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If it all worked out, then he and Maggie would always have something in common—if they kept the house for the rest of their lives.
What his cousin had said to him the week before came back to Levi’s mind.
I’d hate for you to miss the person right in front of you—if she’s God’s perfect will for you. If not, you two will part ways when she moves away, and that’s the end of it.
Then again, it might not be a good idea to turn their friendship into a business partnership simply because Levi wanted to keep Maggie by his side.
Maggie valued honesty but neither of them had been honest with each other. Perhaps it was time for the artificial barrier of friendship between them to come down.
Levi felt bad about his behavior the last year. If Maggie had developed feelings for him—as he had for her now—then it must have been distressing to her. He had endlessly bugged her to help him get his “dream date.” Made her his matchmaker.
She was his best friend, and he had taken advantage of her generosity.
Well, she could have said no.
But she hadn’t.
The bedroom lock clicked and the door opened. Maggie came out of the bedroom with her hair damp.
“Don’t you need to totally dry your hair so that you don’t catch a cold? It’s forty-five degrees outside the last time I checked.”
Maggie pointed to the window. “It’s sunny out. And your truck has a heater.”
“Still…”
“Oh boy, you’re bossy today.”
“Go dry your hair while I vacuum the living room.”
“I’m hungry now.”
“Five minutes. This is a small room.”
Reluctantly, Maggie went back to her bedroom, closing the door behind her. She didn’t slam it, so Levi knew she wasn’t angry.
Levi ran the vacuum and took his time so that Maggie didn’t hurry—if she could hear the vacuum above her hairdryer.
He loved doing things for Maggie, although it had pained him lately to have to help her pack. The more they filled up the moving boxes, the more loss Levi felt as she prepared to move out of his life.
Yes, Cyrus was right. Levi had fallen in love with Maggie, even without knowing it at first, but now fully aware of his own feelings. The clues were everywhere and yet he’d been oblivious.
How had it started?
Levi thought back about the telling evidence that his relationship with Maggie had moved beyond a platonic friendship. How could he not have noticed the signs before?
Firstly, he loved being with Maggie. He was comfortable with her—more than with any other woman in his life, including Aunt Marie when she had been alive. It hadn’t always been the case in the three years he’d known Maggie, but acutely so in the lastyear. Maggie had helped him to get over her ex-girlfriend, and he had gotten to know her well.
He felt sorry that he had made her his matchmaker. It had created chaos and confusion in their relationship as best friends. It might have driven Maggie to other men if she had thought there was no hope for her and Levi.
Secondly, he had felt intensifying jealousy every time he saw Maggie spending time with Alden. The last two times were particularly bothersome to him: at the Village community center and at the Italian restaurant on the Christmas concert night.
Even now, he prayed that Alden wouldn’t show up to rob his future bride from him.
Future what?
Thirdly, Levi couldn’t help thinking about Maggie’s well-being when she had failed to show up at the singles dinner party the other night. When he didn’t see Maggie, nothing else mattered to him, not even his faux dream date.
He was sure there were more telltale signs, but those were all he could ascertain as the vacuum cleaner drowned out all further thoughts.
