Getting Lucky (The Portland Pioneers Book 2) (29 page)

Tabitha gazed over at her for a moment, then two, then her expression went carefully blank as she returned attention back to her suitcase. “I thought so,” she observed. “You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”

“Love? Who said anything about love?” Maggie spluttered, but she knew she was crap as an actress.

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist.”

“Well, good thing,” Maggie retorted, “because you aren’t one.”

Tabitha shoved her hands on her hips and glared. Maggie was pissed now, and stared right back, thinking she should really get pissed more often if it gave her a backbone where her sister was concerned. She only wished she’d discovered this particularly fact back when Noah was still standing next to her.

“Insulting me isn’t going to make Noah fall in love with you.”

Maggie just shrugged. “I’m not going to stand here and argue with you over Noah. I have work to do.” She turned and left the room, walking back to her own bedroom to finish getting ready to head into the Café.

Five minutes later, she was just about to walk out the door when she heard footsteps behind her in the hallway. Sharp, expensively-clad footsteps. “Wait,” Tabitha called out, a little bit breathless, as if she’d made up her mind in a rush, “I’ll come with you. I could do with an early lunch.”

Maggie turned incredulously. Tabitha hadn’t been back to Sand Point since she’d opened the Café and had expressed not one iota of interest in the business venture that Maggie had poured all her heart, body and soul into.

“There’s food here, you know,” she said slowly.

Tabitha only shrugged. “But at the Café I don’t have to cook it,” she retorted, but her smile was unmistakably warm and it reminded Maggie of her sister at unguarded moments, when there wasn’t anyone to impress and she just could just relax and be herself. But those moments had become increasingly infrequent as high school had started and then they had seemingly disappeared completely.

“You never could cook to save your life,” Maggie smiled back. For half a second, as they grinned stupidly at each other, Maggie felt closer to her sister than she had in years. No doubt, though, she thought, Tabby would ruin it by saying something obnoxious.

But she didn’t. She just picked up her purse, and followed Maggie out of the house, pausing on the porch as Maggie locked the door behind them.

“Do you always walk?” Tabitha asked, wrapping her arms tightly around her middle. “I forgot how cold it can get here in December.”

Maggie liked the cool breeze and how she could still feel the ghost of it against her skin when she was hot and tired in the Café’s kitchen. “If it’s not raining, yeah. I usually do.”

They were silent another block. “I hated it here so much,” Tabitha sighed. “I used to dream, fantasize really, about getting away and never coming back.”

Maggie couldn’t believe how glad Tabitha’s use of
past
tense made her feel. She knew she should resent the hell out of Tabitha showing up in Sand Point and potentially ruining everything
,
and she kind of did, but Maggie also felt like maybe she and Tabitha had this window of opportunity. It wouldn’t stay open forever, not even for a month or even a couple of weeks, but maybe for a few days. Maybe long enough to begin repairing the damage of years of resentment and anger and jealousy.

“I know. It wasn’t exactly a state secret,” Maggie said, nudging her shoulder against her sister’s.

“I just can’t believe you’re so happy here. So
settled.”
Tabitha’s voice didn’t stay soft and nostalgic, it was harder now at the edges. Incredulous, even. As if she couldn’t believe anyone could possibly be happy in a town like Sand Point, when she herself couldn’t ever be.

“It’s not as bad as you think it is,” Maggie retorted, unable to help the defensiveness that leaked into her own tone. Surprise, surprise, Maggie thought, the truce had only lasted about a minute. Just like the last twenty years of their lives.

“I’ll just never be able to understand how you love it here so much,” Tabitha said breezily.

“Nobody said you had to.” Maggie hated how easily Tabitha could just weasel under her skin, but then she was her sister, and maybe that was the secret weapon that all sisters had. If that were the case, then why couldn’t she do the same to Tabby? Tabitha unsettled her so effortlessly, but Tabitha herself just kept floating along, completely unruffled.

It was annoying as hell.

As they approached the Café, Maggie considered briefly going through the back door, as she normally would, acting like Tabitha was merely trailing after her, a second act to her first. But then she changed her mind and decided to go through the front, and let Tabitha be dazzled by the fairyland of Christmas lights she’d strung up with Noah’s help. Tabitha had never been the biggest fan of Christmas in general, but Maggie secretly thought her beautiful decorations were festive enough to melt even Tabitha’s Scrooge-y heart.

Maggie opened the door and held it open for her sister, who flounced through as if people held doors open for her every second of every day, which was probably close to the truth. She tried telling herself that Tabitha’s reaction to the Café didn’t matter; that she would still see its beauty, even if her sister couldn’t. But her heart still sank a little when Tabitha paused by the host station, gaze taking in the arbor dripping with lights and real live ivy, and the bright red booths with the blown glass lights hanging over them. Maggie tried to tell herself she wasn’t being judged but it sure as hell felt like judgment when Tabitha gave a little sniff and only said, “Oh, it’s very quaint, Mags.”

Fucking
quaint,
Maggie thought with barely restrained outrage.

“Take a seat, if you want,” Maggie threw over her shoulder as she meandered through the Café, smiling at some of her regulars and pointedly ignoring the gasps and whispers of recognition as the long-time residents spotted her sister.

Tabitha returning to Sand Point was going to be major news. Between her arrival, Noah buying the old Hutchensen place, and then staying with Maggie, the rumor mill had enough material for months of juicy gossip.

Ella had stopped in for a late breakfast or early lunch, probably before she opened the gift shop for the day, and as Maggie passed by her booth, she gave her friend a hesitant smile. Ella reached out and grabbed her arm. “Don’t just go waltzing by me like this is all fine and normal. What is
she
doing here?” Ella hissed under her breath but probably not quite quiet enough that Tabitha couldn’t hear.

Maggie shrugged, and gestured towards the back with her head. Ella followed her but only when they were closeted in her tiny office did Maggie explain. “Honestly, she just
showed up,
” she said.

“Oh god,” Ella exclaimed. “And Noah was there. In your house.”

“In my bed, actually,” Maggie said wryly, congratulating herself that she only blushed a little. “It was horribly awkward.”

Ella crossed her arms over her chest, and gave Maggie a speculative look. “Did she say why she was here?”

“Some crap about not wanting me to be alone for Christmas, but I’m sure she found out somehow that Noah was still here. She’s either here to get him back or make my life miserable because I had the nerve to hook up with him.”

Ella pursed her lips. “I like Noah,” she said and Maggie just laughed. “Oh, stop. For more than just his admittedly spectacular ass, too. He’s a good man. He might have come here looking for her, but he saw you, and that was kind of it for him, I think.”

It was hard not to believe Ella when she sounded so confident. It was also hard because what Ella said was exactly what Maggie wanted so desperately to believe.

“It was kind of it for me, too,” Maggie admitted, glancing down at the scuffed toes of her sneakers. “I’ve been so stupid.”

“No.
No
,” Ella insisted, reaching out with her wrinkled, crooked fingers and gently pulling up on Maggie’s chin. “You aren’t stupid, dear. You fell in love. It’s the opposite of stupid; it’s brave.”

A lump was growing in the back of Maggie’s throat and she hated so much the thought of crying over Noah, the thought of crying over anyone really, but it was beginning to seem rather inevitable. “It doesn’t feel brave right now.” She paused, swallowing hard. “I kicked him out, Ella. Told him he had to go back to the hotel. I wouldn’t even blame him for being pissed at me.”

Ella regarded her thoughtfully. “He knew when he pursued you that you were the difficult choice, Maggie. He’s not dumb. This isn’t an easy situation for anyone. Nobody could blame you for a needing a little space to figure things out.”

Her throat was practically
aching,
and Maggie had never really wanted to cry more than she did right now. Ella’s reassurances helped, but she just wanted to see Noah again and try to make him understand that the very last thing she’d wanted was to ruin what they had.

“Okay,” Maggie croaked out. “Okay, you’re right.”

Ella wrapped her arms around Maggie and hugged her tight. “It’ll work itself out,” Ella murmured into her ear, and Maggie lost her fight with the threatening tears, and one tear, then another trickled down her cheeks. Ella must have known because she didn’t let her go, just hugged her tighter.

It took a five minute Ella hug and a few more tears—okay, Maggie reasoned, a
lot
more tears—but on the other side, she felt better. Not good, necessarily, but not quite like she’d ruined everything.

There was a knock on the office door. Maggie glanced in the window and saw Janice’s distinctive brunette ponytail. “Shit,” Maggie said. “I’ve got to work.”

Ella pulled a tissue from the box sitting on the desk and handed it to her. “Clean yourself up first. Don’t give her a single advantage, Mags, including that she made you cry.”

Maggie gave a watery chuckle. “You can call her by her name, you know.”

A stubborn glint shone in Ella’s blue eyes. “She doesn’t deserve it.”

“Maybe not,” Maggie admitted, wiping her eyes and blowing her nose. “But she’s still my sister.”

Ella hummed. “She definitely doesn’t deserve you, you know. Not even a little.”

Maggie remembered what Noah had mentioned in the bathroom, and though she’d tried so many times in the last hour to dismiss his observations, she kept circling back to what he’d said. “What if we don’t know what she’s really like?”

“Of course we know what she’s like. We watched her operate for
years
,” Ella said with exasperation, not even attempting to refrain from rolling her eyes. “Why do you always try to look for the good in her?”

“I never doubted the good in her,” Maggie said and was surprised to find that she really meant it. “I just don’t think she sees it in herself.”

“If you say so.” Ella shrugged and checking Maggie’s face again, gave a sharp nod of approval. “A little red in the eyes, maybe, but that could be from anything, really.”

Maggie opened the door and Janice gave her an apologetic smile. “Sorry to bother you, Maggie, but your sister is insisting she needs to consult you about her lunch.”

Ella groaned so loudly it was probably amazing they didn’t hear her in the dining room. Maggie sighed. “Didn’t she read the menu?”

Janice winced. “Yes, but. . .”

Unfortunately Maggie knew exactly what her sister was like. Especially when she was so determined to make herself the center of attention. “I’ll be right out.”

Janice left with a grateful look, and Ella turned back to Maggie. “You’re clearly insane. That’s evidence right there. She can’t even order lunch without ordering you around.”

“It’s an act,” Maggie said slowly, Noah’s Oscar comment fresh in her mind.

“Well, it’s a damn annoying one,” Ella insisted, as they walked out of the office, through the kitchen, where Rosa was in a zone, flipping pancakes and scrambling eggs practically simultaneously. “I’ll be right back, Rosa,” she called to her. “I know it’s getting busy.”

Rosa just gave her a sharp nod, and Maggie made her way into the dining room.

Tabitha was sitting in a booth by herself, the menu lying on the table in front of her, and she was staring out the window and tapping her peony-pink nails on the table. When Maggie approached, she glanced over at her, a Queen deigning to acknowledge her servant.

Maggie mentally ground her teeth together. “What’s the problem?”

Tabitha gave her an incredulous look. “I can’t eat any of this. Don’t you have anything healthy
here?”

Maggie thought briefly about pointing out the entire section of salads and sandwiches, both of which were chock full of what any normal person would consider “healthy” choices. But this was Tabitha and she wanted even more attention than she’d already gotten from the whispering customers, and this entire exchange was designed to maximize the potential for awed interest in her fabulous self.

“What would you like?” Maggie asked calmly, refusing to rise to the bait. If Tabby wanted to play imperious Queen, she could do it in someone else’s café.

Tabitha glared, and for the very first time, Maggie believed Noah. Ever since he’d said it, she’d wondered if it could be true, if all of this wasn’t some kind of performance, and now, once she
really
looked and saw all the calculation in Tabby’s eyes, it was hard to consider anything else. His hypothesis just
fit
.

It was like being handed the corner piece in a particularly tricky puzzle. It wouldn’t solve everything, but it gave Maggie a good place to start.

“A salad, maybe?” Maggie suggested gently. “There’s a really nice apple walnut salad on the menu. Balsamic vinaigrette.”

Tabitha’s annoyance melted a little, but Maggie kept her expression carefully neutral. “Does it come with chicken?”

It didn't, but that was definitely one of the perks about being the owner and head chef here. She could do whatever the hell she wanted, especially if it helped declaw her sister. “It can.”

“With chicken,” Tabitha said. “And a diet coke.”

Maggie smiled. “I’ll let Janice know.” She turned and out of the corner of her eye caught a head of dark hair and a smirk. It was Noah, standing in the doorway and by his expression he’d caught their entire exchange.