Bayou Christmas (Cypress Cove #2) - Suzanne Jenkins Page 0,13
away, avoiding any goodbye hugs. She felt guilty that she was resisting more with Kelly, but how much was expected? Right now wasn’t a great time to be jumping into any relationships. She felt like everyone had too much drama. Even the incident with Johanna made her weary. Was that going to cause an issue between Justin and Steve, who had been lifelong acquaintances?
The temptation was to confront Justin about it and offer her advice. They’d never had that kind of confrontation yet, where she thought he should respond differently than he was. Was it within her boundaries as his girlfriend? She’d feel it out. After leaving the rescue, she crossed the street to Spencer’s, and her phone beeped with a text from Annie.
You free? Call me, please.
She hit the call button. “Hey, how’s work?”
“I’m home,” she said. “I’m watching you.”
Annie and Steve lived in the apartment above Casson’s Hardware, and Maggie looked up to see Annie hiding behind a curtain.
“Are you okay?”
“No. Can you come up?”
“Of course. I just dogged Kelly though, so I’ll have to sneak.”
“Come around to the side entrance,” she said.
Looking over her shoulder, it didn’t appear Kelly was watching, so Maggie dove between the grocery and hardware stores and opened the private entrance door. Climbing the steps, she looked up to see Annie waiting at the top of the stairs.
“You’re never going to believe this.”
“What’s wrong?” Maggie asked, worried. “Is the baby okay?”
She smoothed her hands across her little belly. “She’s fine. I got fired.”
“What? How’s that possible?”
“The entire office was terminated. They claim the state budget didn’t allow for a social services office in our parish, so they are going to have social workers from Orleans parish cover all the cases here.”
“That’s ridiculous! This is one of the poorest parishes in Louisiana. What’s going to happen to all the cases?”
“I have no idea. All I know is that I have to find something else to do pronto so we can pay the COBRA, or I’m not going to have any health insurance when this baby comes along.”
“Annie, I’ll pay for your insurance. I was going to offer to pay anyway, but I was worried Steve would get his nose out of joint.”
Annie took hold of Maggie’s arm and pulled her into the apartment before she embraced her and began to cry. They didn’t say anything, but stayed in each other’s arms for a while. When she was finished for the time being, Annie let go and led the way into the kitchen for a paper towel to blow her nose.
“I can’t be proud right now,” she said. “I accept your offer.”
Maggie had a big bank account due to a cheatin’ husband paying up out of guilt. Asking him for a dime had never occurred to her, but when he gave it to her, she knew it would come in handy. And after Annie got pregnant, Maggie had told Justin in confidence that she would do what she could for her friend. Now that it was upon them, she’d make good on that promise and, doing so, felt at peace. It was what money was for. That and animals!
“Okay, now that my healthcare is taken care of, what were you doing at Kelly’s?”
“She called and asked if I could help take cats to the two vets, so I did. Evidently, she’s involved with Ted LeBlanc, but you didn’t hear it from me.”
“You mean Ted LeBarf. We know all about it. It’s supposed to be such a big friggin’ secret, but he’s all she can talk about at Sunday dinner. I think my mother-in-law sees a pot of gold if Kelly marries the wealthy vet.”
“Is he wealthy?” Maggie asked, the memory of his smug chat still fresh.
“Oh yeah, the LaBarfs are loaded. Old money.”
“No amount of money could make that man attractive to me.”
“Tell me about it! Anyway, I guess I’m going to have to start working in the hardware. Can you just say ugh with me?”
“Ugh,” they chorused, then laughed out loud.
“Maybe something more in tune to your experience will come up. Like something over at the community center.”
“You mean with the homeless guys? No thanks. I’m more of a foster family social worker.”
“Christmas is coming. We have four weeks.”
“I can’t even think of it now. Somehow I have to tell Steve about my job.”
“How will he take it? He seems so easygoing.”
“He really is, almost to a fault. He’ll just say it will work out.”
But that wasn’t exactly the whole truth, and Annie wasn’t