“They’re so beautiful,” Maggie said, smiling.

“Yeah huh,” Dee agreed.

“Oh, is that Lyndsay?” Liv asked.

Maggie looked and saw that indeed Lyndsay Cole was undulating her way over to Kyle. “No way, girlfriend. Kyle wanted me to get mad and demand respect? This is day one.” Standing up, she made her way back to the pool room.

“Hi, Kyle. Why don’t you buy me a drink? I promise you’ll get lucky.” Lyndsay sidled up to him.

He stepped away. “Hi, Lyndsay. No thanks. I told you, I’m with Maggie.” He took his shot and missed as he saw Maggie stalk over looking like a gloriously angry fairy.

“Maggie?” Lyndsay looked confused.

“Yeah, Maggie Wright. As in me.”

Lyndsay turned around and made a big show about looking down at her but Maggie stood her ground and narrowed her eyes at the other woman.

“You must be joking. Did you lose a bet or something, Kyle?”

Maggie just looked at the other woman, her arms crossed over her chest. Kyle took his shot and made it. Kissing Maggie’s neck, he took his next shot, sinking it as well. He totally ignored Lyndsay. He normally would have hated any kind of showdown between women over him but he was utterly turned on by watching Maggie mark her territory. And it was good for Maggie to stand up for herself.

“Be on your way, Lyndsay, he’s not interested.” Maggie made shooing motions with her hands and Matt laughed.

Lyndsay snorted. “Please. You think you can hold a man like Kyle?”

“Seeing as how you never had him to begin with and I have him now? Yeah. In any case, if things do go bad and we break up, you’re free to take a shot at him then. Unless and until that day comes, back off. Kyle is taken and your feelings about that are irrelevant.”

Kyle put his arm around Maggie and pulled her into his side.

“Whatever. You can’t hold him for long.” Lyndsay flounced off in a huff.

Maggie said something unladylike under her breath and Kyle threw back his head and laughed. He kissed her until she was breathless and led her back to her table. “Thanks for defending my honor, Red.”

“Mmmm,” she replied and he walked back to the pool room chuckling.

“Way to go, Maggie!” Dee and Liv grinned at her.

“I have to confess, being an uppity woman is really fun. I can’t believe I’ve missed out all these years. I do have a lot of ground to make up!”

Liv laughed and gave her a thumbs up.

“So, Arthur and I are hosting Thanksgiving dinner at our house this year. My parents and his are coming over, as well as his brothers and their wives and my sister and her husband and kids. You two are welcome to come.”

“I’m going to go to my sister’s in Crawford. I promised last year.”

“I don’t know what I’ll do. Usually, I’d let myself be guilted into a day of agony at Cece’s house of pain but I think I’m going to decline this year. I’d rather eat a frozen turkey dinner than subject myself to any more from them.”

“Well, as long as you know you’re welcome at ours. But from the looks of it, you’ll be eating turkey and watching bowl games at the Chase household.” Dee seemed convinced but Maggie looked dubious.

At eight thirty the pool game broke up and Kyle stopped at their table. He held out his hand with a bow. “Are you ready, darlin’?”

She smiled and took it. Turning around she leaned down and hugged her friends as she said her goodbyes.

“Oh hey, you coming to the Grange tomorrow?” Dee called out as they got to the door.

“Oh, is that tomorrow night?”

Every year, the weekend before Thanksgiving, Petal had a community dance at the Grange that also served as a fundraiser and food drive for the local food pantry and soup kitchen.

“You aren’t going to any dance without me, Red. I have two tickets already. In fact, the whole Chase family does it every year. Please do me the honor and come as my date?”

“Well, when you put it like that.” She kissed his nose. “I guess I’ll see y’all there,” she said to Liv and Dee.

When Kyle got into the car he turned to her. “I told my momma that I’d bring her over some milk and butter. Is that all right with you?”

“Do I mind if you do a sweet helpful son thing? Of course not.”

Kyle laughed. “You don’t understand Polly Jean Chase, Red. She’s probably got three gallons of milk in the giant refrigerator in the garage and at least two extra boxes of butter as well but she wants to see you. To monitor this thing between us.”

“Ah, to make sure I’m treating you right?”

He laughed again. “No, sugar. To make sure I’m treating you right.”

They stopped by the Piggly Wiggly and took the groceries over to the house. Polly pulled them both into a big hug and stuffed a cookie into Kyle’s hand.

“Momma, I’m taking Maggie back to my house to make her dinner, I don’t need this.”

“Eat it, Kyle Maurice Chase. You need your strength.” Polly looked to Maggie and smiled. “Oh and, Margaret, I wanted to let you know we expect you at noon.”

“Noon? For what, Mrs. Chase?”

“Polly, honey. And for Thanksgiving dinner of course. In fact, if you want to come earlier, we have breakfast at eight.”

Kyle looked amused as he devoured the cookie he’d protested so vigorously minutes before.