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In fact, things hadn’t changed. Levi only considered her his bestie, and nothing more.
They hadn’t dated each other or anything like that. Levi kept a distance between them, even though he had shared all his emotional angst after he broke up with Soline. They had even discussed marriage and kids, so Maggie could tell that Levi was broken.
For almost a year, Maggie had walked with Levi through his valley. Prayed with him. Took his calls twenty-four-seven. And even cooked for him, although Levi told her not to try that one again.
“Going forward, if Levi asks me to help him find a new girlfriend, should I say no?” Maggie asked.
“Sure. You don’t have to do what you’re not convicted by the Holy Spirit to do. You don’t owe him, do you?”
“No. I was even a pro bono matchmaker.” Oh, there was a more pressing need. “What about the dinner and concert tonight?”
“Maybe you could ask a few more friends to join you. Then it wouldn’t be just you two alone and won’t look like a date night.”
You two alone.
Uh-oh.
What about the house keys that Levi kept as backups in case Maggie locked herself out? Even though Levi had shown up uninvited when she was sick the previous weekend, she had trusted him not to cross the line.
Still, should she get her keys back?
Maggie wasn’t sure. She wanted to, but would that hurt Levi’s feelings? After all, those keys were Malachi’s, and he’d given them to Levi himself.
“Take care of my sister,” Malachi had said. “You’re the only one I trust in town.”
Malachi trusted Levi.
Maggie sighed.
It means Levi would never cross the line that Maggie wanted him to cross.
Friend-zoned for life seemed to be her lot.
Chapter Twelve
When Levi arrived at the Italian restaurant for the group dinner, he found Maggie at a long rectangular table, surrounded by over a dozen single people from church, including Alden and the new Midtown Village employee, Erika, both of whom were in their Sunday school class.
Not only was Levi not sitting next to Maggie, he ended up at the other end of the table, where he could not hear her nor talk to her because of the cackling laughter coming from the crowd in between them.
From the distance, Levi ate his pasta plate and watched Maggie interact with her friends sitting to the left and right of her. She looked happy.
Why hadn’t he paid more attention to her? He had taken her for granted all these months.
Levi had been friends with Malachi first some years ago. That had been before Levi and Maggie somehow ended up working at Midtown Chapel at the same time. When Soline broke up with Levi, he went to see Malachi, and found that Maggie was also living in the same house.
An ordained pastor and missionary, Malachi helped him through the rough patch, and Maggie prayed with him as well as tried to comfort him. After Malachi followed Pastor Fizz to Florida, Levi continued to be friends with Maggie.
He had no problem telling Maggie anything and everything he felt because she didn’t judge him. She simply listened and offered suggestions, and didn’t fuss when Levi refused to listen.
Somehow several months ago, Levi thought he should start dating again, and that was when Forsythia showed up on his radar.
Perhaps he had been insensitive toward Maggie, but Levi had sought her help to get closer to Forsythia and to score a dinner date with her.
Everything seemed to be working according to Levi’s plan.
Until Sunday.
When Levi heard Maggie’s conversation with Forsythia, he realized that Maggie knew a lot about him personally. Normally, Levi wouldn’t think much about it. After all, he’d spent almost a year with Maggie and they got to know each other pretty well.
