“You said you’d leave me your number. In case I needed you,” she said as she crossed the room to him. He made no move to turn around. “I still don’t have a car,” she reminded him.
He turned to find her standing near him with a pad and pen. He smiled slightly, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He took the paper and wrote his number.
“For emergencies,” he said as he handed it back to her.
“Of course,” she said innocently. He smiled sadly and shook his head as he turned away again and left the house.
~∞~
“I had lunch with Aaron today,” Maggie blurted out over dinner. Andi’s head snapped up and she immediately looked concerned.
“Maggie--”
“No, listen. Aaron is not who you think he is. He’s a good guy!” Maggie insisted. She needed someone to talk to about this, and she needed Andi to understand. “He’s sweet and charming and funny and…” Maggie trailed off as a myriad of memories of Aaron skipped through her mind.
“And gorgeous,” Andi finished for her, smiling at her friend.
“So gorgeous,” Maggie sighed, “but he’s so much more than that!” she quickly added. She told Andi of the first time they’d met and how he’d kindly helped her re-plant her uprooted fern and somehow convinced her to adopt a stray cat. She told her about the lemonade they’d shared in the kitchen and how charming and funny he’d been, and about him saving her in the rain storm. She was embarrassed to admit that she’d basically thrown herself at him in the garage and he’d politely denied her advance, but pointed out that he’d acted like a gentleman and not taken advantage of her. Andi listened quietly as Maggie relived each memory.
“And then today at lunch, it had started out kind of flirty and fun like usual. I was a total basket case of course, but sometimes it kind of seems like he likes that about me, you know? He doesn’t act all annoyed when I’m being neurotic, he just smiles.” Maggie smiled at the memory of his amused expression as she’d rambled in the kitchen.
“But then I asked where he was from. It was like it reminded him of something. He pulled away again, just like in the garage. He told me that we weren’t a good idea, that he was bad for me.” Maggie could hear the desperation in her voice as she said this last part, she wanted so badly not to believe it.
“Maybe you should listen,” Andi said softly. “Look, I’ll admit he sounds great, but if he’s warning you to stay away, maybe you should.”
“But I don’t want to!” Maggie insisted. “I’m… drawn to him. Not just because he’s handsome, but because he’s kind. He’s good. I know he is, but I don’t think he does. He knows that people don’t want him at the town barbeque and he just accepts that. Like he doesn’t think he deserves to belong.”
“I told you, he has a past.”
“Everyone has a past! So what if he made some mistakes in his life, does that mean he’s not allowed to be happy ever again?” Maggie was angry, not at Andi, but at the situation.
“No, it doesn’t,” Andi admitted. She thought over everything that Maggie had said. “Okay fine, if you like him, I’ll like him. But be careful! If he hurts you, you know I’ll have to kill him.” Andi smiled at her friend and Maggie relaxed a little.
“I’m going to bring him to the barbeque,” Maggie said, suddenly determined.
“You think he’ll come?”
“I don’t know, but it’s worth a try.”
8
Maggie was nervous as she dialed the number. She thought of the speech she’d rehearsed and hoped she could remember it, but after the third ring she didn’t think he was going to answer.
“Hello?” Aaron’s voice rang clearly through the receiver just as she was about to hang up.
“Hi, Aaron?” she said a little breathlessly as she scrambled to bring the phone back to her ear.
“Maggie, are you okay?” his instant concern warmed her heart.
“Oh, yes, I’m fine,” she assured him. “I was just wondering if you had a really big basket. Like a picnic basket maybe, but it has to be very large,” she emphasized.
“A picnic basket?” she could hear the smile in his voice, and was relieved that he sounded like his usual self.
“Yes, a very large one, preferably. I have quite a bit of food that I need to carry to town for the Fourth of July barbeque. I’m afraid it won’t even fit in the basket on the bicycle, I’ve already tried. So I’m going to need to walk, but I just don’t think I can manage to carry all of this without some sort of large basket.” She hoped that sounded natural and unrehearsed.
“You’re walking to town?” he asked incredulously.
“Without a car I really don’t have much of a choice.” She gave her best impression of a damsel in distress and waited to see if he’d take the bait.
“You don’t have any friends that might be willing to pick you up?” he suggested. She could tell that he saw straight through her little ploy, but she wasn’t going to let him off that easy.
“I thought of that, but realized yours was the only phone number I had.” She let the statement hang in the air, smiling at her own cleverness.