up? Don't worry. I'll talk to him."
"You don't have to," I tell her. "We already talked."
"Oh."
From the corner of my eye, I see Triss walking towards the house. Maggie notices her, too.
"Is that...?"
"Triss," I call her.
She stops and turns but doesn't walk towards me. Is she feeling shy?
"This is Maggie." I gesture to her over my shoulder. "And Maggie, this is Triss. She and her daughter are staying under my roof."
Maggie walks towards Triss. "Wait a second. I've seen you before. No wonder Lara looked familiar."
"You've seen Lara?" I ask her.
She ignores me and points at Triss. "I saw you at the bus stop on the day I left town. You were the woman with the baby."
They've met before? Triss says nothing.
"You don't remember? I bumped into you and we talked for a bit." Maggie touches her scarf. "I was wearing this same scarf."
Triss nods. "Yes. I remember."
So they did meet. From the sound of it, Maggie was on her way out while Triss was on her way in. Maybe it was Maggie who told Ned about Triss. It makes sense.
"So Lara is your baby?" Maggie asks. "But I thought you said when we met that she wasn't."
"I'm sure you just misheard me," Triss says. "Or maybe I didn't hear your question right."
Maggie gives her a puzzled look.
"You probably caught Triss at a rough time," I say as I walk towards Triss. "She just came off the bus and she was tired."
Maggie turns to me. "And she's staying here now? With you?"
"Yes." I pat Triss's shoulder. "Would you like to join us for dinner? Triss put something in the slow cooker before we left this morning."
Maggie's eyebrows arch. "I didn't know you had a slow cooker."
"Neither did I. Well?"
She glances at Triss, then scratches the back of her head. "Yeah. Sure. I'd love to stay for dinner."
~
"Maybe I shouldn't have stayed for dinner," Maggie says an hour and a half later as we stand on the front porch. She wraps the scarf that was hanging over her shoulders around her neck and tucks her hands into the pockets of her jeans.
I look at her with creased eyebrows. "What makes you say that?"
"Because Triss wasn't happy to have me," she answers straightforwardly.
She wasn't? She didn't seem to be acting strange to me, apart from the fact that she wasn't talking much.
"She was just tired," I say. "But I'm sure she was happy to meet you. Again."
Maggie sighs. "Antonio Woods. You're as dense as ever."
"What?"
She meets my gaze. "Are you sure about letting her stay at your house?"
"Your brother asked me the same thing and I gave him the same answer - Yes."
"You don't even know her."
"I do now."
Her eyes narrow. "You're sleeping with her, aren't you?"
"It's none of your business, Maggie," I tell her seriously.
She snorts. "You think I'm still a child, don't you? Well, I'm not. I'm a woman now, and I can tell if another woman only means trouble. I'm telling you, Triss isn't who you think she is. She's - "
"That's enough," I cut her off.
I don't believe this. I thought she would at least understand me, accept Triss. But she's acting like she's still seven.
"I'm not the teenage boy you used to follow around, either," I tell Maggie. "I know what I'm doing. You don't have to worry about me."
She sighs. "If only it was that simple."
As her shoulders droop, a lump forms in my throat. She may be a woman now, but she's still Ned's little sister - and mine. Maybe I was a bit too harsh on her.
I place my hand on her shoulder and speak softly. "I've told you before and I'll tell you again. You don't owe me anything."
Maggie turns her head to look up at me. "I hope you're right, Antonio, because if I find out she's making a fool out of you, I'll never forgive her."
She walks away, her back straight and strong. When did she grow up?
I let out a sigh. If only she'd grown out of her stubbornness, too. But I guess some things never change.
I go back inside. I find Triss washing dishes in the kitchen sink.
"Where's Sally?" I ask her.
"Putting Lara to sleep upstairs."
I grab a sponge. "Let me help..."
"I'm fine," Triss cuts me off. "I'm almost done anyway."
True, I realize as I glance over her shoulder.
"Did Maggie leave already?" she asks.
"Yes. She told me to thank you for the wonderful dinner."
"Did she?" Triss narrows her eyes at me.
I'm confused. First, Maggie was making Triss sound like