by Raye, Cyndi
Kate smiled. “Ahh, he was a hunk, that one. Young and studly, that was Phillip Hatfield. Kind of like your Jake.”
Maggie cringed. “No one uses studly any more Mom.”
Kate kept on as if Maggie hadn’t spoken. “I never really told you all of this before. Your father and I were living in Miami at the time, trying to make it big with his singing career. What I didn’t know was he was out all night in clubs, not trying to further his career, but sleeping with other women and I was working my tail off with two jobs to pay the bills. I found out he was cheating the same time I became pregnant. I needed time to think and one day I got in my car and drove and drove until I came to highway one. I drove it until I came to this little motel, it was old and falling apart but cheap. There was a little cabana bar within walking distance of the hotel and I remember sitting there, sipping on tea and listening to the sound of the water contemplating what to do next. It was so serene and breathtaking there Maggs.”
“Sounds dreamy. The sunsets here just take my breath away.” Maggie sipped on her wine, enjoying listening to her Mother’s secret past.
“I met Phillip at that little cabana bar one night, he was having a beer at the bar and I was sitting there feeling sorry for myself. Oh Maggs, he made me laugh, made me feel as if I were beautiful. I guess I was lonely and tired of my husband never at home with me. Maggs, we had an affair, I cheated on my husband, just like he cheated on me. I am not one bit sorry because I fell in love with Phillip Hatfield that day, I really did.”
“Wow, Mom, that is deep.” Maggie wasn’t quite sure she wanted to know more. Perhaps some things needed to stay buried and yet she was curious as to what made her Mom work so hard for so many years without a man to help her.
“Deep? You have no clue. I never told you this part and I’m sorry, but I could not do it before and now all of it is coming to light. Phillip doesn’t know and I don’t ever want him to, promise me.” Kate was a bit fuzzy from drinking but her intent gaze had Maggie nodding in agreement.
Kate’s eyes glazed over. “Maggie, I never intended to have an affair with Phillip but it happened. I’m not that kind of girl, or so I thought. I was vulnerable and he was there and he fell too, hard. I don’t know, we were like instant soul mates. We knew what the other person was going to say. We spent a few days together and I had to finally tell him that I was married. Can you believe in those short days I almost forgot that I was? He was hurt and angry at first, but I promised him that I would go back to Miami and end my marriage.”
Kate shuddered and Maggie kept silent, surprised at what she just heard. “My plans were to go back to Miami, pack my clothes and tell my husband that we were through. But after driving for hours I knew I had to be honest and tell my husband that I was pregnant only because he was the father and at least to give him a chance to change his ways. I was torn. When I told him, he went into a rage and accused me of ruining his career. I won’t go into all the details but I told him that I would leave so wouldn’t have to worry about a wife and child ruining him. So, I started packing, thinking I was soon going to be free and I would figure out what to do about the baby soon enough. I knew I couldn’t expect Phillip to raise another man’s child. I wasn’t thinking straight at the time, I realize that now.”
Maggie searched her Mom’s face for a clue because Maggie knew that if she was pregnant back then, there had been another child. What happened to it?
“I was gathering my things together and when I came out, I found him rummaging in my purse, probably for money. He didn’t care about me at all, I realized. What he found was the slip of paper with Phillips address. That’s when he beat me so bad Maggs, that I lost the baby that night. I was broken, I had been brought to my knees by a man who I realized hated me. That day he beat me he told me he was glad that I lost the baby. I had him arrested and he went to jail. I hated him with all my heart. But I was a fool Maggs. I worked hard while he was in jail but he wrote me letters, telling me how sorry he was and how much he loved me. I was desperate to believe that he did care.”
“Oh Mama, I am so sorry.” Maggie was in shock and angry that she could’ve had a big brother or sister. This man, her father, who she hated even more now had taken away the chance for her to have a sibling.
“Oh Maggs, I left him come back. He was in jail for a long time and when he got out he had nowhere to go. I left him come back because I had lost Phillip, he married someone else. He had gotten tired of waiting for me. I never gave him my phone number, all I had was his and because of all the stuff going on, I didn’t call him. I didn’t want to bring him in to a relationship until I was done with your Father. I’ve paid dearly for that.”
“Mom, you have been through hell and back. I’m glad in a way I didn’t know any of this but keeping it to yourself all these years had to be hard for you. I’m sorry you lost the baby. I could’ve had a big brother or sister.”
Kate smiled a bit sadly. “I blame myself for losing the baby. I know he was a cheater but that didn’t give me the right to cheat on him even if I was planning on ending the marriage. The perfect mother you always see really isn’t at all.”
Maggie hugged her. “Your perfect in my eyes Mom. I think you have suffered enough. Now tell me how I was born, I’m dying to know.”
Kate laughed. “You are too much girl. After I let that man come back, he was good for awhile. At times I could see he tried but I hated him deep down. I tried to forgive him, but I just couldn’t forget. Then he started cheating again. Once a cheater, always a cheater and I have lived it. I don’t even know why I let him come back. Then one night, I actually saw Phillip in Miami with his wife. He looked very happy. He never saw me and I stayed hidden because he had a new life with a beautiful wife and he seemed to be doing well for himself. She was so pretty Maggs, I could see he cared deeply. I watched him and knew that it could have been me standing in his arms. I went home that night and let my husband make love to me and wound up pregnant with you, which was not a bad thing.”
“Well, one good thing came out of all of this and that was me,” Maggie boasted. “I am guessing that you had enough of his cheating ways and left him for good.”
Kate nodded. “I tried to make a go of my marriage Maggs. I really did, but deep down it was no good. So, I told him to get out. I started a home business while pregnant with you and it took off like magic. I was so tickled that I could make so much money on the internet. Don’t get me wrong, it took me months to learn and find a skill that I could do, but I suddenly realized that I didn’t have to be trapped any more. Mostly, I did not want him around my baby.”
“Thank the good Lord for that,” Maggie added.
Kate agreed. “It had been almost five years since I lost the other baby. I knew that I would never put you in harms way, and I kicked him out and never looked back. Everything that I have done since then was to make up for my mistakes and I hope I have done well. The funny thing is, he left and never looked back. He knew he couldn’t touch me or I would have him arrested, so it was easy to make him leave. I’m not even sure why he was there in the in the first place. Soon after, I moved back to Pennsylvania to your grandparents. We were there a year until we had enough money for that trailer. It was uphill from there. I know you had some tough times in school, but look at us now.”
“Mamma, thanks for telling me. I’m not certain I want to know, but whatever happened to my father? Did you ever tell him about me?”
“I didn’t think he deserved to know, not after what happened the first time. I was not taking any chances on you, period.”
“Now tell me why you are so furious with Phillip Hatfield?” Maggie asked, changing the subject back to where it started.
Kate’s head was billowed in the pillow and she looked like she was going to fall asleep at any moment. Maggie grabbed her wine glass in case she tipped it over.
“I’m furious because I am still madly, deeply in love with him.”
<>
Maggie pulled the covers
over top of a sleeping Kate. She felt as if the roles were reversed and she was the Mom this time. It was the first and only time that Maggie had ever seen her vulnerability. Phillip Hatfield had a hold on her, must have had it all these years. Her mother had worked herself to the bone, building her companies to give her daughter a good life and she had. Or, perhaps it was to forget a man that had her heart.
Maggie strolled out to the balcony and looked down at the almost silent night. A few torches were still lit, their lights flickering, casting shadows over the grounds. Servers were clearing off now empty tables, while the trio of musicians packed up their instruments. Trash littered the grounds and she noticed Charles running around picking it up.
A lone figure was standing in the garden. It looked like Jake, she could tell his body anywhere. There were bushes all around and it was hard to see what he was doing. She’d just run down and surprise him. Maggie was curious to know if everything went well with his Father earlier. Actually, she missed him. Jake was starting to mean way to much to Maggie McCoy.
Chapter Fourteen
When Maggie entered the lobby, she saw a desperate Phillip Hatfield looking around as if he had lost something. When he spotted Maggie, he took long strides to reach her. “Have you seen your Mother?” he asked, fear clearly in his voice.
“She’s upstairs in the suite. I doubt you’ll wake her, she’s had a bit too much wine,” Maggie yelled after him. He hadn’t waited for her answer but turned and headed for the elevator. He was clearly on a mission and Maggie shook her head. They had a lot of making up to do. She would have to steer clear of the suite for awhile, perhaps all night.
Maggie spun around a few times in the big atrium, giggling to herself as she flung her arms out, pretending to be a ballerina. Clearly if anyone saw her, they would think her mad but she was feeling on top of the world tonight. She was grateful to be alive, to have lived such a great life and to be young enough to enjoy it all without worry. What her Mother told her tonight made her feel more grateful than ever, because her life could have been very different.
If she didn’t have a parent who had gotten a hold of herself and mapped out a future for them, she could still be living in Miami, waiting for a father who never grew up to make a life for them, or worse. Her mom had given her a gift, a desire to work hard and make something out of herself. Now Maggie had to decide if that life included Jake. Did she want to tell him how she felt or wait to see what tomorrow brings?
She stopped twirling and it struck her right then that if she walked away from Jake, she may not get a second chance with him. She could go back home and write novels forever but without Jake her life would feel empty. In just these few short days, she found an amazing man who cared for her. They were good together. She just couldn’t walk away from him, could she? What if she went back to Pennsylvania and realized it was a mistake? What if she came back here and he was with someone else?
The Florida Keys were paradise, heaven and everything in between. There was no other place like it. She loved it here, she really did. Maggie didn’t want to go back any more. She wanted a new life, one with Jake included. It was time to tell him that.
<>
“OK, Maggie McCoy, you just march up to him and tell him how you feel,” she said aloud to herself. It’s not like they were going to be instantly married or anything. She knew they had a long way to go to even get to that point. So, she stood on the steps right outside the atrium doors practising what she wanted to say to him silently as she watched him as he stood in the shadows, unsure of what he was doing there. She glanced around. Charles was no longer outside picking up trash, the now empty courtyard looked deserted. The only figure outside was the one of Jake hiding or doing something in the shadows. Where was his pup, who was always by his side, she wondered.
All of a sudden another figure steps out from the bushes and starts walking towards the hotel doors. Maggie stared hard at the figure. She was swinging her ass back and forth to entice the man in the shadows. She turned around once and pointed her finger at the shadow and then at the hotel as in enticing him to follow, then continued on up the steps until Maggie could make out the figure walking towards her. The demon girlfriend!
“Well, look who it is,” Cari gleamed. She smirked at Maggie, then laughed aloud. “You just will never learn that I am the one with the power. Can you see him watching me? He’ll be following me up to my floor very soon, I guarantee it.” With that, Cari bounced past Maggie and flung her hair back. She turned to Maggie for one last dig. “What I gave him in the bushes, you’ll never, ever be able to top.”
Maggie’s mouth dropped open. She knew better than to believe a word that Cari said, but the fact was that Jake was over by the bushes in the garden with Cari. Maggie wasn’t blind. Was Jake a cheating, lying jerk just like her own father? She could hardly believe it, she couldn’t believe it! Something had to have happened to make him desire Cari. He hadn’t liked her one bit before. Was he drunk? Would he be a drunk who desired other women? Mean women at that, because Cari was the most despicable woman she had ever known.
Maggie rubbed her eyes, closing them at first and then opening them to get a better look at the man in the garden. Why, oh why would Jake bring her here and then make out in the bushes with that witch? She should just walk away, go upstairs and leave first thing in the morning. She should just say good bye to this two timing creep who couldn’t keep his hands off another women. Well, she’d leave al right, but Maggie McCoy would let everyone here know what kind of lying, cheating man was standing over there in those bushes before she walked away and kicked the dust of Jake Hatfield from her shoes.
Maggie stomped down the steps and marched over to the garden where the shadow of Jake stood, facing the fountain. He was bent over at first and Maggie wondered if he were sick? Then, she shook herself and remembered that he had just been in those same bushes with her arch enemy, Cari.
“Jake Hatfield, you no good lying,” Maggie yelled really loud, obviously surprising him, because he swung around so quickly that they butted into each other and Maggie almost toppled over. She grabbed onto his shoulders and they both went flying into the bushes. Maggie was on the bottom, her face stuffed into Jake’s chest that she could barely breathe.
“Maggie, I didn’t know you cared,” Jon Hatfield whispered in her ear. “You know if Jake finds out, we’re both in trouble, deep trouble.”
“Jon? Jon, it wasn’t Jake in the shadows with the witch, it was you? Oh thank you!” She hugged him tight and gave him a big, wet kiss on the lips.
“Maggie, I heard you yell for me, are you OK?” Then she saw Jake come around the corner and there she was lying on her back, his twin brother on top of her and she was hugging and kissing Jon on the lips. “What the, Jon, get off my girl!”
Jake didn’t wait for Jon to move, but jumped on his brother, and in one swift move, knocked Jon off of Maggie. The two wrestled around, putting each other into wrestling locks, daring the other to give up. “What are you doing on my girl?” Jake demanded, then flipped his brother onto the ground and pinned him.
“I wasn’t doing anything, it’s all a misunderstanding Jake,” Jon pleaded with him, yet there was a smirk on his face. “Cari was after me again and let me tell you, after all the booze I had tonight, I was going for it. Then, along comes Maggie thinking I was you and she tried to kick my butt!”
Maggie stared at the two of them in shock.
Jon started laughing while Jake applied more pressure to his brother’s arms to keep him pinned to the ground. “Give up, Jon, say the word.”
“Never.”
Maggie finally composed herself and sat up. “Would you two quit acting like you’re in high school.” She sat up on her knees to dust off her clothes when Jake reached out with one arm and pulled her to him. She was caught in his embrace and they both were sort of leaning over Jon, who was still pinned to the ground. “This is awkward,” Maggie mentioned.
“That it is,” Jake growled, “ but Jo
n has to say the word before I let him up.”
“Never,” Jon laughed. “I want to see what happens with you two next.” Jake applied a bit more pressure on his brother and Jon yelped.
“You sound like a girl, Jon. Ready to give up?” He turned to Maggie. “Does this mean that you were a little jealous? What does this mean Maggie?”
She squirmed, then wrapped her arms around Jake’s waist. “It means that I don’t want to leave the keys. It means I don’t want to leave you. There, I said it.”
Jake placed both hands on Maggie’s cheeks, forgetting suddenly all about Jon. He brushed his fingers across her cheeks. Ah Maggie, I am falling for you. Deep. I do want you to stay.”
Maggie smiled. “If you want me to stay Jake, it’s gotta be more than ‘I’m falling for you deep’ kind of thing. It’s got to be more than waiting to see what tomorrow brings. I want love, I want it all. I’m a romance writer, Jake. I have to have a happy ending.”
Jon burst out laughing. Maggie and Jake had forgotten about him for a moment. Then he rolled away from the two of them, jumped up and dusted himself off. “I know when I’m not wanted. Goodnight kids,” Jon said. Maggie waved, but turned right back to Jake, who was giving her that stormy, dark look she loved so much..
“You want it all?” Jake asked. He pulled her up from the ground, and hitched his thumb into the waistband of his shorts. He nodded. “OK, wait here,” he commanded and took off for the hotel lobby.
“What, Jake, what are you doing? Where are you going?”
“Just stay right there, don’t move.” She stood there on the edge of the garden, watching him stroll into the lobby. Several minutes passed before he came back out, a trio of musicians behind him. They stopped in front of Maggie and Jake bent down on one knee in front of her. #
“Oh no, Jake you are not going to do that?” she whispered as a guitar strummed in the background. Maggie was starting to blush, something she never did!