AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Maggie smiled and nodded, quickly telling Timia she’d be right back as she snapped another photo of Timia, her mom, and her brand-new baby.
Katie followed her out, just a little too close. Maggie felt like she was on fire.
They stopped by the vending machines in the hallway.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” Katie breathed, her eyes roaming over Maggie’s face. “Your flight…”
Maggie smiled blissfully. “I had a client in labor. I couldn’t leave her.”
Katie looked like she melted. “You could have, but you never would.”
Maggie felt herself blushing. She’d ached for Katie to look at her that way for so long, and here it was. “Are you doing okay? I know everything’s been… a lot lately.”
Katie huffed a laugh, but there was real pain behind her eyes. “Changing the subject, I see.”
“Not at all. Just checking you’re okay. Yesterday feels like a lifetime ago.”
Katie nodded and Maggie was glad to see she knew exactly what Maggie meant. “Yeah. It’s a mess, but, you know, it really gave me some… clarity, I guess?”
“Oh, yeah?”
She nodded. “So… are you staying here for Christmas, then?”
Maggie glanced at the clock on the wall. It was late now, almost Christmas Day. The sight of it flooded her already emotional system with a wave of feeling. “Pretty sure I missed my flight.”
“You don’t seem all that sad about it.”
“Yeah. I, um, spent the whole journey to the airport feeling like I was doing the wrong thing, like I was meant to be somewhere else.”
Katie sucked in a breath. “Where did you feel like you were meant to be?”
She was so perfect. Her brown hair tied back, her eyes so warm and alive, her teeth pressing into her lower lip in that way she did when she was nervous. Maggie had loved her for so long. Looking at her now, she didn’t know how she hadn’t burst with that fact a million times over.
“Here,” she whispered, taking a step closer to Katie. “I know we’ve been interrupted every time we’ve tried to have this conversation, and when we—well, I’m sure you remember.”
Katie laughed, blushing hard as she looked down. “Right.”
Maggie twisted her fingers together behind her back. “And I know everything with your family right now is complicated and I feel like it’s my fault—”
“It is not your fault,” Katie said firmly. “There’s a lot of things that needed sorting there, but it’s not your fault. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I spent too long in love with my best friend without saying anything. And, if I’d said something, maybe things would have gone differently.”
Katie looked at her like the whole world had just been handed to her.
For several moments, they simply looked at each other. Maggie felt like she was living every beautiful moment they’d ever had together all at the same time.
Eventually, Katie laughed. “You knew before we almost kissed?”
Maggie couldn’t help but laugh at the outrage in Katie’s tone. “You didn’t?”
“No!” She shook her head, looking embarrassed by herself. “I was too busy living in… I don’t know, denial, I guess. But it must have been torture for you, all that time, all… we… everything…”
“There was nowhere else I’d rather have been. If all I ever got was to be your best friend, that was enough. But I couldn’t stop loving you.”
Katie slowly reached out a hand, running it down Maggie’s arm, and tugging her hand around to her front again. “I wish I’d figured it out sooner. I’m sorry.”
Maggie’s heart leaped as she laced their fingers together. “I’m not. Loving you is always beautiful, whether you know it or not. And we’re here now.”
