went upstairs for something." He set the rag by the sink and
moved closer to Maggie. "I had a wonderful time today.
Thank you for everything."
She smiled as he reached to push a stray strand of hair
from her cheek. Then his hand lingered on her shoulder, his
fingers gently kneading, sending little electrical currents
down her arm and up her neck.
"It's like Michael said," she said quietly, "we are like a
family..."
His face moved close to hers. "A very happy family," he
whispered. Then his lips brushed hers, first lightly, then
developing into a full kiss that left her heart fluttering and
her legs as limp as spaghetti.
"I found it!" called Leah as she burst into the kitchen,
holding a rumpled photo in her hand. But she stopped in her 72Melody Carlson
tracks when she saw them together, and then her eyes grew
dark and stony. "Sorry. I didn't know you-"
"It's okay," said Maggie, quickly pulling herself from
Jed's embrace, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
"What do you have there?"
"Nothing!" snapped Leah as she turned and left the
kitchen, loudly thumping back up the stairs.
"Oh, dear," moaned Maggie. "And just when I thought
things were getting so much better."
Except for a trace of sadness, Jed's face was unreadable
now. "It's all my fault," he said finally. "I hate hurting her
like this. But I don't know what to do about-" He stopped
himself and looked down at Maggie. "This is so frustrating.
I just need to take some time to figure everything Out. It's not
fair to anyone."
She didn't know what to say. On one hand, she wanted
to say, "Forget about Leah, and kiss me again!" but that
would be immature and selfish on her part. And on the other
hand, she hated seeing Leah hurt and longed for their rela-
tionship to return to normal-and she'd felt so hopeful only
minutes ago.
"It's getting late," he said. "I'm sorry about all this,
Maggie. It's certainly not what I'd planned..."
"It's okay. It's not your fault," she said automatically. But
she wondered which part he was sorry about. Was it the
interruption or the kiss?
aggie did a double take when she saw Clyde
~f// seated all by himself at the back of the church. He
wore an old suit jacket that looked like it might
have survived the Great Depression, and in his lap his old
fingers nervously rotated a black felt hat. Maggie had never
seen Clyde in church before, and she smiled warmly as she
slipped into the pew next to him, followed by her mother
and then Spencer dumping in awkwardly with his crutches
rattling against the bench. Meanwhile Leah went off,
Maggie felt sure, to search for Jed.