Goodbye, Magnolia (Cornerstone Book 1)

by Krista Noorman

  On Wednesday evening, Maggie packed a bag with albums and price lists and drove to East Lansing for a meeting with potential wedding clients. After seeing the Magnolia website and falling in love with Maggie’s work, the bride immediately set up a meeting to see album samples and go over pricing.

  She pulled into the Starbucks and went inside. There was one other person there, a middle-aged man in a suit reading a newspaper, so she ordered a coffee and sat down at a table to wait.

  Fifteen minutes later, a lovely blonde girl breezed through the door and approached her table.

  “Are you Maggie?” she asked.

  “Yes, I am.” She extended her hand.

  The girl shook Maggie’s hand. “I’m Beth. It’s so nice to meet you.” Beth took a seat across the table from her. “My fiancé’s parking the car. I’m so sorry we’re late.”

  “That’s fine. Not a problem.” Maggie retrieved a couple albums from her bag.

  “Thank you so much for meeting us. I know it was a little far for you to come.”

  Maggie shook her head. “Oh, I meet people here all the time. It’s a good halfway point between Hastings and Detroit.”

  “Well,” Beth began. “I’m so excited to get going on our plans. We met with two other photographers and weren’t thrilled with either of them. Then I found your site online, and the second I saw your work, I knew it had to be you. ”

  She was so flattered by Beth’s kind words. “Oh, thank you. That’s very sweet of you to say.”

  “Your pictures are incredible and exactly the style we’re looking for.”

  “I’d love to hear more about you and your fiancé and what you have in mind for your wedding. Will you be getting married in the Detroit area then?”

  “My fiancé actually has family near Hastings, so we’re getting married on Gun Lake.”

  “Oh, really? I spent lots of summers swimming in Gun Lake when I was growing up. What’s your fiance’s last name? Maybe I know his family.”

  “Maggie?” The sound of a familiar voice startled her.

  Her heart sank when she looked up. “Ben?” She couldn’t believe he was actually standing before her. It had been so many years since she last saw him. Her heart began to beat rapidly, and a large lump formed in her throat.

  Ben glanced over at Beth and then back at Maggie. “Oh, no.”

  Beth turned to look at Ben. “What’s the matter?”

  He let out a nervous laugh, and Maggie’s heart ached as she remembered that familiar sound.

  “This is the wedding photographer we’re meeting with?” he asked.

  Maggie thought she might have a heart attack right then and there. She couldn’t speak, and her eyes stung from the tears that threatened to surface. She could now hear the loud beat of her heart in her ears.

  “You know each other?” asked Beth, totally clueless.

  Maggie slowly slid the albums from the table and back into her bag. She had to force herself to breathe in and out. Everything felt like it was moving in slow motion.

  Beth looked concerned. “Are you OK, Maggie? You don’t look so good.”

  Maggie clutched her bag and attempted to stand, but she suddenly felt weak in the knees and collapsed forward.

  Ben reached out and caught her as she went down. With his arms wrapped around her back and his face inches from hers, he looked into her eyes. “You OK, Magnolia?”

  She winced at the nickname he had given her years ago, back in their high school days. “Please don’t call me that,” she responded quietly through her tears.

  He hung his head a little, then helped her back up to her chair.

  “What’s going on?” Beth looked utterly confused.

  Ben took a deep breath and looked at his new fiancee. “Maggie and I used to date.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “You two dated?”

  “Yeah.” He was clearly uncomfortable.

  Beth couldn’t hide her shock. “When?”

  “In college.”

  “For how long?”

  Maggie grabbed her napkin and blotted the tears away, trying to get a hold on her emotions so she could get out of there.

  “Five years,” he confessed.

  “FIVE YEARS?” Beth’s voice grew louder.

  Maggie gathered her bag and made another attempt to stand. This time she was more steady.

  “I’m really sorry, Mag …” Ben caught himself this time. “I’m just sorry.”

  She paused and looked him straight in the eyes. “Don’t forget to tell her we were engaged and you dumped me a month before our wedding.” She pushed past him and shoved through the door, the tears freely falling.

  “Engaged?” Beth’s voice slipped through before the door closed. “Why didn’t you ever tell me about her?”

  Maggie sobbed her way back to Hastings. The floodgates had been opened, and there was no way for her to stop the tears now. Seeing Ben was the last thing in the world she expected, and she wasn’t sure what to do or how to feel about him getting married.

  She drove straight to her parents house and discovered a couple extra cars in the driveway.

  “Mom!” She stumbled inside with puffy red eyes, sniffling loudly.

  Her mother emerged from the kitchen. “Maggie? What’s the matter?” She scooped her daughter up in a hug and let her cry into her shoulder.

  Maggie sobbed. She tried to speak, but she couldn’t get a word out. She was shaking as the tears left her body.

  Vi and Sarah came when they heard the commotion.

  “Maggie.” Sarah stroked her hair gently. “What’s wrong?”

  Vi rubbed her back as she let it all out.

  Many minutes passed before she faced her mom. “Ben was the groom at my meeting tonight.”

  A loud gasp escaped Sarah. “Are you serious?”

  “Yeah. It gets better. I pretty much had a panic attack and fainted into his arms.”

  “Oh, sweetie.” Her mother squeezed her tight and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

  The ladies guided Maggie into the kitchen. Sarah grabbed a tissue and wiped the tears away. Vi put on a pot of coffee, and Mom set out a plate of chocolate chip cookies.

  Maggie was happily surprised to see Dave, Vi’s estranged husband, sitting with her Dad and Tom playing cards. She glanced curiously at Vi, who gave her a knowing smile.

  Tom noticed the condition his sister was in. “Hey, are you OK?”

  She nodded. “I will be.”

  With coffee mugs in hand, they moved into the dining room so they could talk without the listening ears of the men. Vi carried the cookies, and Sarah grabbed the whole box of tissue.

  Maggie took one of each.

  “I’m so sorry you had to go through that tonight, sweetie,” Mom said.

  “The worst thing was being completely blindsided. It felt like a dream, like it wasn’t really happening, but it was.” The tears started to well up again. “And he looks good. He really does.”

  Sarah put her arm around Maggie.

  “I miss him. I know I shouldn’t after everything that happened, but I do. And now he’s all happy and getting married.”

  “No way,” Sarah interjected. “Can you imagine being that girl and finding out your fiancé was engaged before and he never told you? There is no communication going on there. Not gonna happen.”

  “A relationship can’t possibly stand the test of time without honesty,” Vi interjected. “Not a healthy one, anyway.”

  Maggie nodded.

  “It doesn’t matter what Ben does or who he’s with,” her mother stated. “What matters is you. We want you to be happy, Maggie. We want you to find someone new, someone who loves you completely, and we believe you will.”

  Sarah and Vi shook their heads in agreement.

  Tears slipped down Maggie’s cheeks. “I want to believe that. I do. I just don’t understand why this had to happen. Things were fine. I had my life and he had his, and there was no reason for them to ever intersect again. Why did I hav
e to see him? And why like this?”

  Mom squeezed her hand. “Do you remember your favorite Bible verse in high school? Jeremiah 29:11? ‘For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, …”

  “I know, I know,” Maggie interrupted. “Plans to give you hope and a future.”

  “Trust in that,” replied Mom.

  “I don’t know if I can any more.” She sniffled.

  Vi passed Maggie another tissue. “It’s hard to understand why things happen the way they do, but God does have a plan, Maggie. You just have to try to step back and see the bigger picture.”

  “I don’t see it at all.”

  “We can’t always see it when we’re in the moment, but God’s got a much better view than we do, and He’s working everything together to give you that future He’s got planned for you.”

  Maggie grinned through another round of tears.

  The doorbell rang.

  Sarah gasped. “Maggie, you might want to go freshen up a bit.”

  “What for?” She blew her nose loudly into a tissue.

  “It’s Pete … and Simon.”

  “Great. Just what I need.”

  Maggie quickly left the room and ran up to the bathroom at the top of the stairs. She splashed water on her face, dabbed it dry with a towel, and pulled her hair into a messy bun on the top of her head. Sigh. There wasn’t much she could do to correct the red blotches around her eyes.

  She heard the happy greetings and laughter downstairs.

  As she left the bathroom, her gaze landed on the door to her old room and she stopped. She walked to the end of the hallway and pushed the door open. It was now a completely redecorated guest bedroom, with purple floral bedspread and lavender striped wallpaper. Nothing looked as it had when she lived there, but she still felt comforted being in her childhood room.

  Maggie sat on the bed and took a deep breath. She stared straight ahead at the closet doors for a while, wondering if her mom had left any of her old clothes in there. When curiosity got the best of her, she crossed the room and opened the doors. There were a bunch of her old sweaters from high school and a few college sweatshirts hanging there along with the overflow from her mother’s own closet.

  She took another deep breath and suddenly grabbed the clothes in the middle, pushing them to the left as hard as she could. She shoved another handful of shirts to the side and yet another until she found what she was looking for.

  There, tucked away in the back of her closet, was her wedding dress.

  She reached for it slowly, almost afraid to touch it.

  The zipper of the garment bag stuck at first, giving her second thoughts. Maybe I shouldn’t do this. Maybe it’s too much. But she couldn’t help herself. She unzipped the garment bag and pulled the dress from the closet.

  Her fingers traced the neckline of the gown as she remembered the day she first tried it on. Simple yet elegant, she knew instantly this was the dress. She held it in front of herself and glanced into the full length mirror by the window. The pain and grief washed over her, and she slumped to the floor, her tears wetting the soft lace around the bodice. She cried until she could cry no more, but then remembered the humiliation of seeing Ben and his fiancee, and the tears began all over again.

  “Maggie?” Simon was suddenly there in the doorway. He glanced at the dress then back at her face.

  She wasn’t sure how long he’d been there or how long she had been sitting there on the floor crying into her wedding dress.

  “Are you all right?” He stepped hesitantly into the room.

  Maggie shook her head and mumbled, “I just need to be alone right now.”

  His expression was full of concern.

  “Please, Simon.” She sniffled.

  He nodded and quietly left the room.

  She buried her face in the dress, her shoulders shaking from the sobs. After all this time, it still felt like someone had reached in and grabbed hold of her heart, squeezing it so tightly that it physically hurt. It was almost too much to bear. She lay on the floor for a long time clinging to the dress as the tears flowed steadily. She prayed this would be the last time she would cry over Ben and begged God to heal her heart once and for all.

  When Maggie finally descended, the group was in the middle of their euchre game, laughing, and enjoying their time together.

  “Come join us, Magpie,” her father insisted.

  She shuffled across the kitchen floor, her eyes puffy from crying.

  Simon jumped up. “Here.” He offered her his seat next to Sarah.

  She grinned weakly and took the empty seat.

  He walked over to the kitchen counter and returned with a cup of coffee, as well as the cream and sugar.

  “Thank you,” she spoke quietly.

  Sarah put her arm around Maggie and gave her a squeeze.

  “Will you all be joining us on Saturday then?” asked Pete.

  Maggie saw Dave look over at Vi with a questioning glance. She returned his glance with a nod.

  “We’ll be there,” replied Dave.

  “What’s Saturday?” asked Maggie as she propped her elbow up on the table and rested her chin on her hand.

  “Pete invited us over for a Fourth of July bonfire,” her mother filled her in.

  “Sounds like fun.” She couldn’t muster much enthusiasm.

  Simon leaned against her shoulder. “You should come, Canon.”

  “Canon?” Dave asked curiously.

  “It’s Simon’s little pet name for Maggie,” answered Tom.

  Sarah smacked him on the arm.

  “Ow!”

  Maggie and Simon grinned at each other.

  He glanced at her mouth for a moment.

  “Will Michelle be coming then?” Maggie asked.

  His eyes returned to hers. “Oh, yeah, of course.” He stuttered a bit with his answer.

  “Good. I haven’t seen her since that night at Rose’s, and we didn’t really get to talk.”

  “She’d like to catch up with you, too.”

  Maggie had a feeling that wasn't the truth. “Was she very upset about Vegas?” She winced a little, waiting to hear how Michelle had taken it.

  Simon shrugged his shoulders. “I told her we were drunk.”

  She let out a little laugh and covered her face with her hands. “You didn’t.”

  “I did.” He scrunched up his nose, realizing his mistake. “I thought it would hurt her less that way.”

  “Well, it’s not like you two were together then.”

  He pressed his lips together and didn’t respond.

  “You were?” Maggie let out a breath. “Oh, now I feel even worse.”

  “What are you two talking about?” asked Ron.

  She looked over at Simon. “Can we go out there?” She nodded her head in the direction of the front door.

  “Here.” Simon handed his cards to Sarah, who up until then had been a spectator, and left the table with Maggie.

  They walked outside and took a seat on the porch swing together.

  Maggie got right to the point. “You told me in Vegas that you liked me. That you wanted to spend time together and see where things would go.”

  Simon nodded. “Yes. Yes, I did.” He laughed nervously.

  “And you already had a girlfriend?” She raised an eyebrow at him.

  “Well, technically, I wasn’t dating her until after Vegas, but we did talk about it before then. So it was kind of in the works, if you will.”

  Maggie was through playing games. After the night she’d had, all she wanted was complete honesty. “So, why did you kiss me then?”

  Simon cleared his throat. “You walked into the party in that little black dress. What did you expect?” He had a sly grin on his face.

  She glared. “I expected you to be faithful to your girlfriend, who is also my very good friend.”

  “I know, but technically ...” He held up his index finger.

  She held
up her hand and stopped him right there. “Blah, blah, blah. Technically she wasn’t your girlfriend. Whatever.” She looked him in the eye. “You were about to start something with her, and you tried to start something with me. So, what did you really want?”

  “I wanted you,” he answered firmly.

  She shook her head in doubt. “And Michelle,” she added.

  “Just you.”

  She glanced over at him again. He was staring straight ahead, nervously avoiding eye contact with her. This was not the usually confident Simon she knew. There was no way she would ever understand the male psyche.

  “Look, I get it,” he finally spoke. “I’m not exactly at the top of your list of favorite people. You weren’t interested, so I moved on.”

  Maggie laughed at that. “No, you didn’t.” The honesty was spewing out of her faster than she could stop it.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I saw those pictures you took of me at the wedding. You were watching me.”

  He looked at her then. “You were amazing.”

  “Those pictures are amazing.”

  “Yeah, well, a few nice pictures don’t prove anything.”

  Maggie pushed back on the swing to get it rocking. “Yes, they do,” she replied confidently.

  “Man, you’re in a feisty mood.” They settled into a rocking rhythm.

  “I’ve had a horrible night. I think I deserve to be a little feisty.”

  Simon looked at her seriously. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  She was touched by his genuine concern for her. The tears began to sting her eyes again, but she pushed them back. “Let’s just say I came face to face with my past and leave it at that.” She didn’t want to think about the disastrous meeting any more.

  “I never liked him,” Simon declared. “He didn’t appreciate you. Anyone could see that.”

  She glanced over at him. “Well, I couldn’t.”

  “Love is blind, right?” he said with a grin.