Page 39 of Goodbye Paradise
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Josh brace himself.
But Daniel just tipped his head back and laughed. Then he jumped off the sofa. “I’m going to get a drink, does anyone need anything?”
“I’m fine,” Maggie said. “But you’re scaring Josh and Caleb.”
“Why? Because beer is a sin?”
She shook her head. “Because they expected you to backhand me for calling you an asshole.”
It was true. In Paradise, the women waited on their husbands. Always. And backtalk resulted in punishment.
“Jeez.” Daniel put a hand on his wife’s head. “You can call me whatever you want, babe. Just don’t call me late for supper.” He disappeared into the kitchen, then reappeared a few minutes later with three bottles of beer and a glass of water for his pregnant wife.
Even though I was feeling bad about living off of Daniel, I accepted the beer. “This will be my first one,” I said.
His eyes went wide. “Ever?”
“Ever.”
He shook his head. “Wow. I’m honored.”
Maggie put her hand on his knee. “A long time ago I said that I hoped you’d meet more of us. Because then you’d understand me better.”
He took a deep gulp of his beer. “It does clear a few things up. It does.”
“Do you two remember Isaac and Leah Abraham?” Maggie asked us. “You must have been pretty young when they ran away from Paradise.”
“Sort of,” I said. “I mean, I know the Abrahams family. But they don’t talk about Isaac.”
“Of course they don’t. The Compound doesn’t like to admit its failures.” Maggie smiled. “Isaac and Leah are married, and they have the cutest toddler. They live in Vermont, about ninety miles from here. I talk to them a couple times a year. And guess who showed up on their doorstep one day? Zachariah Holtz.”
“No way!” I said, laughing. “I love that guy. He talked me through my first oil change.”
Josh snorted beside me. “Oh, the memories.”
“Stop,” I said, chuckling. “Zach’s departure was the reason I got my cushy garage job. I always wondered what happened to him.”
“He’s working on a farm just down the road from Isaac and Leah,” Maggie said. It’s a big apple orchard.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“It took him a year to find his footing,” Maggie said quietly. “It takes all of us a while to figure out where we’re headed next. So don’t panic, okay?”
“Okay,” I said slowly. “Thank you.”
I’d probably panic, though. A year was a long time to impose, even on someone as nice as Maggie.
* * *
Life gota little more comfortable as the four of us developed something of a household rhythm.
The cows were milked early in the morning and then again in the late afternoon. Although Josh had never shown much interest in the beef steers on the Compound, he took a shine to the dozen Jerseys that Daniel and Maggie kept. Each morning when I woke up, Josh was already outside, helping with the milking.
Sometimes I went out there with them, especially in the afternoon. But it wasn’t for the sake of the cows. I loved watching Josh handle them. “Come here, pretty girl,” he’d say, leading a big-eyed Jersey to the milking post. As his long, patient fingers nudged their flanks along, the cows blinked their long lashes at him.
After milking, Josh would come into the house smelling of a mix of sweet hay and clean sweat. I was aching for him, all the time. But every night we climbed into that bed together, Josh always kept to his own side of the mattress.
“Aren’t you going to come over here and kiss me?” I asked the first night.
