“Don’t do that,” Julius said with a sudden grin. “The world as we know it really will come to an end.”
Dylan and Olivia chatted with Noah, whose gaze was on Phoebe O’Dunn and only Phoebe O’Dunn. Loretta sighed. “It already has, but it’s okay.”
Julius slung an arm over her shoulders. “It’s more than okay. It’s damn good.”
Twenty-One
Maggie slammed the door behind her as she entered Olivia’s kitchen. After last night’s perfect weather for the fashion show, the temperature had spiked today. It was midafternoon now and over ninety. The humidity level and dew point made it feel even hotter. Because The Farm at Carriage Hill was a getaway, Olivia was installing air-conditioning, but it wasn’t up and running just yet.
Olivia glanced at her from the sink. “You’re all red, Maggie. What have you been doing in this heat?”
“I’m broiling hot and broiling mad.” She raked a hand through her hair, determined not to take her mood out on her friend. “I need to cool off.”
“Why don’t you take the boys up to the mill and jump in the pond? The water’s always cold there.”
Maggie grunted. “I could just dump a tray of ice cubes on Brandon’s head. That’d cool me off.”
Olivia stepped back from the sink, drying her hands with a white dish towel. “I had a feeling your red face had something to do with him. Do you want to talk about it?”
“No.”
Olivia raised her eyebrows.
“I don’t,” Maggie said, adamant. “You deserve a quiet day. Did you see the orange mint Phoebe, Noah and I harvested?”
“It’s drying nicely,” Olivia said, setting the towel on the island. “I also saw the pesto in the freezer.”
“And the dog hair on your couch?” Maggie tried to smile. “Noah’s a pushover when it comes to Buster. You’ve got him back on the straight and narrow?”
“Noah or Buster?”
Maggie saw the smile in Olivia’s eyes but couldn’t relax, couldn’t let go of how mad she was—how upset. She sighed. “Yes. Yes, I want to talk. Or tell you, anyway. Maybe not talk, because there’s nothing to talk about. It is what it is.”
“Do you want to go outside and sit?”
Maggie shook her head and started to pace in the kitchen. It was such an ideal kitchen, in an ell by itself, with great light and lots of cabinets and counters and a warm, country feel. She loved working there.
“Maggie…”
“I’m sorry. I was thinking about how much I love it here. I love what you’re doing with Carriage Hill.”
“What we’re doing,” Olivia said.
“We do make a good team. This place has such possibilities. I’ve started to dream again, Olivia. I’ve started to have hope in the future. I don’t dwell on the past so much.” She stopped abruptly, stared out the window over the sink and noticed the haze, felt the oppressive heat. “Brandon’s been working nonstop for the past six months. He didn’t tell me.”
“Working for his family?” Olivia asked.
“Mostly. Exclusively now.”
“Is that good or bad?”
Maggie leaned back against the island. “Good, I guess. Good that he’s working. He’s cut expenses to the bone. He’s not living in that damn tent because he’s broke. He’s living there because he’s saving every dime he makes.”
“For what?”
“To prove himself to me.”
“He told you this?”
Maggie snorted. “Are you kidding? He never tells me anything. I had to ferret it out on my own.”
“Meaning you got one of his brothers to tell you,” Olivia said.
“Christopher.” He was the youngest of the six Sloan siblings, one of two full-time firefighters in town. “It didn’t take much doing. He says I need to prove myself to Brandon, too. Me. Like I did something wrong.”
“What are you supposed to prove?”
“That I still want to be with him, regardless of money.”
Olivia picked up her towel again and polished the butcher-block counter. “Christopher said that, huh?”
“Not in those exact words but I got the message.” Maggie suddenly wished she had something to cook. She held up a hand before her friend could interrupt. “I’m not asking you to take a side. I know you have to live in this town and it’s crawling with Sloans. Whatever made me think I could come back here?”
“There are a few O’Dunns here, too,” Olivia said, her tone neutral.
“For how long? Ava and Ruby are going back to school. They’ll end up in Hollywood or New York. And Phoebe. I don’t know where Phoebe will end up. I used to think she’d always be here in Knights Bridge.” Maggie hesitated, glanced toward the mudroom and back door. “Where are Noah and Dylan?”
“They’re up the road talking demolition.”
With Brandon, no doubt. Maggie gritted her teeth. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m crazy and Phoebe’s not going anywhere. She and Noah seemed so good together last night at the fashion show, but she was in that Edwardian dress again. Maybe that makes all the difference.”
“Or getting her out of her Edwardian dress,” Olivia said half under her breath.
“Olivia!”