Looking For You All My Life Part 131

at my house."

Sam let Out a big sigh. "Rosa will be so relieved. I swear,

it's been keeping her awake at night, even though I kept

telling her everything would work out."

"Oh, that's so cool," said Cherise. "Your house would be

a great spot for a wedding."

Maggie smiled. "I can just imagine a bride coming down

our staircase." She didn't mention that the bride she used to

imagine was none other than herself, with Jed waiting down

below!

"Anyway, this is going to be the kitchen," said Cherise,

returning their attention to the little tour. "I want to keep it

sort of open to the rest of the room. The breakfast bar will

go right here. And over there, where the carpenter's

pounding, will be my bathroom."

"I love all these windows," exclaimed Maggie. "You can

actually see the mountains from up here."

"I know, isn't it great?" Then she led Maggie over to

where her bed was arranged, actually a futon, with a folding

floor screen to separate it from the rest of the room. "That's

my bedroom." She giggled. "Pretty campy, huh?" They went

to another corner where a purple leather sofa was situated

with a large painting of modern art hung behind it. An area

carpet with splashes of very bold colors was laid diagonally

across the pale wood floor, with several odd pieces of sixties-

style furniture placed at various angles. Surprisingly, the

overall effect was pleasant and interesting.

"Cherise, this is really fun," said Maggie. "It's very-

well, it's very L.A."

Cherise made a happy squeal. "That's exactly what I was

going for. Since you've actually lived in L.A., you must know

what you're talking about. Greg would never in a million

years let me do anything like this in our house. Everything

there had to go with navy blue and look traditionaL" She 206Melody Carlson

said that word in a deep voice that suggested very boring.

"For once in my life I just wanted to live in a s.p.a.ce that was

light and airy and just plain fun!"

"Without a doubt, you've managed to accomplish that. I

really do like it."

y0~C,~he~rise~ looked intently into Maggie's face. "Do you think

come over here? Just to visit, I mean. You know,

not to work out, but just for the fun of it?"

"Sure, why not? I'd like to do that."

Cherise smiled triumphantly. "See! Greg never really

believed me, I mean, that you were my friend. Of course, I

know we're really different. You're all intellectual and smart

and stuff. And everyone thinks I'm this ditzy airhead. Greg

always used to say they made blonde jokes up about me."

"That wasn't very nice. And it's not true. Look at you,

Cherise, you run your own business, and it looks to me like