Maggie rested her elbows on the counter, hanging on Jane’s every word. “Is that what happened?”
Jane grinned. “Not exactly. But, isn’t that a nice story?”
Maggie smiled and Paul chuckled.
“What d’you do for her, then?” asked Maggie.
Jane picked up her mug and blew over the top. Just get it over with. “I’m her personal assistant. And, um, her cousin.”
She looked down at the mug, smiling at the tiny brown grains of nutmeg and cinnamon Maggie had sprinkled over the top and fashioned into a heart. Finally she took a sip and let the hot sweet, creamy goodness fall scalding down her throat. “Mmmm.”
When she looked up again, Maggie was leaning closer, her eyes fixed on Jane’s.
“What was it like growin’ up together?”
Jane said the words by heart. “Like any other cousins. We loved each other. We hated each other. We watched 90210 and went for ice cream and opened our presents together on Christmas morning.” She blew on the hot milk again, deciding to add her own addendum this time. “I know she’s a supermodel. But, to me she’s still just Sara.”
“Is her name really Sara?”
Jane nodded at Maggie. “Sara Mays.”
“Ahhhh. Sara Mays. Samara Amaya. I see.”
Paul huffed softly, gesturing to Maggie for a refill. “No offense, Jane, but Maggie was giving me some advice before you got here. Do you two mind if we get back to web dating 101?”
“Oh,” said Jane. “I didn’t mean to interr—”
“You’re not,” said Paul. “Chime in if you’ve got any advice.”
Maggie poured herself a cup of coffee too. “Paul’s met someone online!”
Huh. That’s it? They didn’t want to talk about Sara and ask me questions all night? Well, wow! This is awesome. Regular people talking about regular things.
Jane turned to Paul with a delighted smile. “Do tell!”
Before he could answer Maggie whispered again, “And, how’s this for a coincidence, Jane? She’s from Connecticut!”
Jane had never actually seen someone so excited about Connecticut. Jane looked back and forth between them. “What am I not getting here?”
“Connecticut!” said Maggie. “It’s between New York and Boston, isn’t it? Where you’re from? It’s in the middle, isn’t it? You been there?”
“Oh. Um…sure, a little. Samara has friends in Westport, and I know a few people in Connecticut too. Friends from college, mostly. It’s pretty. What town is she in?”
Maggie beamed. “Mystic! D’you know it?”
“I do,” answered Jane. “Not well, but I’ve been there. It’s on the coast. Very picturesque. They have, um, an old-fashioned village there. And great seafood. And an aquarium, I think. Sailboats. Old houses. Sort of quintessential New England. Yeah, I remember it.”
Maggie beamed at Paul, and he gave her a look.
“Can I ask you a question?” Jane asked, looking back and forth between them.
Paul nodded.
“Why’d you decide to get to know someone from Connecticut and not closer?”
“Maggie meddled,” Paul blurted out. “She set up the profile and she wasn’t totally clear about where I lived.”
Maggie cringed. “I thought the question asked where he was from.”
“And you’re from…?”
“Maine. Originally.” Paul rolled his eyes at his friend.
“Ah. I get it. So it fed you girls from New England. Huh. You must have liked her a lot out of the gate,” said Jane, “to get to know her from so far away. Once you realized the distance.”
Paul smiled at Jane and she saw the sudden warmth infuse his blue eyes. “You could say that.”
“I could say that? Look at you. You’re a goner.”
“I like her,” he said softly. “I look forward to her emails and we’re reading a book together. We talk about our lives, work, whatever, you know? I tell her everything lately. She’s a teacher and I’m a principal so we talk about our students, our families, what we like to do on the weekends. Yeah, I like her.”
“You like her a lot. Sounds like you’re ready for the next step,” said Jane. “When’re you going to meet her? In person?”
“Heck, I’d love to meet her. But I can’t just pick up and go to Connecticut. The school year’s just starting. I have commitments here.”
Jane took another sip of the now-cooling milk, feeling the warmth travel all the way down to her tummy. It was working. She was feeling warmer and mellower, but she liked Maggie and Paul and loved talking about regular people and their regular lives. She wasn’t ready to say goodnight yet.
“You really like her?”
Paul nodded.
“Time to visit Connecticut,” said Jane gently.
“You think?”
Jane shrugged. “Don’t you have a break coming up? A few days off when you could make a quick trip?”
“Columbus Day’s a four-day weekend.”
“There you go.” She thought of Ben dumping her so cruelly when Sara arrived in Cairo. If she’d have known how fickle he was, she might have expected things to go south, and his rejection wouldn’t have hurt her so much. “Probably best not to invest any more of yourself until you meet her, you know? Anyway, that’s what I think.”
“Aye, the lass has some good advice, I think.” Maggie winked at Jane.
“May as well put your cards on the table, Paul.”
Paul bit his lower lip, nodding. “Guess so.”
She downed the rest of her warm milk, and slid off the stool. “What do I owe you?”
Paul took out his wallet and put five dollars on the counter. “Let me get it. In thanks for the advice.”
“Cool. Thank you, Paul. And good luck. I’m off to bed, folks.”
“Give Lars hell tomorrow, Jane.” Paul winked at her.
“Yeah?”
“Sure. Lars thinks he’s the cat’s meow.”
“Does he?”
“Aw, you know. The girls from the park…the ones who pass through.”
She didn’t know. Her heart clutched painfully at this news, though she worked hard not to show it.
Of course. He was so good-looking. Too good-looking. He probably had his pick of the tourists that came into town.
It shouldn’t matter to her. She hated that it did.
“Oh, shut up, Paul. Lars is a good man, Jane. An eye for the ladies, aye, but what single man doesn’t? More than an eye? Neither Paul nor I can say.”
Paul scoffed. “We’re good friends, Mags. He’s certainly shared—”
“Gossip. A little chin wag. That’s all. Our Lars just needs to meet the right woman. The right woman changes everythin’.” She tilted her head to the side, smiling at Jane. “D’you play euchre, Jane?”
“Euchre? I don’t know how—”
“Aye. It’s grand. We’ll teach you. As long as you’re in town, come play with us. With Lars workin’ so hard on your group, we need a fourth.”
“Who’s the third?”