Chapter Four #3
Stirring the mixture, Maggie looked from the bowl to the flat pan with its marked cover. Seemed simple enough, but when she went to scoop up dough with the spoon, she hesitated. “How much is a little blob?”
Sarah shrugged. “As long as it’s not so much that the cookies run together while baking, the size doesn’t matter beyond getting them all about the same, so their cook times are similar.
If you have some real small and some real large, the small ones will get done before the others.
If needed, I can get you a cookie scoop to make sizing them easier. ”
“I’m fine this way.” Taking the spoon and the mixing bowl, Maggie began dropping similar sized dough balls onto the pan at the designated places.
“Good job,” Sarah praised.
Maggie’s cheeks heated. Seriously? She was blushing and feeling proud over how she was plopping dough onto a cookie sheet?
“And you’ll do just as good a job when you judge the Grandma Games. You’ll be fair, pay attention to details, and won’t be swayed by any of the contestants who might be a wee bit overly competitive in their desire to win.”
She should have known Sarah wouldn’t let her off that easily.
“I’m going to do a hard pass.” Maggie didn’t even want to celebrate the holidays. She was the last person who should be judging a Christmas contest, even one with a really bad name and probably delicious cookies to be judged.
“Pine Hill needs you to do this.” Had Sarah’s eyes just gotten bigger? “With grandmas involved, no one who is from Pine Hill can be objective in their judging.”
Oh, yeah, her eyes were bigger and very puppy doggish. She knew Maggie had been trained to not give in to peer pressure or things much worse, surely?
“We have to have someone who isn’t from here,” Sarah continued. “Please say yes. You’d be doing me the biggest favor, Maggie, as it would be one less thing for me to have to worry about.”
There went a big knife twist of guilt. Training or not, judging a contest wasn’t like revealing government secrets.
Maggie had met men and women she’d trusted with her life, but one who was Sarah nice?
Sarah was sugary goodness. Saying no to someone who lived to make the world a better place was like kicking kittens.
No matter how tough Maggie considered herself, that wasn’t something she could do no matter how bah humbug she felt.
“If it would help you that much, then I guess you could tell me more.” Plus, Sarah would be instrumental in every aspect of the contest.
Maggie should be there. Really, she wasn’t giving in but doing what needed done. Judging the contest was a win-win. Sort of. Plus, there would be cookies.
Sarah’s smile widened and her hands clasped together in a way that made Maggie nervous. “Well, as you know, it’s something new for the Christmas On-the-Square Festival. A few years ago, interest had declined. We’ve been working really hard each year to get people involved again.”
Going along with what Sarah was saying, Maggie shook her head. “And you believe reindeer running over grandmas will get people involved? Not that you couldn’t convince me that there’s a few people around town who might like to see a few fluttery grandmas get run over by reindeer.”
Sarah giggled again, triggering that same giddy feeling inside Maggie. “You may be right. We’re just getting started, and there are five teams entered in the games.”
“Already? The contest just got named yesterday.”
Sarah gave her a blank look, as if it were completely normal to have five teams signed up for a contest that only came into existence the previous day. “There are five teams so far,” Sarah continued. “One of the teams happens to be made up of the Butterflies.”
“Of course they’re a team. That may be a problem. Maybelle intimidates me a little.”
Sarah’s eyes sparkled. “She’d love that you said that.”
Maggie plopped another dough ball onto the cookie sheet. “Don’t tell her.”
“It’ll be our little secret since you agreed to be a judge.” Sarah gave a sneaky smile. “You have to admit; you and Walker Mathieson are the best two judge candidates.”
Instantly regretting having agreed, Maggie’s face heated. “As in the firefighter?”
Which was a silly thing to ask. How likely was it that there would be two Walker Mathiesons in Pine Hill? Sarah or even the Butterflies had probably set that up from the beginning.
“That’s the one.” Sarah waggled her eyebrows. “Lucky you, because he’s kind of hot.”
Shocked, and yet not, at her hostess’s comment, Maggie grimaced. “Yeah, I’ve changed my mind about judging, and if you say you’re going to make me, I’m telling Bodie you said Walker was hot.”
“Bodie has zero worries on me saying that. He knows he’s my heart. But my eyes, well, they still see, and you have to admit that Walker is a looker.” Sarah’s eyes sparkled as she added, “If you’ve forgotten, there are those photos on my phone. I can show them to you.”
Maggie had not forgotten. Nor had she looked at the pictures on Sarah’s phone. She didn’t want to see herself in princess mode. Nor did she want to see herself with Walker. They were about equally repugnant.
“I don’t have to admit anything.” Which was silly since what did it matter if she admitted Walker was easy on the eyes?
It didn’t matter. So why did acknowledging the man at all seem so dangerous? She’d never been afraid of danger. Never.
Sarah slid the cookie pan into the preheated oven, then turned back to Maggie. “Not admitting something doesn’t make it any less true.”
Maggie didn’t say anything.
Sarah’s hands went to her apron covered hips. “Changing your mind isn’t allowed.”
Yeah, Maggie hadn’t thought it would be. She wouldn’t really have changed her mind, anyway. Being involved in the contest would keep from raising Sarah’s suspicions that Maggie was really there in a security detail role.
“Because Walker only said yes yesterday to judging the contest after he learned that you were a judge,” Sarah continued.
Yesterday? The Grandma Games had only been invented yesterday. Sarah and the Butterflies moved fast.
Maggie’s face heated again. “Why would he do that? He doesn’t even know me.”
Sarah waggled her brows. “Obviously, you made quite the impression at the Halloween party Friday night.”
Had she really just met him two days ago? “I barely talked to the man.”
“Must have been some conversation, then.”
Why did Maggie feel like a trapped animal? Claustrophobic even at the thought of having to spend time with Walker? That edgy feeling in her chest was not anticipation, right? Because she wasn’t excited at the prospect of seeing him again.
“My exact words to him were that I wasn’t interested.”
Curiosity flickered in Sarah’s eyes. “But he was interested?”
“I—” Maggie began. His honey-colored eyes and quick smile had been friendly enough, but maybe he’d just been making conversation and was a natural flirt? Maybe he hadn’t wanted anything beyond passing a few minutes of time with her. “No, I don’t think so.”
Regarding her, Sarah leaned back against the countertop. “Odd for you to tell him that you weren’t interested out of the blue, don’t you think?”
Sarah was a smart one, but Maggie wasn’t going there. “No. I was being transparent.”
Or maybe not because no one had gotten under her skin ever except William.
After that fiasco, the self-defensiveness she’d felt had probably been what prompted her blurting out.
She was not and never would be interested in another man.
Trying to get over the last one had almost killed her.
The saddest part was that, with everything that had happened, she’d wanted it to.