Judy’s face drooped. “Not to be nosy, but why do you have to stay out of the sun?” she asked, offering me a bottle of water from her cooler.
I took it and rolled the cool surface across my forehead. “I have cancer. I’m going through radiation, so I’m not really supposed to be in the sun.” The plastic cap snapped open as I twisted. Chloe surprised me when I least expected it. Maybe she did know her mother was gone. Then again, maybe she didn’t, and she was just being her usual self, that I had grown to love.
“I’m so sorry,” Judy said.
Harry kicked sand into the air as he ran by.
“It’s okay. I think I’m going to be fine.” I gulped the water and watched the three children run along the shore. Laughter erupted in the whoosh of the lake as it kissed the Michigan shore. “No,” I blurted out.
Judy turned. “What?”
I shook my head. “I meant to say, I will be fine. I’m going to be a survivor. I refuse to believe otherwise,” I stated with conviction, my words strong, fierce. I held her gaze.
Judy held up her water bottle to me. I touched mine to hers. A thin grin crossed her lips. The shoulder strap of her suit flopped to the side as she settled back in her chair. We had matching tattoos. I checked her cleavage. She had a black spot at the top of her breasts. She caught me staring.
“I have two tats on my side and another one here,” she said, lifting the side of her suit out of the way. “I’m a survivor, too. It will be two years this August.” She smiled. Her eyes followed the football floating past. “Radiation sucks,” she grunted. “I had a mastectomy and chemo.” She fluffed her short curls. “My eyelashes will never be the same.”
“You look great. And you’re right. Radiation does suck. I am so sick of going.” I took a long drag of water. “All I want to do is be at the beach in my suit, not hiding under tunics and hats. I’m sick of peeling chunks of itchy skin. It’s ugly and I hate it,” I said. “I just want to be done.” I wondered if the mystery cane with my father’s name scratched in the paint was still in the lost and found.
“I know exactly how you feel.” She reached over and patted my hand. “I think we’re going to be good friends.”
Harry, Walter, and Chloe ran to where we sat. Water dripped from their suits. Harry shook his head like a retriever. We all screeched then laughed.
Bones barked and ran toward the kids. I jumped up, trying to catch him. Chloe ran to the bench to get his leash. He circled the boys begging for attention.
“Bones, come,” I said.
His eyes danced with the desire to play.
I held his mischievous stare and pointed in front of me. I cocked my head, giving him the look, trying to be serious.
“Come,” I said, lowering my voice. I knelt down. My left knee touched the sand. Bones cocked his head. His tail waggled back and forth. He sighed then stepped closer to me and sat down. “Good boy,” I praised, patting his head. He rolled over onto his back and let me pat his belly.
“Look, he wiggled out of his collar,” Chloe called, as she came running back with the leash, the collar still attached. “He wanted to play with us.”
“Can I pet him?” Walter asked, crouching beside me.
“Sure,” I answered, rubbing Bones’ chest.
“I like his wrinkly face.” Walter giggled as he played with his jowls.
Chloe put his collar back on. “Good boy, Bones,” she said, patting his rump. Chloe’s eyes shone with approval. “You’re getting better at this dog stuff, Maggie. You got to remember, this is his day, too.”
“You’re pretty smart,” Judy said with a smirk. She adjusted her bathing suit straps. “Maggie and I are going to exchange phone numbers. If you want to play with the boys sometime, that would be great.”
Chloe squinted into the sun, trying to see Judy’s face. “I’d like that. My dad can get the number from Maggie.”
Chloe shaded her eyes, hurt cut through the rays of sun. Her chin wobbled. She spun around and ran down the beach toward the rock where she and her mother had posed just days ago.
“This is not going to be good,” I mumbled to myself. I handed Walter the leash. “Do you think you could watch Bones for a minute?” I asked, checking to see if Judy minded.
“Sure,” he answered, consumed by the friendly beast.
“Thanks.” I trotted after Chloe. My feet kicked up wet sand. With one eye on Chloe and one eye on horizon, I noticed that the sky was streaked with jet streams. I wondered which one Brook had left behind. Did she really think leaving Chloe a note would suffice? I wondered what other promises she’d made and had broken. It wasn’t fair.
Chloe scurried up the rock like a lizard. She stared up to the sky and yelled at the top of her lungs, “Momma! Why didn’t you take me with you?” She sat down on the edge of the rock, pulled her legs up to her belly, hugged them, then buried her face in her chest. Her hair fell forward, covering her cheeks.
I caught my breath.
The hitch in my breathing made my chest ache.
I wanted Chloe to stay, but not like this. Poor baby.
Slowly I climbed the rock, stepping carefully to keep my balance then sat next to Chloe. I pulled my legs to my chest and hugged them. Her shoulders quaked. Muffled sobs escaped. I let her grieve. What seemed like a lifetime finally passed. I didn’t make eye contact as Chloe surfaced for air. “So you know your mom left?”
She sniffed. “Yeah.” Her voice wavered. “She left me a note.”
“I saw.” I glanced sideways. “It fell out of your Junie B. book.”
Chloe tucked her sundried hair behind her ears, the ends still wet from dunking her head in the lake. She wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “How come you didn’t say anything?”
“Because I didn’t know if you knew and it wasn’t my place to tell you. Obviously, your dad doesn’t know. When did you find her note?”
“When I got home from basketball,” she whimpered. “She always does this and I hate it.”
I put my arm around her shoulders. “I’m so sorry, honey,” I said, forcing the words over the lump in my throat.
I kept my thoughts of Brook to myself. Chloe didn’t need my jaded views. Besides, Brook was her mother, and mommas were sacred. The bond between Chloe and her mother was stronger than our new thread of friendship even if it was marred with worn patches ready to snap. Chloe would have to decide in her own time and on her own terms how to deal with Brook. The best thing I could do, was just be there.
Chloe shook out her legs then nuzzled into my side. She was warm. The damp ends of her hair felt cool against my radiated skin as it soaked through my cotton tunic.
“I should have known,” Chloe said. “She’s not very good at being a mom. I really wanted to go,” she sobbed.
With my arm around her shoulder, I held her close. “I know you did.”
Chloe’s emerald-green eyes were dark like a summer storm, the rims of her eyes red from the thunder.
“Can we go home?” she asked.
“We sure can.”
Chloe traced the bones of my hand resting in my lap with her finger. “You’re not going to die from your cancer, are you?”
I pulled my arm from around her shoulder and lifted her chin with my finger. “No one really knows what will happen to you when you get sick, but if I have anything to say about it, then no.” I searched her eyes for that usual charge.
Chloe reached up and touched my cheek. “Good.”
Chapter 35
Chloe and I had planned on sleeping outside, but the drizzle had turned into a steady rain so John pitched Chloe’s pup tent in my living room. Secretly, I was glad for an indoor retreat. I hadn’t slept on the ground in ages. Bradley was about eleven and he and Beckett had talked me into going camping up north at the Petoskey State Park. My back ached for a week after the adventure, and the bug bites were miserably itchy.
“There, you two lovely ladies are all set,” John said as he poked his head out from the p
up tent doorway.
“Thanks, Dad,” Chloe crooned as she played with Bones. “This will be great. Hey, Maggie.” Chloe rearranged her pink and purple plaid sleeping bag.
“Yes, Chloe.” I put the graham crackers, chocolate bars, and marshmallows on the coffee table. Bones waddled over, and I scratched his head.
“Can Bones sleep in my tent?” she asked.
“Sure,” I answered. Better him than me. “His new dog bed is in the library.”
Chloe scooted out of the living room and through the foyer to the library.
I sat on the sofa with my feet up on the table. “I know it’s summer, but building a fire is always a good idea.”
John sat down at the other end of the sofa. “Good thing you don’t have any furniture in this room. I don’t know where else we’d put her tent.”
I smirked. “We’d find a place. Are you staying for s’mores?”
“Are you kidding me? Yeah,” he replied.
I took a sip of my wine. John’s green eyes flickered in the fire’s light. I held my glass toward him. He picked up his beer and clinked my glass. “Cheers,” I said with a wink.
“Cheers. Here’s to good neighbors. Make that fabulous neighbors.”
“I don’t know about fabulous, but I did help you get rid of Nanny Nora, and I’m not so sure I did so well with Brook. I have a dog in need of tweaking his manners, and then there’s my mother.” I snickered and John’s eyes lit up.
“Thank you,” he said, tilting his beer bottle in my direction. “Chloe loves you, and you really didn’t have to take her overnight.”
I glanced into the fire. Flames licked the logs making hot embers for perfectly browned marshmallows. “I have a confession.” I took a shallow breath. My chest rose and fell as I listened to Chloe in the library talking to Bones about staying off the furniture. A grin crossed my lips. “I’m glad Chloe didn’t go. I would have missed her too much.” I paused. “Truth is, she’s helping me get through the summer. Nanny Nora and Brook, well, they were just bonus entertainment.” I drained my wineglass and peered over the edge of the crystal into John’s eyes.
“I have a confession as well,” he said, leaning closer to me. “I am really glad she didn’t go, too. I would have missed her even more than you, and with her gone, I wouldn’t have an excuse to come over here to hang out.”
“Well, as long as we are telling all our secrets.” I nudged his shoulder. “You don’t need an excuse to come over.”
John smiled and patted my hand. His warm fingertips were soft, soothing. That was one drawback of living alone. I craved human touch even in the simplest form. I gave his hand a little squeeze and held on just for a moment. “Have you heard from Brook?”
“She called earlier, but I don’t want to get into that now. I’d like to enjoy my evening. Let’s just say, some things never change. I think she told Chloe she’d take her to get even with you.”
I raised an eyebrow in his direction. “That’s silly.”
He let out a little chuckle. “Come on, she didn’t want to share her with you. Here you are, independent, Chloe’s newest friend, she doesn’t have those things.” He paused. “She saw that you were close to Chloe. I don’t know if she’ll ever have that.”
I patted his hand. “Maybe we should make s’mores now?” I knew it was selfish, but I reveled in his compliment.
“Thanks for being here, Maggie,” John whispered.
Chloe ran in dragging Voodoo by his purple string behind her. “Is it time for s’mores yet?” she asked, eyeing the goodies on the table.
“Yup,” I answered, handing the marshmallow bag to John. “Can you open these for us with your big muscles?”
John flexed his biceps. Chloe giggled then squeezed his arm with pride. He tore open the plastic, popped one into his mouth, then threaded the white sugary pillows onto the roasting sticks. “Can I burn mine?”
I wrinkled my nose in disgust. “I guess,” I said, “whatever floats your boat.”
Chloe shrugged at me. “It takes all kinds.” She unwrapped the chocolate bars and lined up the individual crackers on the table. While she gave her dad instructions on how brown her marshmallows should be, Bones snuck a cracker then ran into the kitchen.
“Tomorrow, we’ll have blueberry pancakes for breakfast,” I stated, feeling more hungry than I had in months. “Then we’ll whip up a batch of cookies just for fun. How does that sound?”
“Woo-hoo,” Chloe cheered. “Mom never bakes with me.”
I couldn’t fathom a house with children and no baking. Baking was a special kind of love. Brook’s priorities were different, though, something I didn’t understand. “How come your mom never bakes with you?”
“She doesn’t like to measure,” she answered.
“Oh,” I said quietly.
“That’s just her excuse. She wants to stay skinny. Mom said it would ruin her body,” Chloe added. “She has a reason for everything.”
I squished my gooey marshmallow between the graham crackers and chocolate. I took a big bite, savoring every crumb, thinking I didn’t have that problem.
John’s marshmallow caught fire and he quickly blew it out. “Perfect,” he exclaimed.
Chloe wrinkled her nose. “It’s black,” she moaned. “Gross.”
“To you, my sweet pea, it may be black. To me, it’s perfection.” John put his s’more together, gobbled it down in three bites, and strung another roasting stick with more marshmallows. “One more, then I have to go. You two ladies, I’m sure, have pressing girl stuff to talk about, plus I’m beat.”
Chloe and I shot each other a look. “Girl stuff?” we said in unison. Then we both said, “Jinx, you owe me a Coke,” at exactly the same time. It had taken most of the summer, but we were beginning to synchronize. Her jack-o’-lantern smile had more gaps. Her hair was longer and touched her shoulders, and she had more freckles on the bridge of her nose. She wasn’t the pesky kid hiding in the bushes anymore. She wasn’t the annoying, eavesdropping neighbor. She was Chloe. The girl-next-door who stole my heart.
John smiled at me as I watched Chloe nibble around the edges of her treat. Bones licked up the crumbs she dropped on the floor. “I guess I don’t need a vacuum anymore,” I said, as I licked the oozing chocolate from the edge of my graham cracker sandwich.
Chloe smirked. “Good thing we have Bones.”
“Good thing.”
John shoved the last nibble into his mouth then drained his beer. “Sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite.” He picked Chloe up, hugging her only as a daddy could. She wrapped her legs around his torso. It reminded me of times long gone between Beckett and Bradley, and me and my dad. My dad snuggled better than anyone I knew. Chloe wrapped her arms around John’s neck and squeezed tight. “’Night, Daddy,” she said, after kissing his bristly face.
John set her down on the sofa next to me. He lifted Chloe’s chin with his finger. “Mind your manners, kiddo. Maggie has permission to call me.”
“I don’t think that will be necessary,” I said, catching a twinkle in his eye.
He kissed Chloe on the forehead.
I walked him to the door. “’Night,” I said as I brushed crumbs from my shirt. “I’m sure we’ll be just fine.”
John guided me out the door onto the front porch. “I’m sure you will.” He leaned close. “’Night, Maggie,” he said, before kissing me on the forehead, too.
Fireflies danced across the yard as I watched him go. He blew me a kiss. I peeked over the side of the porch, and thought for sure I caught sight of a fairy.
By the time I got back inside, Chloe was in her pajamas and curled up on the sofa with her Junie B. book. I listened to her read. “You’re getting better,” I said, enjoying the way her face beamed with pride. I smiled and rumpled her hair. “That Junie B. cracks me up.”
Chloe continued to read.
I cleaned up the crackers, chocolate wrappers, and marshmallows, then brushed the crumbs from the table an
d tossed them into the fire. “You just about ready for bed?”
“Will you come in the tent with me?” Chloe asked.
“Sure, will I fit?” I asked, poking my head inside.
Bones was sacked out in the corner on his back with his feet up in the air.
“You’ll fit. You’re small, come on,” she urged crawling in ahead of me.
Bones grunted and his eyelids twitched. I crawled inside, too, but my feet stuck out the door. I could see the fire. “This is better than being outside.”
“Yeah, no bugs,” Chloe added. “Maggie—”
“What?” I curled up on my side while Chloe rearranged her special blanket. She reminded me of Bones in a way as she fixed her spot perfectly before nestling in for a good night’s sleep.
“I’m glad you don’t find me annoying anymore,” she said.
I fingered the ends of her fine hair. I smiled. “Me, too,” I said, touching her cheek. “Chloe—”
“What?”
“I think I might be the one who is annoying.”
“Maybe, that’s why we make such a great pair,” she said with a smile. “Will you read to me?”
I took the Junie B. book from her, opened the page where she had her cat-shaped bookmark, and began to read.
Chapter 36
Chloe tore through the kitchen as Bones nipped at her heels. I folded the blueberries into the pancake batter while the griddle warmed on the stove. I held my hand over the pan testing the heat. Chloe took a second trip through the kitchen. This time she stopped at the counter and pulled out a stool. I glanced over my shoulder. She began laying out photos of her mother on the counter that she’d taken from my desk. I decided against getting upset that she invaded my privacy, since it was her mother. “I see you found your mom’s photos.” The batter sizzled as I poured eight round pancakes onto the griddle. Chloe’s solemn eyes met mine.
“You gonna send these to her?” she asked, rearranging them.
“I don’t know. What do you think I should do with them?” I asked, flipping the pancakes. “You could have them.”
She stacked them up. “I like this one the best,” she said. “You should send them to her. Might help her get a job.”
Maggie's Way (Montana Bound Series Book 1) Page 25
