take him. Whoever had wanted him apparently didn’t any longer, as they hadn’t contacted me.
“Have you talked to Nate yet?”
I’d told her about Kevin, and while I hadn’t said anything about Nate, she wasn’t stupid. I shook my head. How could I miss him so much? I hadn’t figured that one out yet.
“Why not?”
I set my glass in the sink. “Not sure what to say, I guess.” “How about you’re sorry for upsetting him, but nothing happened between you and Kevin. Tell him the truth. You care about him, and you’re not dating anyone else.” Maddie pointed at me. “You’re going to stay unhappy until you deal with it.”
“I am not dating anyone else, but I’m fairly sure Nate is. So, what’s the best that can happen? He accepts my apology and kindly informs me he’s involved with someone else?” I shook my head again. “It would suck, and I’d be putting myself in the line of fire. Not doing it.”
“You owe him an apology, if nothing else. You should have seen him that night, Liz. He was totally freaked out. I’m not so sure he is involved with anyone, because he definitely looked like a man who had feelings.” She paused a moment. “For you.”
Hope bubbled up, but I quashed it. I knew what I’d seen, and the expression on Nate’s face when he’d looked at the red-haired woman had been filled with love. I’d bet money on it. “No. You’re wrong. I wish to God you weren’t, but you are.”
“Well, you’ll never know for sure unless you take a stab at it.” She winked. “You could always whip up something magical.”
“No, that’s what got me into this in the first place. I don’t want to be with anyone because of a spell.” I mean, there wasn’t any doubt now. That amazing night on the couch? Yep, it had to be the result of the banana muffins. Only, for me, everything I’d felt was real.
Too real.
“Yeah, I get that. I was joking, anyway.”
Wanting to change the subject, I asked, “You want some cookies? I baked them yesterday.”
She looked at me like I was crazy. “Don’t get me wrong, but, um . . . I’m a little wary of eating anything you bake at this point.”
I stuck my tongue out at her. “No reason to be. The cookies are clean,” I teased. “Word of honor.” I hesitated. “But there is something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about. I think I should bake you something new—”
“Absolutely not. I’m not going through that mess again,” she interjected.
“Just listen to me before you say no. I’m thinking it might be smart to bake something to take off the effects of all the other spells. You know—just to be sure. I don’t want you getting so miserable again.”
She shook her head. “I’m feeling terrific. I don’t want to screw with that. You fixed what ever was wrong, so let’s just leave it alone.”
“Are you sure?” It made me happy to get something right, but I didn’t want to leave anything to chance.
“I’m positive. But if I start feeling weird again, I’ll let you know. Deal?”
“That works. Just don’t wait too long if you think something has changed. Promise?”
“I promise.” Then, she checked her watch. “I need to take off. Spencer will be here soon, and I bought a gift for his parents I want to wrap.” She put her glass in the sink and gave me a hug. “Try to have a nice evening. Take a bubble bath, read a book, relax. It’s the weekend, ya know?”
After Maddie left, I roamed around my apartment, not sure what I wanted to do. I briefly considered going to see a movie on my own, but it didn’t appeal enough to put forth any real energy.
Switching on the TV, I sat on the far corner of the couch, where I couldn’t see the snake. Boredom clawed at me. It had been a while since I’d sat there, alone, on the weekend.
On a whim, I ran to the kitchen and tried phoning Jon and Andy, thinking they might want to hang out, only no one answered. I thought about calling Kevin but couldn’t do it. It wouldn’t be right. Not yet. Maybe in a few months we’d become hang-out buddies. And then, I noticed my answering machine was blinking its new message light, so I pushed the button.
“Betty, it’s me. Give me a call back. On my cell.”
BEEP.
“Hey Betty, it’s me again. Still waiting for your