In spite of herself, Maggie felt her cheeks warm at the second mention of the tattooed biker with a beard like a wizard. The man had taken to texting her, “Good morning, Mags theMagnificent!” every single day, even after she’d told him to please ride off into the sunset and don’t bother with a helmet.
“Don’t bring Brick into this,” she said. “But we have to come up with a plausible reason for why we’re going to leave for a while. We did the spa lie last time.”
“Okay…” Jo Ellen pursed her lips and tapped her cheek, the gesture deepening the tiny creases around her lips, but Maggie was thinking too hard to remind her to stop.
“We could tell them we’re meeting girlfriends from college?” Jo Ellen tried. “Tri-Delt reunion?”
“They’re all dead.”
Jo Ellen’s shoulders dropped, then she brightened. “You and Brick need a chaperone for a long weekend away.”
Maggie’s eyes shuttered.
“Okay, okay,” Jo Ellen said. “Brick is a touchy subject. How about something close to the truth? That’s always smart. We’re running up to Atlanta to see…a lawyer about the house or something like that.”
“Why wouldn’t I stay at Crista’s house where I live? And they’d have questions. Eli will want to know everything.”
“Maggie!” She frowned again, causing more lines. “We have to just?—”
“I’ve got it,” Maggie exclaimed, resisting the urge to reach over andmakeher stop frowning.
Jo Ellen lit up. “Tell me!”
“We tell them we’re getting…work done.”
“Work?”
Maggie lifted a hand and made a small, circular motion in the air near her cheek. “Strategic. Subtle. A nip and tuck, if you will.”
Jo’s mouth fell open. Then she gasped. “We’re telling them we’re gettingplastic surgery?”
“Not surgery,” Maggie said quickly. “Consultations. Procedures. Very modern things that don’t involve knives.Lasers. Needles. Whatever vampire plasma they’re selling these days.”
Jo stared. “But we’ll come back looking exactly the same.”
“We’ll get facials up there. And no one will notice. They’ll try to be nice and say it really worked, and it will explain why we’d go to Atlanta, where I know a doctor. We’ll say we’re staying in a special recovery hotel that’s part of the surgery center.”
“They have those?” Jo Ellen asked.
“For the really rich,” Maggie said. “And we can just come back wearing hats and oversized sunglasses and pretending we can’t smile. We’ll grab some products and slather up with Retin-A.”
Jo clasped her hands. “Yes, Mags! We’ll commit. We’ll need serums. Ice rollers. Overnight masks. We’ll return glowing like we’ve been reborn in a Korean skincare lab.”
Maggie shook her head. “I cannot believe this is my life.”
“You’re welcome,” Jo trilled.
“Thank you, Jo,” she conceded. “You’re a good friend.”
“Come on.” Jo Ellen looped their arms together. “Let’s pack to save a marriage and have some fun.”
For the first time all day, Maggie believed they could do both.
Tessa’s phone buzzed on the counter just as she was smoothing the play area rug for the third time.
Dusty:be there in 2 min
Her stomach churned as she stared at the brief text he’d probably sent from a stoplight.
