked.
He shook his head, his eyes still locked with hers. “Not anymore.”
Maggie sighed. “Same with me.”
He studied her intently. “Feeling better now?”
“I guess.”
“You feel like having dinner now? I’ll cook.”
She laughed at the offer. “Not in my kitchen you won’t,” she said. “Last time you cooked dinner, it took me two days to clean up the mess.”
“But, admit it, the food was excellent,” he said.
She stood up and he pulled her into his arms. Maggie lifted her mouth to his. “Dessert was better.”
He chuckled. “Want to have dessert first tonight?”
“You read my mind.”
Maggie couldn’t imagine who was working on Amanda’s house this morning, since half the people she knew kept popping into Images. Dinah was just the latest.
“Why are you here?” she asked wearily when Dinah settled into the chair beside her desk and took a sip of the latte she’d brought with her. She seemed prepared for a long visit.
“I thought we could catch up.”
“It hasn’t been that long since the last time we saw each other,” Maggie reminded her.
“A lot can happen in a couple of weeks. How’s it working out with you and Josh under the same roof? Are you getting any ideas?”
“Such as?”
“Making it permanent, of course.”
“Josh had a minor freak-out when he saw our toothbrushes lined up,” Maggie told her. “I freaked when I saw our laundry sitting beside the washer. Does that sound like two people who might walk down the aisle anytime soon?”
“He might have freaked, but he didn’t bolt,” Dinah pointed out. “And you didn’t kick him out. I’d say that’s significant.”
“I suppose.”
“Let’s cut to the chase, Maggie. How do you feel about him?”
Maggie couldn’t seem to stop the dreamy expression that she knew was washing over her face. “He’s sexy and exasperating, gorgeous and annoying, protective and irritating.”
Dinah’s grin spread. “Admit it, Magnolia. You’re in love with him. What did it? The whole protective thing?”
Maggie thought about it, then nodded. There was little point in trying to keep it from her best friend. Besides, maybe she needed to test saying the words aloud, see how the notion of love felt.
“That was a big part of
it, I think. No man has ever thought I needed protecting before. Maybe Josh has gone a little over the top in that department, but it’s so sweet. When it’s not exasperating me, his attitude makes me feel cherished.”
“Is he in love with you?”
Maggie’s shoulders sagged at the question. “I don’t think he has the first clue that love doesn’t have to be this huge, sweep-you-off-your-feet craziness. Sure, there’s passion, and goodness knows we have that, but it’s about the million and one little things that make a relationship work. Nadine never set that example for him. I think all of her relationships involved high drama.”
Dinah’s grin spread. “And yours didn’t?”
Maggie winced. “You have a point, but with Josh it’s different.”
“Then it’s up to you to show him how to make this work.”
“That could take forever,” Maggie said with a trace of her usual impatience.
“There you go,” Dinah scolded. “You always want what you want when you want it. Some of life’s most valuable things are worth working for and waiting for. Cord could probably explain that one to you better than I can. It’s still astonishing to me that he waited patiently for so many years for me to wake up and realize what a remarkable man he is.”
“What if I work and wait and Josh still doesn’t get it? He’s happy enough with the way things are now. I don’t see him taking any big leaps toward making anything permanent.”
“At least you’ll know you gave it your best shot,” Dinah said. “But when have you ever not gotten what you went after?”
“There was Cord,” she reminded Dinah, half in jest.
“You bought a date with him at a charity bachelor auction,” Dinah scoffed. “That hardly constitutes one of your trademark campaigns to get your own way. Besides,” she added with a grin, “you were competing with me. You didn’t stand a chance.”
Maggie laughed. “True enough.”
“With Josh, you have a clear field. No competition at all.”
“I thought there might be with Amanda for a time,” Maggie admitted. “She’s beautiful and sweet and has those three darling kids. I thought Josh’s protective instincts would go into overdrive.” She shrugged. “Turned out I was wrong. I really do think they’re just friends.”
“If you ask me, Amanda has other fish to fry,” Dinah said.
Maggie’s mouth dropped open. “You’re kidding! Who?”
“Caleb,” Dinah said with the confidence of a trained observer.
“What? Caleb’s got a thing for Amanda? Are you serious? How did I miss that?” Maggie asked, bemused by the notion.
“Haven’t you ever noticed the way he’s always right by her side when he senses anything might be upsetting her? She turns to him instinctively. I’m not sure she even realizes what’s going on, but he’s been a real rock for her. She counts on him. I predict one of these days those two will wake up and see what’s right under their noses, and when they do, watch out.”
“Dinah, Caleb’s a minister!” Maggie protested, then chuckled. “’Course he’s also a man.”
“And quite a hunky one, for that matter,” Dinah added. “Have you seen that man with his shirt off?” She fanned herself dramatically.
Maggie covered her ears. “Stop saying things like that. I’m pretty sure there’s a place in hell for people who ogle ministers.”
“Okay, okay. I’m just saying I don’t think you need to give another thought to Amanda and Josh.”
Maggie nodded. “Actually I think the biggest problem I’m likely to face with Josh is all in his head. He’s not going to fall into my arms, at least not on a permanent basis, without a fight.”
“Just be sure before you go down that road that you are absolutely certain about what you want,” Dinah warned. “I’d hate to see his heart broken because you were just playing some game to prove you could get him.”
“I would never do that,” Maggie retorted indignantly.
“You would and you have,” Dinah said. “Mostly to annoy your mother.”
“My mother does not have anything at all to do with my relationship with Josh,” Maggie asserted.
“She did at the beginning. You can’t deny that.”
Maggie would have denied it, but she gave the idea a moment’s thought and realized Dinah was probably right. Old habits died hard. Josh’s initial appeal probably had had a lot to do with the likelihood her mother would have a cow when she found out Maggie was seeing him.
But she was long since over that. She really was.
Wasn’t she? The question lingered in her head long after Dinah had gone.
When her mother called to insist she come to Sunday dinner, Maggie realized she had a chance to find out how much influence Juliette still had over her decisions. It was something she needed to know before things between her and Josh went any further.
“What do you really know about this man?” Maggie’s mother demanded before they’d taken their first sip of the cold-soup course at Sunday dinner.
They were dining alone. Maggie’s father was playing golf. That alone was enough to make Maggie suspicious about her mother’s motives for inviting her over. Her father played golf on Sunday only when his wife had an agenda he might not approve of.
“I know enough,” she said calmly, hoping they could get through this inquisition without a major blowup. She’d been through enough of them over the years, and they’d all ended badly.
“Really? Have you met his family? Aside from that common mother of his, that is.”
Maggie saw red. “Nadine is not common,” she said furiously. “She’s a perfectly nice woman who hasn’t had the same kind of opportunities you’ve had.”
“She is most definitely not like us,” Juliette said with a little huff.
“You mean rich and stuffy?”
“No, I mean she lacks breeding. It’s not her fault, of course.”
Maggie was stunned by her mother’s words. Juliette had her standards, but she’d never behaved so snobbishly.
“Where is all this coming from?” she asked. “I thought you liked her. You seemed to think she was a breath of fresh air that day at lunch.”
“I was rather fascinated at first, mainly because she rattled George. And I appreciated the fact that she stepped in to help you clean up the gallery,” she said grudgingly. “That doesn’t mean I approve of her as your mother-in-law.”
Maggie bit back a groan. “Who said anything about Josh and me getting married?”
“Then you’re not serious about him?”
“I don’t know where our relationship is headed,” Maggie admitted.
“Then why on earth is he living under your roof?”
“To protect me from Brian.”
“The man who destroyed Images?”
“Yes. He’s still on the loose.”
For a moment, Juliette looked so shaken that Maggie regretted saying anything. As usual, though, her mother promptly rallied.
“I wonder if your father knows that,” she mused. “He would put some additional pressure on the police chief, I’m sure. He certainly doesn’t hesitate to call him about everything else.”
Maggie remembered the call that had been made to the chief to make sure George couldn’t succeed in making trouble at the site. “Did Dad happen to talk to him about making sure that nothing held up the work on Amanda’s house?”
Juliette shook her head. “The way I hear it, that was Big Max’s doing.”
“You’re sure?”
“Of course, I’m sure. Your father spoke to Max and told him what George had been up to. He asked if it was what Max wanted. Max picked up the phone right then and there and made the call.”
“Well, I’ll be,” Maggie said. “That’s encouraging, don’t you think so? Maybe his attitude toward Amanda is softening.”
“I hope so,” Juliette said. “But we’re getting offtrack, Magnolia. I’m interested in where you see this situation with Josh heading. He’s sleeping in your
bed, I imagine.”
“That is none of your business,” Maggie said emphatically.
“It’s a reasonable question,” Juliette insisted. “You’re a Forsythe, Magnolia. You’re also thirty-two years old. It’s time for you to stop behaving impulsively and settle down with someone suitable.”
“Give it up, Mother. I’m not marrying Warren or anyone like him, for that matter. And, if you recall, I didn’t know his family either, not at the beginning. And meeting them didn’t do a thing to assure that we’d take a respectable walk down the aisle.”
“Water under the bridge,” her mother said with a dismissive gesture. “I’m talking about this current fling of yours. People are talking.”
“Let them.”
“You’re embarrassing your father.”
The litany was all too familiar. Juliette had a checklist she went through each time Maggie tried her patience. She lived with the hope that something on it would set Maggie off down a path of which she approved.
“No,” Maggie corrected. “I’m embarrassing you, Mother. And disappointing you. Again. That’s what this is really about. I’m sorry I can’t live up to your high expectations. I’ve stopped trying. I’ll never be quite good enough. And as far as I know, I have impeccable breeding, so that must not matter half as much as you claim it does.”
Her mother looked genuinely shocked by the accusation. “Is that what you think?”
“Of course it’s what I think,” Maggie snapped. “You’ve as much as said it. More than once, as a matter of fact. I’m getting tired of having this conversation over and over again.”
Her mother sat back with a sigh. “Oh, dear, I’ve gotten this all wrong again. Maggie, the only thing I want is your happiness. I don’t think you’ll find it if you insist on making choices just to spite me.”
“That’s not what I’m doing,” Maggie said. “Believe it or not, Mother, Josh really is a good guy. He’s decent and hardworking and kind.”
“If he’s such a paragon, then why haven’t your father and I seen more of him?”
“Because I don’t want to listen to you pass judgment on everything that’s wrong with him. I like him and that’s what matters.”
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