A Summer Romance

by Tracey Smith

  She began to ascend the stairs and Barney, who up until that point had seemed rather unaffected by the storm, began to shift and squirm in her arms.

  “It’s okay, baby,” she crooned to the cat who seemed more and more agitated as she neared the top of the steps. Just before she’d reached the landing Barney hissed and jumped from her arms, jetting back down the steps as fast as he could go.

  “That was odd,” Maggie said into the darkness. She slowly made her way toward the West wing, wanting nothing more than to crawl under the covers and wait out this thunderstorm. Behind her Maggie heard the distinctive sound of a door closing. She jumped at the sound and whirled around holding her phone up, but the light was not enough to see more than a foot or so in front of her. Beyond that was utter darkness. Maggie held perfectly still listening and staring into the black void. After a moment of silence she finally turned and fled to her room, slamming the door shut behind her and running for the safety and comfort of her bed.

  Maggie pulled the covers over her head, just like she had done as a child, and waited out the storm, counting the seconds between the flashes of lightening and the following thunder. Finally as she felt confident that the worst of the storm was passing Maggie began to slowly relax. The power was still out but the sound of rain outside had quieted and the sounds of thunder had faded into the distance.

  Maggie decided to try to fall asleep. She slipped out of her jeans and pulled off her bra leaving only her blouse and panties. She listened to the sounds of the receding storm, but her mind wouldn’t calm. She wondered about Barney’s strange reaction to being carried upstairs, and realized for the first time that the cat had never stepped foot on the second floor, which seemed odd considering how much he’d made himself at home downstairs. She also wondered about the sound she’d heard from the deserted East wing and considered whether or not the two incidents could be related. Had the cat sensed something upstairs that had frightened him? Or had it just been the storm itself that had him spooked?

  As Maggie lay in bed trying to convince herself that she was overreacting she heard the unmistakable creak from the staircase just down the hall. She knew that sound. There was a loose floor board on the third step from the top and it creaked each time she stepped on it. Maggie held perfectly still as she listened for another sound. Was someone in the house?

  Again she heard the creak of floor boards, this time closer. Maggie sat up in bed and stared at the door of the room. Through the darkness she saw a light sweep across the crevice under the door. She blinked her eyes, hoping that her mind was playing tricks on her. Then the door to her room swung open.

  Maggie screamed, scrambling from the bed and getting tangled in the blankets as she fell to the floor.

  “Maggie!?” Aaron’s voice broke through the darkness like a beacon in the night. Relief flooded through her instantly.

  “My God, Aaron! You scared me to death!” Maggie exclaimed as she fumbled around on the floor trying to unwrap herself from the bed sheets.

  Aaron’s laughter filled the room, which only irritated her more. “What are you doing on the floor?” he asked as he came around the bed and shined a flashlight down on her. She indignantly removed the last of the tangled sheets from her legs and stood in front of him brushing herself off.

  “I thought I was hiding from some psycho killer who’d broken into the house to murder me!” she informed him irritably.

  “Hiding in the sheets?” Aaron asked and she could hear the laughter in his voice. She slapped his chest.

  “It’s not funny,” she insisted, crossing her arms over her chest. “You still haven’t told me what you’re doing here.”

  “I came to make sure you were okay,” Aaron said, and some of her irritation melted away.

  “Oh.” Her heart rate was finally returning to normal.

  “So are you?” he asked as he stepped forward, closing to distance between them and wrapping his arms around her.

  “Am I what?” she asked dreamily, all annoyance forgotten at his touch.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Never been better,” she breathed, staring up into his eyes as he brought his mouth to hers. He kissed her tenderly at first, stroking her back in a soothing rhythm. She melted against him, responding to him instantly and grasping onto his broad shoulders to pull him closer. His kiss intensified, delving deeper with a need that belied his subtle approach.

  “You didn’t call,” he breathed against her neck as he trailed kisses down to her collarbone.

  “Andi told me not to,” Maggie admitted as she leaned her head back while he kissed her throat. “She told me to play hard to get.”

  Aaron chuckled softly, she could feel his warm breath on her skin and it sent shivers through her. “Trust me, Maggie, nothing about us is easy.” And with that cryptic response he swept her up into his arms and carried her to the bed. He laid her down gently and stood over her. He was just a silhouette in the darkness.

  “We come from different worlds,” he told her as he slowly began unbuttoning her blouse. Her nipples were hard peaks below the thin fabric, aching to be touched. “Our paths would never have crossed if we hadn’t both been brought to this place.” He pulled her blouse open and slowly trailed a finger down from her collarbone to her waist. She arched her back at his touch.

  “And I know that I’ve never done anything good enough to deserve you,” he continued as he placed a soft kiss on her abdomen and hooked his fingers under the waistband of her panties.

  “That’s not true,” Maggie argued breathlessly as she lifted her hips so that he could slide them off. “You don’t see yourself like I do.”

  “No one does,” he whispered just before he claimed her mouth in a searing kiss.

  ~13~

  Maggie woke the next morning to Aaron gently caressing her cheek.

  “I’m sorry to wake you,” he whispered as her eyes fluttered open. “I need to go but I didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye.”

  “Where are you going?” she asked, trying to sit up as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

  “Don’t get up. It’s early.” He gently pushed her back down onto the bed. She went willingly, fighting just to keep her eyelids open. “I’ve got another meeting. This one is in Savannah so I’ll probably be gone most of the day,” he explained as he slipped from the bed and pulled his jeans back on.

  “Another meeting?” Maggie asked sleepily.

  “I should be back by dinner, and hopefully we’ll have something to celebrate. I’ll tell you all about it later, okay?” Aaron searched the room until he found his discarded t-shirt.

  “Alright,” Maggie conceded, pouting a little.

  “Go back to sleep,” he whispered as he leaned down to kiss her. Then he slipped out of the room, quietly shutting the door.

  ~∞~

  Several hours later when Maggie woke again she was left to wonder about yet another mysterious meeting, however, this time Aaron had promised to tell her all about it. Unfortunately he’d said he’d be gone most of the day which meant she had a very long time to wait.

  She tried to fall back into her old routine. She had her coffee on the veranda and then took a stroll around the grounds with Barney in tow. The orchards were in full bloom and the sweet smell of peaches permeated the humid air. Aaron had told her that the harvesting crew would be arriving at the end of this week. It made her sad to realize that the harvest would start soon, because that was quite literally the beginning of the end. When the harvest was over it would be time for her to leave. She wasn’t ready for the end of summer yet, wasn’t ready for the decisions that would come with it.

  As Maggie made her way back to the house she felt anxious. The abundance of free-time that had once felt like a blessing now seemed a burden. She had no idea how to fill her time. She wondered if it was missing Aaron’s presence that made her feel so restless.

  Finally unable to sit still any longer, she decided to take a bicycle ride into town. The heat was op
pressive, but she was fueled by a need to keep moving, and somehow she’d actually grown somewhat accustomed to the unrelenting heat.

  She was covered in a healthy layer of sweat when she reached Sweetwater. Her first stop was at the corner diner where she ordered an ice-cold coke and used the restroom to splash some water on her face and freshen up. After that she felt revived enough to take a walk around town.

  She wandered in and out of a few shops, but mostly she just walked and contemplated the choices that lay in front of her. She was falling in love and she knew it. It was easy to imagine spending the rest of her life making love to that man, but she was just too much of a realist to dwell in that fantasy for too long. She knew that if she stayed her days would not be filled with making love in a mansion. She would need to find a job and a place of her own.

  Was she ready to build a life here? Was she ready to give up on her dream of finishing medical school? Could she be happy living a quiet little life in this small town? Questions swirled through her mind as she wandered the streets aimlessly.

  When she was with Aaron, in his arms, the answers seemed obvious. But when she was alone, when she could think clearly, without the distraction of his seductive eyes and charming smile, she wondered if that would be enough. Right now she didn’t want to spend a moment apart from him, but how long did that kind of love last?

  Maggie suddenly realized that she’d come to a stop in the middle of the sidewalk. She glanced around to see if anyone had noticed and her eyes focused on the storefront window beside her. There was an ad tacked to the window with a picture of a Jeep. The car was for sale and the flyer said to inquire within. Maggie found herself walking into the store before she’d realized that she’d even made a decision. If there was one thing she had learned from this summer it was that sometimes when life presents a path you should take it.

  “Good afternoon,” the cheerful clerk greeted Maggie as she entered the small antique store.

  “Hello. I was wondering about the ad on the window for the Jeep. Do you know who’s selling it?” Maggie asked as she approached the counter.

  “Well, that would be me,” the woman smiled. “My name is Brandy Raulston, I own this little shop,” she announced proudly.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Raulston. My name is Maggie Overton,” she introduced as she extended her hand.

  “Please call me Brandy, my mother-in-law was Mrs. Raulston,” the woman laughed as she shook Maggie’s hand. “So you’re interested in the Jeep?” she asked.

  “Yes. Is it yours?” Maggie asked.

  “My granddaughter’s actually. Just bought it for her as a graduation gift a few months ago and she went and got herself accepted into the University of Hawaii if you could believe that. You don’t even want to know what it costs to ship a Jeep from Georgia to Hawaii!” the woman exclaimed. “Anyway, she’s gone off and left me to sell it.”

  “How much do you want for it?” Maggie asked.

  “I bought it used for $5,000 just a few months ago and I was hoping to get that back out of it.”

  “Oh.” Maggie only had half that. She’d known it was a long shot, but it had been worth a try. “That’s a little more than I have, but thank you for your time.” Maggie said politely as she turned to leave.

  “Maybe we could work something out,” the storeowner said before Maggie could leave. “When my granddaughter left she also left me a bit shorthanded here at the shop. You wouldn’t be looking for work would you?”

  Sometimes when a path presents itself, you take it.

  ~∞~

  Maggie couldn’t stop smiling as she drove her new Jeep to the grocery store to show Andi, who immediately took her lunch break so that Maggie could take her for a ride. After a short cruise around Sweetwater, the girls stopped for lunch at what was quickly becoming Maggie’s favorite café.

  After Maggie reluctantly returned Andi to work she continued her tour of Sweetwater, slowly driving up and down every street, exploring the residential neighborhoods and the outlying areas. She imagined herself living here with Aaron in one of the quaint little homes, raising a family, working at Ms. Brandy’s antique store. It was a happy life that she imagined and yet a far cry from the one she’d once dreamed of.

  Maggie remembered with distinct clarity the night she’d decided she was going to be a doctor. It was her first sleepover at a friend’s house. She was ten years old and her mother had allowed the sleepover only because it was with the daughter of a wealthy businessman who her father was in negotiations with.

  The motives didn’t matter to Maggie, for her it was her first taste of freedom from the rigid schedule her mother held her to. It had been a night of many firsts. Her first taste of junk food, the first time she’d ever broken her mother’s very strict 9:00 bedtime rule, and the first time she’d ever watched television for hours on end. Maggie recalled being amazed with the fact that Jennifer had a television in her room. The only televisions in Maggie’s house were in her father’s den, where she was never allowed, and in the housekeeper Mrs. Burton’s room.

  Maggie had many fond memories of watching The Flintstones in Mrs. Burton’s room in the early morning hours before school, but she’d never before watched sit-coms and late night dramas. She was enthralled with everything that cable television had to offer.

  The show that captured Maggie’s attention the most was the hour long series about emergency room doctors. Maggie was glued to the screen, watching with rapt attention as the doctors on the show handled one catastrophic event after another. It was an introduction to a whole new world. There were women on the show who were doctors, they were unconcerned with the state of their hair, or whether or not they dirtied their nails or ruined their make-up. They were self-sufficient, strong characters who did not define themselves by who they were married to.

  In the sheltered life Maggie had lived she’d never known women could be anything other than the trophy wife her mother was raising her to be. She remembered as the show concluded releasing a breath that she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. She turned to Jennifer and told her “I’m going to be a doctor.”

  Jennifer had laughed and changed the channel to another show, but Maggie had spent the rest of that night imagining what it would be like to be a doctor. When she’d shared that dream with her mother the next morning she’d been absolutely appalled and Maggie was never allowed to spend the night with Jennifer again. But the seed had been planted and Maggie began devoting every spare moment she could to secretly researching how she could become a doctor.

  And now here she was, so many years later, considering giving up that dream for the love of a man. If she had known that this trip would bring her to this crossroads, would she have taken it? Would she give up the time she’d spent with Aaron to go back to her solitary existence?

  One thing she knew for sure was that this experience had changed her. She knew now what it was to love and she knew that if she left now she would leave broken hearted. Her old life would be a lonely one now, but if she could, would she give up what she’d had with Aaron to go back to that life without the heartache? No. Whatever the cost, falling in love had been worth it. The problem was Maggie had not yet decided what that cost would be and time was running out. Summer would be over soon.

  ~14~

  Maggie jumped when the phone rang, which was funny since she’d been willing it to ring for the last hour. She clambered for the phone, fumbling it before she got it to her ear. She took a stabilizing breath before answering.

  “Hello.” Her voice rang clear and steady, despite her racing heart.

  “Hey, beautiful.” Aaron’s voice was sultry even over the phone.

  “Hey, yourself,” Maggie responded playfully. Just the sound of his voice relaxed her nerves.

  “How quickly can you be ready?” Aaron asked.

  “Ready for what?” Maggie asked.

  “I’m taking you to dinner,” Aaron told her confidently.

  “What if I have other pla
ns?” she teased.

  “Cancel them.”

  Maggie smiled. “I can be ready in ten minutes.”

  “Good, I’ll be there in five. We’ve got reservations for six.”

  Maggie glanced at the clock, it was 5:30. “I didn’t realize there was a restaurant in this town that required reservations.”

  “There’s one,” Aaron confirmed. “See you in a minute.”

  Maggie hung up and ran upstairs, grateful that she’d already showered. She frantically scanned the clothes in her closet, looking for something that would be nice enough for a restaurant that required reservations. She’d spent the last several weeks in cut-off jean shorts and undershirts. She felt giddy as she pulled items from the closet, trying them on and then discarding them onto the bed. Finally she came across a sleek, dark blue wrap dress with a deep v-neck that showed more cleavage than she was normally comfortable with. In this past she’d usually worn this dress with a lace camisole beneath. Tonight she didn’t.

  She chose to leave her hair down, brushing out the long auburn strands so that they fell down her back. Her hair had lightened under the Georgia sun, with streaks of deep gold running through it. She was just applying the last of her make-up when she heard the doorbell. She skipped down the stairs, carrying her blue strappy heels in her hands and slipping them on just before opening the door. She felt flushed as she smiled up into Aaron’s expectant face.

  He was momentarily speechless as he took her in. She was equally impressed as she admired his semi-formal attire. He wore a dark blue button down shirt, although he’d rolled the long sleeves to his mid-forearm and left the top button undone. It was still the nicest outfit she’d ever seen him wear. He even had on a pair of slacks and loafers that looked to be new. She realized she’d never before seen him in anything but his work boots, jeans, and t-shirt.