Page 88 of Love Expert

No thanks.

Finally, I get a text from a woman who, similarly to me, attended Plainview Elementary School. She was there at the same time I was there, and just like I did, she moved away before middle school. Now she’s back—well, in Barlespy, anyway—and the only reason I know any of that at all is because she wandered into Brienne’s diner a few days ago.

Kismet, maybe. Or perhaps it’s the universe intent on hurting me.

Luciana:

Fine. I accept. Friday at seven?

My heart both shatters and swells. It aches and soars. Because I’m doing my job, setting Billy Caster up with a beautiful, brown-haired, honey-eyed, successful, professional woman who neither has kids, nor wants kids of her own.

She’s perfect for him.

Drawing a long breath, I tap out a response confirming her date, then navigating back to the inbox I share with Billy, I consider informing him exactly as I have with others in the past.

Name. Bio. Description. I would tell him where he’s taking her, and what time to be there. I could even tell him what to wear and slip in a fast ‘how’s Jeremy?’ and hope for a response. It would be so easy to do. So cowardly. But just as I tap the screen, too weak not to choose the easy way out, Jeremy’s shouting voice makes me jump.

I surge up and twist, slamming my elbows to the sill and scouring the window across from mine. But he’s not in his room. He’s not even in his house.

“Maggie!” His sweet voice carries all the way through my home despite the closed front door. “Maggie! I’m in the garden. You gotta come out.”

My heart skitters with anticipation. With excitement, even at the risk of seeing his father. I bound to my feet and scramble through my room. I dart barefoot onto the stairs, and race down, exhilaration chasing me with every step. Then I crash against my front door with a grunt, pulling back and whipping it open to reveal the evening sky outside.

I step onto my porch and find him waiting at our boundary garden, his hands cupped around his mouth as though prepared to shout again, but when our eyes meet, he drops his arms and gifts me with his most beautiful, sweetest grin.

Remembering my cookie promise, I spin on my heels and dart backinside to snatch up the container, then I stride onto the porch and slip my feet into a pair of boots. I wrap my arms across my chest to combat the chill in the air, then I skip down the steps and study the boy from his shoes to the top of his messy hair.

“Oh my gosh. You are thebestthing I’ve laid eyes on today, Jeremy Caster.” I cross my yard and pretend the itchiness in the backs of my eyes is because of the cold, and not because my heart aches. “Here. I brought you cookies.”

His face lights up with happiness. “For me?”

“For you.” I reach across the garden and grin as he shakily accepts them. “I left a note in my window about them, so you can ignore that when you go upstairs if you like.”

“Thanks!” He hugs his goodies against his chest with one hand, then he extends the other. “I’ve got something for you, too.”

Against my better judgment, I open my palm and accept the barely-there, a-little-bit-wet gift without thinking. The instant he hands it over, Jeremy turns on his heels and dashes back to his house, only to set the cookies down and snatch up a couple of folded camp chairs.

“Look at it!” He walks straight across the garden and plops the first chair on my side of our boundary line, then he goes back for the second, but instead of putting it on his side of the yard, he sets it beside mine. Impatiently grabbing my hand, he drags me down, then he climbs into his seat and leans into my space. “Don’t be afraid or anything.” He looks down at my tightly gripped fist. “It’s not a spider or anything.”

“I’m nervous.” I choke out a bubbling laugh, because this boy is absolutely the kind to set a baby spider in my palm without telling me. But he’s also the little boy I spend all day long thinking about.

Is he well? Is he happy? Sad? Hurt?

What does he think about his mom? What does he think about me?

What does he think about me and his dad sleeping in the same bed?

Uneasy, I study his glittering eyes, even in the relative darkness. “Why don’t you give me a hint?”

“Just open it!” he giggles, peeling my fingers open. “My tooth came out!”

“Your tooth?” I stare down at the tiny thing and work hard not to make theickface… too much. “You gave me your tooth? Ew!” Laughing, I try to force it back into his hand. “Don’t hand me your tooth, Jeremy! That’s gross.”

“It’s not gross.” He bounces with laughter, bumping my shoulder with his. “It’s just a tooth! Do you know what that means?”

“That you won’t be able to eat meat for the next couple of weeks?”

“No! It means the Tooth Fairy is coming tonight! And that means I’ll get more money for you.”