“Not me. I swear,” I said, smiling back at her. Maggie poked me in the ribs with her elbow. I pressed my lips together and tried to look contrite.
Marcus still looked uncomfortable. Brady, on the other side of Maggie, was grinning like a fool. A bad feeling began to buzz at the base of my skull.
“No,” I said softly.
Maggie looked back over her shoulder, then grabbed my arm. “Kath,” she said, her voice low and tight.
I glanced back. Eddie had just walked in. The buzzing in my head got louder. He was wearing a suit and carrying a single red rose.
I met Maggie’s eyes. “No,” I said again.
He looked so damn happy. I had a Walter Mitty–esque fantasy in which I jumped up and tackled Eddie before he made it to us. But given that I was a five-foot six-inch librarian and he was six foot four inches of NHL hockey player, it wasn’t going to happen.
The song ended with a flourish just as Eddie made it to us. He dropped to one knee and held out the rose. Roma looked at Eddie and then back at Maggie and me. She didn’t look panicked or even surprised. She just looked . . . sad. She got to her feet and took the flower he was holding out.
There was so much love shining on Eddie’s face that my chest tightened. I didn’t know who to hurt more for: him or Roma.
“Roma Davidson, I love you,” Eddie said, his voice edged with emotion. “Will you marry me?”
She didn’t answer. She just looked at him while what seemed like half the town watched and waited.
I looked in Tony’s direction, trying to get his attention. “Play!” I mouthed urgently, shaking my hand in the air.
He looked surprised, but something in my expression compelled him to lift his baton and start the next song. It was Donna Summer’s “She Works Hard for the Money.” I knew that wasn’t a coincidence. It was another of Roma’s favorites.
Eddie’s smile faded. He was still holding Roma’s hand and she still hadn’t said a word. Slowly he got to his feet.
I tipped my head in the direction of the door to the hallway. “Go,” I whispered at him. I touched Roma’s arm. “Go with Eddie,” I said softly.
She didn’t turn to look at me or say a word, but she went with him, still holding hands, and the whole room applauded.
I looked at Maggie and tried to swallow down the lump in my throat. It wouldn’t go.
“She needs us,” Maggie said.
I nodded. “I know.”
Everyone’s attention was back on the music. Two girls and a boy, all in black-framed shades, were rocking their sax solo. Beside me Marcus looked . . . guilty. Suddenly everything made sense. He’d been in on this. That’s what he’d been trying to tell me. By the look on Brady’s face, him, too.
Why on earth hadn’t Marcus said something sooner?
He caught my hand as I started to slip past him. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.
I felt a surge of frustration. I yanked my hand away. “You’re such a guy!” I hissed.
Eddie was standing in the hallway.
Alone.
He turned to look at us, sadness etched in every line on his handsome face. “She left,” he said.
“I’m sorry,” I said. It didn’t seem like enough, but I didn’t have any other words.
“I thought she’d say yes.” He tugged at the knot in his tie. “I don’t care about the age difference or kids or anything.” He blew out a breath. “Will you two please just . . . be with her?” He made a helpless gesture toward the outside door with one hand.
I nodded.
Maggie hesitated. Then she put a hand on Eddie’s shoulder. “She loves you,” she said. “That hasn’t changed.”
He nodded, barely, in response.
Maggie turned to me, zipping up her jacket as she did. “We should go find Roma,” she said.
I touched Eddie’s arm for a brief moment and then followed her out.
“Which way?” Maggie asked once we were out on the sidewalk. She looked up and down the empty street. There was no sign of Roma in either direction.
I pointed left. “That way,” I said and started walking.
“Are you sure?” Maggie said, easily catching up with me with her long legs.
“Yes,” I said. My bangs were hanging in my face. I brushed them back with one hand. “No. I don’t know. Roma came with Marcus. If she’s walking home, she’ll go this way.”
The street curved and there was no sign of Roma in the block ahead of us. We’d come out the back door, so I pulled Maggie down a block, jaywalking in the middle of the street. Up ahead I caught sight of Roma, walking rapidly down the sidewalk, shoulders hunched, the hood of her jacket pulled up against the light rain.
“Can you run in those?” Mags asked, looking down at my high-heeled boots. She was wearing her red high-tops.
“I hope so,” I said.
Maggie darted a quick look for traffic and we ran down the street after Roma. We caught her at the corner, Maggie sprinting ahead to put a hand on Roma’s shoulder and stop her.
She turned, held out a hand and let it drop to her side. “I couldn’t say yes,” she said.
Maggie wrapped both her arms around Roma’s shoulders. “It’s okay,” she said.
I caught Maggie’s eye and then looked down the street in the general direction of Eric’s Place. “C’mon. Let’s go get out of the rain,” I said.
We started walking again. Maggie kept one arm around Roma’s shoulders.
“Why did he do that?” Roma asked. “The music. The rose. In front of everyone. He knew I . . . he knew I wasn’t sure.”
“He loves you,” Maggie said. “I think he wanted to do something big to show you how much.”
“I didn’t want to make a fool of him,” Roma said quietly.
“It’s okay. You didn’t,” I assured her.
She looked at me. “Then everyone thinks I said yes.”
“What everyone thinks isn’t important.”
Maggie nodded. “We’ll figure that out later.”
It was quiet at Eric’s. Nic was behind the counter. I guessed that Eric was in the kitchen.
Nic turned and smiled at us. “You can sit anywhere,” he called, gesturing to the room with one hand.
“Thanks,” I said. “Would you bring us a pot of hot chocolate?”
He nodded.
Maggie chose a table against the end wall. Roma took off her jacket, sat down and slumped against the back of the chair. She looked at both of us. “What am I going to do?” she asked, pain evident in her eyes.
“Nothing,” Maggie said. Her blond curls were damp and she shook her head. “Leave the universe to its own devices for a little while.”
I hung my jacket on the back of my chair and took a seat. “Maggie’s right,” I said. “You don’t have to do anything right now.”
“What do I say to Eddie?” She looked stricken at the idea that she’d hurt him. The way she felt about the man was all over her face. Anyone could see it. The proverbial blind man could see it.
“You tell him you need more time,” I said. “And then you take as much as you need.”
Roma twisted the silver ring she always wore around her finger. “Time is the problem. There’s too much of it between Eddie and me.”
“He doesn’t care about that,” Maggie said.
“‘Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds,’” I said softly. I’d been thinking the words and had said them out loud before I realized it.
“Shakespeare?” Roma asked.
I nodded.
“The words are beautiful, but it doesn’t change anything.” She looked past me out to the rain-soaked street.
Nic came over with three mugs and a couple of stainless steel carafes. He filled the mugs from one jug and set the other in the middle of the table.
“If you need anything else, let me know,” he said.
Roma looked at her cup, ran a finger around the rim and then picked it up. She looked at us. “I know you’re both right,” she said. “I know Eddie doesn’t care that I’m older than he is. He even says he doesn’t care about more children. But I care.”