“Heath?”
“No, the other cute guy you’ve been hiding from me.” She swats my arm then draws back only to rethink it and swat me again.
“You heard him. There’s nothing to tell.”
“The fact that you said that with a straight face.” She shakes her head at me then eyes the cleaning cart—more accurately, the plunger. I deliberately pull the cart behind me and Maggie sighs.
“You never look at guys.”
“That’s not true.” I just make sure they’re too far away to look back.
Maggie rolls her eyes. “Youalmostnever look at guys.”
“There’s not usually a lot to look at.” Jeff’s voice reaches us as he walks past the closed bathroom door, effectively winning the argument for me.
“Well, you were looking at Heath and he was definitely looking back.”
“Seriously with the fireworks line?”
“What?” She grins. “I meant in the sky. What kind of fireworks are you planning on tonight?”
I lower my head, not wanting her to see my cheeks flush. “Honestly, it’s not like that.”
“Yet.”Maggie points at me. “It’s not like that yet.”
I have no answer for her. It will never be like that, and yet nothing short of the truth will convince Maggie otherwise.
“All right, I want full details.” She hops up on the sink with her back to the mirror. “How did you run into him? Where and what and all the questions. Go.”
“He told you. There’s no big story.”
“Really?” she asks, hands on hips.
“Really,” I tell her, putting every ounce of sincerity I can into the word.
“Really?” Her hands drop. “See, I hate this. I don’t know what you’re like with guys so I can’t tell if you’re telling me the truth or not. He’s seriously cute though, like I can picture him on the back of a horse with a cowboy hat dipped low over his eyes. The sun would be setting behind him as he offered a hand to pull me up behind him and called me darling.”
“Calledyoudarling?” Too late I realize my mistake. Maggie’s slow smile is pure evil.
“I thought it wasn’t like that?”
“It’s not.”
“But you want it to be, and trust me when I tell you that you are not alone in the feeling. I swear he looked at you like...like...you look at the ice.” She laughs. “Look at you blush!”
I can feel my face flushing, so I can hardly deny it. “Can we please drop this?”
“Uh-uh. Every time I try to talk to you about your audition lately, you shut me down. I’m not letting this one go too, not when you clearly like—”
“Then let’s plan my audition,” I say too loudly, my heart leaping into my throat over her unfinished sentence. I can’t let her say it, because I can’t for a moment let it be true.
Maggie’s perfectly arched brows lift. “Are you serious?”
My heart rate barely slows when I answer her. “Yes.”
The drive to Hackman’s Pond gives me plenty of time to wonder why Heath showed up at my work the way he did, especially considering how many more people are in town today for the Fourth of July celebrations, and all of the reasons I come up with are bad. I’m trying to slow my panic-induced heartbeat as I hurry to join him in the shade.
Heath is frowning before I even get my breathless questions out.
