“And I know he’s interested in you,” Michelle added.
Maggie wasn’t sure how to respond to that.
“I also know my boy-crazy cousin made a pass at him in front of you,” Michelle continued. “She’s nineteen. Anyway, I guess I’m dropping by to say thank you and apologize for my idiot cousin.”
“Do you want a drink or something?” Maggie asked, hooking her thumb toward the house.
“No. Thanks,” Michelle said. “I’m actually hitting the road. You’re my last stop.”
Maggie noticed that the SUV was full. Suitcases. Boxes. Dear God. Had she somehow accidentally chased this woman out of her hometown?
“Anyway,” Michelle pressed on, sticking her sunglasses in the scoop neck of her T-shirt. “Silas was my dream guy in high school. I had the biggest crush on him. It seemed only natural that we’d end up together as adults. Both being single. Both still here in Kinship. But it never quite worked. And I think I held on for too long because of that teenage fantasy, you know?”
Maggie nodded. “I am familiar with that particular experience.”
“We just never fit right. But we were convenient, and part of me thought that, if we just tried a little harder, we could make it work. We could do the marriage-and-kids thing. And I could tell everyone that I won at life with my high school sweetheart.”
She put a foot on the first step and looked around the yard.
“But when something’s not right, it’s not right, and no amount of forcing it will make it right. And then you showed up.”
“Silas and I aren’t actually dating,” Maggie interrupted. “We’re not anything. Unless fighting is something. In fact, we kind of can’t stand the sight of each other right now.”
Michelle gave her a small, sad smile. “Sy and I never fought. Maybe that was part of what didn’t work. Neither one of us cared enough to fight.”
Maggie thought of herself and Dean as newlyweds. They hadn’t fought either.
“You showing up here, you taking that safety net away from me, was the best thing that could have happened to me,” Michelle announced. “I’d always planned on moving away. Living and working in a city. I want the hustle and energy. Tall buildings and seeing strangers every day. When Silas came into the picture, I just never got around to getting there.”
“So you’re leaving now?” Maggie asked.
Michelle grinned. “It’s about damn time I start living the life I want, right?”
“Never too late,” Maggie agreed.
“Anyway, I wanted to thank you. I got a job in Denver. An apartment that I can almost afford. And I’m finally excited about something, you know? I feel like my life is really starting.”
“I think the credit belongs to you,” Maggie insisted.
“I might have gotten there eventually, but Sy and I always got back together. You took him out of the equation. At least long enough for me to start looking past what I tried to talk myself into wanting. So thank you.”
“Then I guess you’re welcome. And good luck with everything. New beginnings are exciting.”
“Thanks!” Michelle chirped, sliding her sunglasses back on. “Listen, even if you’re fighting now, give the guy a chance. He’s the best. He deserves the best. And the best is definitely not my cousin Arabella.”
Maggie didn’t know what to say. So she nodded instead.
“Okay. Well, here I go,” Michelle said.
“It was nice meeting you,” Maggie said.
“You, too. Maybe I’ll see you around when I come back for Christmas,” Michelle said, with an eyebrow wiggle.
“What took you so long?” Dean demanded when he flung open his door. “You get lost and try to cook the food yourself?”
His room at the inn was a suite with a small sitting area that overlooked rolling green lawn and forest.
“Ha. I had to wait for your dumb gluten-free breadsticks,” Maggie said, pushing the bags into his hands and slipping off her flip-flops. “And before that, Sy’s ex-girlfriend dropped by to say thanks for making their breakup permanent.”
“Did she thank you with a boiled bunny casserole?” he asked, already digging through the bags of food.
“No. She was being serious. She’s using the opportunity to move out of state.”
“Did you tell her you guys aren’t even knocking boots because you’re too proud to beg?” he asked, leading the way to the striped roll-arm couch. Their YouTube channel was already cued up on the TV.