The Single Dad Next Door

by Jessica Keller

  * * *

  Kellen and his mom loaded the girls and a basketful of their favorite toys, movies and books into the car and headed to the north end of town, where the Rowes lived. Mrs. Rowe had invited his mother and the girls over for brunch.

  Saturdays he usually reserved for time with his girls and now his mother, who was still visiting, but the conversation with Maggie the day before had him on edge. He needed to convince her that they could make a compromise on the inn’s remodeling.

  Funny, in just under two months he’d gone from trying to find a way to get rid of Maggie to being willing to do anything not to lose her.

  The houses in the Marina Lights subdivision were the biggest and most expensive in the area. Some were directly linked to the beach by long, zigzagging sets of stairs built against the dunes, and others were megamansions that sprawled all over their property. However, the grandeur didn’t impress him. He knew all too well that money didn’t solve problems. There was just as much pain behind the walls of mansions as anywhere else.

  He glanced in his rearview mirror and smiled at Skylar and Ruthy. “What do you guys think of Maggie?”

  “She’s the nicest and best person in the world.” Skylar bounced in her seat. “Well, besides you, Daddy.”

  “Thanks, Sky.” He sent a wink to her by way of the mirror. “What do you think, Ruthy?”

  She looked out the window, watching the little red lighthouse stand duty over the whitecaps breaking on Lake Michigan.

  “I like when she hugs me. I pretend she’s my mom and she loves me.” Ruthy spoke so quietly, Kellen had to lean a bit over the console and crane his neck to hear her.

  Her words hit him like a sucker punch. The muscles in his arms and shoulders flexed, shoving his back into the seat. Hard. For the past two years he’d tried to be everything for his daughters, but he’d never fit the role of mom. He could hug them a million times and offer to braid their hair, but that didn’t replace a woman’s influence in their life. They needed the compassion and understanding that only someone like a mom could offer. They needed Maggie.

  His mother laid her hand on his arm and rubbed it gently.

  Suddenly pursuing Maggie felt like too much pressure.

  As if he were back in his father’s church again. A boy being told how to sit and what to say and not say. He crumbled under that level of pressure last time around. Would he now when his girls were depending on him?

  He wouldn’t, because he had God with him this go-round, and because he’d been wrong about his father’s church. They would have accepted him as imperfect. Even if they had expected him to be a model Christian and he’d failed, it wasn’t likely they would have kicked his dad out of the pulpit. They sure hadn’t when he was making headlines.

  He’d let the car go quiet. When he parked in the Rowes’ driveway, he glanced back at Ruthy and she looked as though she might start crying.

  Her downturned lips propelled him out of the car and around to her door. He wrenched open the handle, unbuckled her seat belt and scooped her up for a tight hug. “I love you so much.”

  Her arms wrapped snugly around his neck. She shoved her forehead against his jaw. “She smells like cinnamon, Daddy.”

  “I know, baby. I know.” He patted her back and then set her on the ground.

  Mrs. Rowe trotted out before he could make it to the walkway leading to their house. “My lovely girls! I have so much planned for us today. Thank you so much for agreeing to come over, Mrs. Ashby.”

  “Call me Susan.”

  After going back to the car for the box of toys, he left and headed to the other end of town. To the inn. To home.

  But doubt started to bite at his ankles like an attack dog. He’d chalked up Ruthy’s shyness to that being her personality, but what if she’d needed more attention? More care? She seemed to be more affected by not having a mom. Much more so than bubbly Skylar. Although perhaps Skylar hid her pain in other ways—overtalking could be her way of dealing. They were kids, so it wasn’t as though they were consciously choosing to react in those ways, but the human mind proved amazing at protecting itself from hurt.

  Maggie’s influence and acceptance had helped both of the girls. Skylar was more responsible and respectful now, and Ruthy no longer had to be attached to Kellen in order to talk to someone.

  He left his car near the cottage and went inside to grab his journal and two permanent markers before heading over to the inn. Stopping on the porch, he braced a hand on one of the support posts and bowed his head. You do all things for a reason. Please let Maggie be a part of the reason why my family ended up here.

  “Too afraid to come in all of a sudden?” Shoulder wedged against the doorframe, Maggie grinned at him. “Sorry I took off on you last time we were talking. I was having...a moment, for lack of a better word. I’m better now. Promise.” She had a dish towel over her shoulder, her hair half pulled back in a clip and flour on her elbows. In that moment, he’d never seen someone more beautiful.

  When he just stood there staring at her, she shifted her weight and pulled the dishrag off her shoulder, dusting off her hands. “What were you doing out here anyway?”

  He finally found his voice. “Praying.”

  “Where are the girls?”

  “My mom and them are at the Rowes’.” He finished walking up the steps. “Maggie...would you be willing to spend the day with me?”

  “Today?” She patted her hair. “Right now?” She adjusted her shirt. “I’d have to change. Get ready. I’m a mess.”

  He snatched her hand away from her hair, flipped it over and pressed a quick kiss to her palm. Her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped open.

  “You’re perfect as is.” He tugged her inside. “Come with me. I thought of something that might help you with some of the changes happening in here.”

  Kellen led her upstairs to the area under construction. He handed her one of the hard hats that were stacked outside the area separated from the stairs by heavy plastic drapes. The plastic barrier kept the dust to a minimum. At some point, Maggie might have to temporarily move out, but they were trying to avoid that.

  Hard hats on, Kellen took her hand again and lifted the plastic curtain so they could step onto the other side. “I have an idea that might sound crazy.” He tugged the journal and markers from his back pocket. “But now that the place is down to studs I wanted to write Bible verses on the wood and pray in each room for all the people that will come to our inn.”

  “You care about the guests?”

  “A lot, actually. I keep thinking about that passage in the New Testament that tells us to practice hospitality. Well, we have a really tangible opportunity to do that, right here, if we’re willing to work together and compromise. Can you partner with me in this, Maggie?” He held out his hand, offering her a marker.

  “Hand me that.” She snatched one of the markers. “This is the best idea I’ve ever heard. I’ll go first.” She sprawled out on the floor and in huge letters wrote Zephaniah 3:17. “This is my favorite verse.”

  The Lord your God is with you. He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you. He will quiet you with his love. He will rejoice over you with song.

  Kellen watched her. “That’s perfect.”

  “Wow. This really is helping me feel better.” Maggie smiled up at him. “Your turn!”

  He squatted at the entrance to the room and wrote Deuteronomy 28:6, You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.

  They spent the next hour filling each of the guest rooms with verses and then praying in each room. When they were back in the kitchen, Maggie offered him some sun tea and asked if he wanted her to start on lunch.

  “Actually—” he eased the cup out of her hand and set it in the sink “—I thought we could drive into town. There’s an art fair in the squa
re today. Let’s pick out a new painting for each of the guest rooms.”

  “I don’t know how you want to style them.”

  Should he tell her now about the trunk full of hundred-year-old photos he’d found in the attic after she stormed out on him? No, he couldn’t ruin the surprise yet.

  He shrugged. “We’ll see what strikes us.”

  Hopefully she’d be ecstatic when she found out he’d selected pictures from the trunk to serve as inspiration for each new guest room’s theme. Photos of her ancestors. But he wanted to keep that secret until he could walk her into the finished rooms.

  However, there were secrets he could tell her now.

  When they climbed into the car, Kellen took a deep breath. “There’s something I need to come clean about. I’ve wanted to tell you for weeks... It’s really not a big deal.”

  “Then just say it.”

  “When I inherited the inn it came with strings attached.”

  “Strings?”

  “Namely...you.”

  Maggie angled her body so she could face him more. “I’m not following.”

  “Ida had a paragraph written into the will that said I could inherit the inn as long as I provided a place for you and a job. It’s not a big deal.”

  “Would you have fired me if it hadn’t been for that?”

  Be honest. “Probably. But, Maggie, I didn’t know you. All I knew was that she’d written you into her will and I was left to wonder if you knew or not. Or if you’d used her.”

  “Used her?” Maggie’s voice ratcheted up a notch.

  The conversation wasn’t going as planned. “Listen. Before I came here that’s what I saw women doing. Using people to get ahead or to have money. So I just figured...”

  “If anyone is using Ida it’s you.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I took care of her. I loved her like she was my family.” She clutched her purse to her chest. “You? You walked in here without a care about her and happily took hold of everything she loved without regard for it.”

  “Ouch.” Kellen parked along the edge of the square. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry I ever acted like that.”

  She’d already gotten out of the car and was walking toward the fair. Kellen bolted out of the driver’s seat and caught up to her. “Maggie?”

  She stopped and looked at him. “For what it’s worth, I forgive you for keeping that from me, but you could have saved me from a lot of anxiety if you’d told me from the get-go I wasn’t about to lose my job.”

  He hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath. “It’s worth a lot. A whole lot. But if you forgive me, why do you still look angry?”

  “Forgiveness doesn’t automatically change everything and make it better. It just means I won’t hold it against you going forward. It doesn’t mean the relationship has to stay the same.” She looked away from him.

  “What do you see happening with our relationship? What would you think if—”

  “Can we talk about this later?” Clearly still upset, Maggie cut him a don’t speak about this in public glare.

  Had the truth just cost him and his girls the best part of Goose Harbor? No, he wouldn’t let that happen. Going forward, no more secrets between them.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Maggie glanced over at Kellen while they stood in a booth dedicated to paintings of cats sleeping in the sunshine.

  She’d been foisted onto Kellen. Like one of the unwanted stray cats in the paintings they were looking at. He’d been stuck with her. Forced to take care of her.

  It was downright embarrassing.

  Being pitied was far worse than being unloved.

  If he’d had his way, she would have been tossed out with Ida’s yellow oven and teacup collection. Did he still regret having to provide her with a job? What had Ida been thinking? Maggie didn’t need to depend on a man’s care to survive. She never had before. She could make do, even if that meant working the late shift at one of the diners in town again and taking Caleb and Paige up on their offer to let her stay at their house.

  The cat pictures were making her sad, so she spun in the opposite direction and stalked off to a booth across the way. Kellen trailed her. The paintings looked oddly familiar. Something about the mixture of techniques and colors reminded her of...

  “Alan.” She almost choked on his name as the man who’d left her so many years ago appeared from the back of the tent.

  “Maggie.” A smile parted Alan’s signature red beard. “I was hoping I’d run into you.”

  “Were you?” She swallowed hard. Not because she was nervous or still cared about him. That was long past. No, that wasn’t the emotion she felt. What should someone say to the man who walked off with her money, dreams and her heart and never returned?

  Kellen angled his body to stand between them. “As in Alan Alan?”

  Maggie laid a hand on Kellen’s arm to let him know she was fine. “Kellen, could you give us a few minutes?”

  Kellen turned toward her, a storm passing over his eyes. His eyebrows were drawn low as he worked his jaw back and forth. “Are you sure you want me to go?”

  “Yes.”

  He nodded and then stalked off.

  Alan waited until Kellen was out of earshot. “I’ve wanted to apologize to you for a long time. I feel... Listen, what I did to you was horrible.”

  Maggie forced a smile even though ten different emotions fought like overtired children in her heart. “It was a long time ago. Looks like you’ve done well for yourself.”

  “I have my own gallery in New York.”

  The gallery development must have been recent. She hadn’t located that information the last time she’d searched for him a few years back. “That’s impressive, but I’m not surprised. I always said you had the talent.”

  “You believed in me when no one else did.”

  And then he left. “I’m glad things worked out how they did.” Except for the whole running-off-with-her-money part, but the middle of an art fair wasn’t the best time to have that type of discussion. She’d find out where he was staying and try to catch him when there were fewer people around. “I was never meant to leave Goose Harbor and you were never meant to stay.”

  “Come on, Maggie, let’s talk straight. The West Mansion—that pile of wood—was more important to you than anything. I could never have gotten you to leave it.”

  “Is that what you really think?” She’d been mourning her mother and grandmother when he left. How could he say something like that? “I stayed for people.”

  He grimaced. “People? Wasn’t I a person? Didn’t my dreams matter?”

  “Of course you were—are.” She was having a hard time concentrating as she scanned the crowd for Kellen. She’d stood in the way of Kellen’s dreams since he set foot in Goose Harbor. She’d threatened to leave over him remodeling the mansion. His dream mattered, too. She needed to make sure Kellen understood that.

  “But I wasn’t worth leaving for.” Alan opened up a folder and pulled out an envelope. “This is the reason I signed up for this fair. Why I traveled back.” He handed it to her. “I’ve regretted how I ended things with you for a long time and what I did to you. I’m sorry. You have no idea how sorry, and I just wanted you to hear that.”

  “I forgave you a long time ago.” Maggie glanced at the envelope. “What’s in here?”

  “What I owe you. I should have come back years ago and given you that. And just so you know, I won’t take it back. Not a cent. My gallery is very lucrative.” He pointed at her and smiled. “Take care of yourself. I promise not to pop back into town again without warning.”

  Maggie snuck away to the gazebo on the edge of the square and ripped open the envelope in private. A check for sixty thousand dollars trembled in he
r hands. Twenty grand more than she’d originally lent him.

  She looked up and her gaze collided with Kellen’s. He strode toward her but was still a good twenty yards or more away. Maggie folded up the check and slipped it into her purse.

  With the money, she could be independent if she wanted to be. She could free Kellen from Ida’s will. She’d have to make sure he knew that she’d decided to back him on the remodeling, and yet she knew she had to leave the West Oaks Inn. The place belonged to Kellen. His girls should be living there. It was their heritage now—not hers.

  Only by leaving could she discover if Kellen really cared about her or simply felt duty-bound.

  * * *

  “Are you going to tell me what he said?” Kellen sucked in deep breaths through his nose as he drove.

  “He came to apologize for the way he left and for disappearing.”

  “Good, but he’s more than ten years late. Did you tell him that?”

  Cool down.

  But he couldn’t. His heart pounded like a snare drum—deep and loud. Every time a girl had to choose between two men, Kellen lost. It had happened twice in high school and then with Cynthia. If Alan asked, would Maggie take him back?

  “He hurt me in the past, but the years have helped me realize it was all for the best. I can finally let go of wondering if I made the right choice by letting him go. I did.”

  “So he’s off the hook? Just like that? What about all the money he took from you?”

  “He paid me back. With interest.”

  “W-with interest?” Kellen’s palms were sweating on the wheel. If she had money, she could leave. Just as Cynthia had. Just as everyone always did.

  “It’s my turn to ask your forgiveness.”

  “What for?”

  “I’ve been standing in the way of everything you’ve tried to do with the inn. Of your dreams. I won’t be doing that anymore.”

  What was she saying? It felt as if she were tying up strings on the end of a package.

  He’d give anything to have her fighting him again. Fighting was better than leaving. So much better. At least fighting meant she cared. “I don’t mind.” Just stay. “Stand in the way all you want. It keeps life interesting.”