The Summer of Sunshine and Margot(96)

The Mexican restaurant was casually tacky, decorated in bright colors and a worn tile floor. It had been in the same location for at least forty years and Margot hoped it lasted another hundred. She stirred the straw in her margarita, then finally sighed.

“Maybe. I’m not so much unsettled as confused.”

“I knew it!” Sunshine wiggled in her seat. “Work or man?”

“Both.”

“Wow, that’s a surprise. You never have problems with work.”

“It’s not a problem, exactly. Bianca is progressing nicely. I keep telling her it’s time to cut me loose, but she says she’s not ready.”

“What does your boss say?”

“To give it another couple of weeks, then insist we’re done.”

“And?”

“And that’s what I’m going to do.”

Sunshine sipped her margarita. “So what’s the problem?”

“I don’t know. I guess there’s nothing.” She faked a smile. “This has been a wonderful assignment. Bianca is going to do great with Wesley, and I’m considering working with a group of women coming here from Chile. They sell textiles. It would be a four-week assignment but I wouldn’t live in or anything. I’m ready to be back in my own place. So how are things with you?”

“Uh-huh. Nice try. You left out the Alec part of things. What’s going on there?”

A simple enough question and Margot had absolutely no answer.

“I don’t know.”

“What does that mean?”

Margot held in a groan and wished the nachos would arrive. She needed crunch and cheese and a dollop of guacamole.

“I’m confused,” she admitted.

“Then let me ask a series of questions to get things started. How’s the sex?”

Margot grinned. “Excellent.”

“Does he have any weird habits that annoy you?”

“Not really. He’s funny and smart and thoughtful. The other night I made coq au vin and he bought a French Bordeaux.” She frowned. “Saying French is redundant, isn’t it? Doesn’t a Bordeaux have to be from France? It’s a region so—”

Sunshine slapped both hands on the table. “Stop. Just stop trying to distract me from the main point.”

“I haven’t made a main point.”

“Of course you have.” Her sister leaned toward her. “Honey, you’re totally and completely in love with him and that has you freaked out and in need of nachos.”

Margot shook her head. No. No way. She wasn’t in love with anyone. “It’s not like that. Really. It’s not. We’re just dating and, well, I guess, semi living together, but that’s only because I’m working for his mom and it’s super convenient. Okay, that’s not the only reason. We get along really well. Alec has some unique qualities that other people might find off-putting, but I like them. He’s very dependable and solid. That’s nice for a change. And his work is remarkable. But it’s not love.”

The server arrived with a huge platter of nachos. As soon as she set it down, Margot grabbed a chip. “So how are things with your class? You said you were doing better.”

Sunshine studied her. “So you’re in love with him.”

Margot glared at her sister. “Yes! Fine. I’m in love with him.”

She closed her eyes as the truth sank in. She was in love with Alec. She probably had been for a while. She hadn’t recognized what had happened because it was so different than it had been with Dietrich. Her life wasn’t uprooted. She didn’t feel foolish or know he was bad for her. When she was around Alec she felt good. Happy.

She opened her eyes. “Oh God. Now what?”

Sunshine’s smile was smug. “I love being right, especially with you. You’re supposed to be the smart one and you didn’t even see it coming.”

“That isn’t helpful. I’m panicking here. What do I do?”

“What do you want to do?”

“Repeating the question isn’t helping.”

“I didn’t repeat the question. I changed it by at least two words. Calm down and eat a nacho. You don’t have to do anything.”

“I have to do something. In a couple of weeks, I won’t be living there anymore. Then what? Are we dating? Does it end? Do I say something? Hope he says something? I should probably say something, but that’s an awkward conversation to have. How do you tee it up? ‘Hey, beautiful weather we’re having. By the way, I’m desperately in love with you so can we keep seeing each other?’ You know, he doesn’t like messy things and love is often messy. What if he doesn’t love me back? What if he does, but he doesn’t want to admit it? What if he laughs?”

Sunshine reached for another chip.

Margot glared at her. “This is where you offer advice.”

“Hey, I’m not good at relationships. I mean I’m totally team Margot and I wish you the best, but it’s not like I have experience making things work. I usually find a guy, sleep with him and then if he invites me to fly around the world, I disrupt my life for the next six or eight weeks, get dumped or leave, then start all over again. Do you really want me telling you what to do when it comes to your love life?”