Home Free - Fern Michaels [14]
Maggie struggled with her reporter’s instincts and her infatuation for her new beau. “Of course I’ll be there. I’ll just . . . you know . . . blow him off. Maybe if I’m lucky, he’ll think of me as a mysterious femme fatale. Not likely, huh?” she answered herself when Lizzie grinned.
“I did not say that, Maggie. I’m just amused at your dilemma.”
“Are the guys going?”
“Nope, just us girls and Charles, of course. Well, I’ve taken up enough of your time. I see you have a text coming in, so I’ll be on my way. No, no, take care of business. I can see my way to the elevator. Give Ted and Espinosa my regards, okay?”
Maggie eyed her cell phone on the desk. She decided to ignore the incoming text and walked Lizzie to the elevator. “I’ll give the guys your regards. To tell you the truth, I have no idea where either one of them is right now. Things are going to hell around here, Lizzie.”
Lizzie did her best not to laugh. “I wonder why that is,” she said, giving Maggie a quick hug before she stepped into the elevator.
“Yeah, I wonder why that is,” Maggie mumbled to herself as she made her way back to the office, where she eyed the phone and, without checking the text, slid it into one of her desk drawers. She continued to mumble and mutter to herself as she made her way to the kitchen to fortify herself. First comes nourishment, then comes work, then comes love. Remember that, Maggie Spritzer, the next time you go off the rails.
Chapter 4
To Myra and Annie’s delight, the Sisters all arrived within twenty minutes of each other. Seeing the girls, no matter the circumstances, was the highlight of the day. Lizzie’s appearance was the cherry on top, Annie said.
They all sat around the dining-room table to be out of Charles’s way in the kitchen. Pictures of Little Jack were passed around while doting mom, Lizzie, regaled them with blow-by-blow descriptions of why a certain picture was taken and where it was taken. She proudly announced that he was growing like a sprout and was now wearing a size six, which stunned everyone at the table.
“Cosmo said he’s following in his footsteps, and Jack now has his own regular rocking chair, just the way Cosmo had when he was a little boy.” And on and on it went, the Sisters listening with rapt attention, until Charles announced that dinner was ready.
As always, the rule that no business was to be discussed during dinner was observed, which meant Lizzie repeated all of Jack’s activities for Charles’s benefit.
“You should hear his God blesses when he says his prayers at night. Every day the list gets longer as he discovers new things. He’s blessing the grasshoppers, the birds, all the bugs and ants, the moon, the stars, and the clouds, plus every single toy he owns. I do want you to know, though, all of you are at the top of his list. Big Jack goes first, then all of you. It’s so sweet, I want to cry sometimes. Cosmo fell asleep the other night before Jack finished with his prayers. I had to tuck him in and wake up Cosmo.” They all laughed at the image Lizzie presented to them.
An hour later, Charles’s delectable crown roast was just a memory. There wasn’t enough left for any of the Sisters to take home, which Charles said was a good thing. He did love it when the platters were empty.
“I just love comfort food,” Maggie said. “Did any of you notice how the temperature is dropping?” At their nods, she rattled on. “Our weatherman is predicting snow flurries for Thanksgiving. No accumulation, though. And, Charles, I will take a double helping of your mango banana sorbet.” She continued to prattle on and on without saying anything noteworthy until Kathryn, back from her road trip, told her to zip it up.
Their nerves on edge, the Sisters rushed through dessert and coffee, all of them scurrying back and forth