Maggie Moves On(80)
“What about—”
He shook his head. “Uh-uh. You saw how it worked at Mom’s. Everyone pitches in. You’re officially off duty.”
She tried to pull away from him, her gaze already locked on the tray of cheese slices.
“Yo, Dino,” he called.
Dean appeared in the sunroom door, holding a huge mug of coffee. “You shouted?”
“You mind restocking the cheese while Maggie and I grab something to eat?” Silas asked.
“On it,” Dean said, disappearing back into the house.
“Now, let’s eat,” he said, steering her in the direction of the food.
Dusk fell around them as Silas watched Maggie relax, reluctantly, into both conversation and food. Newly minted grillmaster Cody joined them with his third plate and news that he’d earned a B-on the dreaded science test. She’d beamed at him and volunteered to help him tackle his trigonometry homework.
Dean appeared on the porch in front of the screen and clapped his hands for attention. “Five minutes, people! Get your refills now before you all become super famous and have to hire people to get your drinks for you.”
Silas grinned amid the ensuing mad rush for beers and second helpings.
Shaking her head, she leaned toward him. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”
“Me? What’s there to get ready for?”
“You can’t look like you look and act like you act without getting a lot of attention,” she warned him.
“I’m flattered, but the only attention I want is yours.”
“It can be overwhelming. Even for someone who doesn’t know what Twitter is.”
“You forget, darlin’. Because I don’t have any social media, I’m well insulated from the spectacle.”
“Just because you don’t hear them doesn’t mean people aren’t talking.”
“Just because people are talking doesn’t mean their opinions matter,” he countered.
She grinned. “Well, before this episode goes live, consider me your first fan.”
He took her hand and kissed her knuckles. “I might not be your first, Mags. But I am your biggest.”
She looked at him impishly. “Fan, right?”
“Take it however you want,” he said smugly.
“Ugh. You’re the worst.”
He opened his mouth and then closed it again. “Huh. I was going to say I’m your worst, but that doesn’t work out as nicely as the other thing did.”
And then it was too late to say anything more because the screen on the porch came to life and someone handed them each fresh beers.
“We’re up,” Dean said, from behind the laptop.
The excitement around them was palpable. Silas was already ten shades of proud for Maggie bringing them all together like this, making it feel like they were all a part of something this big, this important.
Their little audience whistled and hummed along with the catchy musical opening and then cheered loudly when Maggie appeared on screen.
“I’m Maggie Nichols, and this is the Old Campbell Place.”
While everyone was riveted to the screen and Dean was glued to his phone and laptop, reading out live comments, Silas watched Maggie. She grinned bigger each time she introduced one of the contractors, every shot of crew members at work. She took pride in not just the physical work, but also in the way she told a story. The way she told their story. The way she drew people in and made them care.
“Hollywood’s gonna be busting down my door,” Marta predicted when she was shown in action with a wheelbarrow.
Elton let out a wolf whistle when Silas made his on-screen debut.
“And here come the comments,” Dean crowed. “‘If Maggie’s not dating him, I volunteer as tribute.’ ‘Hot landscaper guy can mow my lawn any day.’”
“It’s a good thing you’re not embarrassed by attention,” Maggie snickered.
“As long as I’ve got yours, Mags.”
His phone buzzed in the cupholder of his chair and kept right on buzzing.
“The fame circus awaits,” she teased.
On a sigh, he opened his messages.
Taylor: Who knew what a dreamy big brother I had? I still think of him as the guy farting on my pillow in junior high.
Michael: Maybe you could sell that story to the gossip blogs. He’s getting marriage proposals in the comments!
Niri: OMG! They’re shipping Maggie and Sy! #Milas
Michael: I was hoping they’d go with #Saggie
Taylor: Oh my. I might have to bleach my eyeballs after reading some of these comments. There are some thirsty ladies AND gentlemen watching!
Michael: chugging water GIF
Silas: I hate you all. Fortunately I’m too famous to talk to any of you losers anymore.
“Mags, what’s ‘shipping’?” he asked.
“It’s when fans push for two characters to hook up,” she whispered back.
That he could get behind. Maggie’s fans were clearly very intelligent people. “How about ‘thirsty’?”
She smirked. “In a nutshell? Horny.”
He liked the shipping better, Silas decided.
“I’m concerned my influence is going to corrupt you,” Maggie teased, producing her own phone.