He smiled ruefully as he released her. ‘You don’t need to say anything because your face says it all. I can’t believe I actually said what I did that night. You must have thought I was the biggest jerk you’d ever met!’
Maggie felt the blush reach her hairline in two seconds flat. ‘Oh, well, you know,’ she muttered uncomfortably.
‘I do! Unfortunately.’ He laughed wryly. ‘It makes me cringe when I think about that night. My only excuse is that I had totally misread the situation. I hadn’t realised that you and I were in the same boat.’
‘What do you mean?’ She looked at him uncertainly but Robin arrived back with their drinks just then. He shook his head when Luke offered to let him have his seat back and moved to the other end of the table, squeezing into the space Angela had made for him. Everyone was discussing a film that had been on television that week; nobody seemed to be taking any notice of her and Luke. It lent a strange kind of intimacy to their conversation, a feeling heightened when he lowered his voice so that only she could hear what he was saying.
‘That your family is putting pressure on you to get married, like mine is. I heard what you said this afternoon and it was like a rerun of what’s been happening to me over the past few years. I can’t count the number of suitable women my mom has tried to fix me up with!’
Maggie couldn’t help laughing at the wealth of disgust in his voice. ‘It’s a nightmare, isn’t it? And the worst thing is that you feel so guilty about it. I mean, you don’t want to get married but somehow they make you feel that you’re letting them down.’
‘I know just what you mean.’ He picked up the chilled bottle of imported beer that Robin had bought him and took a swallow. ‘Mothers really know how to lay a guilt trip on you, don’t they? There’s all the little hints to begin with about how their friends’ children are getting married and how wonderful it must be to have a wedding to plan. Then things start to get really heavy and before you know it there’s the pointed comments about whether they’ll be too old to enjoy their grandchildren by the time they arrive…’
‘Or if they’ll still be around to see said grandchildren,’ Maggie put in, shaking her head in despair. ‘It’s an impossible situation, isn’t it? No matter how you try to explain that you’re perfectly happy the way you are, they don’t believe you. They think that we—and them—are missing out because we don’t want to get married.’
‘Exactly. I couldn’t have put it better myself. It’s so good to be able to talk to someone who understands, Maggie.’ He grinned crookedly. ‘Maybe it also means that you understand why I behaved like such an idiot when we met and can find it in your heart to forgive me?’
‘There’s nothing to forgive,’ she assured him, feeling her heart lift. It surprised her how pleased she felt to know why Luke had acted the way he had. She laughed when he offered her his hand.
‘Truce, then?’
‘Truce!’ she agreed, placing her hand in his. They let the matter drop after that, joining in the conversation as it flowed around the table. However, she couldn’t deny her relief that there was no longer any reason for her and Luke to be at loggerheads. Why she should be so pleased about the change in their relationship was hard to explain so she didn’t waste time worrying about it. Most likely it was because she hated being at odds with anyone.
They finished their drinks then moved on to the party. It wasn’t far to walk but Maggie was limping by the time they reached the house where her friends, Ruth and Greg, lived. The blister on her heel had broken and each step was pure torture as the sandal strap rubbed against it.
‘Are you OK?’ Luke put a steadying hand under her elbow when she stumbled as she made her way up the steps to the house.
She grimaced as she lifted her foot and showed him her heel. ‘A blister. I should never have worn these wretched sandals. I should have known they would rub.’
‘That looks really nasty. You’re going to need a dressing on it. Let’s see if Ruth has a first-aid kit and get you sorted out.’
‘Oh, I don’t want to be any trouble—’ she began, but he cut short her protests.
‘Doctor’s orders, Staff. No arguing, now,’ he said sternly but with a definite twinkle in his eyes.
Maggie laughed. ‘Oh, far be it from me to argue with you, Doctor.’
‘Well, that’s progress.’ His tone was wry as he helped her up the last step. ‘From what I overheard you saying this morning I didn’t think you would ever agree with anything I said.’
‘I’m sorry—’ she began
‘Only teasing.’ He held up his hand. ‘You had every right to say what you did. It wasn’t your fault that I made such a rotten impression when we met. However, that’s all in the past, isn’t it, Maggie? Let’s move on from there.’
She smiled, feeling her heart going pitter-patter inside her chest. Of course, it was relief at having ironed out their differences that caused it to react like that, she assured herself. But it was hard to believe that was the only reason so she didn’t dwell on it. ‘That sounds like a good idea to me, Luke. I’d like to think that you and I can be friends.’
He smiled but there was the strangest gleam in his eyes as he looked at her. ‘Friends it is, Maggie.’ He bent and kissed her lightly on the cheek then glanced round when there was a burst of exaggeratedly noisy coughing behind them.
‘I hate to butt in but Ruth wants to know what you two would like to drink,’ Angela announced with the biggest grin.
Maggie could feel herself blushing even though the kiss had been no more than a token to seal their new-found friendship. However, she knew that she would come in for a lot of teasing once the news got round that Luke had kissed her.
‘Would you tell Ruth that what we need more than a drink at the moment is a first-aid box?’ Luke appeared unfazed by Angela’s amusement but, then, why should it have upset him? Maggie thought. The kiss had meant nothing when all was said and done.
Her spirits plummeted although she had no idea why. It was a relief not to have to think about it when Angela immediately demanded to know why they needed first-aid equipment. Maggie showed her friend her heel then murmured her thanks when Angela offered to find her something to put on it.
Angela came back a few minutes later with a green plastic box and handed it to Luke. ‘Ruth said to tell you that there’s antiseptic in the bathroom cabinet as well if you need it.’ She glanced round as Robin called her. ‘Right, I’ll leave you to it, then. At least you two should know how to play doctors and nurses properly!’
There was no mistaking what she meant. Maggie shook her head in despair as the younger woman hurried away. ‘Trust Angela to come out with something like that. Sorry.’
‘Don’t worry about it. In fact, it’s given me an idea. But first things first—let’s get you sorted out before I tell you about my brainwave.’
Maggie had no idea what he was talking about. However, it was obvious that he had no intention of explaining until he’d attended to her heel. She slipped off her sandals and went upstairs in her bare feet to avoid making the blister any worse.
The bathroom was surprisingly large so that the
