by Josie Belle
“Oh, do me a favor and take a picture of them and send it to me, would you?” he asked.
“Definitely,” Maggie agreed. “Did you want me to go get Sandy? I know she’d love to talk to you.”
“I’d like to,” he said. “But first, could you do me a big favor?”
“Anything,” Maggie said. Jake’s voice was gruffer than usual, and she suspected he was feeling low to be missing the holiday festivities with his family. “You’re all right, aren’t you? You weren’t wounded were you?”
“No!” he said right away. “Nothing like that. I just miss my family.”
“Oh, Jake,” Maggie sighed. “What can I do to help?”
“Is there a band there?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Do you suppose you could ask them to play ‘Unforgettable’ by Irving Gordon?”
Maggie felt her throat constrict. “Your wedding song. Oh, Jake, that’s so romantic.”
“Yeah, I want Sandy to know I’m thinking of her.”
“Will do,” Maggie said. “Should I have her call you after?”
“Yeah,” he said. “That’d be good.”
“Okay, Jake, I’m on it. Take care of you,” she said.
“I will,” he agreed. “And Maggie, thanks.”
Maggie put her phone back in her purse and blew out a breath. She really liked that boy. She hurried into the ballroom and signaled to the bandleader that she had a request.
He was a good-looking, older gentleman with thick white hair. Maggie whispered her request in his ear, and he gave her a warm smile.
Maggie made her way around the dance floor back to Ginger’s side.
“Who was that?” Ginger asked.
“Jake.”
“Sandy’s Jake? Is he all right?”
“He’s fine,” Maggie assured her.
The band was winding down its song, and Sandy and Josh joined them. Maggie dipped her head at Sandy and put a finger to her lips. Ginger nodded in understanding.
“Ladies and gentleman, we have a special request,” the bandleader announced. He looked at Maggie, and she smiled her encouragement. “This next song goes out to Sandy from her loving husband, Jake.”
The band kicked in and the bandleader, in a voice reminiscent of Nat King Cole, crooned “Unforgettable” into the microphone. Sandy’s eyes went wide, and she blushed as the entire room turned to look at her.
“But how?” Sandy asked.
“He just phoned it in,” Maggie said.
Sandy’s eyes were watery, and she nodded as if this was something she would expect Jake to do. She held her hand out to Josh.
“Will you come and dance to Mommy and Daddy’s song with me?”
Josh gave her a shy smile and put his hand in hers. Together they strode out to the empty dance floor and everyone watched as the mother and son held hands and moved in a slow circle. Josh grinned up at his mom as she twirled him, and then he giggled.
“Adorable,” Ginger whispered.
Maggie turned to agree and caught sight of Sam, looking knee-wiltingly handsome in a black tuxedo and bow tie. His gaze met hers, and then he turned and hustled out the door into the hallway.
She wondered what that meant. Maybe his date had arrived. Curious to see who she might be, Maggie stood up on her tiptoes. In moments, Sam returned, and when Maggie saw who entered the ballroom behind him, she gasped and clutched Ginger’s arm.
Ginger took one look at Maggie’s face, and then she spun to see what Maggie was looking at. She let out a muffled shriek, which caused everyone around them to slowly turn to the door.
Still in his fatigues, Jake strode into the ballroom. Other than the sound of the band playing, the entire room went silent. As if sensing something was happening, Sandy looked up from Josh. She stumbled to a halt and pressed her right hand over her mouth.
Josh looked up at his mother and then spun around. His blue eyes went wide, and he yelled, “Daddy!”
Then he started to run as fast as his chubby little legs could carry him. Jake knelt down and scooped up his son, clutching him close.
“Daddy! You’re here!” Josh cried as he patted his father’s cheeks as if to make sure he was real, while Jake planted kisses all over his son’s face.
Jake shifted him onto his hip and strode out onto the dance floor. Sandy stood transfixed, staring at her two men. The tears were coursing down her cheeks and sobs rocked her shoulders.
Jake opened up his other arm and swept her into a family hug. The bandleader’s voice faded out, and the band played a hushed version of the song while Jake hugged Sandy close and kissed her lips and hair. When she pulled back she was still crying, and Josh reached forward and cupped her face, and said, “It’s okay, Mommy. Daddy’s home.”
Sandy kissed her son and her husband, and the three of them continued their dance. Maggie wasn’t sure who started it, but someone began to applaud and soon the whole room was clapping and cheering and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.
“Oh my god, look at me,” Ginger said. “I’m a mess.”
Maggie sniffed and nodded. “I’ll go fetch us some tissue.”
She turned to leave and found Sam and Roger standing behind them. Sam handed her a handkerchief, and Roger did the same for Ginger.
“Thank you,” Maggie said as she blotted the skin beneath her eyes and the tip of her nose.
Maggie had never been a pretty crier. Her nose and eyes turned bright red and her skin got all blotchy. She lowered her face and let her hair hang in front of her in an attempt to cover the damage.
Sam leaned close, and asked, “Are you all right?”
“Just emotional,” she said. The knot in her throat was still tight and her voice came out gruff.
Sam smiled at her, and Maggie suddenly remembered that he had been loitering by the door and in the hall.
“Did you know Jake was coming back tonight?” she asked.
Sam pursed his lips and whistled while studying the garland above their heads.
“You did, didn’t you?” she asked.
“His dad might have called the station to see if I could pick him up at the airport with a squad car to get him here in time,” Sam said.
“Aw.” Maggie felt her eyes well up again. “That was so nice of you.”
“Jake’s dad was the QB of our high school team when I was a freshman,” he said. “He’s a good man.”
“Is he here?” she asked, scanning the crowd.
“He and his wife are driving up from Florida as we speak,” he said. “They’re excited to see their boy, but they knew Jake wanted to surprise Laura and Josh.”
“Well, it was an amazing surprise,” Maggie said. She put her hand on his arm, and said, “Thank you.”
Sam looked like he was about to say something, but just then the song ended and Laura popped out of the crowd. She grabbed Maggie’s hand and dragged her out onto the dance floor to go give Jake a welcome-home hug.
Maggie cupped Jake’s face and kissed both of his cheeks. He grinned at her in just the same way Josh did when he was really happy, and Maggie felt her heart lift.
“Welcome home, Jake,” she said.
“Thanks, Aunt Maggie.” He grinned, and Maggie let Laura have her turn.
Turning away from the group, Maggie dreaded to think of what she must look like. She decided to scoot to the bathroom and attempt some damage control. Plus, that would give her a few minutes to get it together. She was still feeling watery and was afraid she’d start bawling again at the sight of the reunited family.
Maggie slipped out of the ballroom and into the hallway. The bathroom that she was familiar with was locked. She decided to try farther down the hall. In a house this size there had to be another bathroom. She looked in on a small study and a coat closet. She heard voices coming from behind the next door, and she thought maybe she could ask there for directions to the bathroom.
The door was ajar, so she glanced around it before pushing it open, not wanting to inter
rupt if the catering staff were having a meeting.
The voices kept on in a rush, however, as they obviously didn’t notice her at the door.
“This can’t go on, Diane,” Michael Claramotta said.
Maggie felt her heart thump hard in her chest. Joanne’s husband Michael and Diane Jenkins, his new hire, were standing at the back of the room. Diane had her arms crossed over her middle as if she were upset and trying to hold it in. Michael looked distressed—not angry, but very agitated.
“Don’t you see?” he asked. “I have to think about Joanne and the baby. I can’t let this hurt them.”
Diane gave a small nod, and her voice was wooden when she said, “I understand.”
“It just can’t go on,” he said. “It’s not right. Not for you. Not for anyone.”
Diane sobbed and nodded, and Michael reached out and pulled her close in a reassuring hug.
“You’re going to be okay,” he whispered against her hair. “I promise.”
Maggie slowly backed away from the door. Her throat was dry, and she felt as if someone had reached into her chest and tied her insides into a fancy sailor’s knot.
“Maggie,” a voice called her name.
Maggie spun away from the door and turned to see Joanne, barreling down on her and just seconds from walking in on her husband with his arms around another woman.
Chapter 8
“Joanne!” she cried. “Just the person I need. Tell me, is my makeup a wreck? I was looking for a bathroom because the other one was occupied.”
Joanne gave her a weak smile. “Oh, that was me. The baby queasies hit hard, but at least I didn’t get sick.”
“Oh, you poor thing,” Maggie commiserated, looping her arm through her friend’s and leading her back toward the ballroom.
“Your makeup looks fine,” Joanne said. She studied Maggie’s face. “No runs. No drips.”
“How about blotches?” Maggie asked, casting a quick glance over her shoulder to see that neither Michael nor Diane had appeared.
“They’re fading,” Joanne assured her. And the lighting is so dim, I’m sure no one will notice.”
“Thanks.”
“Hey, have you seen Michael?” Joanne asked. “He was waiting for me in the hallway, but I lost him.”
“Oh, hey, look!” Maggie replied, pretending she hadn’t heard Joanne’s question. “There’s Claire and Pete.”
Claire looked stunning in her bright blue gown, and Pete Daniels stood beside her, looking quite dashing in his tuxedo. He also looked completely besotted with Claire. Maggie smiled. That was exactly how it should be.
They were standing with Ginger and Roger, and Maggie steered Joanne in their direction, hoping to keep her from thinking about where Michael had wandered off to.
Maggie supposed a tough-love sort of friend would have let Joanne walk in on Michael and Diane, but given how hard it had been for Joanne to get pregnant, Maggie didn’t want her to get upset. And Maggie knew that if Joanne saw her husband, the love of her life since she was a kid, having a whispered conversation while embracing a cute young thing, she was going to be upset.
She supposed their conversation could have been about a variety of things, even though it had sounded really incriminating. Maybe there was a logical reason behind the words they had exchanged. She sifted through what she remembered.
“It just can’t go on,” Michael had said. “It’s not right. Not for you. Not for anyone.”
What couldn’t go on? That’s what Maggie wanted to know. Was it something happening between Michael and Diane? Was it something Diane was doing at the deli? Maggie knew it was none of her business, and yet, Joanne was her friend. How could she not speculate and wonder?
“Mean-girl alert,” Laura said as she and Aaron rejoined the group.
“What?” Maggie asked. “Where?”
“Britney and company have Diane surrounded,” Laura said.
“Not for long,” Aaron said. He emitted a sharp whistle and in moments his brothers, Byron, Caleb and Dante, made their way through the crowd toward him.
Maggie glanced back at Diane, who was no longer with Michael, and sure enough, Britney Bergstrom, who had wanted the gown that Maggie rented to Diane, had a posse of friends circling Diane. One of them was pointing at Diane and laughing. From the malicious look on her face, it was obvious that she was being nasty.
Despite what Maggie had overheard between Michael and Diane, she felt her blood boil. She loathed bullies.
Maggie went to step forward, but Ginger stayed her with a hand on her arm. She pointed, and Maggie saw Ginger’s four boys and Laura moving toward Diane, effectively surrounding her.
Caleb, Ginger’s third-born son, held out his arm to Diane, and she clutched it with obvious relief as he led her out onto the dance floor. Meanwhile, Laura and Aaron stood like sentries with their arms crossed over their chests, glaring at Britney until she and her friends scurried away.
“It’s moments like this that I am most proud of our children,” Maggie said.
“Agreed,” Ginger said with a smile. “They are good people.”
When Britney and her crowd left, Aaron and Laura joined Diane and Caleb on the dance floor while Byron went in search of his girlfriend and Dante, the youngest of the Lancaster boys, looked to be heading back to a cluster of his friends by the buffet table.
“Oh, would you look at that?” Ginger said.
Maggie whipped her head around to follow Ginger’s stunned gaze to the door. She felt her own jaw drop.
Summer Phillips was standing in the doorway with her hand on the arm of Tyler Fawkes. To say that they were a striking couple was an understatement. Tyler had squeezed his considerable girth into a white tuxedo with a black shirt, open at the throat, very John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever.
But Summer. Summer was the topper. Pink sparkles caught the eye, but then it was hard to decide where to look. In what appeared to be formal wear à la Frederick’s of Hollywood, Summer wore a dress, if it could be called such, that consisted of two strips of narrow sparkly fabric that crisscrossed over her bosom, leaving her entire upper torso bare. Her skirt was more of the same glittery pink fabric but sported a thigh-high slit in the front. She towered over Tyler in silver platform sandals, and her faux blonde hair was teased up to add another few inches as it had been styled into huge roll on top of her head and was held in place by a sparkling tiara.
Everyone in the room turned to take in the couple, and even the band stumbled for a note or two. To put it mildly, Summer was a showstopper. She preened under the attention and scanned the room. When her eyes lit upon Maggie, she gave her a cat-that-ate-the-canary smile and made her way over to their group.
“Summer.” Ginger greeted her as she approached. “Funny. I didn’t think you were on the guest list.”
“Don’t need to be,” she said. “I’m Tyler’s date.”
Tyler hadn’t taken his eyes off of Summer’s chest, and Maggie was pretty sure he hadn’t heard a word she’d said.
“Isn’t that right, Tyler?” Summer asked. “Tyler, eyes up here!”
Summer pinched his arm, and Tyler said, “Ouch!” and snapped his eyes up to hers.
“Yes, dearest,” he said.
Summer cast them a self-satisfied smirk. Then she turned her gaze on Maggie, and it glowed with triumph.
“What, did the Amish have a fire sale?” she asked as she took in Maggie’s gown with obvious distaste.
Maggie glanced down at her gown. She was covered from neck to ankle, and she hadn’t taken off her wrap yet, which made her look as bundled up as a demure grandmother.
“Why you—” Ginger sputtered in Maggie’s defense, but a deep voice cut her off.
“Maggie, there you are,” the voice said from behind her. “I believe this dance is mine.”
Maggie turned her head to see Sam standing behind her. She had no doubt that he had stepped in to keep the peace. She would have protested that she had no intention of scuffling with
Summer at the ball, but she figured she’d just take the out Sam was offering and for once keep her mouth shut.
“Go on,” Joanne said. “I’ll hold your wrap.”
Before Maggie could protest, Joanne snapped it off her, and Maggie felt the cool evening air hit her back with a slap.
A breath hissed from behind her, and Maggie looked over her shoulder to see Sam taking in her bare back. She felt an embarrassed heat rise to her cheeks, but then his gaze met hers and it smoldered.
Without saying a word, he held out his hand to her. Maggie took it and Sam twirled her onto the dance floor as if they had been dancing together forever. It occurred to Maggie that in some ways they had been dancing close and then darting away from each other all their lives.
The band was playing “It Had to Be You” by Isham Jones and Gus Kahn. They were playing it slow, and as Sam waltzed her around the floor it was hard to catch her breath with his body so close to hers and her insides fluttering as if a thousand feathers were tickling her.
“Nice dress,” Sam said. His hand slid down her back from her shoulder blades to the base of her spine.
“Thank you,” Maggie said. She felt unaccountably shy and hyperaware of his callused hand on her exposed skin.
Sam surprised her by twirling her, and Maggie laughed as he reeled her back in again. He grinned at her, pulling her close.
“I didn’t know you were such a good dancer,” she said, trying to keep the conversation light and normal.
“I’m feeling inspired,” he said.
Maggie tilted her head, not understanding.
“I want to show off my incredibly sexy partner,” he said.
Maggie felt her face get hot. “Won’t your date be annoyed?”
“No,” he said. “The lovely lady I wanted to take already had plans, so I came alone.”
“Summer dumped you for Tyler, huh?” Maggie said. “Bummer.”
Sam tipped back his head and laughed. He was stunningly handsome when he laughed, and Maggie felt her breath catch as her heart hiccupped in her chest.
Sam slowed them down and pulled her even closer and, as the bandleader crooned the last line of the song, Sam whispered the line in her ear, “It had to be you.”