Page 74 of Goodbye Paradise
“It’s hard for me to get used to,” I said.
She gave me one more squeeze. “Yes, it is. It won’t happen overnight. And, I’m so sorry, but we have to serve dinner now. Two hundred people aren’t going to understand if we’re…”
“…Sobbing in the hallway?” I supplied.
Maggie pulled me to my feet. “You get to load the trays this time. Because your face is a mess. And I’ll man the buffet with Trey.”
The kitchen was mayhem. “About time you two turned up,” Cecilia complained from the stove. “Take that tray of salad, and let me know what needs refilling.”
Maggie grabbed the salad and high-tailed it out of the kitchen.
Cecilia turned to me with a frown. “As for you…” she stopped. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” I said, getting embarrassed. “Just give me a job.”
Cecilia squeezed my shoulder. “Okay, honey. Find some more pats of butter in the walk-in.”
We wereall exhausted by the time the cake was cut. But at least I’d pulled myself together well enough to help serve coffee. We all cleaned the kitchen, and then it was finally time to go.
“Nice meeting you,” Trey said as he shrugged on his coat at the end of the night. “I hope your week turns around.”
“It already has,” I said quietly.
To my surprise, he leaned in and kissed me on the cheekbone. “You aresocute, so I need to ask. Would I be making anyone angry if I did that again?”
My face heated, probably turning the color of a strawberry. “Yeah,” I said.
“Bummer.” He brought his car keys out of his pocket. “It is a guy, though, right? I’m not totally losing my mind?”
Now I was sweating. Because I couldn’t believe what I was about to say. “Yes. It is.”
Trey held up a hand, and luckily it took me only a half a beat to realize that he was waiting for a high-five, which I delivered. “He’s a lucky guy. Night, Josh.”
“Night, Trey.”
The car ridehome was quiet. Maggie probably understood that I was too exhausted to talk much. But as we approached the final turn toward Runaway Farm, she cleared her throat. “I hate to bring it up one more time, but there’s still the matter of… furniture.”
Oh.The beds. We still had to talk about the stupid beds. “We’re okay with whatever,” I choked out.
“Well, we could move the queen-sized that’s in your room up to the apartment. And Miriam could have the twin that’s finished.”
“Okay,” I said quickly.
“But… if we have to call the mattress company either way, I was thinking we should get a king-sized for you two, and leave the other bed for Miriam.”
“Either way,” I said quickly.
“I’ll call them tomorrow,” she said. “You and Chloe can take delivery, because I have to go out and buy my sister some real clothes! And nice shampoo. And a hair dryer. All the things that she hasn’t had before. Fuzzy slippers. Nightgowns that don’t look like Laura Ingalls made them.” From the passenger seat, I could see her grinning in the dark.
“She’ll be so happy, Maggie.”
“I know.” She was practically bouncing in her seat. “Right now, she’s on a bus somewhere, having no idea what happens next. But we are going to justwrap her upand hug her until she isn’t worried anymore.”
That sounded just about right. “Maggie, moving in with you guys was the best day of my life. I thought…finally!This is what a house is supposed to be like. And not because of the shampoo or the clothes.”
Turning up the driveway, Maggie smiled at me. “Oh, Josh. I love you to death. Don’t ever move far away, okay? Or if you guys do, I need you to visit all the time. I need all my people near me.”
“Okay,” I promised. And, damn it, my eyes wateredagain.
