23. Maggie
TWENTY-THREE
MAGGIE
I wake up to a text from Duke saying that he’ll be late this morning and that we should try to do the scavenger hunt task later this afternoon.
I feel like we’re in such a weird limbo. There are a lot of things at stake and I'm hoping I can survive what’s left of this competition so that I can avoid being accosted by my family.
But would it be that bad to take someone to the wedding? I’ve had a lot of fun with Duke and he would make things bearable. I’ve still got time to figure that out..
Hope has been busy for the past couple of days. I feel bad for leaving to work on the tasks for the hunt, because I know she has to organize and plan. I had to drop off something at the post office on my way to work and end up walking by The Bridal Barn on my way.
What was it like for Duke to grow up around weddings? He doesn't seem like he's into all of the wedding stuff, which kind of surprises me, having been surrounded by it his whole life. Maybe he's had his heart broken or he's just sick of getting accosted on all sides. I can completely relate to that one.
He did avoid telling me about his past relationships though. Why?
Duke has been on my mind a lot lately, which is funny because only a handful of days ago I despised him. Now I’m hoping to see him around every corner.
I don’t see him even when I get to The Candy Jar. The lights are on in DreamTime Vacations, but it’s one of the people Duke manages.
I get to work refilling several of the candy bins. Hope comes in about thirty minutes later looking like she's got the weight of the world on her shoulders.
"What's wrong?" I ask, putting down the rag I use to clean some of the bins.
"It's just been a long day," she says.
“It’s only nine-thirty in the morning. Did something happen with Jason?” I hesitate before asking more, hoping that she’ll fill in the blanks.
“I don't know if it's going to work out,” Hope says, slumping into a chair.
And now my thoughts are scrambling for anything that might be remotely close to what she could mean. Is she talking about our partnership in The Candy Jar? Or does this all have to do with her fiancé?
“Can you elaborate on that a bit?” I say, trying to add some humor to my tone.
Instead of taking the bait, Hope looks at me as though she's lost.
“I don't know if I can get married,” she says.
Something in my chest tightens as if an invisible force is trying to squeeze all the air out of my lungs. Having been on the other end of this kind of conversation hasn't gone so well for me. But then again, there was never a distinct conversation to end my prior relationship. It was filled with a lot of excuses and “This isn’t what you think it is” moments.
Hope and Jason seem so good together and he's been doting on her ever since they started dating. What could make her so ready to give all that up?
For some reason I think of the movie Father of the Bride where the main character’s fiancé gives her a blender just to have around the house. She takes it to mean that she needs to give up her life to be a housewife and wants to call off the wedding.
Hope has always been herself through and through. She's strong enough to speak up for what she wants. At least I hope she is. Her doubt right now is so different from any emotion I’ve seen from her in a really long time.
“Why? What’s different today?”
She sniffles and says, “We had a meeting with the caterers about food for the reception and Jason’s mom showed up.” Hope gives me a side eye that lets me know it wasn’t a good thing. “She basically steamrolled the entire appointment because she’s not happy we’re getting married so quickly. There was also whining that we’re doing it here in Willow Cove instead of at a fancier place in South Carolina. I wish I hadn’t mentioned anything about my appointment. Maybe she wouldn’t have shown up at all.”
“I’m sorry, Hope. It’s not like you don’t have enough stress trying to get everything together for this in a matter of weeks, but to have her breathing down your neck doesn’t help things.”
“If only she could’ve been like Cheryl.” Hope sniffles again, looking over at me.
Cheryl is Zander’s mother and pretty much the most amazing woman I’ve ever met. The only problem is that she fell for Zander’s father when she was young. Their relationship was never great, but she did everything she could for her son, and by extension, me as her future daughter-in-law.
“Yeah, she was great. She convinced Zander’s dad to pay for most of the wedding expenses that we couldn’t get refunded.” She’d also come over and held me for several hours when I was struggling with all the changes and disruptions in my life because of her son. “Have you talked to Jason about this?”
Hope shakes her head and says, “No, not yet. His mom was there the whole time and wanted to go to dinner with just the two of them tonight. She’ll probably try to break up the wedding anyway. Convince Jason to leave me or something.”
I breathe out, knowing I don’t have control over the situation and shouldn’t let the irritation fester. “It sounds awful, but if Jason is going to fall for something like that, it’s better to know now than after you’ve combined all of your assets.”
Hope’s lips pinch together, and I can see her tears forming again. “What if he doesn’t want to marry me? Or how are we going to survive for the rest of our lives with the thought of his mother not supporting us if we do?”
And now I’m officially bugged by my cousin. “Are you trying to tell me that the worst thing you've encountered so far in your relationship has been tension from his mom?” I tried to soften the disbelief in my tone, but I can see from her expression that it didn't work.
“No, that's not the worst. But his mom has never really liked me. You know how we used to dream up everything. That we’d be the perfect daughters-in-law and have such a great relationship with our husbands’ families. I was fine with having my wedding in a month but now I'm second-guessing everything.”
“Since when do you let other people tell you what to do?”
“Since when did you become the therapist?" Hope says with a laugh.
“When my therapist decides to have a breakdown,” I say, leaning in to give her a hug.
When I pull back for a moment, I say softly, “What do you want, Hope? Do you want to wait until he gets back from deployment to get married? Or do you want to get married in less than two weeks?”
I can see the debate in her eyes. I can only hope that she'll figure out what she really wants.
“Well, I want to marry him now,” she says, straightening up like she’s getting ready for a fight.
“Then what's stopping you? If his mom wants to be there for her son's wedding, she'll have to accept whatever date you two decide. This is something you and Jason need to talk about.”
“Am I going to have to worry about this for the rest of my life? If she’ll steamroll holidays and everything?”
“Look, Hope, you're going to have to deal with differences your whole life. The biggest thing is to remember to set boundaries and that once you're married, your new family is you and Jason and whatever cute little gremlins you end up having.” We both chuckle at that last part.
“I don't want to ruin anything with Jason. Everything Dallas has put together has been amazing. I can't complain about that.”
“Then don't let his mom derail your plans.”
Hope sniffles and then leans back in for a hug. “Man, with all the advice you're giving out, it's almost like you've been in this situation before,” she says with a wink.
“No, looking back on it now, I think I was more in love with Zander's family than I was with Zander. Maybe that's why things didn't go as they should have.” It’s all in the past now, but maybe there were hints of what went wrong so I can fix it for the next time. If there is a next time.
But what does that mean for my future? Do I keep avoiding weddings and anything to do with marriage? No, but then again, that would be hard to do with Hope’s wedding coming up.
Maybe if I didn't focus solely on that and the hatred of anything to do with marriage that would be the best place to start. Not hating it might even turn into the positive of looking for a relationship.
For some reason, that makes me think of Duke and why he would still be single. The guy is infuriating and there isn't much stability in his professional life, but he beat a lot of the other people I had dated as far as character.
But we haven't dated.
The scavenger hunt does not count as mini-dates. It's just two people forced together to achieve the deal we've made for the contest.
I wonder what his real reason is for wanting so badly to travel. It's hard enough trying to maintain my business for several days in a row, much less to pack for a getaway. Don't get me wrong, I do like to travel, but in small doses. Duke makes it sound like he's going to travel around the World in 80 Days.
The Candy Jar gets busy after lunch. It isn't until Duke’s face appears behind the ice cream counter that I realize we haven't done our scavenger hunt task for the day.
“What is your favorite ice cream with nuts in it?” Duke asks, giving me a quick wink.
My body and my brain are warring for the correct response. Should I give in to his flirting? Or should I just scoop his ice cream and hope that the humiliation of my ice cream theory will be stricken from his brain magically? Now would be a good time for one of those Harry Potter spells.
“Tin Roof Sundae is a pretty good one,” I say. “Although a lot of people like the butter pecan.”
Duke's nose crinkles in disgust and I do my best to keep from laughing.
“There's nothing wrong with being a level one,” I say, allowing myself to smile wide this time.
“There is if a guy can't change his mind about things. Sometimes we just need a little nudge out of the comfort zone, right?” Duke says with a little grin.
"I don't know," I say, trying not to smile too widely. Why am I suddenly flirting? "I think sometimes it's easier to stay in the comfort zone, but it takes an act of true courage to try something else."
"So you think someone can change their ice cream theory level?" Duke asks after accepting his scoop of Tin Roof Sundae.
"Well, you're already doing much better than you have in the past. I gave you two options, and while pecan hits all the right places, I still would have docked you a couple of points if you had chosen it. It’s my least favorite."
Duke laughs, and I can't help but do the same. It's easy and carefree to laugh with him about something so trivial that I had put so much stock in for so long.
"If you don't mind me asking," Duke says, "where did your ex-fiancé rate on your ice cream scale?"
I hadn't been expecting that question, and for some reason, it leaves me speechless for several moments.
"He was a fan of strawberry with cheesecake bits."
Duke gives me a look that says he can't quite figure that out. "So what level was he?"
"I guess technically a zero," I say, trying to avoid his gaze.
"I'm surprised the whole adding cheesecake bits doesn't boost him up a couple more levels."
"I did say the theory was subjective," I say, closing the ice cream window. "Strawberry cheesecake would normally get him to a six, but because he dumped me, he lost all the points."
Duke takes a big bite out of the ice cream, and I cringe. Sure, I'm the one selling the ice cream, but I also know what it does to my teeth to have such a cold shock in one bite.
He's chewing on the peanuts now, and he smiles at me. "I like this one. I didn't think I'd be a peanut lover in my ice cream, but you've just proved me wrong, Maggie dear. Oh, I mean just Maggie." His face goes bright red, and I'd be lying if I said that my stomach didn't do flips when I heard him call me "dear."
Maybe that's just something he does to all the ladies. I mean, the guy does carry a handkerchief, so calling someone "dear" sounds like we should be in a 1950s sitcom.
"Well, Duke, I think your level might have just shifted up to a three."
His nose wrinkles again, and he looks like he's just lost everything. "That's it?" he asks. "I try all these different flavors, and you only move me up two levels?"
"You're getting more adventurous, so we'll see what happens when we're done with the hunt."
"So once we finish with the scavenger hunt, you're going to officially declare me whatever level I'm at that time?"
"Sure," I say, going along with his playful attitude.
"And what happens if I just make up some crazy concoction and add nuts and whipped cream and maraschino cherries and sauces galore? Does that get me to a ten?"
I study his face as he takes another bite of his ice cream. I wonder why it's so important for him to know what a ten is in my book.
"You'd have to finish the entire bowl, and then we can talk," I say.
That sounds a lot more intimate than I wanted it to be, but if I try to clarify, it’ll only make things worse. The guy has wormed his way into my heart, and I’m still not sure if I’m okay with that. It’s like my brain has a blinking caution light.
"Good to know," Duke says, pointing his ice cream cone at me for a moment. "What time do you get off tonight?"
Is he trying to ask me on a date? Nah, I don't think that'll happen. Maybe just another round of finishing the tasks we were supposed to do today. I glance over at Hope, and while she's been doing much better since we had our pep talk earlier, there's still something bugging her.
"Look," I say, lowering my voice, "I don't think we can work on the scavenger hunt tonight. She's going through a lot right now with her in-laws, and I need to be there for her."
Duke frowns and says, "Oh, okay. Yeah, I'll see you in the morning then?"
"I'll try to make it.”
He grins and says, he says, “Do or do not, there is no try.” He heads to the checkout and pays. He then waves to me on his way out. "See you tomorrow, Maggie."
I wish that my stomach wouldn't twist itself into knots at the sound of that.