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“She was a girl around your age, in a Cinderella costume. I lost track of her, but I think I found her again, working at a coffee shop downtown.”
“How can you be sure?”
I caught the telltale signs of deflection. “We’ve interacted multiple times, even before the party. I’ve heard her laugh and seen her face often enough to know it’s her. Yesterday, I forgot my wallet in the shop and had to go back. We looked right at each other. Irecognizedher.” I touched my heart, feeling clumsy, but knowing I had to do something to convince Maggie to be on my side. Hopefully, she wouldn’t roll her eyes and think of me as lame and overdramatic.
“Plus,” I added, “she was wearing blue Converse shoes.”
Maggie snorted. “So?”
I leaned over to her and spoke low. “So, Cinderella at the party wore blue Converse. I know because I stepped on her foot while dancing and she showed me her shoes to let me know I hadn’t hurt her. Yes, there are probably thousands of people in this city wearing Converse and no doubt a lot of them are blue. On its own, not evidence. But when taken with the fact that she knew you, and she knew Suzie, and that she looks and laughs and smiles exactly the same way… It’s her.”
Maggie swallowed hard. I saw Brian move his hand underneath the table. He patted Maggie’s thigh, consoling her.
“I think her name is Megyn,” I told Maggie, to see if it would get a rise out of her and it did. She jolted, like she’d been stung. “I overheard it when Suzie was yelling. Over something unrelated, so don’t worry,” I added.
Maggie sipped her piña colada and leaned back, eyes hooded. “So if you already have this all figured out, what role do you want me to play?”
“I want you to confirm what I just said.”
“Do I even need to?” Her voice grew sullen.
Brian glanced at me. “I think that should be answer enough, Carter.”
I conceded and nodded.
“What else?” Maggie grumbled.
Our food came. Maggie picked up her fork and poked at lettuce leaves, not taking her eyes off me. I ignored my sandwich. “I want you to tell me what you know about her.”
Maggie turned her head away. “I can’t.”
“Maggie, please!” I begged. “I have to know. I threw that whole damn party in the hopes of meeting someone and the only person who caught my interest was Megyn. You can’t leave me out in the dark on this.”
Maggie looked to Brian. “Megyn is my best friend,” she said softly. “Since high school. Maybe that’s not all that long, considering how young we still are, but she’s always had my back and I’ve always had hers. I absolutely can’t betray her trust.”
I picked up my knife and cut into my sandwich. The meat was tough, pulling apart in stringy clumps. I put the knife back down; I didn’t have much of an appetite anyway. “What that means is she has asked you not to say anything to us, because she knew I would come asking.”
Maggie shoveled a forkful of salad into her mouth and chewed furiously.
“Why?”
“I can’t tell you,” she muttered.
“Fine.” My frustrations mounted. So close, yet, so far. I couldn’t let this end here. “So don’t tell us anything too deeply personal. But tell me about her. Tell me about your friend. What’s she like? That’s not too much, is it?”
Maggie made an aggravated sound and shook her head. My heart sank, but then she said, “Okay. But you absolutely can’t tell her I said anything to you.”
“Deal,” I said. “Now tell me about Megyn.”
Though she still looked unhappy about the whole thing, Maggie complied.
CHAPTER14
MEGYN
The next day, Suzie and I shared the same shift. I gave a mental groan at seeing her in the schedule book. After the conversation we’d had before, I fully expected things to get worse between us. A woman like her would regret ever having confided in someone like me and would take it out on me, and then that would come back to negatively affect her, because I would refuse to make the apron. For that, she’d get angry, and the proper balance of things would resume.
But that wasn’t what happened.