Laying her head on his arm, she began singing. Even though her voice was soft, it felt loud against the quiet of the room. Her voice cracked as tears streamed once again down her face.
“You always were a terrible singer.” His voice was a mere whisper.
Maggie lifted her head and looked into his deep-blue ocean eyes. A mixture of a laugh and sob emerged from her, tears now flowing from joy.
He smiled at her, making her stomach do flips.
“I was just thinking about the homecoming game our senior year,” she said. He lifted his hand to cradle her cheek and wiped a tear away with his thumb. “Do you remember that game?” she asked.
“Of course.”
“I still have that ball. I never did let it go.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
‡
Josh sat propped up in his hospital bed. All tubes and wires were gone. Only an IV in his hand and a sling holding his casted arm against his chest remained.
The doctor was asking him math questions to test his brain and memory while his parents, brother Jack, and Maggie observed.
“He couldn’t answer these before he got knocked in the head,” Jack teased.
“You’re just jealous because I’m getting all this attention lavished on me,” Josh retorted.
Jack laughed. He sounded just like Josh, but they looked nothing alike. A carbon copy of his father, Jack had dark hair and dark eyes, where Josh favored Talia in looks and coloring.
“What’d I miss?” Adriana waddled through the door looking quite pregnant. She was radiant and beautiful, like her mother.
“Sheesh, sis. You get any bigger and they’re gonna have to widen that doorway.” This from Jack.
Adriana expertly smacked him across the back of the head. “Don’t you know better than to mess with a pregnant woman?”
“Ow!” Jack rubbed his head.
Josh laughed. “Sorry, Doctor. Don’t mind them. Please continue.”
The doctor smiled and asked Josh a few more questions. When he was finished, he patted Josh’s leg and said, “I think you’re doing fine. I’ll get your papers started so you can be discharged this afternoon.”
“Are you sure, Doctor?” Talia asked. “He’s only been awake for a day or so.”
“Wow, Mom. I would think you’d be happy for Josh,” Jack said. “I could knock him over the head again and put him back to sleep though, if you want.”
“Well, of course I’m happy,” she replied, giving her son a look of aggravation. “I just don’t want him going home too soon if there are going to be problems with his head.”
“There’ve always been problems with his head.”
Josh and Adriana both laughed.
“Oh, you three have been against me from the beginning. The thanks I get for birthing you and raising you right.”
Now Roy was laughing too. “Okay, okay, Talia. We know you’re just worried about Josh, but there’s no need to get on your mother soapbox. They’re just teasing. And Josh is fine. He looks great.” He smiled at his son.
“He is more than fine to go home, Mrs. Harden,” the doctor said. He shook Josh’s hand and left the room. A nurse came in and took the IV out of Josh’s hand.
Jack looked at the nurse and back to Josh. “Maybe Mom has the right idea, bro. Staying here with beautiful women catering to you every day doesn’t sound so bad.”
The nurse blushed and smiled. She grabbed the rest of the IV and left the room.
Josh looked at Maggie waiting in the corner, observing his family.
“No. I have a really good reason to get out of here as soon as I can.”
*
Maggie stood in the hallway with Talia while Jack helped Josh get dressed.
Roy kissed his wife on the cheek. “I’ll be right back, honey. I’m just gonna walk Adriana to her car and go get ours.”
“Okay.”
“Bye, Mom,” Adriana said as she hugged her mother. “It was good to see you again, Maggie.”
“You too, Adriana.”
“Thank you, Maggie,” Talia said, after her husband and daughter walked away.
“For what?”
“For saving my son.” Her voice was serious.
“I don’t know what you mean, Talia.”
“You’re the only girl he has ever loved, Maggie. I believe you being with him, talking to him, caring for him, brought him back to us. Without you, I’m just not sure…” Her voice trailed off as tears threatened to fill her eyes.
“Talia, I didn’t do anything but sit by his bed through the night.”
The door to Josh’s room opened and he emerged with Jack following behind him. Dressed in jeans and an un-tucked button-down shirt, Josh looked at Maggie, the same smile on his face as that night of homecoming.
“Apparently, dear, that was enough.” Talia squeezed Maggie’s hand and went to hug her son.
*
“Step carefully,” Maggie said.
They walked down the path behind her house to the beach below. Maggie clung to Josh’s good arm, guiding him to make sure he didn’t fall. He didn’t have the heart to remind her that it was his arm that was hurt and not his legs. He suppressed a laugh at her insisting she help him, as if she, who was half his size, would actually be able to keep him from tumbling down the path.
He adored the intense look on her face as she watched each step they took together. So intent on a safe journey, so focused and determined. She always had been.
As they approached the beach, she smiled.
“Surprise!” She walked ahead of him and threw her arms out wide.
A red plaid blanket was spread out on the sand and a picnic basket sat beside it. The moonlight hit the water and lit up the night with a warm, soft glow.
“I thought since we didn’t get to have a real New Year’s Eve, we could make one of our own.”
She motioned him over to the blanket. “Come and sit. You need to take it easy.”
He thought of telling her he was fine, but decided to relish the attention from her.
“I can’t believe you did all this for me,” he said as she settled in next to him.
“I wanted to do something special. You’ve done so much for me. No one could be a better friend than you.”
His heart sank and a lump formed in his throat. Friend. That was how she saw him still.
“Are you hungry?” she asked.
“Starving.”
“Great. I brought a bunch of choices because I wasn’t sure what you would want.” She took things from the basket and laid them out in front of him, “There’s bread, cheese, salami, olives, ham…”
“Is that a bottomless basket?” he asked, laughing. She kept reaching in, bringing out more and more items.
“No, I just wanted to make things perfect.”
He placed his hand on her arm, causing her to pause from displaying the buffet. “I am sitting with you on our beach on a moonlit night. Nothing could be more perfect.”
She sliced a piece of bread and put a piece a cheese on top and said, “Try this. It’s amazing.”
He took it from her and did as she said. “You’re right, you are amazing.”
“I know! What? No, wait. That’s not what I said!” She laughed, the most beautiful sound in the world to him.
“It is good.”
“Just good? Here I am, trying to impress a master chef and all I get is, ‘It’s good?’”
He lay back on the blanket, legs stretched out in front of him and leaning on his good arm.
“Everything is absolutely wonderful, Maggie.”
“Thanks,” she said, moving away from the picnic basket and sitting down next to him. As she looked into his eyes, he could see that she was willing herself not to cry.
“What’s wrong?”
Looking out to the water, she said, “How do you always seem to know when something is wrong?”
“You get this look on your face when you are trying really hard not to cry.”
&n
bsp; “I do not!”
“Yes, you do. I get the furrowed brow, you get the trying-not-to-cry face.”
She laughed.
“You didn’t answer my question.”
The waves rolled in, the tide calm. Peaceful.
“I’m not really sure what’s wrong,” she began. “I know that tomorrow, I still have to find a full-time job and sell the house.”
“Do you not want to sell the house?”
She looked up the hill. “I thought I did at first. I worried it held too many bad memories.” Her eyes met his again. “But it doesn’t. And I’m making new ones now.” She shrugged. “That’s all irrelevant though. I can’t afford to keep it. Certainly not without a job. But, hey. I don’t want to ruin tonight by talking about those things.”
“You won’t ruin it.” He popped an olive into his mouth. “Besides, we have enough food for three days. Keep talking.”
“Why are you so good to me?”
“Because I love you.”
She looked at him, wide-eyed.
“Look, I know you still just want to be friends, Maggie. But I don’t want to keep dancing around how I feel about you. I’m gonna say it. I love you.”
“What makes you think I just want to be friends?” she asked.
It was his turn to be caught off guard. “When we first came down here, you said I was such a good friend to you. I assumed that’s how you wanted it to stay.”
Her face softened and she cupped his cheek with her hand, causing his heart to skip a beat.
“Do you know what happened when I got to your hospital room?”
He shook his head.
“I couldn’t go in.”
“Why not?” He pulled back from her hand for a moment.
“I couldn’t handle seeing you like that. I didn’t want to face the idea of a world without you. Of not having you in my world. Because I love you too.”
She took his face in her hands and kissed him. Years and years of pent-up emotion poured from her and onto his lips. He sat up and wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her, kissing her in return, and knowing that he would never again let her out of his arms.
They knelt, facing one another, holding on with passion and intensity. Maggie encircled his neck with her arms and buried her face in his shoulder.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, her voice muffled by his shirt.
“What for?” He pulled back from her to be able to look in her eyes. Her eyes like pools of chocolate that glimmered with moonlight.
“For not seeing earlier how much I need you. I meant to tell you how I feel but I just…”
“You’re here now. That’s all that matters.”
He drew her into his arm again, cursing the cast that kept him from holding her completely. His hand stroked the silkiness of her hair beneath his fingers.
Gripping his shirt, she clung to him as if her life depended on it. His sure did. She was back in his life and he’d be damned sure nothing would take her away again.
“Thank you for the perfect New Years, Maggie.”
“Oh! I have one more surprise,” she said, jumping up.
He sat back on the blanket and watched her dig through the picnic basket. Pulling a long box and a lighter from inside, she planted sticks in the sand all around the blanket. The lighter glowed with a tiny flame as dusk settled. She went around to each stick one by one. Within minutes the blanket was encircled with sparklers lighting up the night.
“Happy New Year!” Maggie shouted from near the water, just outside the circle.
From inside the circle, Josh soaked in the scene. The air sparkled around him and it had nothing to do with the fireworks and everything to do with the woman by the water, the only girl he ever loved, who now loved him back.
Chapter Thirty
‡
Maggie went into town to talk to Kate about working in the store with her. She was really excited about doing something new. Her resume was out in the world, Doyle promising to help her any way he could. In the interim, it would be fun to work with Kate. Her sister. She shook her head. As much as she loved that fact, she still hadn’t been able to wrap her head around it entirely.
She arrived at Atmosphere, just as Kate was unlocking the front door.
“Hey, you.”
Kate looked up.
“Hey, yourself.” She turned the lock and pushed the door open with a hard nudge. “Let’s go talk in the back room. I don’t open for another half hour or so.”
“Okay.” Maggie followed her through the store. She was amazed every time she came into the place. She was impressed with the decorations. Kate had such an eye for unique and individual pieces, fitting them so well into what was already in a room.
“So, are we considering this an official job interview?” Kate asked as she moved around the small room. She placed her computer bag on the floor near the counter, wrote something on a large calendar on the wall, and wiped down the sink that looked like it had already been wiped down.
“That’s up to you, ma’am.” Maggie took a seat at the table.
“Oh please. If you call me ‘ma’am’ again you absolutely will not get hired.”
Maggie laughed.
“You want some coffee or something?”
“No, I’m good. Looks like you’ve had your daily multi-shots of espresso already.”
“Yes, I have, thank you for noticing.” She took the hint and sat down in the chair across from Maggie.
“Okay, what kind of hours are you looking for?” Kate pulled a legal pad from a drawer in the cupboard near the table. “I’m open to whatever you want, because you’ll be helping me out. I only have George and Emma, the retired couple who help me run the store, and then two other part-time girls who are in college. They’re great, but I have to work around their school schedules.”
“Why don’t you just plug me in where you need me? Whatever time the girls or George and Emma can’t be here, I can. I can work on my writing whenever so I’m flexible.”
“Perfect. I’ve been covering the hours that get lost somehow so I think I can throw about ten to fifteen hours your way each week. Deal?”
She stuck out her hand.
“Deal.” They shook hands.
“Okay. I post a schedule each month here on the corkboard.” Kate pointed to a large board hanging right inside the door. “Just take a look at it and let me know if you have a conflict and we’ll go from there.”
“Sounds fair.”
*
Maggie’s cell phone rang. It had been a week since her night with Josh on the beach. One, blissful, romantic, wonderful week. Surprised it wasn’t him calling, she hit Accept and answered.
“Hi, Hannah.”
“Hey, Mags. I’m calling with some really great news.”
“Please tell me it’s about the house.”
“It’s about the house.”
“You better not be kidding.”
Hannah laughed. “I’m not. I have a buyer. And they’re willing to pay the asking price.”
“Are you serious? That is great news. When do they want to come look at it? I can have it spruced up by this afternoon if you need.”
“No need. They want it just from looking at the pictures.”
“What? No way. You’ve got to be joking.”
“I promise, I’m not joking. Look, I will give you more details later. They want to meet you though.”
“Okay, this is sounding creepy and weird now.”
“Do you trust me?” Hannah asked.
“Of course I trust you.”
“Then meet me at the high school in an hour.”
“The high school? Um, okay.”
“Trust me,” Hannah said once more and then hung up the phone.
Maggie put her phone back in her purse and looked at Kate.
“What? What is it?” her friend asked.
“Hannah says there’s a buyer for the house.”
“That’s great!”
“Y
eah. I guess so.”
“You guess so? This should be a good thing.”
Maggie frowned. “Yeah. It is. I just sort of started wondering how I could somehow keep it, but…” She shook her head. “No. There’s no way. You’re right. This is good. But weird.”
“You’re confusing the hell out of me.”
“Well, Hannah said the buyer wants to meet me at the high school. Isn’t that bizarre?”
Kate shrugged. “Not really. Besides, Hannah will be there with you. You trust her. It will be fine.” She leaned across the table and took Maggie’s hand. “This is a good thing. Now go!”
“Okay.” Maggie grabbed her purse and keys. “I’ll see you later – Boss.”
A pencil flew by Maggie’s head as she raced out the back room laughing.
*
Maggie pulled into the high school parking lot and parked next to Hannah, who was standing outside of her car, waiting.
“Okay, I’m here,” Maggie said as she got out of her car.
“He wants to meet you over there.” Hannah pointed.
Maggie followed her finger and then looked back at her friend. “He wants to meet me on the football field? What in the world is going on, Hannah?”
“Trust me,” she said firmly, leaning against her car with her arms crossed.
“You have that same look you had the day you told us you were adopting a baby,” Maggie said.
“No, I don’t.”
“Whatever,” Maggie said as she headed toward the football field. “But if I get attacked I’m blaming you and you get to go to jail. And I’m not bailing you out!” she yelled over her shoulder.
“That’s fine,” Hannah shouted back.
As Maggie made her way around the grandstands, she couldn’t fathom what Hannah was getting her into this time. She came around the back of the stands and noticed a trail of something red on the ground. Her heart began to pound and she thought for a moment of racing back to Hannah to tell her to forget it, but wait… were those rose petals? They formed a path around the bleachers. Her curiosity piqued, she followed the path as it came around to where the stands met the field. Her eyes wandered along them and she looked up to see Josh standing in the center of the field. The path of rose petals led to him and formed a circle around him.
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