Maggie (Tales Behind the Veils)

by Violet Howe

  I rolled my eyes and cocked my head to the side to stare at him. “You, my son, and his brother on the back porch with Gerry? And then Gerry coming in to talk to Galen privately and leaving?”

  “It was a matter regarding taking out the trash.”

  I nodded slowly, willing to let it go for the moment since he didn’t seem to want to say more. “Should I be concerned?”

  Dax shook his head. “Not at all.”

  “If you say so.”

  Someone tapped my arm, and the rest of the night flew by in a blur of conversations, dances, and laughter.

  Dax coaxed my mother onto the dance floor more than once, and I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen her laugh so much.

  At one point, we were all out there dancing—Cabe with Tyler, Galen with Tate, Mom with Dad, and Dax with me. It was one of those freeze moments, the kind of experience that makes you wish time would stop so you could soak up all the enjoyment possible from the happiness you’re feeling.

  “He’s quite a dancer, your Dax,” Mom said as we blotted our makeup with towels in the restroom.

  “Yes, he is.”

  “A man that can dance like that has to be pretty skilled in other areas as well.”

  My mouth dropped open, and I stared at her reflection in the mirror. “Mom!”

  “What? You think just because I’m seventy-five, I don’t think about that sort of thing? Your father has always been a wonderful dancer, you know.”

  “Mom, stop. That’s disgusting.”

  The irony wasn’t lost on me that it really didn’t matter how old you were. No one wanted to think of their mother and sex.

  “He’s got a good heart, that one,” she said, meeting my eyes in the mirror. “He loves you, Margaret. You can see it written all over his face every time he looks at you. The way he speaks of you! Oh. It makes my heart happy, dear. You’ve endured enough loneliness for a lifetime. Be happy. Enjoy this man’s love. And enjoy his skills!” She laughed and patted my arm as she turned to go, and I looked at my reflection in the mirror with a smile.

  My hair was still as vividly red and full as it had ever been. There were lines at the corners of my eyes, and lasting evidence of my smile around my mouth. But I could honestly say I’d never felt more beautiful or more content with who I was.

  Dax was talking to Cabe and Jeffrey when I came back into the room, and he held his arm out as soon as he saw me, curling it around me as I joined them, squeezing me to him and planting a kiss on the top of my head.

  I listened to the three of them talk sports for a bit, and then I crossed the room to find my daughter.

  “Hello, there. How’s married life so far?” I asked as Galen reached up to fumble with her veil.

  “It’s wonderful, Mom. I can’t thank you enough for this amazing wedding. It’s everything I dreamed it would be.”

  “That was the goal.”

  “Could we take my veil off now? It keeps getting snagged when people hug me and it’s pulling at my hair.”

  “Sure, turn around.”

  I dug through her thick, red locks, the same color as my own, and found each of the bobby pins holding the tulle in place. When I’d freed it, she gave her head a shake and touched her fingers to her hair.

  “Does it look okay?”

  “It looks beautiful,” I said, smoothing back a few pieces that had been pulled when I removed the pins. “You look beautiful, baby. I love you so.”

  “I love you, too, Mom.” She hugged me and though I’d thought my heart couldn’t contain any more happiness in one evening, it swelled to hold more.

  It had all turned out okay. My children were happy. Their lives were good. My parents were laughing, and they beamed with joy and pride. Dax fit in seamlessly with my family, his eyes often on me when I scanned the room to find him.

  I folded Galen’s veil carefully and climbed the stairs to the bridal suite to leave it with her things.

  I stood in the center of the room and considered once again that this was to have been Deanna and Dax’s sanctuary from the world. I walked to the spacious master closet and flipped on the light, venturing inside to run my hands along the shelves. Her shelves. This woman I never knew whose tragic fate had given me so much.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered to her as I stared up at the beautiful crystal chandelier in the center of the closet’s ceiling. “I’m so sorry that happened to you. I’m so sorry for all you lost and all you never got to experience.” My eyes filled with tears, and I closed them, wrapping my arms around myself as I tried to send love and kindness to her.

  “I’ll treat him well. I promise. I’ll love him and be good to him. I’ll try and make up for everything he’s been through. I’ll honor your memory with my love.”

  I heard a movement, and my eyes popped open, startled to think that I wasn’t alone.

  “Maggie?” Tyler’s voice called out from the stairs. “You up here? They’re getting ready to do the bubble exit.”

  “I’m coming,” I said, brushing a tear from my cheek. I flipped the light off and said a silent goodbye as I rushed to meet Tyler on the stairs. “You’ve done such an incredible job, Tyler. Everything has been perfect. I can’t thank you enough.”

  We embraced, and she snickered. “Not exactly perfect, but close enough.”

  “What went wrong?”

  She shook her head. “I never divulge that information to a mother of a bride unless I have to. C’mon, let’s go see your daughter off into her happily ever after.”

  “Ty?”

  She paused a couple of steps beneath me and looked back up. “Yeah?”

  “I’m so happy you’re a part of our family. I love you.”

  “I love you, too, Maggie.”

  Dax and Cabe were waiting for us outside, but I paused to hug Galen one more time before we joined the guests lined up on the front walk. Tyler had arranged for the limo to drive away with Galen and Tate for the bubble exit, and then the car would circle back to drop them off after the guests had gone.

  It took some time to gather all the gifts and decorations after the party ended, and it was well after midnight by the time my parents left along with Sandy, Hannah, and Alberto. Galen and Tate had retired upstairs, and Tyler and Cabe were the last to leave once the catering truck was gone.

  “Well, it’s over,” Dax said as we stood on the front porch watching Tyler and Cabe’s taillights departing down the drive.

  “It’s over,” I groaned. “My feet are killing me.”

  I kicked off the Jimmy Choo sandals and ran my fingers through the straps to pick them up as my toes wiggled in freedom.

  “I know the tub in the camper isn’t very big, but I could run it for you if you want,” Dax said.

  I smiled up at him and moved a step closer, standing on my toes to press my chest against his as I wrapped my arms around his neck, dangling the sandals behind him.

  “Too bad there’s not a spring close by with no snakes in it. I could use some of that cold, refreshing water right about now.”

  His eyes widened and then that mischievous grin that I loved appeared. “Are you serious? You want to go for a swim?”

  “Where?” I asked, knowing there was no way he was planning an all-night trek to get to the spring.

  “C’mon.” He took my hand and led me toward the barn. “Do you have any pants with you?”

  “No. Why? Where are we going?”

  “It’s okay. You can ride side-saddle in your dress sitting in front of me.”

  “Dexter Pearson, where are we going?”

  “Trust me.”

  I smiled as I stood and watched him put a saddle on Dallas. “You know I do, but I’d love some idea of where we’re going.”

  “My lady said she wanted to go swimming.”

  He got on the horse and reached down to pull me up, settling me sideways on the saddle in front of him.

  The moon was full and bright above us as he headed across the fields, and I rather enjoyed the int
imate closeness of sharing a saddle with him.

  I’d never gone in the direction he took us, and after he’d gotten off to open and close at least three gates, I saw a fenced-in area ahead of us with two diving boards clearly visible in the moonlight.

  “A pool?” I asked. “An actual swimming pool? With diving boards?”

  He laughed as he dismounted and reached up to grab me by the waist and pull me down to him.

  “Yeah. It’s part of the recreation area for the families of the ranch hands. But no one would come out here this late.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked, looking around me at the playground equipment and a large area of dirt marked off with bases.

  “I’m positive. There’s no teens in the families right now, and I feel safe saying none of the parents are going to be out here after midnight taking a swim.”

  I kept searching the surrounding area for any sign of movement as we undressed, but the night was still, and with the humidity hanging thick in the air, not even the wind was moving.

  Dax shone a flashlight on the pool and checked the skimmer basket to dispel my serpentine fears, and then he jumped in with a loud splash.

  He came up right away, swinging his wet hair out of his face and looking up at me with a grin that made my insides melt.

  “It feels great. What are you waiting for?”

  I held my nose and jumped feet first, spreading my limbs as I sank into the cool water, allowing it to wash the sweat of the day from my skin.

  Dax swam to me, and I wrapped my arms and legs around him as he carried me to the slope in the pool and stood just deep enough for the water to cover his shoulders, his hands beneath my rump though the water’s buoyancy held most of my weight.

  “Who knew turning fifty would bring out the exhibitionist in me? This is the second time I’ve been nude out in the open since I hit the big five-o.”

  “Well, damn. I hate to think what I’m going to be guilty of when I hit fifty. Especially with such a hot cougar being a bad influence on me.”

  “Cougar?” I splashed his face with water, and he pulled me under, rolling our bodies together in a twist of entangled limbs.

  We came back up with mouths and tongues together, his arousal rising against me beneath the water’s surface.

  “Are you going to pull those pistols or whistle Dixie?” I whispered.

  He leaned back and looked at me in confusion. “Is that a movie quote?”

  “The Outlaw Josey Wales. C’mon. You have to have seen that. It’s a Western. You’re a cowboy. It’s one of my dad’s favorite all-time films, and he’s not even a cowboy.”

  “I may have seen it when I was a kid.”

  “This can’t be. We have to watch this movie.”

  He moved a bit deeper in the water, and adjusted his hands beneath me. “Right now?”

  “No. But soon. Right now, I have other plans for you, cowboy.”

  “Oh, really?” he asked as I took his face in my hands and kissed him. “What plans?” he mumbled as I flicked my tongue across his lips and inside his mouth.

  “I’ve never made love in a pool,” I whispered between kisses. “I’ve decided it’s the next write-in item on my bucket list.”

  By the time we headed back to the camper, skin damp beneath our clothes and hair dripping, I’d crossed the new item off the list and was already thinking of others I could add.

  “What about horseback?” I said. “I’d have to be facing you, of course.”

  Dax laughed. “You’re quite the insatiable minx.”

  “Are you complaining?”

  “Hell, no. Just doing my best to keep up.”

  I stared at the moon above us, and then looked out across the land as Dax’s arm tightened around my waist.

  “Dax, if anyone had told me a year ago I’d be riding on horseback in the middle of the night after skinny dipping and pool sex, I would have said they were nuts.”

  “And now?” Dax asked, nuzzling his face into my neck as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders.

  “My life has changed. Now, I would rather share one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world alone.”

  “Now, that one I know. Arwen said that to Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings.”

  “Theirs is one of my favorite love stories,” I whispered, laying my head on his shoulder.

  “Ours is mine.”

  EPILOGUE

  I gazed out at the audience, finding Sandy and Hannah immediately among those standing and applauding, and then making eye contact with my parents and my children as Dax raised my hand for us to take another bow.

  “Great job, lovebirds!” Betty said as we exited the stage, and Dax picked me up in his arms and spun me.

  “Oh my God! I can’t believe we did that. That was incredible. I want to do it again!” he said.

  I laughed at his enthusiasm and tossed my head back as he spun me again.

  My family and friends crowded around us when we came out of the community center after the show, all of them talking over each other to congratulate us.

  “Great job.”

  “You two were amazing.”

  “Mom, you were beautiful.”

  “It was splendid, dear,” my mother said. “The two of you move together in such unison. It’s pure joy to watch.”

  “She makes it easy, that’s for sure,” Dax said, pulling my hand to his lips and kissing it.

  Sandy’s smile beamed as she threw her arms around me. “I can’t believe how happy you looked. I’ve never, seriously, never seen you that happy when you dance.”

  “I may have to sign us up to take your class,” Tyler said, casting a hopeful glance toward Cabe. “What do you say, honey? You want your mom and Dax to teach us a few moves?”

  “Sure. I’m up for it.” Cabe kissed my cheek and handed me a bouquet of flowers.

  “How are the classes going?” my mom asked.

  “Great. We’ve had good attendance so far. Dax even got a few couples from the ranch to come out, but I think that’s mostly because they wanted to see the boss man dance.”

  Everyone laughed as Dax shrugged.

  “What can I say? I’ll take any opportunity to dance with this lovely lady.”

  “Are you still only teaching once a week?” Sandy asked.

  “Yeah. Betty and I talked about adding another class, somewhere more on this side of town by my house, but it’s easier for Dax if we stick with the one we started closer to the ranch. I think one’s enough for now. I have my riding lessons on Saturday mornings, and we’re getting ready to move into the holiday season at work.”

  “Well, now that we’re settled in Orlando and Hannah’s job has calmed down, I’m seriously thinking we’re going to sign up if you start a class near us,” Sandy said as Hannah nodded. “I haven’t danced in years, but that looked like too much fun to miss out on. You think you could teach me a thing or two?”

  “I’ll try,” I said. “If I could learn it, you know you can!”

  We all went to our separate cars and met at the restaurant for dinner, and then Tyler and Cabe went home along with Hannah and Sandy while my parents returned to my pool house for the night.

  “Thank you for tonight,” Dax said as we sat alone on my patio, my feet in his lap as he massaged my aching soles. “It really meant a lot to me, and I had a blast.”

  “Me, too. I’m sorry I was such a jerk about it at first. It was great, and I’m kind of sad it’s done.”

  “There’s always next year.”

  “Yes, that’s true. And we’ll have students of our own to invite next time.”

  “I love seeing you happy, Maggie Mae.”

  “I love being happy. I love that we’re happy together.”

  He slid closer to me on the sofa and leaned in for a kiss.

  “You have bewitched me body and soul, and I love, I love, I love you,” he said, looking into my eyes.

  I smiled and hoped I could remember the rest of the Pride and Prejudice quote. �
��And wish from this day forth never to be parted from you.”

  “I am yours, Maggie Mae, now and forevermore. That’s not a quote. That’s just my heart talking.”

  His lips brushed mine, and I decided that love is the best dance of all.

  Want to read more about Tyler & Cabe?

  Go back to the beginning of their love story and follow Tyler’s funny and poignant diary entries as she encounters crazy bridezillas and outlandish blind dates in her journey to find her own modern-day Prince Charming. Along the way, Tyler discovers that real life love is often more complicated than the fairy tales she grew up believing. A lot happens between Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After. Click here to find out more about the Tales Behind the Veils series or turn the page to begin reading a sample of Tyler’s diary.

  Read a sneak peek into

  Diary of a Single Wedding Planner:

  Saturday, October 5th

  I’ve always said I didn’t want an ordinary life. Nothing average or mundane for me. But as I stared at the rather ample naked derriere wiggling two inches from my face today, I realized I should have been more specific with my goals. Definitely not ordinary, but not exactly what I had in mind.

  The Texas-flag tattoo emblazoned across the left cheek waved at me as she shifted her weight from foot to foot. The flag was distorted and stretched, as was the large yellow rose on the right cheek, both tattoos dotted with dimples and pock marks. An uneven script scrawled out “The Yellow Rose of Texas” across the top of her rump.

  Her entire bridal party—her closest friends and relatives, mind you—had left her high and dry. They’d stormed off the elevator as I tried to enter it, a flurry of daffodil-yellow silk, spouting and sputtering about their dear loved one, Tonya the bride.

  “That’s it! We’re done!” They sounded off in a chorus of clucking hens.

  “We ain’t goin’ back in there. She can get ready on her own!”

  “Yeah, she can get ready on her own!”

  “Known her since third grade and she’s gonna talk to me like that?”

  “Third grade? She’s my first cousin. I’ve known her since the day she was born. She’s always been that way. I don’t know why y’all acting all surprised.”