Maggie Moves On(62)

“But you’re living here,” Nirina pointed out. “Why not enjoy it while you can? If you’re not going to live in a seven-thousand-square-foot mansion forever, you might as well enjoy a summer in it.”

“Actually, I am going to need two beds by the weekend,” Maggie mused.

“For staging or sleeping?” Kayla asked.

“Sleeping. My partner and our…employee are moving in.”

“Cody Moses, right?” Nirina asked.

“News travels fast,” Maggie noted wryly.

“I knew things were tough for him, but I had no idea he didn’t have a place to stay. Mama B would have stuffed him in Michael’s or Sy’s old room in a heartbeat if she’d known,” Nirina told her.

“You’re doing a great thing for the kid,” Kayla said, wandering over to the balcony doors and opening them. “He’s a really good guy. Just got caught up in family drama and bad luck.”

“Pause, please. I need to slobber over this view. This is a straight-up fairy tale right here,” Niri announced, joining her friend on the balcony and admiring the view. “Maggie, it would officially be a crying shame if you didn’t take advantage of this room while you’re here.”

And there it was. She’d been waiting for Silas to come up as a topic. “Are we talking about the bed or your brother?” she asked, joining them on the balcony.

“Both,” they said together.

“Jinx!” they said in unison. “You owe me a pop!”

“I know you don’t know anything about us beyond the fact that we have excellent taste,” Kayla began. “But if you want to talk about a certain tall, swoony landscaper, I would not be upset at all.”

“And I can give you all the insider info on the man, seeing as how I’ve known him my entire life,” Nirina said, bracing her free hand on her lower back. “But first, we really should talk business.”

“Good idea,” Kayla said, putting her margarita glass down. “Maggie, we’ve been in business for two years. Which isn’t long, but we’ve got great taste and deep community roots. We know how important both of those things are to you and your viewers.”

“We can connect you with local artisans, hook you up with our interior design expertise, and stage the entire house top to bottom for you at a significantly reduced fee, since you’re our new BFF,” Nirina said, smoothly taking over the pitch.

“We’d even be willing to work out a discount on any items you decide to purchase outright, like that big, beautiful bed,” Kayla said, blue eyes twinkling.

“What’s the catch?” Maggie asked, smiling over the rim of her glass. The tequila and female friendship were making her feel warm and relaxed.

“We’re just getting our design and staging business started,” Nirina said. “As in, you would be our first staging customer.”

“The demographics are there. We’ve got dozens of rental properties out the wazoo in a fifteen-mile radius. Over half of them are on the luxury end. Log cabins. Lakefront bungalows. An entire village of town houses and chalets near the ski resort. If we can get our names out there, in a year, we’re going to be able to say a big fat ‘I told you so’ to every single person who told us we were nuts for setting up shop here,” Kayla said.

Maggie recognized the fire, the desire to prove. She also recognized an eye for beauty. Both Kayla and Nirina had them.

“It’s a big job,” Maggie warned. “I’m touching almost every single room in this place because I can’t seem to stop myself.”

“We’re up to the task,” Kayla promised. “We’ve got furniture artisans, drapery specialists, artists. Niri has a patio furniture hookup. I’m a hell of a threat with a paintbrush. Walls, not canvas.”

“Then I’d say you’ve got yourselves a deal,” Maggie said.

Kayla stood stock still, eyes blinking rapidly.

“Uh-oh,” Niri whispered to her drink. “Brace yourself.”

There was a high-pitched whine coming from somewhere.

Maggie nearly bobbled her drink when Kayla launched herself at her. The redhead wrapped her arms around Maggie and squeezed. That’s when she realized where the noise was coming from. The whine was a squeal, and it was coming from Kayla.

“You won’t regret this. I swear to you on Niri’s unborn baby, you won’t regret putting your faith in us. We’re going to deliver. And when we’re done, it’s going to be so perfect you aren’t going to want to leave,” Kayla vowed fervently.

Maggie patted her awkwardly on the back.

Business tabled temporarily, they talked over appetizers and another round of drinks on the sunporch as crickets and tree frogs did their things in the night air. Nirina told Maggie about Silas as a big brother.

“He’s this chill, tree-hugging, earth-loving guy eighty-five percent of the time,” she said.

“Ninety-nine percent,” Kayla argued. “I’ve known him since our first playdate in elementary school.”

“Girl, please,” Nirina scoffed with affection. “Silas has this stubborn, overprotective streak. It’s buried deep. But when he gets riled, look out.”

“He won’t tolerate someone being taken advantage of or someone being put at risk. When he found out that my high school boyfriend with his brand-new driver’s license decided it would be a great idea to see if his fourth-hand Dodge Daytona could hit a hundred on the highway with me in the passenger seat, Sy walked right into his house, dragged that boy out of bed on a Saturday, and told him if he ever went one mile over the speed limit with me in the car again, he’d toss him in the river with a boat anchor wrapped around his neck.”