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“How can I not? You’re my best friend.”
Best friend forever.
Precisely the reason Maggie couldn’t stay.
Levi looked around furtively—Maggie had to laugh—and then he lowered his voice. “I saw Forsythia in the kitchen when I was making your cocoa. She won’t talk to me. Have you spoken to her about you-know-what?”
Ah, the date.
It had been all Levi could talk about the last few months whenever he saw Maggie. Forsythia this and Forsythia that. It drove Maggie up the wall.
The woman wasn’t interested in Levi, okay? What more could Maggie do? Just because she had known Forsythia for a whole year didn’t mean she could persuade the chef to go out with Levi—especially after his botched attempt to befriend her at the last singles outing.
The only way Maggie could think of to make Levi happy—and get him off her back—would be to somehow get Forsythia to have dinner with him.
It would take a miracle.
Forsythia was interested in someone else. She always was. Unfortunately, nobody on her list was named Levi.
“Why are you doing this to me?” Maggie muttered.
“What? Did you say something about Forsythia?”
At this point, Maggie wanted to slap herself, but didn’t get a chance to do that because someone tapped her shoulder. She turned around to find the pastor’s wife standing there.
“Mrs. Kim, how are you this evening?” Maggie asked.
“Fine, thank you. Are you staying warm in this cold weather?” Mrs. Kim’s voice was gentle and kind, the type of voice that one would want to hear in a crisis.
And Maggie wanted to tell Mrs. Kim everything about her problems with Levi, but she couldn’t.
Maybewouldn’twas a better word.
It was too embarrassing to talk about.
So Maggie’s only recourse was to run away. Leave this place and go home to her brother. Florida was far enough away, wasn’t it?
“Yes, this hot cocoa that Levi made warms me up.” Maggie lifted the mug in the air.
“If you like, I can make you a cup of cocoa too,” Levi said to Mrs. Kim.
“No, thanks. But I need to borrow Maggie for a few minutes, if I may.”
“Sure. I have to go anyway. Got some errands to run. Then turning in early tonight. I’ll be back tomorrow morning—here—and then I have to go to the warehouse all afternoon.”
“Lots of donations?”
“Yes, ma’am. A children’s clothing outlet closed down and donated all their brand-new clothes to us. New lumber came in yesterday, taking up space. Tomorrow morning, we’re getting five tiny-home kits, and I don’t know where to put them all. We’re running out of space if we don’t get rid of something or other.”
“Do you want some help organizing your inventory?” Mrs. Kim patted Maggie’s shoulder. “Here we have the most amazing organizer I know. I think you will have room for everything if she gives you a hand.”
Maggie didn’t say anything. She did not want to “go over there and help” Levi. No, she did not want to see him at all.
Besides, the warehouse was Levi’s area. Why had Mrs. Kim suggested that Maggie interfere?
“In the spirit of helping one another, we’re going to do something interesting next year at church,” Mrs. Kim said. “Well, a few interesting things, but one of them will be cross training. We’ll do a work week in which we’ll challenge all the ministries to allow other ministry workers to work in their areas all week. That should answer the question of whether one person’s job is harder than other people’s, you know?”
Mrs. Kim was so unlike Maggie’s previous boss. While Tally worked within the system and scope of the women’s ministry, Mrs. Kim often made suggestions that affected and benefited the entire church. Obviously, she had better access to the pastor since they had been married for decades, but Mrs. Kim was also well-respected by the deacons, who listened to her suggestions every time she came up with them—at least one a month.
