"It's as good as done now," Linda assured her. "When are you meeting him?"
"Tomorrow," Maggie answered. "One o'clock, at the Bay Café. I'm bringing everything. The whole file. Every letter, every motion, every invoice from my lawyer that I've got nothing to show for." She reached for her wine and took a small sip. "And I've got a meeting with Kevin's attorney the day after tomorrow. I was dreading it. I'm not dreading it nearly as much now, knowing Michael will have looked at everything first and be the one to go there with me."
"Good," Linda said firmly. "You walk into that meeting with my brother in your corner and watch how fast Kevin's lawyer changes his tune."
Maggie laughed, and this time it came easily.
"You're very confident in him," Maggie observed.
"I've watched him work for thirty years, Maggie. I've never once seen him lose when it mattered. Kevin has no idea what's about to hit him," Linda said.
They talked for a moment about the boutique, and then Linda went quiet, and again Maggie’s heart jolted thinking she knew and that Linda had figured it out. Then she wanted to slap herself. How would she know they were talking about the boutique, not Michael?Good grief.
"Maggie," Linda ventured. "Can I tell you something?"
"Of course," Maggie answered, her heart now feeling like it was hammering in her throat, trying to escape before it gave any more away to Linda.
"I'm going on a date," Linda admitted.
Maggie sat up straight. Her eyes widened, and her mind switched gears. Her guilt over her feelings for Michael was forgotten.
"A date," Maggie repeated, momentarily astonished. Out of everything that Linda could’ve said to her, this was not what she was expecting.
"My first one since the divorce," Linda continued, her words coming out in a rush. "And trust me, those are five words I never thought I’d be uttering to you again.”
“No,” Maggie admitted with a shake of her head. “I never expected either of us to ever say them again,” she gave a nervous laugh. “After all, we’re fifty-nine now. Dating was something we did way back when we were still young and single.”
“I know, right?” Linda said with a snort. “But here I am feeling like a nervous teenager already wondering what I’m going to wear.”
“When is it for?” Maggie asked, taking another sip of her wine.
“Tomorrow night. Six-thirty.” Linda told her. “ He's picking me up."
"Who?" Maggie asked, though she was pretty sure she already knew the answer.
"Darius," Linda said. “We bumped into each other on the beach again this evening. We walked together, talked for what felt like hours, and then he asked me to dinner. Before I could stop myself, I had answered yes.”
Maggie felt two things at once for her best friend.
The first was pure, uncomplicated joy for her friend. Linda had spent thirty-nine years married to a man who'd cheated on her, drained her savings, and left her with half of what she should have had. Linda deserved a warm evening with a kind man more than almost anyone Maggie knew.
The second was something quieter and harder to name. A small instinctive caution that pricked at the back of her neck and would not quite settle as she wasn’t sure how much she trusted Darius. There was just something about him that screamed, proceed with caution when approaching.
"Maggie?" Linda prompted. "You've gone quiet."
"I'm here," Maggie said quickly. "I'm just thrilled for you. Truly. It's about time."
"But?" Linda pressed. “I can hear the but in your voice, so don’t deny it.”
"No but," Maggie answered, and then, because Linda had already heard the but tone in her voice, "Maybe a small one. Darius seems lovely. He really does. But there's something a little bit mysterious about him, don't you think? He's hard toread. I've only met him a handful of times, but I can never quite tell what's going on behind those eyes."
"He is a little hard to read," Linda admitted. "I noticed that too."
"That's not a bad thing," Maggie said quickly, not wanting to dampen her friend's first spark of joy in over a year. "Plenty of good men are hard to read. And Isabel is one of the loveliest women I've ever met, and Penny's wonderful too. A man is usually known by the company he keeps. If those two love him, he must be a good person underneath and needs to be given a chance to prove it either way."
"That's exactly what I keep telling myself," Linda said, relieved.
"Then I’m glad you accepted," Maggie urged her. "Go and have a wonderful time. We're fifty-nine years old, Linda, not naive girls. We know how to spot something that isn’t right, and it’s only dinner.” She sipped her wine before continuing. “But I know you, so I’m going to advise you not to overthink it. Just go and enjoy the night with a handsome man.”
