Читать книгу A Match for the Single Dad - GINA WILKINS - Страница 7

Carrying a large box of red, white and blue decorations she’d retrieved from an upstairs storage room, Maggie descended the stairs carefully into the lobby of the main building later Monday afternoon. She could have used the small elevator they’d installed last year for her grandparents, but it was such a habit to take the stairs that she’d started down without considering how much the box limited her vision. She was almost to the bottom when she missed a step with her foot. Had her reflexes not been quicker, she might well have taken a tumble.

Someone took the box from her hands from below. She blinked in surprise when she saw Garrett standing there, frowning. Even his stern expression looked too darned appealing for her peace of mind, never mind what his rare full smiles did to her.

“You very nearly fell,” he chided, bringing her attention back to the moment.

“Guess I got in a hurry,” she replied, “but I caught myself.”

“I was prepared to catch you if you didn’t.”

A sudden image of herself cradled in Garrett’s strong arms made her momentarily regret her own quick reflexes.

“Where do you want this?”

Ordering herself to stop being so foolish, she motioned toward the reception desk to her left. “Just set it in the corner behind the desk. We’re decorating tomorrow for the holiday weekend and I was just bringing down some of the supplies.”

Nodding to Rosie Aguilar, who manned the reception desk most weekdays since Maggie’s sister had married and moved to Dallas, Garrett set the big box in a back corner. “Do you have any more to bring down? I can help.”

“Thanks, but no. That’s the only one for now.” She glanced around the lobby, expecting to see members of his family. Though a few guests mingled in the large open room that was decorated with lush greenery, shiny trophy fish mounted on wooden plaques and displays of antique fishing lures, she saw no sign of Garrett’s daughters.

The reception desk lay straight ahead of the big double-entry doors. To the right upon entering was the Chimes Grill, done in red-and-chrome vintage diner style, and to the left the convenience store stocked with basic groceries, some prepared foods and fishing and camping supplies. Maggie’s aunt Sarah ran the grill, whereas the store was her mom’s domain. Neither was particularly busy on this Monday afternoon, though a few early dinner guests were seated in the diner. The back of the main building housed the marina that was her uncle C.J.’s domain, which included a bait shop, marine gas pump, fishing pier, boat slips and fish-cleaning station.

“Where are the girls?”

“Back at the cabin,” Garrett replied. “We were getting things ready to grill hamburgers for dinner when I realized that we forgot to bring the buns I bought specifically for this trip. Apparently, they’re sitting on the kitchen counter back at my house. I figured it would be easier to come into the store to buy some more rather than to drive back home. I’d just walked in when I saw you almost take the header down the stairs.”

She waved a hand toward the glass walls of the convenience store. “We happen to stock a good supply of hamburger and hot dog buns. Mom will help you with whatever you need.”

He shook his head in self-recrimination. “Can’t believe I forgot the buns I bought. It got a little hectic when we were leaving, with both girls wanting to bring a ridiculous amount of stuff, so I ended up leaving behind something we actually needed.”

She smiled. “At least it was something easily replaced.”

“Yeah.” His gaze seemed to linger for a moment on her mouth. And then he raised his eyes to hers. “If you don’t already have plans for dinner, maybe you’d like to join us? The girls would love having you. Kix has been asking about you all day.”

She hesitated a moment, reminding herself that she would be seeing the girls for birthday cake the next evening, which should probably be enough interaction with them—but then she heard words pop out of her mouth. “That sounds like fun, if you’re sure there’s enough.”

Garrett laughed, such a nice sound that she wished she could hear it more often. “Trust me, there will be plenty. My mom doesn’t believe in cooking just a small amount of anything.”

“Then sure, why not? My book club canceled this evening’s meeting, so I’m available. What time?”

“Come now if you’re finished for the day,” he suggested. “My grandmother likes to eat early, so I’ll start cooking the burgers as soon as I’m back at the cabin. Won’t take long to have them ready.”

“I’ll put away a few things and meet you in the store.”

Garrett was paying for bags of sesame-seed hamburger buns when she rejoined him. She plucked ajar of organic squash pickles off a shelf to take along, showing it to her mother, who nodded and made a note of the purchase. The pickles were made and distributed by a local grower and were a popular item in the resort store. It was the least Maggie could contribute to the meal, since she didn’t have time to make anything.

Garrett had walked from the cabin, but Maggie drove him back in one of the ubiquitous green resort golf carts. “So … book club, huh?” he asked on the way.

She grinned. “Well, it’s more girlfriends-getting-together-to-drink-wine-eat-ridiculously-high-calorie-desserts-and-dish-gossip club, but we think ‘book club’ sounds more intellectual.”

Garrett laughed. “Good call.”

“Yeah, we thought so.”

“What else do you do when you aren’t working?”

“I try to make it to the gym a few times a week for Zumba classes, and go out to clubs with friends sometimes on weekends for karaoke or dancing. Single life. You know.”

He grimaced wryly. “I hardly remember single life. Married too young, spent most of my life in the military, now a full-time dad. You know.”

She couldn’t say she knew his life any more than he did hers. Another reminder of how little they had in common, she told herself somberly.

“I should probably warn you that Payton’s mad at me,” Garrett mentioned as she parked in the driveway of cabin six. “She was barely speaking to me when I left. Maybe I had an ulterior motive inviting you to join us for dinner. She’ll be on her best behavior for you.”

Maggie smiled sympathetically. “What did you do to get in trouble with her?”

“She met a couple of teenage brothers hanging around the tennis and basketball court this afternoon. She said their name was Ferguson—Trevor and Drake Ferguson. They started talking while I was shooting hoops with Kix. They invited her to meet them down at the lake tonight to ‘look at the stars.’” He made ironic quotation marks with his fingers as he spoke the phrase. “Needless to say, I told her she wasn’t meeting a couple of strange boys by herself at night. She hasn’t spoken to me since, other than to mutter about how I keep treating her like a baby.”

Maggie didn’t know all the guests registered at the resort at any particular time, of course, but she was passingly familiar with most of the occupants of the motel and cabins. Especially repeat visitors. “I know the family. Wayne and Melanie Alexander and her sons, Trevor and Drake Ferguson. They’re in cabin two, over by the motel. They’ve stayed with us several times before and they like being close to the pool. As I recall, Trevor is maybe fourteen, Drake a couple years younger, a little younger than Payton, I think.”

Garrett nodded to acknowledge her identification. “Payton thought knowing the boys’ names would be all I required to approve of her hanging out with them unsupervised. She was wrong.”

“The boys have always seemed reasonably well-behaved, but they aren’t supervised very closely. I don’t blame you for not wanting her to wander down to the lake with them alone at night.”

“Not going to happen. No matter how much she pouts. So maybe having you there tonight will ease the sting some.”

“In that case, I’ll do my best to cheer her up.”

“Hope you have better luck with it than I do.”

She smoothed a hand over her breeze-tossed hair. “I have an advantage. I wasn’t the one who told her no.”

He gave a little snort that might have been a laugh and climbed out of the cart with the hamburger buns.

“You are aware, I suppose, that Payton is a very pretty girl?” she asked as she accompanied him toward the porch. “You’re in for a lot of this sort of thing in the future.”

He nodded, his expression resigned. “She looks a lot like her mother.”

So his late ex-wife had been a beauty. She couldn’t help wondering what had gone wrong in the marriage, even though it was absolutely none of her business.

They entered the cabin together and Kix squeaked when she saw Maggie. “Are you going to have hamburgers with us, Maggie?” she asked, dashing to her side.

“Your dad invited me. I hope that’s okay with everyone.”

“You’re very welcome, Maggie,” Garrett’s mother assured her with a warm smile from the kitchen counter, where she was slicing tomatoes.

“That grandmother of yours isn’t coming, is she?” Esther demanded. She sat in a chair facing the view of the lake, surrounded by books, a knitting bag and a teacup, her walker nearby. It looked as though she had claimed that spot permanently for her own.

“Mother,” Paulette scolded, even as Garrett growled, “Meemaw.”

“My grandmother isn’t coming,” Maggie replied lightly. “Just me.”

“Good,” Esther muttered.

Garrett sighed heavily in exasperation with his grandmother’s rudeness, but didn’t bother to argue any further with her, saying merely, “I’ll start the grill.”

“The patties are ready to go on as soon as the grill is hot enough,” his mother informed him.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Maggie asked.

Paulette shook her head. “Everything’s almost ready. Why don’t you chat with the girls? They always enjoy visiting with you.”

“I love your top, Maggie.” Payton studied the casual blouse closely. “That scoop neckline is very flattering.”

“Thank you.” Maggie had noticed that Payton was increasingly into fashion these days, always taking time to examine and comment on Maggie’s outfits.

“Come upstairs and we’ll show you where we sleep,” Kix suggested eagerly. “We have a view of the lake from our window and it’s really pretty.”

“Maggie knows the cabin, Kix,” Payton said with a shake of her head. “She owns it.”

“My family owns it,” Maggie corrected, “but it’s been a while since I looked at the lake from that window.” Actually, she’d inspected the cabin thoroughly hours before they’d settled in, but she saw no need to mention that. “Lead the way, Kix.”

Kix dashed up the stairs and Maggie followed. Payton trailed them more slowly.

The loft had definitely been invaded by young girls, Maggie noted with a smile. Rather than the resort-furnished plain white sheets and coverlets, the two twin beds sported pink-and-green polka-dot sheets on one bed and yellow-and-green stripes on the other. From what she knew of their grandmother, she figured Paulette had been the one who’d insisted on bringing their own sheets rather than using the ones provided for guests. A shabby stuffed yellow bear sat on the polka-dot bed, which she figured must belong to Kix. Paperback books and teen magazines were strewn across the other bed. One of the drawers in the built-in dresser had been closed on the leg of a pair of ladybug-print pajamas.

“Look how pretty the shadows look on the lake now that the sun’s getting lower,” Kix said from the window.

Payton groaned. “Geez, Kix, she lives here. She sees the lake all the time.”

“But I never get tired of it,” Maggie replied, moving to admire the view. Dotted with boats and crisscrossed with rippling wakes, the lake glittered jewel-blue in the still bright, late-day sun.

Payton scowled. “Wish I could see the moon on the water with my new friends later. I met some really nice guys who are going down to the lake later to, you know, just throw rocks in the water and look at the stars and talk and stuff, and Dad acted like I asked if I could go to a bar or something.”

“They got into another one of their fights,” Kix confided. “Payton yells sometimes, but Daddy never does. He just says, ‘That’s final’ in a really quiet voice. And you know from the way he says it that he’s not going to change his mind no matter how much you beg or argue, but sometimes we do anyway, I guess, ‘cause we hope maybe just once he’ll listen. Like, Payton keeps asking for a red leather jacket like the one you wore last winter. She says she wants one like it for this next school year, but Dad keeps saying red leather isn’t practical for school. And I want to stay up an hour later to watch TV because all—well, some—of my friends stay up until ten o’clock, but I have to go to bed at nine, which is a bedtime for babies. And I’ve asked him maybe a million times for a kitten, but all he’ll say is ‘we’ll see.’”

“And you’re his favorite.” Payton tossed her head with a scowl. “He tells you yes a lot more than he does me.” Payton whirled toward Maggie then. “I’m thirteen years old and he watches me like I’m a little kid. Like Kix.”

“Hey!”

“All I wanted to do,” Payton went on, ignoring her sister’s indignant protest, “was to meet up with some friends. But just because they’re boys, he said no. I mean, geez, what does he think is going to happen? He’s here at the resort, their parents are here, a zillion other people are here, it’s not like we’re going to get into trouble. They’re nice guys, Maggie. Trevor and Drake Ferguson. Do you know them?”

Maggie repeated what she’d said earlier to Garrett. “I’ve met them a few times when they’ve stayed here before. They seem like good kids.”

“I know, right? Dad can be such a—”

“Payton!” Kix interrupted urgently, giving her sister a little shove.

For a moment it looked as though Payton might snarl at her sister, but her expression turned suddenly thoughtful. “Oh. Yeah, guess I shouldn’t be talking about him that way. Family and all.”

“Daddy’s not really mean,” Kix assured Maggie. “He’s just overprotective. Grammy says that makes him a good father, but she’s overprotective, too.”

“I bet you’d have let me hang out with friends at the lake tonight if it were up to you, wouldn’t you, Maggie?” Payton asked.

“Of course.”

The teen nodded in satisfaction. “I knew it.”

“As long as I was there, too,” Maggie added. “I’d stay back out of the way. Maybe check email and stuff on my phone. But for someone your age out at night with a couple of teenage boys you just met, I’d say you need a discreet chaperone.”

Payton rolled her eyes and fell backward on her bed. “Geez. I can’t believe this.”

Kix frowned at Maggie, who got the distinct feeling that she had just failed a test of some sort. But then the younger girl’s expression cleared. “You’re just trying to make Payton feel better about what Dad said, aren’t you? So she won’t be so mad at him.”

“No, that’s—”

“The burgers are ready,” Paulette called from the foot of the stairs. “You girls ready to eat?”

Paulette seemed to consider Maggie one of the girls, even though she was fourteen years older than Payton. Maybe it was hearing Maggie grouped with her and Kix that made Payton forgive her for agreeing even in part with their dad. “Dad does make really good burgers,” she conceded, climbing to her feet again.

Maggie smiled at her. “Then let’s go get them while they’re hot, shall we?”

After a leisurely dinner, Garrett walked Maggie out to the cart. “I’m glad you could join us. The whole family enjoyed having you.”

She pulled her keys out of her pocket. “I had a nice time, too.”

“The front-desk clerk told me when we checked in that it’s going to be crazy busy around here this week.”

Maggie chuckled. “For the rest of the summer, actually, but especially after Wednesday. A lot of people take a long weekend at the lake for the Fourth of July.”

“I understand there’s quite a celebration being planned here this weekend.”

She nodded. “A fireworks show Thursday evening. A concert in the pavilion Friday evening. Carnival rides and inflatable bouncers in the pavilion area Saturday, with free cotton candy for the kids.”

“That’s a full schedule.”

“Now that we’ve hired Rosie to take over reservations and check-ins, Hannah’s had more time to develop marketing programs. She decided we should expand our traditional Independence Day celebrations. She’s advertised it on social media and our webpage and with some flyers posted in local stores. We’re charging a small admission fee for nonguests to help with the expenses and keep down the crowds a bit. We hope the effort will pay off in future business for the marina and the diner as well as the lodgings and campgrounds. I’ve been a little late getting to the holiday decorations, but I’ll take care of that tomorrow.”

“The weekend sounds like fun. I know the girls will get a kick out of it all.”

“I hope so.” She turned to him when they reached the golf cart. “Thank you for inviting me for dinner, Garrett. I enjoyed it very much.”

“Payton seems to be in a much better mood now.”

Was that really the only reason he’d wanted her to have dinner with them? To entertain his daughters? But then again, why else? She reminded herself that she wasn’t looking to get personally involved with this overtaxed single dad, anyway.

“Well, good night,” she said, putting a hand on top of the cart in preparation for climbing behind the wheel. “I’ll see you tomorrow at the birthday party, if not before.”

She thought his gaze focused momentarily on her lips. Had they been parting after another type of outing—say, the type of date she would never have with him—the evening might well have ended with a kiss. She found her thoughts wandering into forbidden territory as she looked at his firm mouth and imagined how it would feel covering her own. Abruptly clearing her throat, she almost leaped into the golf cart.

“Good night, Garrett,” she blurted again.

She barely gave him a chance to reply before she was buzzing away.

Maggie was so busy Tuesday she didn’t have a chance to eat lunch until after two that afternoon. In addition to her usual responsibilities supervising the cleaning staff, the extra holiday-week business added quite a bit of work. She was training two new employees that week. One was an older, experienced maid; the other, a young woman named Darby Burns, had never worked in housekeeping but seemed very eager to learn.

Later, Maggie spent a couple hours inventorying and ordering supplies. She’d even hung some bunting at the motel. There was no lobby for the sixteen-unit lakeside inn—all the rooms opened to the outside, with a covered breezeway separating the two wings—so she had draped bunting on the concrete walls, adding a cheery pop of red, white and blue for guests on their way to their rooms or the ice maker and vending machines in the breezeway.

Finally taking a break, she left the motel and walked briskly to the main administrative building. Pushing through the double doors, she stepped into the big foyer, her nose twitching in response to the delicious scents of grilled sandwiches and simmering soup-of-the-day wafting from the diner.

The box of decorations and a stepladder still waited for her in the corner behind the desk, but she would resume decorating after she ate. In addition to what she and her staff had done at the motel that morning, her dad and Aaron and their small crew had been working outside, preparing the grounds for the fireworks show, concert and carnival. Her dad would fret all week about any potential damage to his immaculate landscaping.

She turned right to enter the diner. Few people were eating lunch this late in the afternoon, though three older couples probably staying in the RV grounds were chatting over soup at a large back-corner table. Two tanned, middle-aged men in Western boots and hats and faded denim sat at one end of the bar drinking coffee, probably just in from fishing.

Sarah Bell smiled from behind the counter when Maggie entered. “What can I get for you, hon?”

Sliding onto a bar stool at the other end of the counter from the fishing cowboys, Maggie replied, “I’m starving. I’ll take whatever is fast.”

“Chicken corn chowder today.”

“Perfect.”

Moments later, her aunt set a steaming bowl of soup and a square of jalapeño corn bread in front of her. Maggie dug in gratefully. She had eaten about half of her meal when she heard her name squealed from the doorway in a familiar soprano.

“It’s Maggie. Hi, Maggie!”

Swiveling on her stool, Maggie saw Garrett’s entire family entering the diner. Kix was followed by her sister, grandmother and great-grandmother. Garrett brought up the rear.

Wearing denim shorts and a pink T-shirt with pink flip-flops, her bright red hair barely confined to loosening braids, Kix dashed to Maggie’s side. “We went swimming this morning and then we had lunch and then we went for a ride in the boat and it was fun and then I said I wanted to come to the diner and Daddy said okay but I can’t have a milk shake because we’re having cake and ice cream at my party tonight and that’s too much ice cream in one day. But he said I can have a soda and maybe I can get a milk shake some other day while we’re here.”

Maggie was accustomed enough by now to Kix’s breathless, stream-of-consciousness style of conversation to follow along fairly easily. She reached out to give the girl a hug. “Happy birthday, Kix.”

Kix nearly strangled her with her enthusiastic return embrace. “Thanks, Maggie. It’s been the best birthday ever! I’m eleven now. Almost a teenager!”

Garrett gave a heartfelt groan.

“I’m sure my aunt Sarah can arrange for you to have a soda. I recommend the cherry Italian soda. It’s my favorite,” Maggie said with a smile, gently disentangling herself from Kix’s arms.

Sarah agreed cheerily. “Have a seat and I’ll fix you right up.”

Garrett and the girls had been into the diner during summer swimming and boating visits, but this was the first time the older members of his family had joined them at the resort. Maggie wasn’t sure how much that had to do with the long-standing rivalry between her grandmother and Garrett’s.

On Maggie’s recommendation, everyone requested cherry sodas except Garrett, who ordered coffee. They settled at a table near the bar, pulling up an extra chair so Kix and Payton could crowd together on one side. Sarah served glasses of fizzy pink soda topped with dollops of fresh whipped cream and cherries. Garrett chuckled when she slipped him a cherry to accompany his plain black coffee. He bit the candied fruit off the stem, then set the stem aside.

Maggie turned sideways so she could visit with the family while she finished her lunch. She didn’t actually have to stop eating to talk. Hyper with excitement about her special day, Kix rattled on almost without stopping to take sips of her soda. Her upper lip dotted with whipped cream, she told Maggie about the special breakfast they’d had—her favorite cinnamon-apple French toast—and about the wildlife they’d seen during their cruise around the lake. Payton managed to break in a few times to talk, and the older women chatted a bit with Sarah.

Maggie listened to it all, keenly aware of Garrett quietly sipping his coffee while his family talked. It seemed that every time she glanced at him he was looking back at her. Probably just coincidence, but each time she looked away quickly, making an effort to appear casual about it. She was entirely too drawn to him, especially considering he was sitting there with his daughters, two of the primary reasons that nothing was likely to come from her attraction to him. She and Garrett were unlikely ever to be more than casual friends. Which didn’t mean she couldn’t fantasize a little….

“Are you working this afternoon?” Kix asked her a bit too casually. “Daddy said we can’t bother you if you’re working, but if you aren’t, maybe you want to play games with us or something? We brought our tennis rackets and a basketball and a volleyball and some board games for if it rains but it’s really nice today and not rainy at all, so …”

“Kix,” Garrett murmured.

“I know.” She sighed heavily. “Breathe.”

“Right.”

Maggie couldn’t help laughing. “I would love to play with you, Kix, and I promise I’ll try sometime while you’re here, but this afternoon I’m helping decorate the lobby for the festivities this weekend. We’re starting in just a few minutes. I’ll be there this evening for your birthday cake, though.”

Though she’d initially looked disappointed, Kix’s face lit up. “I love to decorate. Can I help? And Payton, too?”

“Kix,” her dad said quickly, “you’d be in the way. Why don’t we shoot some hoops instead?”

“I wouldn’t get in the way,” Kix argued, looking at Maggie with hopeful eyes. “I’d do everything Maggie said and I’d help a lot.”

“They’re both welcome to help decorate if that’s how Kix wants to spend part of her birthday,” Maggie assured Garrett. “I’ll keep a close eye on them if you want to let them stay for a while.”

Kix bounced in excitement. Payton even forgot to look bored. “I like decorating, too,” she said.

Garrett’s mother frowned. “I thought we were all going to spend time together this week.”

Maggie wondered immediately if she’d made a mistake inviting the girls to help her decorate. Their grandmother looked so disapproving that she couldn’t help asking herself if she’d made a gaffe.

Garrett must have sensed her discomfort. He gave her a slight shake of his head, then addressed his mother. “You and Meemaw both said you’d like to take a nap this afternoon before the birthday party. You weren’t expecting the girls to watch you sleep, were you?”

His mother cleared her throat. “Well, no, but I thought you would be doing something with the girls.”

He turned to Kix. “You can help for a little while, if Maggie is sure you won’t be in the way, but I expect you to follow her instructions to the letter. I’m leaving my cell number with her and I want her to call me if there are any problems. I’ll be back to collect you in time for you to wash up and have dinner before the birthday party.”

“Don’t go wandering off,” their grandmother added, still looking anxious. “Stay in the building with Miss Maggie. And don’t be climbing any ladders or handling anything electrical. And—”

“Give it a rest, Paulette,” Esther ordered. “They’ll be fine.”

Garrett drained the last of his coffee and stood. “Come on, let’s get you two down for your naps. And I’m not talking to the kids.”

Maggie bit her lip to prevent a grin, which probably would not be appreciated by his mother. Garrett paid for the beverages, gave Maggie his phone number, reminded his daughters one last time to be good, then ushered the older women toward the door.

They had almost made it out when Maggie’s cousin Shelby and their grandmother entered. Maggie fancied that she could almost feel the tension settle into the room. The two cowboys at the other end of the bar glanced around as if sensing an impending shootout.

Telling herself not to be silly, she shook her head and stood with a bright smile. “Mimi, you remember the McHale family, don’t you? Today is Kix’s eleventh birthday. She and her sister, Payton, are going to help us decorate for a while.”

She congratulated herself on thinking to casually mention Kix’s birthday. Surely the older women could set their differences aside to avoid any unpleasantness on such a happy occasion. Mimi had always been gracious enough to Garrett and the girls on the few times they’d crossed paths, despite their connection to her enemy.

Her ploy worked. Both Mimi and Esther immediately forced their stern mouths into somewhat softer lines.

“Hello, Esther,” Mimi said coolly.

“Dixie,” Esther replied with a curt nod, her tone just as frosty.

“Happy birthday, Kix,” perky blonde Shelby said, characteristic warmth in her smiling blue eyes when she turned to the youngest McHale. “We’re going to have fun decorating. I’m glad you’re joining us.”

Grinning ear to ear, Kix expressed her eagerness to get started. Paulette was still fussing at the girls to be careful when Garrett finally ushered her out.

Mimi shook her head as she watched the trio leave. “That grandmother of yours is a worrywart, isn’t she, girls?”

“Mimi,” Maggie murmured in warning, dragging her attention back to the room. Maybe she’d gotten a bit distracted watching Garrett leave, but now she had to make sure her own tactless grandmother didn’t say anything to distress the girls.

“She’s right, Maggie,” Payton said with a heavy sigh. “Grammy worries about everything. She drives us crazy.”

“Crazy,” Kix echoed with a fervent nod.

“That just means she loves you very much,” Sarah said briskly, silently daring her mother-in-law to continue that particular conversation. “Kix, maybe you’d like to help me put up some decorations here in the dining room? I have some flag decals for the windows and some little flags in vases for the tables and some bunting to hang behind the counter. I can work with you now since there are no customers at the moment.”

Kix looked thrilled to work in the diner. Knowing her aunt would enjoy working with the girl, Maggie led Payton into the foyer to get started in there. She tucked Garrett’s phone number into her pocket before opening the first box.