Goodbye, Magnolia (Cornerstone Book 1)

by Krista Noorman

  "Simon?” She was confused.

  “I love my nephew. He’s the son I never had.” Pete looked her in the eye again. "If you care for him at all, you need to let him know." He paused and looked out at the lake then back at Maggie. "But if you don't, then you have to tell him now so he can move on with his life. I don’t want Simon to end up like me.”

  “Simon’s not waiting around for me, Pete.”

  Pete reached over and squeezed her hand. “I think he is.”

  A lump suddenly formed in her throat, and she couldn’t speak.

  Pete looked at her searchingly.

  She nodded to let him know she understood.

  He patted her on the back as he got up, then walked back to the fire.

  Maggie sat for a long time thinking about Pete’s words. He obviously didn’t know his nephew as well as he thought. Simon had no trouble getting women. He would never have to be alone if he didn’t want to.

  She closed her eyes and tried to make some sense of her thoughts. There was a part of her that cared for Simon. She had admitted as much in her prayers that night in Petoskey. But all she had to do was think about Anna standing in his hotel room to know that he was not the man for her. As much as she respected Pete, there was no way she was going to have that conversation with Simon.

  Maggie and Sarah sat by the fire roasting marshmallows. This time, Maggie’s marshmallow survived and came out a golden brown. She popped it into her mouth and glanced across the fire to see Simon staring at her.

  He grinned, and her stomach suddenly tied up in knots.

  She hoped he would stay on his side of the fire. Nope.

  He walked over and took a seat on the hay bale next to her. “I need to tell you something very important.”

  She swallowed hard.

  Simon hugged the stuffed alien toy. “My sister was abducted by aliens,” he stated dramatically and faked crying.

  “Give up the chase, Mulder,” she replied with a laugh.

  He grinned at her.

  “Tom and I are leaving soon, Maggie,” announced Sarah. “Are you ready? Or maybe someone could give you a ride back to town to get your car.” Sarah directed her words at Simon.

  “Yeah, I’ll take her,” Simon quickly offered. “If that’s OK with you.” He looked at her with soft hazel eyes reflecting the blazing fire.

  “That’s fine.” Maybe they would have that conversation after all. This was her chance to set everything right.

  At the end of the night, Simon drove Maggie back into town. They were silent for most of the drive, but she could feel his eyes on her, and it made her extra nervous.

  He pulled into the parking space next to her car, jumped out, and opened the door for her.

  She climbed out and fished her keys from her purse. “Thanks for the ride.” Maggie unlocked her car door and dropped her purse and keys on the seat. Something across the street caught her eye, and she thought she saw movement within the coffee shop. They weren’t open this late, and she wondered if maybe she should check it out. She would hate for her friends’ shop to get robbed with her standing right across the street.

  “I’m really sorry about my behavior in Petoskey,” Simon interrupted her thoughts.

  “Oh, Simon.” She let out an exasperated breath as she pushed the car door shut and turned to face him. “I don’t wanna talk about Petoskey. I’m just tired of the whole thing.”

  A pained expression crossed his face.

  She couldn’t stand that look. It was the same look he’d had in Vegas and Petoskey. It broke her heart.

  With a sudden urge to comfort him, she stepped forward and hugged him. “I really think we’re just better off as friends.” She pulled back a little and leaned in to give him a quick kiss on the cheek, but he turned his head at the last second and their lips met briefly.

  They looked at each other in surprise.

  His glance went from her eyes to her lips and back to her eyes again. And then he leaned in and touched his lips to hers. Again and again and again. Slow and sweet, they sank into the kiss. It had been months since they first kissed in Vegas, but it had been nothing like this.

  Maggie leaned back against the door of her car and pulled him with her. Must stop. Her brain kept telling her this, but she couldn’t make herself pull away. She couldn’t remember ever being kissed like this.

  Simon held her face softly with one hand as they kissed, and he wrapped his other arm around her back. His fingertips landed just under the bottom edge of her sweater and rested against her lower back. The heat from his touch nearly burned her.

  She let the kiss continue, despite her earlier decision.

  She was relieved when he pulled away first, because she didn’t have the clarity of mind to tell him to stop. She looked up at him, his lips moist from their kisses, slightly out of breath. He looked incredibly handsome, and Maggie wanted nothing more than to kiss him.

  “I want to kiss you again.” Simon seemed to read her mind. He leaned in again and brushed his lips so softly against hers that they were barely touching. “But I need to tell you something first.”

  Maggie didn’t speak and neither did Simon. She moved her hands from where they rested on his hips around to his lower back, moving further into his arms.

  He let out a slow breath and his fingers drifted down her cheek, his thumb brushing over her lower lip.

  “Forget it,” he breathed, and he kissed her again, deeper this time, with more urgency. His hand pressed flat against her back, holding her tightly against him.

  Must. Stop. Kissing.

  A bright light suddenly flashed at them, and they jumped apart.

  “Everything OK here, Maggie?” It was Sheriff Hank Sanders. “I got a call.”

  “Of course, officer,” Simon mumbled.

  “We were just heading home, Hank,” she explained. Her cheeks were on fire. Thank God for Hank.

  “See that you do.” Hank snickered as he lowered his flashlight.

  “Wait! You got a call about us? From who?” she asked.

  Hank shrugged as he climbed back into the patrol car.

  Simon started laughing.

  Maggie didn’t think it was funny at all. She glanced across the street at State Grounds again.

  “Aren’t we a little too old to get caught making out by the cops?”

  She looked over at him. So much for setting things right. She was disappointed in herself for being so weak and letting it happen. Her hands covered her face for a few seconds.

  Simon took a step closer.

  She rotated a little to subtly block his advance. “I’m so sorry. I did not intend for that to happen.”

  “Well, I don’t think either of us did.” He had a cocky grin on his face. “But I’m not sorry, and I’m ready for things to get really intentional.” He was flirting with her now in that way of his.

  Maggie’s throat tightened, and she had trouble forming words. “I ... I meant what I said, Simon. Just friends.”

  Simon stepped closer, and she held her hand out to stop him.

  He looked at her questioningly.

  “Look, tonight was fun. And this was …” She glanced at his mouth for a second and her resolve began to weaken. “… really nice.”

  He pushed her hand aside and moved closer.

  She straightened up and took a deep breath. “Can’t we just let things be the way they are?”

  “What fun is that?” He spoke in a whisper and took her hand in his.

  She looked at the ground and squeezed his hand. She had to get a grip and stick to her guns.

  “Simon.” She could barely get his name out.

  “Maggie,” he whispered and moved again. He was now standing against her, his hand sliding around her waist again. His breathing was shallow, and his lips brushed against her forehead.

  Here we go. Please God, give me the strength to do this. As nice as it was to feel wanted, she knew it was wrong to lead him on when she knew he wasn’t right for her. She owed i
t to Pete after he had opened up so much to her. She grabbed Simon’s hand, pushing it down away from her waist as she took a step backwards.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She wasn’t sure where to begin.

  Simon looked exasperated. “You have to stop doing this to me.”

  Her eyes met his.

  “I kiss you and it feels like you want me to. It feels like you’ve changed your mind. And then you pull the rug out from under me and knock me down all over again.”

  “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to.”

  “But you do. And every time, I wish I could understand. I wish I knew what you wanted. It’s enough to drive a guy crazy.”

  Even though she didn’t want to, Maggie knew it was time to be very clear with him.

  “I want someone who’ll be there for me. Someone who would do anything to make me happy. I need someone I can rely on. Someone honest and good. That’s what I want.” She let go of his hand.

  He looked perplexed. “And you don’t think I’d be there for you? You don’t think I’d make you happy?”

  “Never again will I be with someone who can’t be faithful to me.”

  “Is this about Petoskey?” There was a sudden desperation in his voice.

  “It doesn’t matter what happened in Petoskey. You were with Michelle when we kissed in Vegas and when we were under the dock on the Fourth of July. I can’t trust you now. And the thing is, I don’t trust you.”

  Simon looked at the ground and shook his head. “That is the thing, isn’t it?”

  “I need a real relationship built on honesty and trust.” Maggie could see the pained expression on his face again.

  “So that’s it?” He looked into her eyes. “This isn’t happening?”

  She hated the way he was looking at her, knowing she was the reason he was hurting.

  He stepped closer again and took her face in his hands. He spoke in an intimate whisper. “What I said that morning in Petoskey, I didn’t mean it.”

  She would never forget those stinging words or how he could so quickly turn his attention to another.

  “I would wait for you forever.”

  Pete was right. Maggie took a step back toward her car, and Simon’s hands slipped from her face.

  “Please don’t,” she begged.

  He nodded sadly without another plea and opened the car door for her.

  “Goodnight, Maggie.” He looked anywhere but at her face.

  Maggie climbed into the car, and he shut the door behind her. A single tear slid down her cheek as she watched him walk back around his car with head hung low. He put his car into gear, backed out, and took off fast enough to squeal his tires on the pavement.

  She thought she might throw up. Had she actually done that? Had she pushed Simon away for good? This was the right decision for her and for him, she believed that. But that didn’t make it any easier. And why did her heart hurt so much?

  December 19, 2009

  Sarah & Tom

  A light snow fell overnight leaving a beautiful dusting over everything, picture perfect for Sarah and Tom’s Christmas wedding. The girls started the morning together at a lovely breakfast prepared by Patty and Vi, while the guys woke late and had brunch at Mill’s Landing, another favorite local restaurant.

  “I wish I didn’t have to walk down the aisle with goatee guy,” Gina announced through a bite of chocolate chip pancakes. Sarah’s teenaged cousin was a pretty, petite brunette, who was more interested in talking about guys than anything else. She was less than enthused that she had to link arms with Bill from State Grounds. “Why can’t I walk with the hot one?”

  “The hot one? Which one is that again?” Maggie knew exactly who she was referring to.

  Sarah shook her head. “Be nice, Gina.”

  Leslie, Sarah’s best friend from high school, chuckled. She was the complete opposite of Gina, with long blonde hair and a more reserved demeanor.

  “I’d take Leslie’s guy if I had to,” Gina replied.

  Leslie’s guy was Derek, a friend of Tom’s from work, who wasn’t bad to look at either. He was a buzz cut blond with a stocky build.

  Sarah’s patience was wearing thin. “We already went over this. You’re walking with Bill.”

  Gina pouted and picked at her bacon.

  Maggie was thankful to be past those high school years. She nearly laughed aloud remembering herself pouting on many occasions when she didn’t get her way. It never worked with her parents. It almost always worked with Ben.

  The salon was up next for hair and makeup, then on to the church, where Patty, Vi, and Sarah’s mother, Marie, were waiting with the dresses and a light lunch. After lunch, the bridesmaids got dressed, laughing and chatting the day away.

  It wasn’t until Shannon and Jamie arrived for pictures, that the day kicked into high gear. They split up. Shannon stayed with the girls, while Jamie went to photograph the guys.

  Once Sarah slipped into her dress and her mother affixed her veil, it all became very real.

  Maggie was overcome with love and pride at the sight of Sarah as a bride. It seemed surreal to be standing in that room, Sarah in her wedding gown, about to walk the aisle and become Tom’s wife. She quickly retrieved her camera from her bag and snapped a few pictures.

  “Hey! Put that thing away,” Sarah ordered. “You’re the maid of honor today.”

  “I know. I can’t help it.” She tucked the camera away as ordered and walked over to her almost sister-in-law. “You’re the most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen. And you know I’ve seen a few.”

  Sarah laughed as she hugged Maggie tightly. “I love you, Mags.”

  “I love you, too.”

  Leslie brought them tissues to blot their tears and made sure Sarah’s makeup was still perfect.

  Maggie snuck out to the room where the guys were getting ready and knocked on the door.

  “Everyone decent in here?”

  “Come on in,” Tom called.

  She walked in and spotted her brother dressed in his tuxedo with a red rose boutonniere attached to the lapel. She laid her hand over her heart.

  “Oh, Tommy.” She fought back tears as she embraced her brother.

  “I’m really doing this, Mags.”

  “I know,” she sniffled.

  “How’s Sarah doin’?”

  Maggie noticed the affection that oozed from Tom’s voice when he mentioned his beloved’s name.

  “She’s amazing. And she looks like an angel. Most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen.”

  He smiled, then clapped his hands together once. “OK, let’s get this show on the road.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Simon interjected.

  Maggie hadn’t noticed him standing there to the side of the room. Her eyes met his.

  He gave her a once over. “Wow!”

  She felt herself blush. “Well, uh,” she stuttered. “I’ll see you guys out there.” And she quickly exited the room.

  Maggie took a deep breath in and let it out as she walked back toward the girls’ room. Despite the fact she had rejected him, there was still an attraction there. She wished there wasn’t. It would make her decision a lot easier.

  She stopped to look into the church sanctuary. Jamie was there with camera in hand photographing the room and all the lovely decorations. It was glowing from the Christmas trees all draped in white lights and the candles lining the aisles. Perfect. It reminded her of the Christmas wedding they had photographed a year ago. Had it only been a year? So much had happened since then.

  Never would she have imagined that Sarah would marry her brother or that Tom would marry before she did. But it was the way things were meant to be. If things had gone on as planned with Ben and she had married first, life might have turned out very differently. She might never have hired Sarah and then where would they be today? She often wondered how long that marriage would have lasted, how much more devastated she would have been if she would have had to suffer through a divorce. And when
she thought about it now, she felt relieved. There was a peace about the situation that had never been there before. God had protected her. He had saved her. All that had happened over the past year had taught her that. If she had jumped into something with Simon without asking God to show her whether he was the right one, she might have been right back in the same situation again.

  She suddenly sensed someone watching her and turned to find Simon standing in the hallway behind her, looking incredibly handsome in his tuxedo. He walked slowly toward her, holding something behind his back.

  “Can you help me with this?” He held out his boutonniere.

  “Can’t DeDe help you? I really should get back to Sarah.”

  “She’s busy helping the other guys. I thought I should go straight to the expert.” He grinned at her.

  “And what makes you think I’m an expert?”

  “I saw you helping the groomsmen in Petoskey.”

  She flinched at the mention.

  “Please.” He gave her his best puppy dog eyes and pouty lip.

  She rolled her eyes and reluctantly took the flower from him.

  “Don’t stick yourself,” he warned.

  She raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m an expert, remember?”

  With the pins clamped between her lips, she held the flower against his lapel to find the right spot. Her hands began to tremble as she felt him watching. If only he didn’t have this effect on her.

  She pulled the pins from her mouth one by one and stuck them through the jacket and flower in opposite directions to hold it firmly in place.

  “There you go.” She patted his chest.

  “Not even one drop of blood,” he replied with a grin.

  “I can’t stop shaking.” Sarah held her hands out to show everyone.

  Maggie took her hands and squeezed. “You’ve got this.”

  “It’s go time,” DeDe interrupted. She expertly arranged everyone in the order they were to enter as they had practiced at the rehearsal the night before. The prelude music was playing in the sanctuary as they moved through the foyer of the church to the doors. A few late stragglers were corralled to some side entrance doors and seated toward the back. The music changed to the processional and DeDe directed Leslie and Derek down the aisle, followed by Gina and Bill.