Round Thirty-Four #2
Maggie glances up in the shadows, her eyes practically black in the evening darkness. She nibbles on her bottom lip, thoughtful and staring, but when I bring my hand up and risk a stupid little wave, she drops her gaze again and goes back to chatting with my son.
“Billy?” Rose questions. “Did you hear me?”
“Yeah.” I turn away from the window. “I heard you. I’m gonna go talk to her.”
Stunned, Rose audibly gulps. “You’re going to talk to Maggie? Not Giselle, right?”
“Her name is actually Luciana,” I chuckle. Fuck it. It’s time I tell her how I feel. Without shouting in her face. With renewed resolve and a metric ton of nervousness bubbling in my belly, I stride through my bedroom door. “I’m gonna tell Maggie I want to be with her.”
“You are!?” she squeaks. “Really?”
“Yeah. Why the fuck not?” I jog onto the stairs and head down. “She already doesn’t like me. Hardly tolerates me. Barely wants to know me. Telling her to cut the shit and love me back hurts nothing. But it sure as shit might be what we need to move forward in the right direction. Together.”
“I mean…” Rose snickers. “That’s the spirit.
I guess. Don’t be grumpy, smile a little bit, and if she’s reluctant to jump on board, don’t spit your bad temper all over the place.
Accept her answer and know it’s because she’s afraid of getting hurt.
Then you can try again tomorrow. And then the next day, if need be. And the day after that—”
“So then she’ll have a solid case for harassment.” I bound off the last step and stride toward the front door. “Hanging up now. Talk to you later.”
“Okay! Good luck!”
“Yep.” I drag the phone from my ear and wrench the front door open. “Magnolia Sava. I need to talk to you.” I slip my phone into my pocket and race across my porch, out from beneath the blinding porch lights and onto crackling grass. “It’s time we figure this shit out—”
“Dad!” Jeremy pops up in the shadows, close enough to risk being bowled straight over. “Don’t swear like that when we have guests.”
“Magnolia’s not a guest.” I step around him and search for her in the darkness.
“She’s fam—” I come to a skidding stop and lock eyes with two of them.
Two women, with similar long dark locks, and five-six frames.
They stand side-by-side, Maggie in a pair of skin-tight jeans and an oversized sweater, and her almost-twin in a date dress.
I look from one to the other, from a formidable stare, to nervous hand wringing.
“Uh…” Gulping, I take another step forward.
“Luciana? You’re…” I bring my eyes back to Maggie’s. “At my house?”
“At mine, actually.” Maggie glances down at the grass beneath her feet. Her grass. Her yard. “I told her she should meet me here, so you could drive to the restaurant together.”
“Wow, Billy.” Luciana wanders hesitantly in my direction.
In the magazines and on the runway, she’s untouchable.
Driven and confident. But in the shadows preceding a dinner date with a guy she hasn’t seen in twenty years, she’s more timid than even Rose used to be.
“You look fantastic.” She makes her way through Maggie’s boundary garden, careful with her steps, until she emerges on my side of the yard.
Then she sets her hands on my arms and leans in for a customary peck on the cheek.
She pecks.
I’m stunned.
She pulls back and glances to my left. “Your son looks just like you did back in elementary school. And he’s so sweet, too.”
I blink-blink-blink and attempt to un-buffer my too-slow thoughts. Peeking over my shoulder, I spy Jeremy just two feet back. “Y-you met already?”
“Just now,” she quips. Fuck me, her hands are still on my arms, and behind her, Maggie’s eyes burn with something I can’t quite label.
Anger? Hurt? An eagerness to secure my marriage to someone else and sweep me off her to-do list?
“I drove up,” Luciana continues, “and he was right here in the yard. I swear, I felt like I was a kid all over again.”
“Me and Maggie are gonna hang out tonight.” Jeremy strides around me and sidles up beside his best friend. The love of his damn life. The woman he would kill his own father for. He takes her hand and wraps both of his around. “We’re gonna have fun.”
But that’s not what was supposed to happen!
I was supposed to tell her we’re a perfect love match.
“You won’t judge me for being awkward and shy, will you?” Luciana peeks up at me from beneath long lashes. “Honestly, I can count on one hand how many first dates I’ve ever actually been on, so I’m a little nervous.”
“Uh…”
“He promises to be on his best behavior.” Maggie strolls forward with Jeremy still attached to her hand, through the garden and around to stop beside us.
She pastes on a bright smile. So fucking easy.
So unbothered by this. “Billy tends to be curt when he’s unsure of himself or in unfamiliar situations, so it’s entirely possible he’ll start tonight with unengaging single-word responses and zero follow-up questions to help the conversation flow.
But he’ll warm up quickly enough. Especially since you already have a history.
” Peeking down at Jeremy, she brushes his hair off his forehead.
“You ready to go inside, handsome? I have big plans for us, and not a lot of time to get them all done.”
“Yeah!” He meets my eyes for the briefest second. “See ya, Dad. Bye, Luciana.”
Maggie’s golden stare brushes past mine as they turn. “Enjoy your evening. Don’t worry about staying out too late. I have work tomorrow, but not until the afternoon, so if you want to stay out later, that’s fine with me.”
I startle both women as I shake Luciana’s hand off and grab onto Maggie instead. “Wait.” I yank her to a stop. “I want to talk to you about something.”
She shakes her head, gently brushing my touch away.
“Anything except greeting your date and helping her into your car would be horrifically rude, Detective. First dates are important, after all. Best foot forward.” She casts smiling eyes toward Luciana.
“Enjoy. He’s truly a delight once the awkward early shyness wears off.
Come on.” She winks at Jeremy. “Let’s run into my house for a sec.
I have soup on the stove, and I baked fresh bread for dinner.
We’ll grab all that, then we’ll head across to yours and settle in for the night. ”
“Okay!”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!