Chapter Five #2
“Of course not.” The woman’s cheeks blushed a red almost as bright as the blue of her hair.
“But there’s nothing wrong with letting Maggie know I’ve entered.
I’ll deserve high points. Now, Sophie, can you be a dear and grab me that quilt kit I ordered?
I’m donating it to the nursing home for a project their activities director is planning.
You know me, always spreading cheer wherever I can. ”
“That’s great, Rosie.” Sarah and Sophie chatted with the woman whilst Maggie watched. Although she must have seen it many times in the past, Jeannie was still fascinated with Rosie’s hair and toyed with it most of the time that the woman held her.
The door entrance alarm chimed, and Maggie turned to see who’d entered. The last person she’d expected to see in the quilt shop was Walker Mathieson. She seriously didn’t believe he sewed.
His gaze met hers and after the briefest pause, he smiled. “Hello, princess.”
“I’m not a princess,” she reminded, cringing that he’d called her that in front of the others. All three women’s ears had perked up at the nickname.
“I’m not buying it.” Noting that everyone in the shop was watching him, he nodded at them. “Hello, ladies. I’m here to return this.” He held up a zippered plastic bag that likely held his prince costume. “I tried giving it to Cole, but he instructed me to deliver it to you, Sophie.”
“Oh, perfect,” Sophie enthused. “That worked out well as Maggie just brought hers, too. Now they’re back together again.”
Walker’s look was one that said, see I told you they were a matching set.
“Potty, Mama,” Jeannie blurted, garnering everyone’s attention to where she was on Rosie’s hip.
Rosie’s eyelashes lifted so high they brushed her forehead.
Sputtering, she handed the girl over to Sarah. “Got to run. Oh, and Sophie, if you’ll have that kit I mentioned the other day together for me, I’ll be back later this afternoon to pick it up.”
With that, Rosie was gone, leaving only a waft of peppermint perfume and the three women, Walker, and Jeannie watching her go.
“Come on, Jeannie. Let’s get you to the bathroom,” Sarah told her daughter, disappearing through a door at the back of the quilt shop. “We’ll stop by Isabelle’s office and say hi when you’ve finished.”
“Oh, my sister would love that. She’s crazy about Jeannie and been a little depressed over Zach working out of town this week.
” Sophie picked up the costume. “I’m just going to put this back in the office and grab that quilt kit, so it’ll be by the register when Rosie returns.
” Then, Sophie went through the back door too.
Maggie and Walker were now alone in the quilt shop. Maggie glanced at the handsome man in jeans and navy twill jacket. She’d been in a lot of dangerous situations during her lifetime. Why did this feel like one of them?
Walker rubbed his fingers over his clean-shaven chin, his finger and thumb meeting at the cleft as he held Maggie’s gaze. “Is it just me or did everyone clear out fast after I arrived?”
Feeling breathy, Maggie nodded.
He stared at her for a moment, then rocked back on his heels. “Cole mentioned that you’re a judge for the Christmas contest.”
“Not by choice.”
His brow arched. “Sarah threatened you? I always thought she might secretly be on Santa’s naughty list.”
Maggie’s lips twitched at the absurdity of Sarah threatening anyone. Or being on any naughty list. The nice list was probably named after her. “She bribed me with cookies. On my sugar high, I didn’t know what I was agreeing to.”
He grinned. “Those must have been some cookies.”
“They were. She sells them at Harvey Farms, but then you probably already know that, huh?” At her question, Walker nodded, and Maggie rushed on because talking was easier than standing in silence. “Lucky us that we’ll be sampling the best of the best during the great Christmas bake-off.”
“This judge thing is looking up.”
“Yeah, well, for you it may not be so great since you have to live here long after the contest is over.”
His gaze searched hers. “And you won’t be living here?”
“I’ve already mentioned that I’m only here for a short time.” She assumed everyone knew she was at Hamilton House as part of the Bed for Vets program, but perhaps Sarah and Bodie didn’t advertise that.
If not, then she was glad that she was clarifying to him that she’d soon be gone.
“How did you end up in Pine Hill, Maggie?”
“Long story short is that I share a mutual acquaintance with Bodie. He’s who arranged for me to stay here.”
Walker’s gaze narrowed. “A special he acquaintance?”
She knew what he was asking. With the way he was looking at her, she even suspected why.
A smart woman would just let him think that, but she couldn’t imply something that wasn’t true.
“If you’re asking if we’re romantically involved, the answer is no.
Lukas is happily married with a kid. I’m—” She paused, realizing she’d not been in situations where she had to clarify her relationship status during conversation since William. “Not happily married with a kid.”
Yep. That summed up that part of her life.
“Unhappily married with or without a kid?”
Engaged once, but that hadn’t ended with an I do, so there was no reason to mention it. As far as the kid, Maggie fought putting her hands over her lower abdomen. “I’ve never been married and don’t have children.”
His brow quirked. “Any history of vanishing at midnight and leaving behind a shoe?”
Although relieved at the subject change, she rolled her eyes. “What is this? Twenty questions? Because I never agreed to that.”
“You’re right, but I have one more. Will you meet me for dinner to compare notes on what we know about this judging thing?”
His question caught her off guard. “Tonight?”
He nodded. “There’s no time like the present.”
“I started my new job today and—”
“And you need to wash your hair?” he guessed.
“My hair is just fine.” She resisted the urge to touch the strands she had pulled back in a style that completely hid her ears. “Thanks, but no. I’m not interested in getting involved with anyone while I’m in Pine Hill.”
“Understood, but to clarify, no one can be in this town a day and not get involved. People in Pine Hill suck you in and before you know what’s happened, you’re signed up to judge a Christmas contest.”
Yeah, that had happened.
“But for the record, I’m not interested in getting romantically involved with someone who won’t be around a few months from now.
” He leaned his hip against the quilt shop counter.
“With Zoie, maintaining a long-distance relationship would be even more difficult than it would otherwise be. I wouldn’t want to lug my daughter back and forth while I commuted to spend time with a girlfriend.
That wouldn’t be fair to my daughter or the woman in my life. ”
“Admirable.” Not that she’d offered a romantic involvement.
“Not really. It’s me being selfish in prioritizing my daughter over any potential future relationship.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that.” In actuality, she really did find it admirable.
“In theory, that’s how women feel. Once involved, women tend to want to come first. I imagine that’ll be a problem once I do start dating. Zoie is my world. She’s my top priority.”
“Once you start dating?” That caught Maggie’s attention. “Have you not dated since your divorce?”
“I went through a couple of months of what I call rebound ego dating, out with a different woman every weekend after Linda left. Then Zoie was born. Figuring out how to be a dad to her took all my time. I’ve not had any interest in dating…
” He paused a moment; his eyes intense as they stared into hers. “Until you.”
Until her. Maggie swallowed. She had too much on her plate, too much at stake to get involved with anyone in Pine Hill. Not that she wanted to get involved. She didn’t. William had cured her of that, hadn’t he?
She kept her stance and gaze steady. “Have you had Zoie since day one?”
Walker studied her a moment, as if trying to decide how much to tell her. “Linda didn’t even want to see Zoie.”
That shocked Maggie. “She never saw or held her own daughter? Not even at the hospital?”
He shook his head.
“I can’t imagine carrying another person in my body for nine months and not wanting to see what I’d help create.” Imagining was the closest Maggie would get to carrying a baby thanks to extensive scar tissue that the doctors believed had left her infertile.
Which was okay, she reminded herself. Becoming a mother had not been on her life radar. She’d just wanted to fly. Just as career focused, William had been okay with that.
“You and me both, but she didn’t want Zo.
” Sighing, he glanced around the quilt shop, then said, “As selfish as it sounds, if Linda wasn’t going to be a good mother, then it’s better this way.
There’s no hauling Zoie back and forth between two households, no sad goodbyes when she’s going from one house to the other, no worrying if she is being taken care of when she’s not with me.
” He shrugged. “It’s not the way I would have chosen for our family, but the silver lining is that this way, Zoie will always be where she’s loved and wanted. ”
Maggie supposed what he said was true but still struggled to fathom Zoie’s mother being so quick to walk away.
Had Walker done or said something to drive the woman away?
With just having been around Jeannie for a week and having no maternal instincts, Maggie couldn’t imagine walking away from her own baby.
Many women did, though. Hadn’t her own mother?
“It would have been difficult for me to leave the state of Georgia if Linda had been in the picture, too,” Walker continued.
“By her choice in giving me full custody, she wasn’t.
Packing up and coming to Pine Hill was fairly simple.
My house sold quickly. I bought one here from the proceeds and moved about six months ago. I’ve never looked back.”