Page 36 of Forbidden Whispers
Noah interjected, “Maggie, we really need to—”
“Why was once enough?” Maggie asked, clearly ignoring him as she focused on Christina.
“Well, for starters, I arrived at the restaurant for our date and found him getting up close and personal with another woman,” Christina said, her expression turning sour.
Noah sighed. “If you recall, I explained that I thought she was you.”
Christina rolled her eyes. “Seriously, dude? She looked nothing like my online picture! I mean, have you ever seen anyone with hair like mine?” she asked, turning her attention back to Maggie. “Then, he insulted my profession.”
“I apologized!” Noah said. “I didn’t realize you were the artist of the piece in that shop!”
“Mhm,” Christina said. “But the worst thing of all was that he completely forgot that I told him I had a food allergy. So, he invites me back to his place and serves me a homemade dessert with walnuts in it. I spent the rest of the night in the emergency room.”
Christina looked quite satisfied at the impact she was having on Maggie, whose mouth was now hanging open. This was not good. Not good at all.
“Look, Christina, I told you before how sorry I was. My brother Wade made that dessert for me and I...just forgot about mentioning your food allergy to him. But I got you to the hospital quickly. And you’re fine now, right? So, uh, as much as I’d love to stand here and relive even more of that disastrous night, Maggie and I really need to go.” He firmly took hold of Maggie’s hand and pulled her along to the table before she or Christina could say anything more.
When they reached the table, Noah saw that Jake and Alex weren’t alone.
“Wow, the whole gang is here!” he said, scanning the crowded table before giving his brother Jake a one-armed hug and thump on the back in greeting.
“We went to an early church service and decided to meet y’all for a nice, big family breakfast,” said an older man with a booming voice and handlebar mustache. He indicated the table of people with widespread arms before standing up to wrap Noah in a huge bear hug.
“Hi, Pops,” Noah said, hugging him back. “Let me introduce my friend, Maggie.”
Noah began working his way around the table. “This is my grandfather J.P., also known as Pops,” he said of the older man. “And his wife Tilly.” He indicated an elegant woman with a chic, snowy white bob and sparkling blue-gray eyes. “Of course, you remember Jake from high school.” His brother gave a nod of acknowledgment. “And this lovely lady is his wife, Alex.” The pretty, dark-haired woman sitting next to Jake smiled, her eyes were the same unique color as Tilly’s.
“It’s wonderful to meet you all!” Maggie said, then turned her attention to Alex. “You’re the one who referred Noah to me, right? I haven’t thanked you yet.”
“It was my pleasure!” Alex said with a smile. “I had a friend who used your service and had a great result.”
“That’s nice to hear!” Maggie’s face lit up.
“Hey, don’t forget this old lady over here!” laughed a woman seated at the far end of the table. She had a distinctive Southern drawl and bright red hair teased into a fluffy mound on her head.
“You are not old, Rita,” Noah said. “You’re classic.”
“Charmer! C’mere and gimme some sugars!” Rita rose to cradle Noah’s face in her hands; her fingernails were tipped with bright pink fluorescent polish. She planted a loud kiss on his cheek.
Noah returned to Maggie’s side. “Rita worked for my dad and Jake at Riley Development for years, but she’s now semi-retired and working part-time for me, handling admin for my marketing business.”
“It’s a blast! A big change from construction and development,” Rita said, then winked at Jake. “No offense, sugar.”
“None taken.” Jake grinned at her.
“Besides, Noah here is a lot less intense than your daddy,” she said.
“I can believe that,” Jake muttered. “Noah may have inherited Dad’s entrepreneurial spirit, but at least he understands the importance of not letting his business consume his life the way Dad does.”
“Okay, okay,” Noah said. “Let’s not overwhelm Maggie with all of our family drama right now.”
Boon rose from where he’d been lying at Jake’s feet to greet his old friends. He was closely followed by a friendly looking golden retriever and a small, fluffy white dog.
“Oops, forgot to introduce these guys! Maggie, this is Rex,” Noah said, introducing the retriever. “And this little angel is Angel,” he said, reaching down to pet the little white dog. “She belongs to our brother Wade and his wife. As you know they’re off on their honeymoon, so Jake and Alex are dog sitting.”
Maggie bent over to give the three dogs their due attention. “Hi there,” she said, scratching Boon behind a flopped over ear with one hand, and Rex with the other, then she leaned further down to pat Angel on the head. The bigger dogs pressed against her in immense joy at the attention, and she started to stumble backward from their combined weight.
“Rex, nien! Hier! Jake commanded, and the retriever instantly backed away from Maggie and returned to his side.