by Nicole Ellis
After the guests had been served food, they played some games Gretchen had prepared.
Maggie read off the instructions for one of the games. “Now, here’s one with questions about Dahlia that Garrett has answered. Dahlia has to tell us what she thinks Garrett would say about her.”
Dahlia groaned loudly, but a smile spread across her face at the mention of her fiancé.
“First,” Gretchen read. “What would Garrett say your favorite food is?”
“Pizza.” Dahlia rubbed her stomach. “I could eat it every day. Yum.”
“Ding, ding, ding. He did say pizza.” Gretchen said. “Now let’s move on to a harder one. What would Garrett say is your biggest accomplishment?”
Dahlia paused. “Managing To Be Read. When we met, I could barely run a cash register. Now, the bookstore is so busy that I had to hire full-time help even for the winter.” Her mother Vanessa who’d arrived about ten minutes earlier, smiled broadly.
“He did say that.” Maggie grinned. “And now for an even more difficult question. What is your biggest dream for the future?”
She deliberated on the question. “Hmm.”
“That is a tricky one,” Gretchen said. “I don’t think Parker knows that about me either.”
A tear welled in Maggie’s eyes before she could think of something happier. Dahlia was engaged and Gretchen was in a solid relationship with her boyfriend, Parker. Would she ever experience a connection with someone again like she had with Brian? Or had her chance at love ended with his death? The dreamy looks she saw in her friends’ eyes when they thought about their significant others always made her feel slightly queasy. She pushed the thought out of her mind and brushed her sleeve against her eye. She had Alex and she had to put him first, no matter what. There was little chance that any man could be good enough for both Alex and her.
“You okay?” Charlotte nudged her.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’ve got to get something in the kitchen.” Maggie stood and picked her way through the crowd of women and went into the kitchen.
She didn’t have time to think about men, not if she wanted to accomplish everything she planned to do. Her dreams for the future didn’t have room for anyone other than herself and Alex.
4
The drive to Candle Beach was long, but Jake only stopped briefly at a gas station at the midway point. He’d had a few stops to make in Portland before leaving, so by the time he arrived in Candle Beach, it was after eight o’clock. Obeying the speed limit along Main Street slowed his car to a crawl, forcing him to take in the town.
On this Tuesday night in late November, most stores were closed. In the soft glow of the streetlights he could make out a grocery store, a kids clothing store, and a bookstore. A brightly lit grocery store off the main road appeared to be the biggest nightlife in town.
The Bluebonnet Café was still open, but he didn’t see many people inside. Was Maggie still at work?
He’d planned to stop by and see her as soon as he reached town, but now he rethought his strategy. Should he wait until the next day to visit? He opted to continue driving the few more blocks to her house. He’d never been to Candle Beach before, but his GPS said he was close to her apartment. He pulled up in front of a fourplex that had been built in the seventies and checked the address his mother had written on a yellow sticky note. This was the place. A light was on in the kitchen. He parked behind a blue Prius and turned off the engine.
Should he knock on the door, or wait until tomorrow? A woman came to the kitchen window, her silhouette outlined by the light behind her. Her lips moved as though she was talking, but there didn’t appear to be anyone else in the room. He watched closely and determined she was singing. She turned and he saw her face, with her beautiful features surrounded by curly red hair.
His breath caught. Maggie. The years had treated her well. Small town living must suit her.
He unfolded his cramped legs from his car seat and walked up to her door. He hesitated again before knocking.
She came to the door, but didn’t open it. “Who is it?” she asked from behind the safety of the door.
“Jake. Jake Price.”
She flung the door open and stared at him with a confused look. “Hi. What are you doing here?” She wore nothing but a thin, pale pink bathrobe and she combed her fingers through still-wet hair, leaving ringlets in their wake. With her face free of makeup, dark circles were apparent under her eyes.
He figured telling her that her mother-in-law thought she needed help wasn’t the best approach. “I wanted to come see you and Alex. I had some time off and figured there was no better time than now.” He smiled at her and leaned in to awkwardly hug her. His breath caught when he pulled her to him and she seemed to melt against his chest. She smelled like freshly picked roses and the heat from her body made him tingle in a way he wouldn’t have expected.
After he released her, she looked flustered. “Alex is in bed.” She pulled her pink bathrobe closer against her body. “I was getting ready for bed myself. I work the morning shift at the Bluebonnet Café.”
Of course, he hadn’t even thought about that.
“No problem.” He smiled again. “I’m staying at a bed and breakfast not too far away. I’ll come by tomorrow. What time would work best for you?”
“I’ll be home around four. I pick Alex up from my parents’ house just before then.” She smiled back at him finally, a sweet, soft smile. “I’m sure Alex would love to see you.”
She closed the door and he turned to retreat to his car. He stuck his hands in his coat pockets and stopped for a minute to gaze at the sky. Stars shone in the clear night sky, unobscured by stray light like they were in the city. His breath hung in the cold air, but the streets were free of the snow that plagued Portland. In the distance, he heard the faint sound of waves crashing on the shores. He could get used to this.
He turned back to view Maggie’s apartment again. She’d turned off the living room light, but he could see another light on at the back of the apartment. She’d obviously not been sleeping enough, and from what his mother had told him, had been taking on too much at work, along with the responsibilities of caring for a child. He should have been there for her like he’d promised Brian. She and Alex needed him.
His interview at the Border Patrol had gone well, but he didn’t expect to hear from them for a few more weeks. That would give him enough time to assess the situation with Maggie and Alex and find out what he could do for them. If he got the job, that salary plus his retirement pay from the Army should be more than ample to provide for him and allow for some extras for his sister-in-law—maybe a housekeeper or something that would help lighten the load. He got back into his car and set the GPS for the bed and breakfast he’d arranged to stay at.
Maggie closed the door behind Jake. She hadn’t seen him since Brian’s funeral. With his dark hair and piercing blue eyes, he looked so much like his younger brother that memories of her husband flooded her mind. She sagged against the door, tears slipping down her cheeks.
Back in California, she’d been surrounded by memories of Brian, so many that it hurt to walk around the house they’d shared with their infant son. She’d moved back to Candle Beach and left behind the painful memories, but seeing Jake had brought them all back—the moment she’d watched through the window as the black car pulled up to her on-base house, and then the knock on the door that every military spouse feared. The knock that meant something horrible had happened to her husband.
She shook her head. She’d taken Alex and returned to Candle Beach, intent on starting a new life back home. She’d thrown herself into work at the local diner, eventually purchasing it when the owner retired and making it her own.
Hard work kept the sadness away. She glanced at the wedding picture on an end table. They’d been so young, so happy, when they married. She’d attended college near the university Brian had attended and they’d fallen instantly in love when they met at a local bar. As soon as they
both graduated college they’d married and Alex was born five years later.
She paced the hallway, stopping in front of Alex’s room. He slept peacefully, wrapped up in his Spiderman comforter. She smiled and tiptoed back to the main living area.
Should she have invited Jake to stay with them? She looked around the small space. There was room on the couch, but she wasn’t sure she wanted anyone to stay at her apartment. He was family, but it felt strange to think of a man sleeping in her home. He’d mentioned staying at a bed and breakfast, so she shouldn’t feel too guilty. When she’d talked to her mother-in-law on Thanksgiving, she had said Jake planned to leave for a job with the US Border Patrol soon, so he most likely wouldn’t be in town for long.
She’d never thought of Jake as being big on family. According to Brian, his older brother had been quite popular with the ladies but he changed girlfriends often. His relationship preferences were in stark contrast to Brian, who, from the start, had wanted a serious, monogamous relationship and family.
Why was he in Candle Beach anyways? It wasn’t exactly somewhere to just pop by on the way to somewhere else. He hadn’t visited in the five years that she’d lived there and he hadn’t been home to Portland for any of the holidays when she’d visited Brian’s family.
He’d caught her off guard tonight, right out of the shower. She blushed, remembering how she’d looked in her ratty old bathrobe. She’d probably resembled a drowned rat with her stringy wet hair. And when he’d pulled her close, she’d pressed against him like a ninny who hadn’t been touched by a man in ages—which was actually fairly close to the truth. It had felt good, but he was her brother-in-law, not a date saying goodnight. Whatever. He’d see Alex tomorrow and go back to living his life in the city. Even if she did feel an unexpected physical attraction to him, that was all it was. Nothing would ever come of it.
The next day, Jake picked out a blue stuffed whale from a display at Candle Beach Kids and stared at the plush object. What did six-year-olds play with anyways? It had been over thirty years since he was Alex’s age. Back then, he and his friends had played race cars on a dirt track, challenging each other to send their cars off the steepest hills they could find. Kids nowadays were more sophisticated though, and he didn’t think a Matchbox car would cut it.
“Can I help you find something?” A woman wearing a white Candle Beach Kids T-shirt asked. She smiled and tipped her head at him, causing tendrils of dark hair to escape her bun and prettily frame her face.
“I’m looking for a gift for my nephew. He’s six.”
“Does he like puzzles? Or drawing? What’s he into?”
“I don’t know. I think he likes building and creating things.” He realized how little he knew about his nephew. His mother had shown him the Lego set she’d bought Alex for Christmas, so he knew Legos were of interest to him. He nestled the whale back into the bin. Shoot, he should have come to visit sooner. He’d promised his brother he’d take care of Maggie and Alex, but he’d let his career get in the way of that promise.
“How about this?” She held up a kid’s magnetic science kit. The boy on the front looked to be about eight, with a wondrous smile stretching across his face.
Any kid would love it. He took it from her, turning the box over in his hands to examine it closer. Perfect. “Thanks, I’ll take it.”
“No problem. Can I help you find anything else?”
“No, this will be all.” He placed it on the front counter.
She rang up the science kit. “Are you vacationing in Candle Beach?”
“No, I’m visiting my sister-in-law and nephew. Do you know Maggie Price?”
“Of course, everyone in town knows Maggie.” She placed his purchase in a bag emblazoned with the name of the store. “And your nephew must be Alex. He will love the science set.” She threw in a small bag of chocolate pirate coins. “On the house.”
He smiled gratefully at her. “Thanks, I hope he likes the magnets, but you can never go wrong with candy.”
He looked around. Cheerful wicker bins sat on turquoise counters. Shelves lined with T-shirts covered the walls. Tourists would eat it up. “Is this your store?”
“Yes. I’m the owner. Abby.” She stuck out her hand and he shook it.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Jake.”
“Do you plan to stay in town for long?”
“Not sure. Maybe a week or two. We’ll see.”
“Well, I know Maggie is really busy, so if you need someone to show you around town, let me know. I grew up here. If you have any questions about Candle Beach, I can probably help.” She handed him the bag, allowing her fingers to touch his again. He could tell she was interested in him, but he didn’t return the sentiment.
She seemed nice, and normally, she was his type. However, she paled in relation to Maggie. He stopped. What was he talking about? Maggie was his brother’s wife. He’d never seen her as a woman before, only as his sister-in-law. So why was he now noticing how she looked and smelled—and how he felt when she was pressed against his body wearing nothing but a thin bathrobe?
He plucked the bag from Abby’s grip. “Thanks. I’ll let you know if I need anything else.”
She nodded and turned to help another customer, and he rushed out of the shop before any more comparisons or memories came to mind.
5
Jake stood outside Maggie’s door the next day, feeling like a school kid on his first real date. He held the bag with the magnetic science kit in his right hand and tapped the doorbell with his other hand. The sun shone down on the pavement, creating a feeling of warmth, even if the actual temperature was close to freezing.
Maggie flung the door open. She smiled at him, a genuine gesture that caused his heart to twinge. She wore a casual button-down red-and-black plaid shirt over a pair of slim-fitting blue jeans. Her hair was up and her eyes sparkled. She was as gorgeous as she’d been on her wedding day, seemingly without trying. The scent of roses hung in the air, something he’d now forever associate with her.
“Come in, it’s freezing out there.” She gestured for him to enter the living room.
He looked around. The walls were painted a welcoming peach color that added depth and cheeriness to the small room. A canvas photograph of Alex as a toddler on the beach held a place of honor behind the couch. Through a cut-through in the wall, he could see the galley kitchen and window where he’d seen Maggie standing the night before.
“Alex!” Maggie called down the hall. “Uncle Jake’s here.”
The sound of a little boy jumping off a bed and thundering down the hall echoed throughout the small apartment. Alex burst into the room and stopped short in front of him.
“Hi.” Alex looked at him with a curious expression. “You don’t look like your picture.”
“My picture?” Jake asked. When had Alex seen a picture of him?
“Yeah, in Grandma and Grandpa’s house. The one on the wall. You’re wearing a uniform, like in the picture of my dad.”
Right. His commissioning photo. That thing was fifteen years old, no wonder he didn’t look the same to Alex. He rubbed the stubble on his chin. And he’d probably been much more clean-shaven then as well.
“That was from a while ago, when I was younger.” He held out the bag to Alex. “I brought you this. I wasn’t sure what you liked, but this seemed fun.”
Alex took the bag from him. Jake shifted his weight and stared at the boy as he opened it. The joy on his face when he saw the gift was the same look Brian used to have as he unwrapped his Christmas presents. In fact, Alex was the spitting image of his little brother. A tear appeared in Jake’s eye and he turned sideways to swipe at it.
“Are you okay?” Maggie asked.
“Yeah, I think I got something in my eye.” He smiled at her.
“Can we play with it now?” Alex asked as he tore into the box.
Jake checked Maggie’s reaction. She nodded.
“Sure, let’s set it up on the coffee table.” He and Alex re
moved all the pieces and together, they read through the instructions.
Maggie watched her son and his uncle as they hunched over the instruction manual for the gift Jake had brought. Their heads touched, the strands of their dark-brown hair blending imperceptibly. They pressed two of the magnets together and Alex tugged at his piece to break the seal. It broke apart suddenly and he tumbled backwards, laughing the whole time.
“You okay?” Jake asked.
“Do it again!” Alex pressed his magnet to the one his uncle held. Jake acquiesced. Alex repeated the process of pulling the magnet away.
“Now it’s Mommy’s turn.” Alex bounded up from the floor and shoved the magnet at Maggie. She looked at it as if it were a foreign object.
“You just press it to the one he has.” Alex pointed to Jake.
Maggie knelt on the floor to reach Jake’s outstretched arm. The force of the magnet pulled her closer and their eyes met. The strength of their joined gaze felt as forceful as the magnets they held together. She got goose bumps.
This was exactly how she’d felt the day she met Brian. They’d been sitting next to each other at a bar. She’d turned around on her barstool to get her drink and their eyes had met. Her skin had immediately erupted in goose bumps, and they’d spent every day following that together.
She closed her eyes and then opened them rapidly to break the spell. It must be something about the Price men. She dropped her hold on the magnet and pushed herself off the ground.
“Uh, I’ve got to get some things done in the kitchen, okay?” She hurried to the safety of the adjoining kitchen. In the other room, Jake and Alex’s voices blended as they continued to try out differing strengths of magnets.
What was that all about? After all these years, was she now attracted to Jake? Or had it simply been too long since she’d been in close contact with a man? She busied herself washing dishes until the ringing of her cell phone interrupted.