Page 42 of A Fresh Start on Crumcarey
‘So… what’s got you all riled up?’ said Olive, grabbing a block of dark chocolate and starting to grate it into a dish with swift sure, strokes as Maggie climbed up onto a bar stool.
‘Luke,’ said Maggie, his name slipping out of her mouth before she’d even thought to put any filters in place. But then, this was Olive. The woman was kindness personified. Plus – she had a knack for getting to the bottom of things, so there wasn’t much point in beating around the bush.
‘Oh yes?’ said Olive blandly.
‘I kissed him,’ muttered Maggie. ‘Or… well… we kissed,’
‘Mr Harris is going to be over the moon,’ said Olive, smiling at her.
‘Huh?’ said Maggie. That was the last thing she’d been expecting.
‘He’s been waiting for one of you to make a move,’ said Olive, adding cinnamon to her concoction. ‘Ever since he found you wearing Luke’s underpants!’
‘I was using them as pyjamas!’ said Maggie, for what felt like the thousandth time.
‘Yeah, yeah, so you keep saying,’ said Olive with a naughty wink. ‘Anyway, what’s the problem? Bad kisser?’
‘The opposite,’ said Maggie with a little sigh.
‘Soo… you’re just not feeling it?’
Maggie raised an eyebrow. She wasn’t going to confirm or deny whether she’d feltit,or anything else!
‘No! I didn’t mean…!’ hooted Olive. ‘Imeant, did you change your mind when you kissed him? Do you just want to be friends? Wished you’d stuck to the house renovations?’
‘No to all of the above,’ said Maggie, resting her chin on her hands.
‘Alright, I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s going on,’ said Olive, straightening up and fixing her with a stern expression.
‘I liked it,’ she said, ‘and that’s the understatement of the century.’
Maggie paused, wondering how much to say. She shot a glance over her shoulder to double-check that the pair of them were still alone. The last thing she needed was for Mr Harris to overhear her working through her muddled feelings. Or – heaven forbid – Luke himself!
With a deep breath, Maggie decided she was all in.
‘I loved it,’ she said quietly. ‘Best kiss of my life.’ She wrapped her arms around herself, wishing it was Luke hugging her.
‘Well, that’s wonderful… isn’t it?’ said Olive, looking confused.
Maggie shrugged. ‘Mr Harris mentioned something to me. Something about Luke.’
‘Uh huh?’ said Olive,
‘He said Luke doesn’t stay put anywhere for long,’ she said. ‘He doesn’t settle and that… well… that he’ll be off before we know it. Mr Harris reckons he won’t be back until next summer…’ she trailed off.
Maggie knew she was being ridiculous. It had just been a kiss, after all.
A kiss that had the power to rock the foundations of her entire life.
Sucking in a deep breath, Maggie gave herself a mental slap for getting alldramaticover a boy.
‘Well, Icanunderstand where you’re coming from,’ said Olive gently.
‘You can?’ said Maggie, feeling a strange rush of relief. Maybe she wasn’t being quite as big a drama lama as she thought.
‘Of course!’ said Olive. ‘You’ve told me a bit about your ex, and I’ve seen your face when those postcards arrive. It’s not surprising you don’t want to get yourself right back into the same situation with someone else.’
‘Luke’s nothing like Russell,’ said Maggie, instantly jumping to his defence.
