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“How doyouknow this stuff?” Maggie asked.
“Learned it from my sister, after she divorced her husband. It worked out fine, too. You’re a rookie, but I’ll help you out.” Vera flashed her runway model smile.
The difference was that Maggie had not divorced her husband, and even with all their problems, she doubted she ever would have. “Thanks, but I’m sure he’s not interested in me. Even if I was interested in him. Which I’m not.”
“Whatever you say, Mags.”
Of course, Maggie had noticed his looks, but relationships were about so much more than that. Still.OK, so the man is a hunk.But a man was the last thing on her mind.
Vera wanted Maggie to get out there, start meeting people, live her life. But she was doing that now, finally reconnecting with her daughter, and readjusting her new definition of a family. It would be just the two of them now. The two of them and the Lord.
She certainly couldn’t count on Lexi’s grandparents anymore, even if they’d been the entire reason she’d moved back to California.
Maggie’s cell phone rang, and she pulled it from her apron pocket. As she viewed the caller ID, her heart sank. “Vera, I’m taking a quick break.”
“Maggie? Is that you?”
Paula Bradshaw’s voice still grated on Maggie’s nerves.Please Lord, help me to be kinder. I know that I have to forgive her, and I already have. But it doesn’t mean I have to like her, does it?
“Of course it’s me, Paula.”
“We haven’t seen Lexi in two weeks. We’re the grandparents, or did you forget? Really, Maggie, must you be so selfish?”
“We’ve been busy.” Maggie wondered how long that excuse would satisfy them. Her guess was not much longer.
“We worry when we don’t hear from you.”
“You don’t have to worry. We’re fine.”
She could take care of her own daughter and resented Paula’s implication that there was anything to worry about.
There was a pause on the other end of the line.
“You say that now, but less than a year ago…”
Maggie cut her off. “I’m not interested in rehashing the past.”
“But we meant well. You were such a mess. And Lexi needs us, whether you like it or not.”
Paula didn’t know when to quit.
Seconds from hanging up on her, Maggie counted to twenty and remembered that Paula meant well and adored her only grandchild.
“Why don’t you come by tomorrow after church? But I’d like Richard to stay away. For now.”
“But what should I tell Richard?”
Maggie had a lot she personally wanted to tell Richard. Like the fact that he would never be able to hurt Lexi the way he’d hurt Matt. Not if Maggie had anything to do with it.
“Tell him he can talk to Lexi over the phone. And ask him to stop mentioning the laptop. I won’t let Lexi have unrestricted access to the Internet.”
“Richard was just trying to help. You have so many rules to follow.”
“I’m her mother, in case you forgot.”
She liked to refresh their memory every now and then because they seemed to need the reminder.
“We know that.” Paula sighed. “Thank you, Maggie. I’ll be over tomorrow in the afternoon.”
