The Greatest Risk by Cara Colter Page B

on the Mexican Riviera that Darnel had gone on by himself. And had never returned from.
    And when things had not worked out, she had packed up the items, unworn, most with the tags still on them, and sent them off to the Goodwill store.
    What she hadn’t realized until twenty-four hours ago, sprawled beneath a strange man’s chest, was that she had packed up all that was feminine about herself, too. Her hopes and dreams, her longings and desires had suddenly seemed too fraught with danger to investigate any further. She had locked herself away from a world that held pain, like a princess in a tower. Or a social worker in an office.
    â€œI’m going to take the dress,” Maggie decided firmly. And not for Luke, either. For herself. She could sit out on her balcony at night, look at the waters of the Columbia River, just visible through a maze of other buildings, sip iced coffee and feel splendidly and sexily like a woman.
    Okay, she planned to share that feeling of being womanly and sexy with Luke, but it was still for her.
    It was time to begin the healing that she had never done.
    â€œWant the bad news?” Tracey asked her.
    â€œEight hundred dollars isn’t bad enough news?”
    â€œI have some Jimmy Choos that are going to look divine with that.”
    â€œI’m scared to ask, but what the heck are Jimmy Choos?” Maggie asked.
    A little while later she stood at the front desk withthe Jimmy Choo shoes, a shawl, new underwear and the dress all being packaged up for her.
    â€œNow,” the girl said when she was done folding everything carefully into tissue paper and putting it in boxes and then bags, “have you got the place picked out? To wear it?”
    â€œI hadn’t got that far,” Maggie admitted. It occurred to her that if she played pool at Morgan’s in this itty-bitty red dress the male heat in the place would probably set off the sprinkler system.
    â€œI have an idea,” Tracey said.
    Maggie wondered if this funny freckle-faced girl was some sort of little angel sent to guide her through the pitfalls of trying to heal old wounds, find her inner woman, and just incidentally, get a man interested in her.
    â€œIt’s just a suggestion, but have you heard of Heavenly Cup? The coffee and dessert bar?”
    â€œI’ve walked by it a zillion times. I’ve never gone in.”
    â€œFrom the street you can’t tell that they have this divine outdoor area with potted plants and trees, all lit up with white lights at night. It’s right on the banks of the river. Tonight they’re having a classical guitar concert on the patio. My boyfriend is playing, so I happen to be selling tickets. Inexpensive, so it balances out the dress. You can go and have coffee and dessert, and listen to the most beautiful music for under twenty bucks a person. And it does look like it’s going to be a gorgeous night.”
    It did look like that. And Maggie had an absolute weakness for the classical guitar. But Luke at a classical guitar concert?
    Well, why not?
    She had moved into his arena last night, eating hamburgers and playing pool. Why not invite him to a place where she would feel comfortable?
    A dessert bar! An evening of eating desserts was probably not the perfect date for a girl with way too much hip.
    On the other hand, this dress did magical things to her hips, and there was always a little extra NoWait!
    Maggie took a deep breath and dug back into her wallet. “Two tickets, please.”
    Tracey giggled. “I’m going to be there. I always try to watch Kenneth perform. But I can’t wait to see you walk in with the guy you think is worth that dress.”
    Maggie laughed. This whole little interlude had seemed like the most pleasant and wonderful of adventures.
    Is that what happened when you began to live your life more fully? When you went after what you wanted? When you tried to erase self-doubt?
    She gathered her packages.