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Chris put his arm around her shoulders. “I can’t worry about Steve now.” She ran her fingers through her hair which was still wet and starting to curl. “I think I need to get home. I’m sorry, everyone.”
“Oh, sweetheart, Stevie is having fun now. Let him play. You need to eat something.”
“Then I need to fix my hair. Can I use your makeup?”
“Babe, trust me on this, you don’t need any makeup. You’re gorgeous,” Chris whispered to her.
“I’ll feel better if I primp,” she said, following Maggie into the house. “I’m sorry I’m acting like a wimp.”
“You’re not,” Maggie insisted. “You’re amazing. I’d be like a lunatic. I don’t want you to leave yet. What are you going to do tomorrow?”
“I have a paper due, and then after I upload it, I’ll come to the rescue.”
“Beverly is supposed to work tomorrow,” Maggie said apologetically. “I’d better figure this out.”
“Oh, right! Shit. I’ll stay home tomorrow then. And I need to figure out what to do about me and Chris.”
“Annie, Chris is an adult man. He can figure it out himself. If you’re not ready to move into his house, don’t. It’s really that simple. Remember what I went through when Justin wanted to move to the cottage? I had to go through all the stages. When he was preparing to move into his own apartment, that was when I decided I wanted to be with him all the time.”
“Okay, I see how that might work out. Right now, in the middle of everything, I feel under so much pressure.”
“What’s left to do over there before you can move?”
“Well, thanks to Justin and his spray gun, not much. Chris just needs to get his furniture out of storage and from what I understand, there isn’t a lot. So, yeah. I’m going to take your advice and sit back and let him determine the speed at which we move. If he’s not even ready, then that really takes the heat off me. And he’s dragging his feet, too, it appears. It’s taken so long just to get the painting done.”
“It’s a lot, setting up a household, as you know. When I came here, it was ready for me. I just needed to clean the mouse poo off everything.”
“I feel better. Thank you, my friend. Let’s go down and eat.”
“Yeah, Justin will be crushed if you don’t sample his tri tip.”
“I’m not a big beef eater but for him, anything.”
“Now that he’s seen you in your bra, he’ll probably hover over you all afternoon.”
Annie barked out a laugh. “Trust me, compared to you, I’m not all that.”
“You are all that, and more. Okay, let’s go down and face the music.”
When they came out on the porch, the sun was at that angle on the water that it glowed golden.
“Now’s the time to take a boat ride,” Justin said. “Look at that view.”
“The kids are all ready for naps,” Maggie said. “I’ll have the girls take them into the cottage to lie down if you want to, and we can sit on the dock.”
“Yes, that’s a perfect idea,” Katrina said.
Annie really wanted to leave, but Chris was enjoying himself so she didn’t say more about going.
They dragged chairs to the dock and staggered the chairs so they could see each other and the water. The wind had picked up a little and the briny breeze reminded them how close they were to the ocean.
A trawler chugged by, followed by a sailboat, sails catching the wind. Annie sat listening to the brothers’ irreverent conversation and boisterous laughter, Maggie chastising them when it got too ribald. The sun felt good, hot on her face and arms, so she closed her eyes, the sound of the familiar voices comforting. This was exactly what she had dreamed of, having a brother as a boyfriend, spending Sunday at Bayou Cottage with her friends. It was perfect.
Then commotion at the gate got their attention. “Who is that?” Justin asked, standing. He saw a well-put-together, middle-aged woman, dressed in her Sunday best, sticking a high-heeled shoe into the bottom rung of the fence.
“Oh crap, it’s Beverly,” Maggie said. “What in the hell!”
“She’s climbing over the gate!” Justin said, annoyed.
