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“Did any of them read the book?”
“Yes.” Penny stuck her tongue out at Cal. Her love and determination of book clubs was a running joke in the family. Penny considered herself to be a book club matchmaker.
“Did you hear back from her publicist?” Maggie asked. Penny spent a good deal of time reaching out to authors and their publicists, hoping to add Get Lost to their book tours. Nothing usually came of it, but Penny insisted it was worth it because of the additional revenue and exposure it brought to them.
“We got a nicely written rejection email last week. So sincere and heartfelt I taped it to the wall.”
“Maybe that’s why you got the extra books,” Bash said.
“That’s not how this usually works,” Penny explained, as if speaking to a child. Cal’s eyebrows raised, and he had the same disappointed look on his face that she’d seen on her parents and grandparents when she and her siblings had acted poorly. They were embarrassing him. For his sake, she’d attempt to be pleasant. Penny should have paid attention to her own play-nice lecture, Maggie thought as she took a deep breath.
“Do you need a break?” Lucas asked, looking as cool as a cucumber with nary a wavy hair out of place or sweat on his perfect brow. Maggie didn’t know how her hair looked, and she was breathing heavier than normal. Because we’re walking uphill, she told herself. But she didn’t need a break. She could keep up with him just fine.
“No, thank you. How was your practice today?” she asked, remembering her new vow to be better for Cal’s sake.
“Good. Hard. The coaches are pushing us more since opening day is getting closer.”
“And they keep adding plays to the playbook, which doesn’t help,” Bash said.
“Is that just x’s and o’s or do you need to read words, too?” Penny asked sweetly.
Bash snorted. “Words and diagrams. And for the record, I know how to read more than a playbook.” Cal led them off the paved trail to the more challenging one used by the locals. They walked in single file up the rooted trail. The rocks, the reason for her bike shorts, loomed in front of them.
It was a steep, two-step, natural stone staircase, but even with her height, Maggie struggled with it. Penny usually sat her butt on the next level and then turned around to stand up. Maggie used her knees to lift herself up. It wasn’t elegant or pretty, but it got the job done.
Cal was at the top, looking down at them. “Is he part mountain goat?” Lucas asked.
“Part mountain goat and part ass,” Maggie said, and the four of them laughed.
“All goat, big sister.” Cal was not the greatest of all time, but she wasn’t going to pop her baby brother’s delusional bubble.
Bash scrambled up ahead of Penny and she followed with her butt maneuver. “Clever,” Lucas said. “I always feel sorry for the shorties in the world.”
“Penny’s not short.”
“Well, she isn’t tall like us.” He smiled at her, and for a moment she felt special, but then she remembered who she was dealing with. She didn’t want to be next to him, but she had to play nice. Stuck between a rock and a hard place and from the look of his body, there are plenty of hard places. Maggie fanned herself, willing Penny to move faster so she could end her current circle of hell. Bash held his hand out to Penny as she reached the top. From her slight hesitation, Maggie knew she didn’t want the help from Bash, but he nodded encouragingly at her. Penny huffed and gave him her hand, and Bash pulled her up next to them.
“Our turn.” Lucas bent forward and cupped his hands. “Put your foot in and I’ll give you a boost.” Maggie looked from his hand to the three sets of eyes staring at them.
“Come on, Mags. We’re losing daylight,” Cal said.
“I promise I don’t bite,” Lucas said, smiling up at her.
“Fine.” Maggie placed her foot in his hands and her hands on the rock’s ledge. His quick boost made it easy for her to scramble onto the rock. She moved to the side and waited for him to join her.
“Again?” he asked.
“Yes, please.” She liked that he hadn’t made her ask. Maybe Penny was right, and he had changed. They repeated it and on the last one, Bash held his hand down to her. Between Lucas’s push and Bash’s pull, she practically flew to the top. She glared at Cal as she caught her breath.
“What?” he asked, wiping his face on shirtsleeve.
“At least someone has manners. Thank you, Bash, and Lucas,” she added as he joined them.
“It wasn’t a matter of manners, which I have, but practicality. You’ve both been doing this for years. I don’t know what the hell Bash was thinking by offering, and Lucas is stronger than me.” Cal stepped back and held up his hands as if to show he’d meant no harm. Seriously? He’d called her heavy and old in front of two very attractive men. Men she didn’t like, but still, who does that?
“Yes, thank you, Bash,” Penny said, cutting Maggie off from saying something to Cal she might regret.
“Well, you both seem more than capable, so maybe I should thank you for letting me help,” Bash said, sounding about as uncomfortable as Penny looked.
