Chapter Fourteen
A Big Jack turned out to be a New Orleans style muffuletta sandwich with ham, salami, cheese, and the traditional olive spread over the fresh baked round bread. Half of one halved again still provided a huge chunk for each of them and until Cole took his first bite, he hadn’t realized just how hungry he’d been.
“That’s good,” he said with approval.
“Uh-huh,” Maggie answered. “Didn’t you eat any breakfast this morning?”
“Nope, I wanted to get around early,” Cole replied. “Did you?”
“No.”
They munched in easy companionship, sometimes talking, often not but the accord he’d noticed earlier remained and solaced his soul. After their meal they headed down to enjoy the saloon show, a madcap mix of music and comedy, then strolled up the hill to the homestead. Cole imagined life in another era with Maggie in a cabin like the authentic one on site and indulged in the fantasy. Then he realized he would enjoy a life with her in any time period. They rode the train again and later, after their lunch had time to settle, they rode more rides including some swings called a giant carousel sweeping high above the pavement in the newest part of the park. The Grand Exposition had been tucked near the Red and Gold heritage hall. Although he got off the swings with a bit of vertigo and dizziness swirled around him for a few more steps, Cole enjoyed the experience.
Shade trees situated through the park kept things cool but late in the afternoon the heat notched upward until it became uncomfortable even in the shade. At Maggie’s suggestion they attended a couple more shows including one inside an air conditioned theater and wandered past to watch more craftsmen at work. Around six o’clock Maggie dropped onto a bench beneath a larger tree with a sigh and slipped off her left shoe. She lowered her sock to reveal an angry blister.
“Ouch,” she said. “It hurts.”
He winced with sympathy. “I bet it does,” he said. “Did you bring any band-aids in your bag?”
She shook her head and Cole examined the blister. “I’ll go see if one of the shops might have some,” he told her. “Will you wait here?”
“Sure,” Maggie said as she fanned herself with her now worn park brochure.
Thirty minutes later after he’d walked over half the park, Cole returned with a box of high priced adhesive bandages and a frozen lemonade dessert for Maggie. He knelt down on one knee to put a bandage in place while she nibbled at the treat. When he’d placed several bandages to cushion the sore spot Cole replaced her sock and shoe without asking.
“Better?”
“Oh, yes,” Maggie said. “Thank you. Try a bite of this. It’s marvelous.”
He opened his mouth and she inserted a spoon. Sweet, tart perfection glided onto his tongue like edible silk, softer than butter and colder than winter. Cole almost shivered with delight. “That’s good.”
“Isn’t it?” she said. “Go get one for yourself.”
“I might,” he returned. “Let me try one more taste.”
He loved the way she fed it to him. She put the spoon between his lips so he could suck the confection from it. Cole savored her actions almost as much as the taste. Cole fetched one from the closest vendor and they enjoyed the cool treat. Afterward, although the park would be open for another hour or more, he asked, “Do you really want to stay for Echo Hollow tonight or just go home?”
Back in the day, Cole enjoyed the shows after the park closed down in the amphitheater but they were both tired. He’d rather go back to the resort and unwind with a long swim in the pool. Her blistered heel was a factor, too.
“Home sounds like a plan,” Maggie said. “Now that we’ve got season passes, we can come back to go to Echo Hollow another time. Do you want to grab a bite to eat on the way out of the park or stop before we get back to my place?”
After walking around the park, up and down hills, riding rides Cole’s muscles protested climbing the last hill out but to exit, they had to travel up one or the other. “Something simple on the way sounds good to me,” he said, standing and stretching. “Is that all right with you?”
“Sure.”
He offered her a hand to rise and noticed she grimaced when she walked.
“Your heel hurting?” he asked and when she nodded, he said, “Want me to carry you?”
Maggie laughed. “Even if you could, we’d create a scene. Thanks but I’ll walk.”
They took it slow, stopping to look in a few more shops but Maggie said knowing she could come back any time meant she didn’t have to soak it all up in one visit. At the Ozark Marketplace, they retrieved their purchases and rode the tram back to the parking lot with other weary people. They crawled behind traffic until reaching one of the newer express routes running around Branson proper so they missed most of the heavier evening bustle along Country Music Boulevard.
After a grabbing a quick burger, Cole headed back to the resort wind-blown, a little sun browned, tired but happy. As soon as they got back into his car Maggie stripped off shoes and socks to ride barefooted home, her sore heel kicked up high so the air conditioner could blow on the now broken blister. At Lake Dreams, they separated long enough to change into swimwear and reconnected. At the pool he dived in and swam the length of it before Maggie appeared favoring her left foot a little. She sat on the edge and dangled her legs into the chilly water as he swam until late. By the time they stopped, the moon and stars shimmered in the sky. The light breeze ruffling his hair made him shiver and so he toweled dry.
“Come on over for a drink,” Maggie invited and so he followed her. They took their wine down to the floating dock and sipped, their conversation as soft as the night enveloping them. The fragrance of honeysuckle wafted on the wind and Cole inhaled it with pleasure. Neither hurried to end the evening but sometime around midnight, Cole stood up.
“It’s late,” he said. “And I’m tired. I think I’ll head home if you don’t mind.”
Maggie rose and the dock rocked beneath their feet in a comforting fashion. She cupped her hand against his cheek with tenderness. “I don’t, Cole. You look worn out. Go get some sleep and I’ll do the same. Come down in the morning and I’ll make muffins or something. I’ll be awake early because Mr. and Mrs. Patterson plan to check out.”
Cole kissed her, full and sweet and let his lips linger on hers. He was too weary to think about making love or he’d stay. Her simple acceptance pleased him and as he walked up the hill to his own cabin, he couldn’t help but think of a line from a favorite poem, The Prophet by Khalil Gibran, ‘Let there be spaces in your togetherness’. The very fact they could spend the day together, the night apart without either one feeling hurt or thwarted seemed significant.
Although fatigue crept over him with heaviness, Cole lay awake and thought about Maggie, how he felt and where their relationship might go from here. When sleep arrived, it carried him down into the depths and he slept sound until late morning. When he woke, he experienced momentary confusion but Cole soon recalled he was at Lake Dreams. Without bothering to make coffee, Cole splashed through the shower and dressed to go down to Maggie’s. She greeted him with a smile, a plate of chocolate chip muffins, and asked him if he’d help her clean the vacated cabin.
They spent the rest of the week doing low-key things, odd chores around the resort and hanging out together each evening. Cole spent enough time in the pool he stopped turning pink and tanned for the first time in years. He fished with utter contentment as long as the fish were biting. Maggie prepared another Polish meal for him and he caught a mess of trout which he cooked for her. Sometimes they watched television and a couple of times they played cards, seven card gin rummy and pitch. They walked along the shores of the lake and admired the beautiful sunsets. And they made love, sweet and slow, down and dirty, and sometimes hurried and harsh but Cole enjoyed it every way. So did Maggie.
As the week passed Cole savored each moment and dreaded the end of the week when they’d head over to Joplin to pick up her kids because everything
would change.
***
Saturday morning they rose early for the trip. Maggie, more familiar with the route than Cole, drove up 65 into Springfield. They stopped long enough to share a quick breakfast at a small café along Glenstone then picked up I-44 to head west. Although they’d talked over the meal, silence filled the car as they left town. Maggie didn’t even try to keep the conversation going. Cole kept quiet about his stomach issues. Any other time he would have griped but the carefree Maggie he’d spent so much time with over the past two weeks had transformed into a taut, anxious woman. She’d swept her hair up into a knot on the back of her head after they left the cafe. Although she drove well, her habit of passing each eighteen wheeler they encountered elevated his stress levels. Although he couldn’t see the speedometer Cole guessed her speed to be above the posted speed limits most of the time. By the time she exited the interstate at Mount Vernon for a fuel stop, he caught onto the fact her nerves were on overdrive.Cole said, “Are you always this nervous about getting your kids or is it worse because I’m here?”
Maggie flashed him the first real smile all morning. “I get worked up because I know my in-laws don’t like me. I always feel like the lone soldier going into battle or something.”
Cole stretched his hand over to take hers. “You’re not alone, anymore, Maggie. You’ve got me.”
There. He said it aloud, admitted they were together and he wasn’t leaving anytime soon if ever. Cole tensed waiting for reaction or rejection but she turned to him, eyes bright with tears. “I know, Cole, and it’s the best thing that’s happened to me in a long time. I don’t think you know yet what you mean to me.”
“Aw, Maggie,” he said, his scarred heart resonating with her words. “I can’t come up with the right words yet but I will, I promise.”
Her smile would warm a beggar on the coldest night of the year. “Good,” she said, in a soft voice. “Let’s go get this over with then so we can go home.”
Cole started the car. He’d like nothing better.
Chapter Fifteen
Maggie curled up in the passenger seat and drifted asleep so Cole drove the rest of the way with the radio on for company. When he reached Joplin, Cole had no clue which exit he should take but he’d visited the small town a few times so he opted to get off onto Rangeline Road because he remembered it was a major business thoroughfare. He hated to wake Maggie, her face slack and pretty as she slept but at the first traffic light off the interstate, she roused.
“Where are we?”
“Joplin,” he told her. “We’re on Rangeline but you’ll have to tell me where to go from here.”
“We’re here already?” Maggie said, sitting up straighter. “Wow. I guess I really slept.”
“You did.”
“The Browns live up behind Taco Bell,” Maggie said. “So just keep going until you see it ahead and I’ll show you where to turn.”
Midway down Rangeline he noticed a wide gap in the businesses lining the busy road and realized he viewed the scars from the major tornado that hit town awhile back. New construction filled parts of the emptiness but some lots remained bare and when he glanced to the west, Cole stared at the devastated area. No trees remained as far as he could see. Like everyone else, he’d seen the damage on the news but this was different. Shocked at the up close and personal view, he drove on when the light changed. Within a block or so, everything returned to normal.
Neither he nor Maggie commented but he watched for the Taco Bell and turned onto the side street when she told him. The small frame houses were neat and Cole realized they’d missed the total destruction by sheer location, nothing more.
“It’s this one,” Maggie said and pointed so he pulled to a stop before a light brown house with dark brown trim. “Are you ready for this, Cole?”
He doubted it but he forced a smile. “As ready as I’ll ever be. How do you feel now?”
Her smile was genuine. “I’m good, Cole, just a little nervous. What about you?”
“Nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rockers,” he quipped to hide his very real anxiety. “But my belly’s fine and so am I.”
Kiefer and Kaitlin burst out of the front door and rushed toward the car. He heard their delighted whoops but their pace slowed when they noticed their mother was in the passenger seat and she wasn’t alone. In what seemed like slow motion, the kids jerked open Maggie’s door and fell on her. Cole watched as she opened her arms and held them close, cooing and kissing them.
He’d never felt quite as alone as he did in those moments, understanding now his private idyll with his Maggie just ended. It wouldn’t be just Maggie now, but Maggie and the kids.
A profound sadness welled up within but when Kiefer turned to him and said, “Oh, cool, it’s Cole!” his mercurial emotions switched again and he laughed aloud. Maggie released her kids and extended her hand to touch Cole. Her action salved his momentary hurt and when she climbed out of the car, he followed suit. Two older people appeared on the porch, peering toward them and the woman waved although her expression wasn’t friendly.
“Mom, it’s about time you came to get us,” Kaitlin said with an eye roll. “How come Cole came with you?”
Maggie shot a glance in his direction and Cole nodded. Might as well announce it, he figured. “Cole and I are, uh, seeing each other.”
Her cheeks turned pink as she told her children. Cole tensed up as Kaitlin met her brother’s gaze in silent communication, waiting to see if they’d react with anger or delight or indifference. He expected the latter but Kaitlin smiled, looking very much like Maggie, and said, “Awesome! Way to go, Mom.” Cole’s heart almost burst out of his chest with pleasure. Kiefer studied him then extended a hand, man to man, and said, “It’s cool with me but treat her right, okay?”
“I promise I will,” Cole said, humbled as he shook the boy’s hand.
Awkward moments followed as she introduced Cole as her old friend from St. Louis to her in-laws but within a half hour, they stowed the kids’ luggage in the trunk and headed away.
“Can we have lunch?” Kiefer asked. “I’m starving. Gramps and Me-Maw don’t serve much.”
Maggie laughed. “I suppose we can. What do you two want?”
A lively conversation erupted as the siblings debated between pizza, burgers, barbecue, or fish but they settled on a chain buffet restaurant. Cole drove them there and he paid for all four of them. As the kids shot off in different directions to fill plates, he joined Maggie.
“Are you up for this?” Cole asked.
She offered him a warm smile. “fine,” she said. “Is it okay for you?”
“Absolutely,” he responded. Cole wanted to kiss her, right there in front of strangers and her family but he didn’t. Instead he walked beside her as they made their selections. He took a slice of roast beef, some mashed potatoes and gravy, a small piece of fish, and a hot roll. Maggie put a chicken breast on her plate, some rice pilaf, and a slider hamburger. At the table, her kids bowed their heads expecting a blessing and when Maggie gave him the nod, he dredged one up from childhood.
Surrounded by people of every description, business people in suits, law enforcement officers in uniform, families with kids of all ages, senior citizens and even a group of Red Hat Ladies, Cole settled down to enjoy the meal. He listened more than he talked, wise enough to let the kids have the floor. Cole commented often and laughed when something amusing was said. Maggie caught his eye more than once with smiles and she reached beneath the table to touch hands several times. During most of the lunch she sat with her knee against his, intimate and discreet, a steady reminder of their connection. On the way out as Cole lingered at the table to dig out a tip for the server, an older woman at an adjacent table said, “You have a lovely family.”
Her words touched him and reminded him of the family he’d lost. Instead of trying to explain, Cole accepted the compliment with a smile and thanks. All the way home, still driving at Maggie’s suggestion, Cole pondere
d it in his mind. He wondered if they could become a family and if so, if it was what he wanted in the future. During the absence of the kids, he’d dreamed of a life with Maggie but now her kids were back, things seemed complicated.
At Lake Dreams, Cole carried in the luggage and remained long enough to share a glass of ice tea with Maggie at the kitchen table. When he finished, Cole rose, put his glass in the sink and told her, “I’m taking off now. You and the kids need some alone time without me. I bet there’s stuff they want to tell you and probably questions they want to ask you so I’ll leave.”
“You don’t have to go, Cole,” Maggie said.
He came around behind her chair, put his hands on her shoulders and bent to kiss the top of her head. “I won’t be far, honey. I think I’ll go up to the cabin and get out my fishing pole. If you need me, just give a holler. I’m not leaving the resort and you’ve got my cell number.”
Maggie sighed. “I suppose you’re right but I’ll miss you.”
With one graceful motion she rose from the chair and faced him, her hands resting against his chest. Cole couldn’t resist so he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Around him, the kitchen blurred as he let all five senses experience the kiss. He tasted her, felt the soft silk of her lips against his and let the fever heat she invoked pour through him. Her soft breath in his ear sent little shivers down his spine and the scent of her, a mixture of cologne and just Maggie, intoxicated him. He wanted more and couldn’t have it, not right now. For one lingering moment he held her tighter, cuddled her close then released her.
“I’ll see you later, Maggie,” he said.
She nodded, “Take care, Cole. And if you need anything, you know where to find me.”
He did and there wasn’t anything else to say so he departed through the back door, careful not to let it slam. As he strolled up the line of cabins to his, last in line, Cole wanted to look back but he didn’t. If he did, he’d run, not walk back to her so he kept going.
Lake Dreams Page 14