“I’m sure that’s what your mom would’ve wanted,” Margie said.
Morgan smiled. “I know. Thank you again – for everything.”
“Always remember that you’re welcome here. Anytime, okay? This is your home too.”
A smile spread across Morgan’s face. “Thanks Margie. That means a lot.”
On Saturday, Margie drove the kids to the ferry terminal.
“Don’t worry Mom,” said Tiffany. “We’ll be back soon. I’ll try to organize the next visit.”
“I’m in for anything,” added Connor. “Just let me know when.”
“Okay sweetie,” Margie said, giving him a tight hug. “Safe travels! You have to let me know when you get home safely.”
“We will,” they all said at once.
“I think I’ll come back next weekend,” said Jade. “It seems I might have more free time on my hands in the future.”
“That would be lovely,” Margie replied.
She secretly hoped that Jade might move in with her during the divorce, but she decided not to bring it up for the time being. Jade was exceedingly private, and Margie knew that when the time was right, she would hear the full story.
Everyone was shocked, of course, when Jade announced that she planned to divorce Brandon. Margie was shocked, too – but also ecstatic. She never believed the day would come. As much as she hated for one of her kids to have to go through a divorce, it did seem that Brandon was beyond change. Jade already seemed happier and less weighed down.
When Margie got back home, she stood in the kitchen for a moment and absorbed the silence. It was strange. She wasn’t used to being by herself – she was hardly moved in before Morgan appeared on her doorstep.
Now everyone was gone, and the house was silent, but her heart still felt full.
Everyone loved the house, they loved the island, and for the most part, they got along for the entire visit. Margie chuckled to herself – it was a lot to ask for an entire week. It seemed that getting all of their fighting out of the way at the party was the perfect way to start the vacation.
Margie still hadn’t heard a word from Jeff, and she didn’t expect to. He was probably still in damage control from the party. Margie’s first instinct was to feel bad about what happened, but she dismissed that quickly. He brought it all on himself, and he deserved whatever people thought of him. He simply wasn’t a nice guy; maybe he was, once, but that time passed. And it was freeing for Margie to finally be able to admit that.
She was busy cleaning up the house and washing the linens when her phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Hey Margie! It’s Hank. How are you doing?”
“Well hi Hank! I’m doing pretty good, just putting things in order. How are you doing?”
“Good, really good. Did everyone safely get aboard the ferry?”
“Yes they did,” she said with a laugh. “No arrests this time.”
“Good, glad to hear it. I was wondering – well, I have a proposition. I feel like I’ve been very lucky to enjoy a lot of your lovely dinners, and I thought that maybe you might want to come over to my place tomorrow so I can cook for you?”
Margie smiled. That was certainly a change of pace. “Well – sure! That would be nice.”
“I’m a bit rusty, but I think I can make you something good.”
“I’m sure it’ll be great. What time should I come over?”
“How about seven?”
“Perfect! And what can I bring?”
“Just your beautiful self,” he said. “See you then.”
Margie felt herself blush. “Okay, see you then.”
As sweet as his little compliment was, she tried to ignore it and instead think of what to bring. She would never dream of showing up empty handed at a dinner party. She decided to make a strawberry shortcake for dessert, because who could complain about a bit of shortcake?
She spent an embarrassingly long time picking an outfit for the dinner. She didn’t mean to – she just suddenly had a lot of free time. Of course Jeff never made dinner for her, so she was really interested to see what this would be like.
Plus, Margie finally had to tell Hank the full story about Morgan. She dreaded it, but it was time. He’d gotten part of the story, but who knew how he would feel when he heard the whole truth.
She felt a bit nervous as she drove to Hank’s house the next evening. Hank was outside grilling when she pulled up to the house.
“Hey there!” he said with a wave.
“Hi,” Margie said as she got out of the car. “What cha cooking there?”
“I’ve got grilled marinated vegetables, baked potatoes, and some steak.”
Margie caught herself staring at him in his black apron. How could he make an apron look masculine? “It smells amazing.”
“Thank you! It’s a bit chilly, do you want to wait inside?”
Margie shook her head. “No, I’d like to see how you work here. Maybe you could teach me a few tricks – I’m not a skilled grill master by any means. I do have a dessert for later, though. Maybe I can put that inside?”
“What do we have here?” Hank said as he peered over. “It looks incredible.”
“Thank you. It’s a strawberry shortcake. And I brought some vanilla ice cream. I’ll just go and set it inside.”
Margie went into the kitchen and put the ice cream in the freezer, but left the strawberry shortcake out on the counter. On her way back outside, she caught sight of the dining room table – there was a white tablecloth, candles, and a dozen yellow roses. Her hand darted to her mouth – was this all for her? It seemed very…romantic.
Oh dear. It was time to set the record straight.
“Hank,” she said when she got back outside, “it’s time for you to hear the whole truth. I need to tell you everything about Morgan, from start to finish. And Jeff. I’ve been dreading telling you, because it doesn’t put me in the best light. I was hiding things, and kind of lying to you – but I really want to –”
He held up a hand. “Can I tell you something first, and you promise not to get angry at me?”
Her get angry at him? Did he do something and not tell her – like arrest Jeff too?
“Oh – okay. Sure. What is it?”
He closed the lid of the grill. “Remember when you were at the jail and told your kids the whole story?”
“Yeah?”
He cleared his throat. “I was sort of, kind of, listening.”
Margie suppressed a smile. “Oh?”
“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. I just wanted to make sure they gave you a chance to talk, and if they didn’t, I was going to play bad cop and say something.”
Margie started to laugh. “I think you had Jade pretty scared. And Connor – well, he was just confused. It worked, though; I got to tell them everything.”
“I know! And I should’ve stopped listening, but…”
“You were just riveted?”
Hank laughed. “I was. I knew that you were really worried about telling me everything, and I kind of needed to know why.”
“It’s because I’m a liar!” Margie exclaimed. “And I tricked you into helping me with all this stuff and I never told you what was going on! And I feel awful about it, and I don’t know if you can forgive that.”
“A woman has to have her secrets.” Hank shrugged. “I never felt like you were using me or anything – you never lied to me, you just withheld some information. Until it could be confirmed. Top notch investigative work, really.”
“I guess you can look at it that way.”
“But I guess,” he said, stepping forward, “that I would have to ask you to not hide things from me in the future.”
Margie nodded. “Of course not, and I won’t do anything like that again. There are no other horrible secrets. That I know of!”
“No,” Hank said, getting a little closer. “I mean – I don’t want you to keep any secrets from me. Because I’d like to – what I’m trying to say is,
I want to be part of your life. In a, uh, romantic way.”
Oh!
“Is that why there are candles on the table?” Margie asked.
Hank nodded. “Yes, that was really supposed to set the mood. I thought this conversation could happen over candle light, when you couldn’t really see me very well, so it’d be easier to trick you.”
“You don’t have to trick me,” replied Margie. “I very much like what I see.”
He made a face that suggested she said something shocking before continuing. “The thing is, Margie, that I’ve been in a slump since Corinne passed away. And the day that you walked into the sheriff’s office – everything changed. You woke me up, dusted me off. You brought light back into my life. You’re an amazing woman, and to tell you the truth, I don’t think that I can go another minute without you knowing that you are the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning, and the last thing I think about when I fall asleep at night. I’m crazy about you.”
Margie looked at him for a moment. He looked so handsome, and somehow this vulnerability in his eyes only added to his gruff mystique.
“You know how to make an old woman blush.”
He leaned down so his face was close to hers. “There are no old women here. There is, however, a beautiful, vibrant, and addicting woman that I need to have in my life.”
Margie felt the butterflies take off in her stomach – something that she never expected to feel again. She giggled. She felt like she was eighteen, giddy and silly. “You know Chief, you’re not so bad yourself.”
He leaned forward slightly and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.
In a moment, he picked her up.
“No!” She yelled through laughter. “Put me down! You’re going to hurt your back!”
He was smiling broadly now. “I’m not just brave, you know. I’m strong too.”
“Is that so?”
In a single motion, he literally swept her off her feet. Margie giggled like a schoolgirl as he carried her into the house and placed her into her seat at the table.
“Now Miss,” he said briskly, lighting the candles, “if you have it in your big heart to accept a grumpy Chief into your life, then he’d like to serve you the first of many fabulous dinners.”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
Epilogue
Morgan stepped off of the ferry and into the cool October air. She stood for a moment, taking in the beautiful site of the buildings in Friday Harbor. It’d been a few months since she’d been to the island, but her last visit was always in the back of her mind. Despite her wild outburst at the surprise party, she had the fondest memories of her time there – and she couldn’t wait to come back.
Her phone rang; it was Jade. “Hello?”
“Hey girl. I can see you, can you see me?”
Morgan looked around but struggled to peer over the crowd. “Not yet – where are you?”
“I’m close enough to see you just standing there and sucking in all the air with a big smile on your face.”
Morgan laughed. If it was anyone other than Jade, she would have felt embarrassed. But Jade was really starting to feel like her sister. She and Jade kept in almost constant contact since the fateful birthday party; they had a lot to talk about – she went back to school for the semester and Jade focused on work and her divorce.
If someone told Morgan that first day that she stepped off of the ferry that she would have Jade, her half-sister, as one of her closest friends, and Margie, her absent father’s ex-wife, as a sort of surrogate aunt – she would’ve told them that they were crazy.
But here she was, and her heart swelled with joy.
Morgan finally caught sight of Jade and hurried up the hill to meet her. “Sorry about making you wait. It’s just – well, there’s something about coming back here.”
“I hope it’s a good something,” said Jade as she loaded Morgan’s suitcase in the car.
“It’s definitely a good something.”
Jade kept her up to date with all of the happenings on San Juan Island. Fortunately, there wasn’t much excitement since she’d left. Chief Hank and Margie were dating, and it seemed that Margie had never been happier; also, the barn really took off as an event space, which Margie totally deserved.
In contrast, Jade continued through the slog of her divorce, though she never really complained about it.
“What’s the update on Brandon?” Morgan asked.
Jade sighed. “Well, I’m still paying for his attorney.”
“Right.”
“And that attorney is now trying to argue that Brandon needs spousal support.”
“Oh boy. Is he ever going to stop being a weasel?”
“Who knows,” Jade said airily. “Will you need to change or anything before we go out?”
Morgan shook her head. “No, the trip wasn’t too bad.”
When they got to Margie’s place, everyone was already inside – Connor, Tiffany, and of course Chief Hank. The house smelled wonderful – Margie made a bunch of fall treats to throw a sort of welcoming party. There were sweet potato tater tots, sangria with cinnamon sticks that smelled amazing, soft pretzels with cheese, butternut squash pizza, and of course, pumpkin pie.
She said hello to everyone, and to her surprise, there were hugs all around – even from Tiffany. Tiffany was much more reserved than her other siblings, but it seemed that she was certainly trying to be welcoming.
“There’s my favorite ‘hiker,’ ” Chief Hank said with a smile.
“Chief!” Morgan offered a salute. “I’m reporting for duty. I’m here to help you arrest this family if they get out of hand.”
“I may be taking you up on that,” he replied.
“Morgan! I’m so happy you could make it!” Margie pulled her in for a hug and Morgan felt her body relax.
She couldn’t put her finger on exactly what Margie smelled like – but it was some sort of mix of lavender and lemongrass. Both of those smells now had such a calming effect on her.
“Thanks so much for having me, it’s wonderful to be back.”
“Well! Eat up, we need to get going in a bit or we’re going to miss the documentary!”
After a bit more chatting and snacking, they split into two cars and made their way into town. Tiffany organized this family get together, and for some reason, she chose the Friday Harbor Film Festival.
“Is Tiffany really into movies or something?” asked Morgan as they made the drive over.
“She is,” said Jade. “If you can believe it, she has quite the artistic side.”
Morgan thought on that for a moment. “Yeah, I can see that. I can definitely see that.”
They missed the films that were shown early in the morning, but there were documentaries all weekend, along with events. They were able to get seats at the Whittier Theatre for the evening to enjoy one of the feature-length documentaries on the challenges that the Southern Resident Killer Whales faced.
Despite looking forward to this event for weeks, Morgan felt herself growing shy now that she was back with the Clifton family. Did they really want her there? Was Tiffany just being nice, or did she actually forgive her for her craziness that past summer?
Morgan retreated into herself and stayed quiet, and enjoyed listening to their joking and teasing; everyone was having fun together again. Morgan was having fun, too, but she forgot how much of an intruder she felt like when she was with them all – part of her wanted to jump back on the ferry and run away.
The film started not too long after their arrival, and it was wonderful – there were beautiful videos of the killer whales shot around the San Juan Islands and also along the coast where they chased their Chinook salmon meals.
After it was done, everyone was abuzz with excitement and opinions on what should be done to protect the whales. Morgan found herself listening and laughing along, but offered no opinions of her own.
They mingled with people in the
lobby of the theater for a while; it seemed like Hank was the mayor or something. Everyone knew him, and Margie wasn’t much different. After a short while, Margie insisted that they get back home.
The plan was for a small after party at Saltwater Cove. Margie volunteered the barn, of course – though most weekends were booked with weddings and events, Margie made an exception to save this night for the film festival, and she wanted everything to be perfect.
When they got back to Saltwater Cove, Margie ran off to prepare a few last minute things, and Chief pulled them all aside.
“Alright kids, I’ve got some good news and some bad news. What would you like first?”
“Hm,” said Tiffany. “The good news?”
“Okay.” He reached into a bag and handed them each a candle. “The good news is I got all of you a candle.”
They looked at each other, puzzled.
“What’s the bad news?” asked Connor. “Are you going to have us catch a rival barn on fire?”
Jade snorted a laugh.
Chief maintained his serious scowl and kept talking. “No, but I like where your head’s at. The bad news is that I’m going to do something that will embarrass Margie a whole lot today. I’m going to propose to her – with your permission, of course.”
Morgan quickly looked between the siblings to see how they reacted to the news.
Jade spoke first. “That’s amazing! She’s going to be so happy.”
“Shouldn’t you be asking me for permission or something?” asked Connor.
Tiffany rolled her eyes. “Yes Connor, everyone should ask you for permission to do anything at any time.”
He laughed. “I’m just kidding. That’s great, as long as you’re good to her. If not…”
“We’ll lock you up in that jail,” said Tiffany. “But it seems like you make Mom really happy. So…yeah, I’m cool with it.”
“Me too,” added Connor. “What took you so long dude?”
Morgan couldn’t help it; she giggled. “Give him a break, it’s only been a few months!”
Chief laughed and shook his head. “I know. But I’m crazy about her. And when you’re old, you don’t have time to wait.”
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