"My mind is boggling so hard it needs cake to sustain it. Go tell your friend he's the next Pollock and let's get out of here," Blue said, giving Maggie a nudge to get her moving.
Maggie was about to oblige when an older man dressed in a grey dust coat walked past them, his gaze intent on something behind them. They turned together, just in time to watch as he gripped the handle on the vacuum cleaner, tilted it back, and wheeled it away.
Returning it to the janitor's closet, Blue presumed.
It was too much. The first bubble of laughter almost exploded out of her mouth. She didn't even try to smother it - it would be like trying to put a lid on Mount Vesuvius. Maggie was almost doubled over, she was laughing so hard, both hands pressed to her mouth in an attempt to maintain gallery etiquette. When it became clear neither one of them was going to stop being amused any time soon, they made their way in unspoken unison to the nearest exit, emerging into the busy street that ran alongside the gallery.
"Oh. My. God," Maggie said, leaning against the wall and wiping tears from her eyes. "I think that's the funniest piece of performance art I've ever seen."
That set them both off again, and for a few minutes there was nothing but the sound of wheezing as they both lost it.
It felt good to laugh, but at a certain point Blue felt a dangerous pressure building behind her eyes and she realized that it wouldn't take much for her to either slide over into outright hysteria or burst into tears. Or, possibly, both of the above.
One hand pressed against her sternum, she took deep breaths and avoided looking at Maggie for a few seconds. The last thing she needed was her friend asking questions. Not today, when she was still so off balance and terrified over what had happened with Eddie. There was a very real danger that the whole disaster would simply tumble out of her mouth, and that was the last thing she wanted.
"Oh, I needed that," Maggie said, using a knuckle to wipe the tears from the corner of her eyes a second time.
Blue let her hand fall to her side. "We ready for cake now?"
"I still have to say goodbye to Justin. Give me five minutes."
Maggie slipped into the gallery. Blue considered the closed door for a beat, then turned and wandered a little farther along the street to check out the other businesses. There was a gentleman's hat maker, another small gallery and a shop selling religious paraphernalia …
Blue slipped her hands into the back pockets of her jeans and tried not to think about Eddie, something she'd been endeavoring to do from the moment Maggie arrived on her doorstep.
She wondered if he was still angry with her for the way she'd walked out on him. Then she wondered what it would be like, seeing him again on Monday. Finally, she worried that no matter what she did, no matter what rearguard action she fought, it would never be possible for them to get past what had happened.
She was gnawing on her thumbnail - a very old, much despised habit - when Maggie rejoined her.
"Right, done. We're free. Let's celebrate with deliciousness," Maggie said.
"Promise me you didn't buy anything," Blue asked as they began walking toward the street where Maggie had parked her car.
"Cross my heart and hope to never read another Georgette Heyer book in my lifetime," Maggie promised, one hand held up in the classic pledge position.
"That is a hardcore pledge," Blue said.
"I thought so." Maggie rummaged in her bag for something as they turned onto the next street. "I keep meaning to ask you - what happened to you last night? Raf and I showed up at Mojo and I'd just spotted you on the dance floor when you disappeared."
Good grief. Had Steffi left a single stone unturned when she'd been issuing invitations last night?
"I, um, had a bit of a headache. So I grabbed a taxi home." She shrugged to show it was no big deal. "If I'd realized you guys were coming, I would have hung around." It felt crappy to lie to Maggie, but it wasn't as though she had much choice.
Maggie glanced at her, her expression curious. "I thought you left with Eddie?"
"Wh-what? No." Blue shook her head emphatically. "Where on earth did you get that from?"
"Raf. He went out to put my coat in his car and said he saw you guys jump in a taxi together."
Blue's brain went completely blank. She could feel telltale heat creeping into her face and she cast around for some way to excuse her lie, very aware of Maggie's close regard.
And still nothing came.
Maggie's eyes widened. "Wow. Okay," she said. "Got to admit, I didn't see that coming."
"No. It wasn't … We didn't … " Blue trailed off miserably, painfully conscious of the fact that she was now beet-red and about as guilty-looking as a person could get.
Maggie held up both hands. "It's okay. What you and Eddie do is your own business."
"We don't do. I mean, we haven't before. I mean -" Blue realized she was only making things worse.
They'd both stopped walking by now and Maggie touched Blue's arm. "Blue. It's none of my business. If you don't want to talk about it, we won't."
"Can you please not tell Rafel?"
"Of course not. Even though it's going to kill me," Maggie admitted honestly.
One of the many reasons Blue loved her so.
They resumed walking. Blue kept waiting for Maggie to break her self-imposed ban on talking about it further, but she remained silent, her expression pleasantly neutral. As though she wasn't curious, and didn't have questions, and wasn't formulating a ton of theories about what may or may not have happened between Blue and Eddie.
"It just happened, and it's never going to happen again, so there's nothing really to talk about," Blue said, unable to keep the words in a second longer.
They stopped walking again.
"Okay. If that's what you both want," Maggie said evenly.
Blue covered her face with her hands, overwhelmed by the warring impulses within herself: the need to put a lid on this thing somehow versus the desire to sift through what had happened with her friend until it made sense versus the childish urge to run away until this all blew over.
She made a frustrated noise, fingertips pressing hard against her eyes.
"Blue, it's okay. I'm not judging you. And I'm definitely not going to tell anyone, including Raf. You have my word."
"I think I made a terrible mistake," Blue said through her hands. "I think I just screwed up everything, big time."
"Because you and Eddie slept with each other?"
Blue nodded before letting her hands fall to her sides. Maggie's blue eyes were warm with sympathy.
"Can I ask how it happened? I mean, not the specifics, obviously." Maggie's cheeks got rosy. She'd always been a good blusher. "Were you guys drinking or something … ?"
"No. Not that much, anyway." Blue hesitated for a moment, unsure how much to say. How much was too much. "Eddie and I … It's always been there. We just never did anything about it. Ever since the accident, it's been on my mind, and I haven't been able to make it go away."
Maggie nodded as though what Blue was saying made sense to her.
"I haven't told you this, but the night of the accident, Eddie was a mess," Maggie said. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone so upset. He was shaking, Blue. His whole body. Like a dog when it's terrified of something."
Maggie's revelation made Blue's eyes sting. She blinked rapidly.
"He adores you, Blue."
"I know."
"And you adore him."
Blue could only nod.
"So maybe it's not the worst thing in the world that this happened," Maggie said, the corners of her mouth tilting up into a hopeful half-smile.
Blue knew where her friend was going - Maggie was a romantic and an idealist at heart. Of course she thought this was the beginning of something beautiful.
"How many girlfriends has Eddie had in the time that you've known him?" Blue asked.
Maggie looked surprised by the question. "I don't know. I don't keep a track of his private life. Enough, I guess."
"Enough. That's a good way of putting it," Blue agreed. "He's never been with one woman more than six months, Maggie. Six months, against ten years of friendship. Against a lifetime of being able to know I can pick up the phone at any time of the day or night and he will be there for me, no questions asked. No matter what."
"You've thought about this a lot."
"He and Raf are the two most important people in my life."
"They're your family," Maggie said.
"Yes."
"But I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you've never wanted to jump Rafel?"
Blue hesitated a second before she answered, and Maggie beat her to it.
"He's like a brother to you."
"He is."
"But Eddie is something different. Something more."