57. Maggie
57
maggie
Our arms are overflowing from the big market in Lucca. I’ve set up private tours of the Uffizi, and the Duomo, and bought out a small, amazing trattoria that has the best Bisteca Florentine that doesn’t mind kids. I wish Mak and Tony could make it over, but her schedule is too much. So, it will be Hayden, Lizzie, their son Danny. And the moms for two nights. The Villa, if we make up the terrible office, which I’ve added a sofa bed to, has nine workable bedrooms. I didn’t know that the connected house at the back wasn’t a garage. Turns out it’s a four-bedroom guesthouse with a freaking sitting room and kitchen. According to Colt, the caretaking couple sealed it off because I said I didn’t need it and they didn’t want the upkeep. But it does explain the higher cost of my rental. I just extended again. I’m sure there’s a cheaper and more suitable place but it’s not like Colt asked me to move in there and Mongoose, the vermin, which is what we call all the kittens, and I like it.
We weren’t fully ‘us’ again yet when we saw them last. The girls are taking it all in stride. Our first all Andrews sleepover is tonight. I’ve had the girls to the villa for slumber parties with the cats, but Colt’s has never stayed a full night. And I’m not so sure Colt and I will share a bedroom tonight, but we will spend all this time together. This is the next step to it all.
Colt’s holding my hand as we walk back over to my car. I look at him and wonder if this is what our lives could be. We don’t talk about our future, we just live moment to moment, and this is a good one. The sun is out, it’s not too hot. It’s tourist crowded as hell and there’s a flutter in my belly that I’m not one of them. I belong somewhere. I turn and a red onion rolls out in front of us. We stop and then it’s like an avalanche of produce. We quickly start gathering our ingredients as they fall out of the hole in my market tote.
“There’s a zucchini over there.” Colt points and I laugh.
“There’s one right there too.” I smile and point at his crotch.
He grabs himself. “That’s an eggplant and don’t you forget it.” I grab our bag of chestnuts and put it over my chest and he guffaws. We’re crouching down and he sees the rip in the bottom of my bag.
My phone rings. I stand up and answer it while Colt shoves our purchases into his bag. “Lizzie!”
“We’re early. I’m so sorry. You know me, afraid of being late or breaking the rules, so I’m in a quandary. I’m here before the specified invited time. Is that okay?”
“Wonderful. Are the girls there? They were going for a bike ride, but if not you can just go in.”
“No more bats?” Lizzie asks.
“They’re all gone, and the house has been cleaned and sealed. There are even windows with glass and locks now.” Colt paid for them even though I explained it’s a rental.
“You really are moving up in the world.” I smile because I get to grow this friendship with this amazing person who knows what it’s like to get a second chance at love.
“Okay, well, we’ll hurry. We just had to go to the peasant market because someone had to have the exact herb grown by a very specific farm for a dish he’s cooking tonight.” We glance over to Gus and Chiara’s place. Where he took me on our first official date and frequent almost every day. I point to the building. “Oh no. I’m not sure but does that say they’re closed forever? And I don’t know some of those words.” It’s sad.
There are spray painted boards over the windows that say, “Grazie per venticinque anni meravigliosi. Arrivederci e Dio vi benedica. Tieni d’occhio questo spazio per qualcosa di meraviglioso che non vediamo l’ora. Suricato.”
Colt’s on his knees and looks over at me and grins. Then he sits right down on the sidewalk and pats the spot next to him to join him. I grab a tomato and bring it to him then sit down next to him. He puts his hand around me.
“I know you love this place, but this is silly.”
“You know it’s the perfect spot, right?” He tilts his head towards mine.
“What do you mean? Come on! What does it all say? I can only make out a couple of words. What’s Suricato?”
He takes my hand and turns back to the closed restaurant. He points to the Barbie door. There’s that word above it again in a new shiny plaque. Suricato.
He clears his voice and says very officially, “Thank you for twenty-five wonderful years. Goodbye and God Bless. Watch this space for something wonderful. We can’t wait to eat at Meerkat, opening soon.”
I gasp and turn to him. “That’s so weird. Isn’t that weird? Someone named your favorite restaurant after the dumb name you call me. It’s so cosmic.”
He lifts an eyebrow and cocks his head. He rubs his hand over mine, and I finally catch up. “Oh! Oh, my god. This is wonderful. I love you so much.”
“I hope so. I named my restaurant after you.” I kiss him as hard as I know how.
“Will I have to pay?”
“We’ll work something out.”
“Is this how we stay?”
“It’s a start.”
I lean my head on his shoulder, and once again I stare at our future. The one I’ll get to have this time around. The one I’m a part of actively planning.
We arrive, and I run inside to hug Lizzie but am stopped in my tracks by six men playing Bocce, drinking and smoking cigars in my front yard just short of where the lemon grove starts. My head spins around as I try to make sense of what’s happening. There’s a gorgeous gazebo off to the side of the grove and there are flowers everywhere. Decorated flowers not bloomed flowers. They’re not my flowers.
Colt slams the trunk of his car, and I turn to him. “What did you do? What’s going on? I’m so confused. I don’t get it.”
“What, love?”
I point at the men.
“What game you playing at, Meerkat?”
I yell, “ I didn’t do this. What is happening?”
I run from Colt over to the men.
I run into the arms of my dad. “Daddy! What are you doing here?” Then I spin on the others and squeal.
“Pretty decent place you got here,” Tony says.
“Yeah, kinda gorgeous,” Robbie puffs.
Colt walks up with his hands in his pocket and stares at them. Then he nods, “Assholes.” They nod back at him.
“Asshole. This is the kind of place that might be absolutely perfect for certain kinds of things,” Hayden says.
“Out with it? What are you playing at? I don’t get it.” I scold them as they tease me.
Law, who didn’t make the playoffs is here. I watched him pitch two nights ago, and now he’s here. He waggles his eyebrows, and hands me my old Boston Revelers pen. Colt grins as he sees it again. My eyes get wide. “Here, this will take care of two of those stupid girl things.”
Dax grins. “You’re going to need to go inside now, Maggie.” He hugs me and turns me towards Colt.
He grins as if he knows what’s happening. My dad is at my back, and I’m so confused. He steps to me and takes my hands with the pen. Then looks at his brothers and shakes his head.
Robbie says, “Wasn’t us, man. Two determined little girls who could use some good news for a change.” Colt covers his hand with his heart. Then takes the pen.
“Seems as if this could serve as something blue and old. What do you guys think?” Colt says with the dopiest grin on his face.
And the world tips off its axis as my dad kisses me on my cheek. “Seems you have a lot to get ready for, pumpkin.” My father puts his hand out to Colt. “Son, if you’re half the man these guys claim you to be, I’d be happy to have you marry my daughter.”
“ Marry! Is that what’s happening?” Everyone laughs as I finally understand.
“What do you say, Meerkat?” Colt grins.
“My head is spinning. Right now?”
And a voice snaps my head around. “Right fucking now, Mags. Let’s go.” I run and hug Mak as the rest of the women hug me too.
“Yes. Yes. Yes. But wait!”
Colt’s eyes get that worried look, and I look beyond the gaggle of women and spy my mom with her arms around the sweetest girls in the world.
Sloane breaks the hold first and runs to hug me. I kiss the top of her head and say, “And you’re okay with this?”
Daisy says with her arms crossed and her patented smirk, “No. We hate the idea so much that we flew in your family, friends and planned a secret wedding for like weeks.”
“Okay. That’s enough snark. Come here.” I put my hands on her shoulders. “I’ll do this on one condition.”
“Let me hear it before we agree to it.” She rolls her wrists toward herself.
“Right on!” Sloane yells.
“All due respect to the kick ass girl posse you’ve assembled behind me, but will the two of you be my bridesmaids?”
Daisy bursts into tears and nods violently yes. I pull her into my arms. She’s taller than me but bends down to bury herself in the crook of my neck. Sloane stands there picking at her shirt. “Sloane, you don’t have to.”
“No. It’s not that. It’s just, you know, I kinda had my heart set on being the flower girl.” She puts up her peace sign fingers.
“Well, I think that’s a much better idea.” Sloane rushes to me.
“Wrap it up, girls. We have a bride to prepare.” Lizzie claps her hands together.
My mom steps to me. “Hi, Mom!”
“Hi, baby.” Before I can hug her Colt whisks in and hugs her. “Well, you must be Colton. It’s nice to meet you.” She giggles in his arms. Most women do, but it’s cute to see my mom so giddy. I’m so giddy. I’m the giddiest!
“Thank you.” He kisses her on the cheek.
“For what?”
He looks over at me and says back to her. “Her. That kind of perfection doesn’t just happen. You had to have something to do with it.”
She laughs and it carries across everyone. “Nope. She came out a ball of sunshine and it seems as though she’s dulled over the last ten years, but it appears she’s found her shine again. Thank you.”
“Enough. Good God. The faster we get ready the faster we can get to the drinking, carousing and celebrating,” yells Mak.
Sloane yells, “They let me pick the dress.”
Claire slaps me on the back. “We couldn’t stop that from happening. It was either that or she got to pick the music. We thought this was the lesser of two evils. Hope you like macrame.” I laugh and Claire slings her hand over my shoulder. “Team Bride, let’s move out. Team Groom, do not get him drunk.”
They’re the oldest and take that role seriously. They’re protective despite how snarky and funny they can be. Claire takes two fingers to her eyes and flips them back to point at Robbie and then back to her own.
He outstretches his hands and says, “Baby, I’m a man of the cloth now? You don’t trust me.”
“No. And I don’t think that cloth made you a man.” Everyone laughs, and Robbie bends down to pick up one of his sons and hitches him on his hip.
As I approach the house, my mom takes my hand and says, “Your brother wanted to be here, but the baby.”
“Any day now. And you came anyway? What if you miss becoming a grandmother? I know that means everything to you and Dad. You didn’t have to be here for this.”
“Margaret. Sure, anyone can have a baby. But you’re about to make me a grandma first, and two times over. I mean you’re giving us two grandchildren at the same time.” My heart explodes as do tears in my eyes, but they’re beaten back because of the insanely large smile that breaks across my face.
“You’re welcome,” I say. My mom laughs and my father walks across the lawn with a box and places it in front of us.
“Open it. I hand carried this stinky thing from Nevada.” I look at them curiously and flip open the top. I burst into tears as I see the bedraggled, faded red scrap of worn carpeting.
“Let’s get this one right,” he says and kisses me on the cheek and then goes to return to the men gathered around the bocci court.
“Mom. I can’t believe you guys brought this.” My eyes mist up.
“Honey. It’s not every day you get to witness a fairytale.” I let that wash over me. I guess this could be that, but with cats and bats. I squeeze her hand, and she kisses my cheek.