Chapter Two #3
“Maggie is tough,” Cole agreed. “She didn’t say much when I met her. She didn’t have to. I saw it in her eyes that she’s someone I’d have been proud to have serve by my side during my Marine days.”
Walker admired Cole immensely. Although he wouldn’t readily admit it, Ben did as well. They were a tight-knit group that Walker felt lucky to have been accepted into.
“Why is Maggie there?” he asked, not overly familiar with the bed and breakfast’s military suite.
Cole’s father-in-law had lived there for a while before moving to Harvey Farms where he worked.
Someone had mentioned the suite was a way Sarah and Bodie gave back to those who had served by offering them a free home and safe space to get back on their feet.
Was that why Maggie was there? To get back on her feet?
If so, why? What had happened to knock her off her feet?
Why did thinking she’d been down on her luck give Walker the urge to sweep her off her feet?
What was it with him and feet when it came to Maggie? He was not a foot guy.
“You’d have to ask Maggie the specifics of why she’s there.”
Walker cut his gaze to Cole. “Bodie and Sarah don’t know?”
There was a toughness to Maggie, but a fragileness too.
Something had happened to her, something bad.
Walker’s stomach clenched at the thought.
She’d survived, though. Whatever it had been, Maggie had survived.
Recalling the hearing aid, he’d spotted only because he’d been studying her so intently, he wondered if her hearing loss had something to do with whatever had happened.
Cole shrugged. “Wouldn’t matter if they did. They wouldn’t tell you. Or me. Or anyone. They’re protective of their veteran guests, and rightly so.”
Walker liked that. For a short period of time, he’d considered joining the Marines, but his heart had led him to fighting fires.
“So, basically, you were interested, and Maggie wasn’t?” Ben prompted, wanting to know more, or maybe just wanting more ammo to fire at Walker.
“I didn’t say that.” Had he imagined the interest in Maggie’s eyes?
Spark of awareness or not, she’d shot him down.
Walker was no Cassanova, but prior to his ex-wife, he’d rarely struck out with the ladies.
Then again, he’d not tried since Linda. Maybe, just as with his ex, he’d hit a losing streak.
Maybe if he’d shown the slightest interest in one of the casserole ladies, they’d have all scattered.
They might as well. It was going to take more than casseroles for him to let someone get close to Zoie.
Moving to Pine Hill, starting his job at the fire department, and raising his daughter kept him busy.
“You didn’t have to say the exact words for us to get the picture, your highness,” Cole teased. “You struck out.”
“Asking to see her foot might have been the first strike against you.” Ben snorted. “That’s not a great introduction.”
Walker shrugged. “I thought it was clever since I had a glass slipper in my pocket, and she was wearing its match.”
Cole snickered. “Sophie made those costumes for us last year and had me carry that glass slipper around. Lucky you that you’re the same size as me.”
“Yeah, lucky me.” Would Maggie have reacted better if he’d not been dressed as her counterpart?
Or if he’d approached her without asking to see her foot? He doubted it. Although polite to anyone who spoke to her, she’d kept to herself, not seeking out company and quickly dismissing anyone who approached. It hadn’t just been him.
Not taking his attention off his game, Ben made another amused sound. “Sophie has been putting Cole in costumes from almost the time they first met.”
Walker waited for Ben to explain further, but his friend didn’t.
“My wife is amazing at costumes.” Chest puffing out, Cole smiled. “Actually, she’s amazing at everything.”
Ben paused from his game long enough to make a gagging noise.
Walker could relate. His ex-wife hadn’t left him with the best impression of marital bliss, either.
Quite the opposite. Linda had married him on the rebound, then, not knowing she was pregnant, reconnected with the man she’d been seeing prior to meeting Walker.
She’d filed for divorce long before she’d given birth to Zoie, handed their newborn over to Walker, then married her one true love within days of their daughter’s birth.
The only reason she’d waited was that she hadn’t wanted to be pregnant in her wedding photos.
“You’re just snorting because you’re currently between girlfriends.” Cole reminded Ben. “Again.”
From what Walker could tell, Ben was frequently between girlfriends while on his supposed search for the one.
A few dates and figuring out the woman wasn’t the one, Ben was done.
His trail of heartbreaks was legendary. In a town as small as Pine Hill, the man had to be running out of eligible options.
Ben hesitated, almost as if he were going to say something, then changed his mind, saying instead, “Hey, why didn’t Sophie hook me up with that prince costume? I wouldn’t have minded matching Maggie. She’s a looker.”
Walker cringed. Why he wasn’t exactly sure but the thought of goes-through-women-like-they-were-disposable Ben having matched Maggie bothered him. “She’s not interested.”
“In me?” Ben glanced toward Walker, amusement shining in his dark eyes. “How do you know she’s not interested?”
“I just do.”
“Just because she wasn’t interested in you doesn’t mean she isn’t into a real man like me.”
Cole snorted at Ben’s real man self-description. “Keep telling yourself that, buddy. We know who the real men are around the firehall.”
“You referring to the guy who wears makeup, red plush, and walks around saying, ho, ho, ho?” Ben gave Cole a pointed look.
While the two verbally parried back and forth, Walker’s mind wandered to Maggie.
Had circumstances been different and Ben been the one wearing the matching suit, would she have been interested?
Walker had gotten the impression that she wasn’t interested in anyone.
Yet, he’d seen that spark in her eyes when they’d first met his and again when she’d shaken his hand.
“By the way.” Cole interrupted his thoughts. “You need to take that costume by Sophie’s shop.”
Confused, Walker frowned. “Can’t you give it to her when you go home in the morning?”
“I could but this text”—Cole held up his cell phone—“says that you’re to bring it to Sophie’s shop at”—he glanced back at the message—“two thirty on Monday.”
“Two thirty on Monday?” Walker asked, confused. “Why the specific time?”
Cole’s gaze shifted back to his crossword puzzle. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
Ben laughed. “I bet I can guess why, your royal highness.”
Yeah, that was why, or better yet, who, Walker would guess too.