“I stopped by to visit her this week.” He picked at the fried rice. “Besides, you’re guilty of the same thing. I never see you with your family.”
She closed the takeout containers and tossed them into the brown paper bag. “My family’s different. You’ve seen my mother.”
“Okay, but what about your sister? I see her around town sometimes. Once I even saw her eating at the café alone. Why don’t you hang out with her more?”
Uncomfortable with the shift in attention, she carried the bag to the kitchen. Ryan followed. She turned on the coffee pot, mostly because she didn’t want to sit back down. “We’ve drifted apart. And she’s moving.”
“All the more reason to spend time with her now.”
“She’s busy. They’re planning a wedding.”
“Aren’t you the maid of honor?”
“What do you want from me? We just aren’t that close anymore!”
He drew back and lowered his hands to his sides, his fingers still holding chopsticks. “Hey, we were just talking.”
“Sorry. It felt a little more like an attack.”
His head cocked in confusion, and she shrunk into the wall of cabinets at her back.
“Hey…” His brow pinched in concern. Two steps and he had her cornered. Catching her chin, he tipped up her face and looked into her eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. I’m defensive because I’m guilty. Perrin’s been incredibly patient with me, and I’ve been the world’s worst sister.”
“So change.”
“It’s not that easy.”
“Isn’t it?” He reached behind her and picked up her phone, holding it in front of her. “Text her. Ask her what she’s doing next weekend. See if she wants to hang out. If you want, I’ll go with you so there’s less pressure.”
She squirmed out of his arms. “She doesn’t know about you.”
“Ah. And the reason for that is…?”
Wringing her hands nervously, she explained, “I don’t want her to get the wrong idea.”
“Like we’re dating?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Like she should lob her bouquet at me in July.”
He hugged her and laughed. “Maggie, give her a little credit. I overheard her telling her fiancé how big of a deal it was that you were attending their engagement dinner. I’m fairly sure she’ll figure out we’re taking things slow.”
Slow was an understatement. Middle schoolers got more action than them. “You’d really go with me?” If Ryan was there, she wouldn’t feel like she was under a microscope alone.
“Sure.”
“What about the whole Willow thing?”
“Do I need to show you the text again?”
“No, but won’t it be weird with Bran?”
He kissed the top of her hair. “Ask me if I care.”
She smiled, her face pressing into his shirt as she breathed in his familiar smell. “Okay. I’ll text her.”
Perrin was so excited she didn’t want to wait until Friday, so they made plans to meet for Mexican that Wednesday. On Tuesday Maggie made a point to call her and clarify who she was dating.
“The guy who was with Willow?”
“Well, he was with me first.”
“When?”
She explained that Ryan was her neighbor, and they had been spending time together since he moved in last March. Perrin was stunned to say the least. Maggie expected multiple questions about what their relationship meant, how serious they were, and intrusive questions about intimacy she wouldn’t be able to answer, but that wasn’t at all what came.
“Is he nice to you?” Perrin asked, her voice soft with concern.
Maggie smiled. “He’s amazing. He’s so thoughtful and patient. We have fun together.”
“You’re sure you’re ready for this, Maggie?”
Her concern reminded Maggie how sisters never stopped looking out for each other, even when life events kept them apart. “We’re not rushing into anything.”
“If you’re happy, I’m happy for you.”
“I’m … happy,” she said, testing the word and tasting its truth.
The following night, they met at the local Mexican restaurant. Main Street didn’t have as many eateries when Nash was alive. Maggie felt like she’d woken from a coma, realizing how many new options now existed for people with social lives.
The restaurant had brightly painted chairs and a margarita menu four feet long. There was an entire inserted list specifically dedicated to tequila.
“Who knew Center County had such a sophisticated pallet?” she joked.
“You mean Jasper Falls,” Bran commented. “Apparently, the votes are in and that one won by a landslide.”
Maggie didn’t have an opinion on the town name one way or another but wondered if this would finally force her to get new return address stickers, ones without Nash’s name. She folded the drink menu and placed it on the table. “I’ll take a strawberry jalapeno margarita on the rocks with salt.”
Ryan raised a brow. “Aren’t you brave?”
“I’ve got my spicy pants on.”
Perrin and Bran ordered one of the specialty tequilas and drank them on the rocks as well. It became clear who the more sophisticated couple was once Maggie and Ryan started speaking like characters from The Treasure of Sierra Madre.