“What?!” Jennifer’s scream could be heard clear over in the deli. An older man grabbed at his heart and jumped. He chuckled at himself and went back to inspecting strawberries.
Maggie laughed. “It’s all so ridiculous, I know.” Cash’s hand brushed her lower back, and she reached behind her to grasp his fingers briefly.
“This is him?” Jennifer pointed to Cash.
“This is him.” Maggie moved to link her arm through Cash’s like they were a newlywed couple on their first shopping trip together. Technically, they were—but they weren’t typical in any way. “Jennifer, this is Cash Diamante. Cash, Jennifer is the reporter for the local news show. She’s the reason I came to Moose Creek in the first place.”
Cash offered his hand. “Then I guess I owe you one for bringing her back into my life.” He glanced at Maggie. “I’m lucky we reconnected. I don’t know what I’d do without Maggie.”
“Aww.” Jennifer gave them a my-heart’s-melting look. “Aren’t you two just the sweetest thing. I’m so jealous right now I could stomp my foot and throw a tomato.”
Maggie laughed at the image she painted. Jennifer was so perfectly put together that it was hard to imagine her tapping her toes, let alone throwing something.
“I’m low on shampoo; I’ll come find you in a minute.” Cash pecked a kiss to Maggie’s cheek, playing the part of a doting husband to perfection. Maggie leaned into his short embrace, caught up in the feel of him. She’d berate herself later.
“So, how’s work?” she asked as Cash sauntered away. That man made denim look so good.
Jennifer pulled her cart alongside Maggie’s and selected two avocados. Maggie grabbed a bag of golden potatoes and then red and yellow onions.
“Horrible. I’m desperately trying to crack into a bigger market, but there’s nothing here that’s going to get me any attention. I so badly want to crack the mystery behind those wife ads, but every lead I follow is a dead end.”
“Sounds like a mystery.” Maggie focused on selecting zucchini, hoping her face didn’t read like a diary of guilt and secrets.
“I know. And maybe that’s why I can’t let it go. I love a good cozy mystery, something with heart. I mean, what if this was all for real? What if these guys were actually advertising and finding wives? It sounds so crazy, but people meet online, right?”
Maggie dropped a bunch of radishes. “Um, yeah?”
“Yeah,” Jennifer continued like there wasn’t an awkward pause when Maggie did her best to hide her firsthand knowledge about the situation. “So why couldn’t they meet through a help-wanted section? Especially in a town this small.”
“What does the small town have to do with it?” Maggie tried to steer the conversation toward safer ground.
“The way I see it, everybody knows everybody in a small town. By placing an anonymous ad, the man takes away his reputation and any preconceived notions a woman may have about him. It’s the whole piña colada effect.”
Maggie stood there, holding radishes in one hand and green onions in the other. “Now you’ve lost me.”
“You know. The song.” Jennifer rolled her hand through the air. “If you like piña coladas and getting lost in the rain. The two people are already together and have all this stuff in common, but they can’t see it because they’re bored with their relationship. When they learn something new about the other person, they see them differently. I think the same thing is happening with these ads.”
Maggie added things to her cart, not paying attention to what they were or how much they weighed. “But what if the past they shared wasn’t all good?”
Jennifer’s lips turned down. “I guess they’d have to decide if they could overlook those faults—if there was enough good between them to press on.”
Maggie tied a knot in her produce bag. Then she tied once more. “Some things are unforgivable.”
“Are they?” Jennifer cocked her head to the side.
“For example,” Maggie continued, hoping her truth wasn’t showing like a slip hanging out from under a hem at church on Sunday, “what if he broke her heart?”
“Forgive and forget,” said Jennifer. She wasn’t being flippant. She didn’t brush the question away or turn up her nose. She spoke with sincerity.
“It’s the forgetting that’s hard. Don’t you think so?” Maggie pressed. “I mean, did you ever have a guy break your heart?” Maybe Jennifer could spout wisdom because it wasn’t hard-earned. Maybe she hadn’t been through the soul-tearing experience of losing the man she’d planned to spend her life with.
“Twice. One of them gave me a ring like that.” She tipped her head toward Maggie’s rock. “And then slept with my best friend.”
“And you’re over it?” Maggie asked in disbelief. “You’d give him another chance?”
Jennifer laughed. “No way.”
Maggie relaxed.
