Macy wasn’t going to think about her feelings for Deacon, their even deeper rift, or the fact that she’d seen him at an oyster roast in the country with Penelope and then again at a big holiday party at Mrs. Beauchamp’s house. She’d acknowledged them both with a polite greeting but never lingered long enough to carry on a conversation.
“How are you?” Greer asked her after they’d hung the last streamer from the ceiling of the Green Room. The Toys for Tots party was the following day.
“Fine,” Macy said. She was now officially unassigned from Deacon’s file, which was labeled inactive. They didn’t expect him back at Two Love Lane, but if he decided to ask for any advice at all, Greer was his new point of contact.
Macy and Deacon were beyond done. He’d been a holiday fling, a fun guy with a great personality who was gorgeous and amazing in bed.
What more could a girl ask for in a fling?
She couldn’t expect commitment. Nor could she expect the man to guess that they were made for each other. Good sex made one tend to forget everything but the present moment.
But the present moment is everything, a voice in her head said.
What she felt in the present moment with Deacon was all she needed to know that he was The One for her.
Too bad he hadn’t seen it too.
“Maybe Penelope’s a distraction until Deacon goes back to New York,” said Miss Thing.
“Or maybe she’s his soulmate.” As a matchmaker, Macy should be happy that one of her former clients might be making a romantic connection.
But she wasn’t. She was depressed.
“Remember, we tell our clients they have to stand up for love,” Ella said.
“They have to claim it,” Miss Thing added.
“I remember.” Macy gave a feeble shrug. She didn’t care how mopey she looked. She was mopey. “But I don’t know that I want to take that risk. I practically begged him to tell me why he kept pursuing me, and he said we were friends. And he really liked me. And the sex was good. End of story.”
All of them exchanged gloomy glances.
“At least the sex—” Miss Thing started to say, but at the looks Ella, Macy, and Greer threw her, she thought better of it.
There was a knock on the Green Room door. It was Louisa.
“Come on in.” Macy was always glad to see her.
Louisa burst into the room, completely changing the energy. “Howdy, everyone!”
They returned her greeting just as warmly, although inside Macy knew they were only putting on a good act.
Louisa gazed around at the festive scene. “This looks terrific.”
“Thank you.” Miss Thing blew her a kiss.
“My, oh, my…” Louisa kept looking. And looking. At the same old decorations they used every year.
Macy began to wonder why she was there.
“Can we help you with something, Louisa?” Ella finally asked.
Their visitor swung around to face Macy—a little dramatically, Macy thought. But Louisa was always dramatic. So Macy wasn’t particularly worried, although in the back of her mind, she still felt guilty about what she and Deacon had done in Louisa’s bedroom.
“I have to ask you something, Macy.” Louisa’s eyes narrowed the slightest bit.
A smidgeon of alarm arose in Macy’s breast. “Go ahead.” She adjusted all the Christmas cards on the mantel. Surely, she looked breezy and innocent.
Louisa held up a business card. “Did you leave this in my bedroom? When you went to look at my flatiron that night I skipped out on Yo-Yo Ma? The night I was supposed to be on a date with Deacon Banks?”
Macy instantly recognized the logo as Deacon’s company, and her pulse picked up, sounding like a drum in her ears. The card must have fallen out of Deacon’s wallet when he’d looked for a condom.
“Macy?”
Macy took the card. “It belongs to Deacon.”
“I’m aware of that,” Louisa said. “But I sure as hell didn’t think he’d have any reason to be in my house.”
Macy’s mind was spinning. What should she say? “It must have fallen out of my purse.”
That was lame, and she knew it. But she wasn’t good at sneaking around, not to mention lying, except maybe to herself.
Louisa looked at her oddly. “Why, pray tell, would I have found this card under my bureau?”
Macy couldn’t help a nervous laugh. “I was nosy. I peeked in your room and saw those three tricycles. They were so cute.”
Louisa smiled. “They are. But you haven’t explained why you’d be opening your purse in my room.”
“To answer a call.” Macy’s voice came out as a squeak.
Her colleagues were silent. She could hear people laughing up at Roastbusters. Another Christmas carol played, and it just didn’t seem right to hear it, not when there was so much stress in the room.
Louisa’s expression was almost sad. “Why do I think you might be lying to me? Aren’t we friends?”
“Yes, of course.” Macy sat down on a chair and put her head in her hands. “I am lying, Louisa.” She looked up. “I took Deacon with me. To the house. He knew I was worried about you ditching him with so little explanation, and he probably felt guilty. That’s the truth.”
Louisa didn’t blink. “But he was upstairs, why?”
“Because I saw the tricycles. I thought they were adorable. So I called him upstairs to see them. I’m so sorry we invaded your privacy. I thought you wouldn’t mind since we’re friends.”
Louisa still didn’t look happy. “I don’t mind. We are friends. But it’s still … weird that his card wound up under my bureau. Did you really have a phone call?”
Macy had to own her feelings. All of them. The bad ones about her family that she’d ignored for so long. The good feelings about Deacon. She had to be honest. She’d always felt the most at peace when she stuck with the truth. It had been a long time since she had.
Silently, she told her nerves to take a hike.
“The truth is,” she said to Louisa, “everything started off innocently enough. But Deacon and I got into a conversation. A very deep one that those tricycles inspired. And we—”
She couldn’t go on.
“Don’t tell me y’all had sex on my bed.” Louisa drew back as if a tiger were about to pounce on her.
Macy shook her head. “On the floor.”
Louisa’s face paled beneath her discreet spray tan. “And this happened the night you’d set him up with me?”
Macy nodded slowly. “I know. I was extremely unprofessional. I’m really sorry. I don’t deserve your trust.”
Her colleagues gathered around them both.
Louisa laughed. She laughed until she cried. She had to sit on the floor, she was so weak from it.
No one else said a word. Macy tried. She wracked her brain. But all she could think to say, she already had.
“Oh, Lord.” Louisa looked up at them. “If this doesn’t beat all. Our plan not only worked—it went way beyond anything I’d ever envisioned. You two got down and dirty in my bedroom! You in a long gown and Deacon in a tux!”
Macy fingered her signet ring. “I’m truly sorry, Louisa. I never meant to sleep with Deacon that night, much less fall in love with him.” Tears pricked her lids and a sob choked her throat, but she refused to cry. She didn’t want Louisa or any of her other friends to think she was making a bid for sympathy. “I deserve your censure, and if you don’t want to remain friends, I understand.”
Louisa waved a hand at her. “Oh, shush. I’m more annoyed with myself than you.”
“You shouldn’t be,” Macy said. “What about? Surely not the flat iron. Everyone leaves those on by accident—or think they do.”
Louisa laughed. “I’m not mad about the flat iron. I’m annoyed because I did something really dumb. And selfish.”
What? What had she done? Macy was dying to know. So, apparently, were Ella, Greer, and Miss Thing. Their mouths were frozen halfway open.
“Wh-What did you do, Louisa?” Macy asked.
Her friend released a gusty sigh. “I told you I had a crush on an unavailable guy. Remember? At the mayor’s party.”
“Yes.” Macy remembered the conversation well.
Louisa exhaled a breath. “I never planned on telling a soul who that guy is. But I think I will today. It’s Celia’s husband Walter, of all people. I’ve been in love with him for years.”
“Are you kidding me?” cried Miss Thing.
Macy wanted to express a similar sentiment but held back. So did Greer and Ella.
“I’m not kidding.” Louisa made one of her comic faces. “It’s so ridiculous! He’s not even fun. Or great-looking. He’s just super smart, and he turns me on like no one else I’ve ever met.”
Miss Thing loved being let in on delicious secrets. “We can’t understand how or why Cupid strikes,” she soothed Louisa, “so give yourself a break.”
“What Miss Thing said.” Macy’s temple pounding with stress. This was all so strange.
Louisa shook her head. “I set up a stupid plan. I knew Celia was infatuated with Deacon. So when Penelope asked me if I’d be willing to help Deacon win you over and I found out his plans for that night, I was like, I can use this to my advantage! While you two were with Celia at the concert, I’d make a play for Walter. He was in Myrtle Beach at a medical convention. I knew where he was staying and everything. So I went up there. I lied to you when you called to check on me. I didn’t meet up with an old friend who’d come to town. I headed to Myrtle Beach.”
“You did?”
“Yes. And I didn’t feel guilty because I was doing Deacon this really nice favor. Like the bad would be canceled out by the good.” She snorted. “That was dumb logic. But I was horny for Walter. Madly in love too. You know how that goes.”
“Yes, I do,” said Macy. “I’m not gonna lie.” She was reeling from Louisa’s revelation, but she’d be a hypocrite if she acted too shocked. What people did for love wasn’t always right or smart, but often they did it anyway.
“You were so funny on the phone,” Louisa said, “how worried you were about me!”
Macy remembered how close Deacon had stood to her on Louisa’s front doorstep. “I felt like something wasn’t right.”
“Your gut was on target,” Louisa said.
“I honestly thought Celia had somehow intimidated you into not coming to Yo-Yo Ma, so she could be with Deacon and sabotage my matchmaking plans at the same time.”
Louisa laughed. “Really? Poor Celia.”
“I know,” said Macy. “I’m ashamed of myself.”
“Well, if she weren’t all over Deacon, then you never would have jumped to that conclusion,” said Greer.
“What ever happened with Walter?” Ella asked.
“He was completely uninterested,” Louisa said. “I don’t think he even understood what I was trying to do—seduce his ass. Meanwhile, I still held out hope that Celia would somehow move in on Deacon eventually. She’s Fran Banks’ social consultant. She’s at her condo a lot.”
“She does drop in,” Macy said. “But I get the feeling Deacon’s not exactly fond of her.”
Louisa chuckled. “How many people really are?”
No one said a word. It seemed kinder not to.
“Can you forgive me, Louisa, for my professional and personal lapse—sleeping with a client in your bedroom?” Macy asked.
Louisa looked sheepish. “I felt a little guilty worrying you like that at the concert. But karma’s a bitch. Look what happened when I tried to do something sneaky. Two people going at it on my bedroom floor, and I’m not even one of them.”
“Oh, Louisa!” Macy laughed and got down on the floor. “You’re so funny. Your time will come, I know it.”
Louisa threw her arm around her shoulder. “I thought Walter Waterford was destined to be mine if I wanted him enough. But clearly he’s not. I think he really does love Celia, even though she doesn’t appreciate him.”
They gave each other a long hug.
“Let’s celebrate what we do have,” Macy said. “Good friends are important.”
“Cheers to that,” said Louisa.
After six bottles of champagne and lots of dancing to their favorite songs in the Green Room, the five of them were feeling pretty good.
“To friendship,” Miss Thing said for the umpteenth time, and took a large swallow from her vintage champagne saucer glass. “This is sho much better than a flute. You have to pinch your mouth up like a guppy to get anything from one of those. But this saucer glass”—she demonstrated by taking another large swallow—“ish perfect.”
They all laughed.
“Good thing no one has to drive home.” Ella threw her arm around Miss Thing.
Home.
Now every time Macy walked into her bedroom, she’d think of Deacon being there. She’d remember how whole she felt when they were making love, how happy she’d been.
She started crying. Big buckets of tears. “I’m s-sad,” she managed to say, “about Deacon.”
“Oh, baby!” all of them said at once. Or words to that effect. And hugged her close.
“I understand why things don’t work out sometimes.” Macy hiccupped and gulped. “Honestly, I do. But I think I might have ruined everything. I-I’ve always been scared to fall in love. But I never told you why.”
So she did. She told them about walking into her den one day after school, when her father and mother were usually at work and she was usually at piano lessons or tennis, and seeing her father kissing Celia’s mother. Both of them were only half-dressed. Neither one of them saw her.
“They were too … well, you know, involved,” said Macy. Miss Thing handed her a tissue, and she wiped her eyes.
Ella patted her back. “How awful for you. And you’ve been holding it in all these years?”
“I never told anyone but my sister,” Macy said, “and she said we should keep it a secret. Somehow Mom figured it out, though, and she and Dad fixed things. But that year … I remember I couldn’t breathe. Now I know it’s because I was so stressed and scared.”
Macy was never good with drinking a lot. And her tears had been buried too long. If they were going to come out, along with that long-held secret, she was really glad they did with these women.
Ten minutes later, in the mirror, her face was beet red and her eyes were swollen. “How am I going to be able to act as a hostess at the Toys for Tots party in the morning?”
“The schwelling will go down,” said Miss Thing, who got too close to her face to observe it. “Ish bad right now.”
“Great.” Macy sighed.
“Don’t listen to Miss Thing,” Ella said. “You can put cucumbers or tea bags on your eyes before the party if you need to. I’ve got some really awesome herbal tea bags in my office. Let’s put a couple on right now.”
Everyone followed her. She turned on the light in her office and went rummaging through her desk.
“What’s this?” Miss Thing was at one of Ella’s bookcases. A beautiful coffee table book of Charleston was displayed, front cover out.
“Oh, I got that from a client for Christmas,” Ella said. “It’s lovely.”
Miss Thing picked it up. And then she promptly dropped it on the floor.
In the rush to pick it up, Greer and Miss Thing bumped heads.
“Ouch,” they both said at once.
Miss Thing rubbed her scalp. Greer sat in Ella’s chair. The chair rolled gently backward and landed with a thud against the wall. Greer chuckled and spun it around with her feet. Then she pushed against the baseboard to get the chair back to its original position at the desk.
While she was rolling back, the baseboard swung open about two inches.
“You kicked it too hard,” said Louisa.
But Macy had a feeling. Her heart started racing. “Ella—”
“Oh my God.” Ella put her hand to her heart. “Something precious,” she whispered.
Sure enough, her nonna had been right. A treasure, they soon found, was hidden behind that baseboard. There was a fresh round of tears, happy ones. This time even Louisa cried. She was enthralled by the whole story.
“Before we all leave tonight, let’s run up the street to Roastbusters to celebrate,” said Greer. “Peppermint cocoa for everyone. My treat. Macy, we’ll hide you in the corner with your extra puffy eyes and bring you yours.”
“You’d better hide me too,” said Miss Thing. “I’m shitfaced. But I’m glad I dropped that book.”
Everyone laughed. Miss Thing was quite ridiculous, and they loved that about her.
“Andy knows just how to make my cocoa,” Macy said.
And he did. He made it perfectly, with the cherry on top. Everyone razzed Macy about it. But not Andy. He only winked. She felt very loved when she walked home that night—very loved and very excited.
The treasure … the precious treasure. It had been found!