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She exhaled so deeply she bowed backward. “I’m relieved to hear it. I was worried for you. What would you do? It’s your livelihood! And what would happen to your precious CuriosityCorner? And Rose? She’s worked there since the very beginning. Visiting that shop without seeing both your wide, welcoming smiles would be like the sun not coming up.”
My heart pounded. I hadn’t allowed myself to think about questions like those because Dadwasn’tselling. He wasn’t. But now that they’d been spoken aloud, they hung in the air like neon signs, likewarningsigns.
“Perhaps Dez is having a delayed midlife crisis?” she speculated.
I fought off a wave of dizziness and smiled wanly. “He may just be.”
She put a hand on my shoulder. “Maggie? You’ve gone pale. Why don’t you sit down? Delaney?” she called over her shoulder. “Could you bring a glass of water for Maggie?”
I shook my head and waved her off. “I’m okay. One too many espressos this morning,” I said, pulling out my usual excuse. It was coming in handy lately.
She made a clucking noise. “Espresso might not be the best choice for someone with your blood pressure issues.”
“But it’s so good.”
She laughed. “That it is.”
Delaney rushed into the room, a glass of water in hand. “What’s wrong?”
“Maggie’s blood pressure just spiked.” Mary Carole took the glass and handed it to me, obviously seeing through my espresso-coated lies.
Delaney crossed her arms. “Well, it’s no wonder with Dez’s fool talk about selling the coffee shop. Don’t you worry, Maggie dear, we all have a mind to give him what for.”
“I’m certainly going to let him have it next time I see him,” Mary Carole said. “Hell, I might even go looking for him.”
“I’ll go with you,” Delaney said. “He needs to know we’ll stand by you any way we can. We know what that shop means to you, Maggie. If it comes to it, many of us are always on the lookout for a good investment opportunity, and we know our money would be in good hands with you.”
Feeling tears threatening, I took a sip of water, glad my handwas steady enough not to spill. “I don’t understand why he’s even contemplating it. Magpie’s is the heart of this town.” I took a deep breath. “Do either of you know why he might visit a probate attorney?”
Mary Carole’s eyes flared in surprise. She waited a beat, then two, before tightly saying, “No, not a clue.”
Delaney shook her head. “Me, either. Not unless—”
Mary Carole not-so-subtly elbowed her, and she snapped her mouth closed.
“Unless what?” I asked, suddenly alarmed.
Delaney waved a hand. “Unless he was estate planning. But that’s the wrong type of attorney. My mistake.” Her eyes were bright with lies.
Why would she lie? What was I missing?
Outside, a car door closed. “That might be Donovan.”
Delaney and Mary Carole shared a look, then Mary Carole said, “Ah, yes, that’s another piece of gossip I heard.”
“What? What did you hear?” I asked, suddenly bone weary.
“That there’s love in the air between you and Donovan Quinlan,” Delaney said, fairly bouncing up and down with delight.
I put the glass down before I dropped it. “Where did you hear that?”
Delaney grinned. “A tall, handsome mousy told me when I was at the bakery yesterday.”
Donovan? Had he been telling people about our date? Why would he do that? Didn’t he know the ramifications of a statement like that in a town this size?
Delaney added, “I always thought you two would make the perfect couple. You were always glued at the hip in your teens. Everyone thought… well, we all thought you were meant to be and hoped you’d find your way back to each other. It’s lovely to see the spark between you rekindled.”
My cheeks were burning. I held up a hand. “Let me stop you right there.”
