at my house."
Sam let Out a big sigh. "Rosa will be so relieved. I swear,
it's been keeping her awake at night, even though I kept
telling her everything would work out."
"Oh, that's so cool," said Cherise. "Your house would be
a great spot for a wedding."
Maggie smiled. "I can just imagine a bride coming down
our staircase." She didn't mention that the bride she used to
imagine was none other than herself, with Jed waiting down
below!
"Anyway, this is going to be the kitchen," said Cherise,
returning their attention to the little tour. "I want to keep it
sort of open to the rest of the room. The breakfast bar will
go right here. And over there, where the carpenter's
pounding, will be my bathroom."
"I love all these windows," exclaimed Maggie. "You can
actually see the mountains from up here."
"I know, isn't it great?" Then she led Maggie over to
where her bed was arranged, actually a futon, with a folding
floor screen to separate it from the rest of the room. "That's
my bedroom." She giggled. "Pretty campy, huh?" They went
to another corner where a purple leather sofa was situated
with a large painting of modern art hung behind it. An area
carpet with splashes of very bold colors was laid diagonally
across the pale wood floor, with several odd pieces of sixties-
style furniture placed at various angles. Surprisingly, the
overall effect was pleasant and interesting.
"Cherise, this is really fun," said Maggie. "It's very-
well, it's very L.A."
Cherise made a happy squeal. "That's exactly what I was
going for. Since you've actually lived in L.A., you must know
what you're talking about. Greg would never in a million
years let me do anything like this in our house. Everything
there had to go with navy blue and look traditionaL" She 206Melody Carlson
said that word in a deep voice that suggested very boring.
"For once in my life I just wanted to live in a space that was
light and airy and just plain fun!"
"Without a doubt, you've managed to accomplish that. I
really do like it."
y0~C,~he~rise~ looked intently into Maggie's face. "Do you think
come over here? Just to visit, I mean. You know,
not to work out, but just for the fun of it?"
"Sure, why not? I'd like to do that."
Cherise smiled triumphantly. "See! Greg never really
believed me, I mean, that you were my friend. Of course, I
know we're really different. You're all intellectual and smart
and stuff. And everyone thinks I'm this ditzy airhead. Greg
always used to say they made blonde jokes up about me."
"That wasn't very nice. And it's not true. Look at you,
Cherise, you run your own business, and it looks to me like