Goodbye, Magnolia (Cornerstone Book 1)

by Krista Noorman

  She sat on the edge of the stage and took some more pictures of the dance crowd. Someone suddenly grabbed her leg and tugged. When she looked up from behind her camera, her mouth went dry.

  “Hey!” Simon climbed up on the stage next to her. “How’s it going?”

  “Fine,” she replied. Her palms began to sweat like a nervous teenaged girl sitting next to the boy she liked.

  He sat with her for a few minutes watching people dance.

  “Are you as wiped as I am?” he asked.

  She nodded, but couldn’t find her words.

  “Only a couple more hours. Tops.” He gave her a cute grin and hopped down.

  She watched him move into the crowd of guests and raise his camera once again. It took everything within her to gather the courage to jump off the stage and go after him. She came up behind him on the dance floor and gently grabbed his arm.

  “I need to talk to you,” she declared, still not quite sure what to say.

  “Sure.” He led her through the crowd to the coffee bar, where it was a little quieter.

  She tried to come up with the right words. Her lips opened several times, but nothing came out. She bit her bottom lip softly.

  “Maggie, what?” He seemed slightly annoyed that she wasn’t speaking. “I need to get back to work. What did you want to talk about?”

  “I know what you did for me,” she blurted.

  “And what did I do?”

  Tears stung her eyes. “I know you gave me this wedding.”

  His expression changed with the sudden realization of what she meant. “Oh.” He looked down at his camera. “You weren’t supposed to find out about that.”

  She tried hard to keep from crying in front of him. “Why not?” Her chin quivered.

  He looked her in the eyes. “I didn’t want you to feel like you didn’t earn this, because you did. You deserved this wedding.”

  “So did you.”

  “I wanted you to have it,” he declared.

  “Why?” she asked as the tears spilled over.

  He gently brushed a tear from her cheek. “I just wanted you to be happy.” He grinned tenderly.

  Maggie knew now. She had been wrong about him for months. He wasn’t like Ben at all. He would do anything to make her happy and he had.

  She suddenly gained a boost of confidence. “I am happy,” she spoke through her tears.

  “Good.” He smiled at her.

  “I’m happy for another reason.”

  He had a slightly confused expression.

  “I’m happy you didn’t sleep with Anna.”

  He closed his eyes for a second and smiled. “No, I didn’t.”

  “I’m so sorry I jumped to conclusions and made such ridiculous assumptions.”

  He shook his head. “I should be the one apologizing for that. I was upset, so I let you think it happened. It was stupid and immature, and I should have told you the truth much sooner.” He paused. “I tried to tell you at Halloween, but I got a little distracted.” He grinned at her.

  Suddenly overcome by a strong urge to be near him, she moved forward and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist.

  He held her awkwardly with their cameras hanging in between them. Their lenses banged together, and they laughed.

  Maggie pulled back and looked up into his eyes. It was her turn to make the first move. She suddenly realized they were standing very near the dancing guests, and this didn’t look very professional.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the photo booth, and it appeared to be empty. She grinned up at Simon. “Come with me.”

  He didn’t have much choice but to follow her as she led him across the room by his tie, both of them smiling all the way.

  “Where are we going?” he asked.

  She pulled back the curtain to the booth and pushed him inside. “Sit,” she commanded. She removed the camera from around her neck and set it on the floor at their feet.

  “I’m not a dog,” he replied with a grin, echoing her own words from long ago.

  She pushed on his shoulders until he sat on the bench and tugged the curtain closed behind her. Simon set his camera on the floor next to Maggie’s. The booth was tiny, and Maggie bumped the photo button as she seated herself on Simon’s lap.

  He had that look again. The one he got when he was amused by something.

  “Simon,” she said as she slid her arms around his neck.

  “Maggie,” he wrapped his arms around her, softly caressing the bare back her dress revealed.

  She looked him in the eyes. “Please don’t go to California.”

  His mouth fell open a bit at her statement.

  Maggie slid her fingers through his hair as she leaned in and touched her lips to his.

  A little moan escaped from his throat, and he kissed her back with everything he’d held inside for the past six months.

  They breathed into each kiss, his hands gliding softly up her back and into her hair.

  There was a sudden flash. Then another. Then another. They started laughing as they kissed, both realizing that the photo booth was going off.

  Flash!

  “I’m sorry, Simon,” she whispered against his lips. “For pushing you away, for hurting you over and over, for everything.”

  His fingers traced her cheek as they had done several times before. “I just want to be with you. But if you’re not ready, I can wait.”

  Maggie leaned in and planted a soft kiss on his lips. “No more waiting,” she whispered.

  They laughed and smiled as they kissed again, almost giddy from their declarations.

  Outside the booth, there was a rustling sound, and they froze with their lips touching. But the rustling stopped, so Maggie reached up and loosened Simon’s tie, leaning in to plant kisses on his neck.

  Simon let go of her long enough to gently lead her lips back to his as he kissed her slowly this time, like their Halloween kiss, only this time with so much more meaning behind it. They were together now, and he kissed her without reservation.

  Suddenly, the curtain of the photo booth flew open causing them to jump.

  “I found them.” Lacey held a strip of black and white photos of them in her hand. “Aw, look at you guys. Simon, was this part of your plan?”

  “Absolutely.” He smiled proudly.

  Maggie blushed as she climbed off of Simon’s lap. “We’re so sorry.” She was mortified. “This was totally unprofessional.”

  George and DeDe stood off to the side laughing at Lacey’s discovery.

  Lacey put an arm around her. “No apology necessary. I had a feeling about you two.” She led Maggie across the room, followed by Simon and George. “My dad would like a picture of our family with you and Simon.”

  Anna was waiting with camera in hand to take the picture.

  “Well, did you enjoy the day, young lady?” asked the governor.

  Maggie, still blushing a little, looked over at Simon and smiled. “Yes, sir, I did.”

  George punched Simon in the arm. “Yeah, she did,” he joked.

  Those who had been witness to the photo booth laughed.

  The governor looked at them strangely, wondering what their laughter was about. “I guess I missed something.” He smiled and put an arm around his wife.

  Maggie and Simon stood in the middle of the group with Governor Hartman and his wife on one side and Lacey and George on the other. Simon took her hand, which made her smile from ear to ear. She hoped she didn’t look like a smiling fool because she couldn’t stop.

  After the picture with the governor, Michael Bublé graciously agreed to a few photos with the group. Maggie was starstruck when Simon introduced the two of them and when Michael put his arm around her for the picture.

  “Simon!” Michael approached with hand extended. “Hey, thanks for setting this up.”

  “No, thank you for coming out.” Simon shook his hand and pulled him in for a quick bro hug. “And congrats on your recent engagement. I’m
happy for you, man.”

  “Thank you,” Michael said. “Hey, tell your parents I said ‘hello’.”

  “Will do.” Simon waved goodbye to his friend.

  Maggie stared up at him in confusion. “What is happening right now?”

  Simon chuckled. “I’ve known him for a few years now. We met out in L.A. I’ll tell you about it sometime.”

  She had a feeling life with Simon was going to be an adventure.

  He kissed the back of her hand and went back to work.

  Maggie felt like she was floating above the floor.

  Sarah came running up and almost knocked her over. “What happened? DeDe told me there was an incident with you two in the photo booth.”

  “Wow! Word travels fast around here.”

  “Well, it’s DeDe. What do you expect?”

  Maggie laughed at that.

  “So?” Sarah was dying for information.

  “I told him not to go.” Her smile had grown bigger since their picture with the governor.

  “Oh, Maggie.” Sarah gave her a hug. “So, does this mean what I think it means?”

  Maggie nodded happily as she watched Simon across the room working as hard as he had all day long.

  “This is awesome.” Sarah clapped her hands. “I knew it. Didn’t I tell you it would work out?”

  She nodded again.

  Simon looked over at her then with a smile so full of love she thought she might burst. Every time he looked over she was watching him, until he eventually came over to where they were standing.

  “You can’t do that,” he stated.

  “What am I doing?” she feigned innocence.

  “You can’t keep watching me.”

  “Do I make you nervous?” she asked.

  He leaned in and kissed her firmly.

  Sarah watched them, thoroughly amused.

  Simon went back to work and left Maggie with a goofy grin on her face for the rest of the night.

  When the happy couple had departed in their carriage for an evening ride around the island and all the guests had gone to their hotel rooms, Maggie found a table near the door to pack up her gear. She tucked her cameras and each lens into the correct slot in her camera bag. Her memory cards were all zipped up and secure, ready to load the images and back them up on the laptop in her room.

  “Hey.” Simon joined her and started packing up his own gear.

  “Where’s your assistant to help you with your bags?” she asked.

  “Oh, I let her go about an hour ago. She had some texting to do,” he joked.

  Maggie smiled at that.

  “Where’s Sarah?” he asked.

  “She’s somewhere with DeDe.”

  She lifted her bag from the table and over her shoulder.

  “Let me.” Simon relieved her of the camera bag. “Where to?” he asked with a slightly raised eyebrow.

  “Let’s go to the porch,” she replied with a grin.

  He took her hand, and they walked through the hotel and out onto the porch.

  Holding Simon’s hand felt incredibly comfortable, like it was the most natural thing in the world, like she’d been doing it forever. She hoped she always would.

  He set their bags next to the closest rocking chair and took a seat. “Come here.” He tugged on her arm and she climbed into his lap for the second time that night.

  “Hey.” She still couldn’t wipe the smile from her face.

  “Hey.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her softly on the lips. A shiver shook his shoulders.

  “Are you cold?” Maggie leaned into him more.

  “Mmmm.” A light breeze blew in from the lake, but he was far from cold. He pressed his lips to hers again. “I can’t believe I’m allowed to do that now,” he whispered.

  She grinned and laid her head against his chest as he rocked the chair back and forth. They sat like that for a while, enjoying the feeling of holding each other, finally able to do that just because they wanted to.

  “Do you remember that day in Mr. Wilkins’ photography class?” Simon suddenly asked.

  Maggie lifted her head and looked at him. “What day?”

  Simon looked thoughtful. “The first time we met, when we had to take pictures of each other for that assignment.”

  “Oh my word.” Maggie was amazed. “I can’t believe you remember that.”

  He nodded. “Oh, it’s ingrained in my memory.”

  “Really?” She raised an eyebrow at him.

  “Well, yeah. You told me I sucked at making people comfortable in front of my camera. I couldn’t very well forget that.”

  She started laughing. “Well, I was very uncomfortable.”

  Simon squeezed his arms tighter around her. “That was the day I knew.”

  “You knew what?”

  “I knew we’d end up together someday.”

  Maggie smiled and shook her head in disbelief. “You did not.”

  “Well, I haven’t been able to get you out of my head since that day.”

  “Simon.” She looked at him with uncertainty. “You’re teasing me, right?”

  He shook his head. “I’m completely serious. No matter what I did, you were always there in the back of my mind. And it drove me crazy that you always avoided me.”

  She laughed again. “Well, it drove me crazy that you were always around.”

  He made a funny face at her, and she leaned in and kissed his cheek.

  Simon shifted and retrieved his wallet from his back pocket. He opened it and rifled through the contents, sliding an old, worn photograph from within. Hesitantly, he turned it around to face her.

  Maggie’s mouth fell open. “Simon!”

  He grinned shyly as he held a copy of the picture he had taken of her in the library that Halloween day over fifteen years before.

  “I ... I can’t believe you have that.”

  “I told you. I knew.”

  Her eyes began to tear up a little.

  “And here we are. Was I right or was I right?” Now there was the Simon she remembered from all those years ago, still a know-it-all.

  She kissed his cheek and looked him in the eyes. “It just took us a while to get here.”

  He pulled her closer and pressed his lips gently against hers again. His fingertips moved in a shiver-inducing path down her back, and she softly sighed.

  “You two are incredible,” DeDe announced as she walked through the door onto the porch.

  They pulled apart and looked over at her.

  “Thank you so much for all your hard work this weekend. Lacey and George wanted me to tell you they had a great time with you both.”

  “Thanks, De,” Simon replied. “We wouldn’t be here right now if it wasn’t for you.”

  She winked.

  “De, thank you for everything.” Maggie reached out and squeezed her hand.

  “They also wanted me to give you this.” She held the photo booth pictures of Simon and Maggie from earlier in the night.

  Maggie snatched them from DeDe’s hand. There they were, their first moments together, really together.

  “Thank you,” she called after DeDe, who walked away with a wave.

  Maggie held the pictures up for Simon to see.

  A large grin spread across his face. “We’re gonna have to frame that and put it in our office.”

  “Our office?” She looked at him curiously.

  “Oh, yes,” he replied. “I’ve got big plans for us, Miss James.”

  “Have you now?”

  “Yes, I have. And my first plan is to convert you to Nikon cameras.”

  Maggie laughed and kissed him again. “Never gonna happen.”

  He looked into her eyes and grinned in that Simon way. “Never say never.”

  May 9, 2011

  A New Beginning

  As they drove along main street Hastings, Maggie could see a small crowd gathered on the sidewalk outside. Butterflies floated around in her stomach. She wasn’t sure why
she was nervous, because she was more than ready. It was more the excitement and anticipation than anything else.

  Simon pulled the car into a parking place in front of State Grounds. Bill and Cindy were standing on the sidewalk outside, as was Leslie, Sarah’s bridesmaid. She and Bill had kept in touch after Sarah and Tom’s wedding and had been seen together often in recent months. Maggie was happy he had found someone else to turn his attention to.

  She and Simon walked hand in hand across the street to join the waiting group of family and friends in front of Maggie’s shop.

  Among the crowd were the mayor of Hastings, several local business owners, and a reporter and photographer from the local newspaper, The Reminder. Maggie’s family was all there, as were Vi, Dave and Uncle Pete.

  The mayor shook both Maggie and Simon’s hands. “Nice to see you.”

  “You, too,” she replied. “Thank you for doing this.”

  “Well, you’re welcome,” the mayor said. “We always support our local businesses.”

  Maggie spotted Sarah and Tom standing with her parents and excused herself, leaving Simon to talk with the mayor.

  “Hey, you guys made it.” She greeted Sarah with a hug.

  “Of course,” Sarah declared. “You think we would miss this?”

  “Well, I know you have your hands full these day.” She turned to Tom and reached for the little thirteen pound bundle of joy in his arms. “Let me hold my niece.”

  Tom handed her the baby.

  Maggie touched her soft baby cheeks. “Hey, baby girl.” She leaned in and kissed the top of her head, inhaling the sweet baby scent. “Claire, you are the most beautiful baby in the world.”

  Tom nodded. “We think so.”

  Claire pushed the pacifier out of her mouth accidentally and began to cry. Maggie grabbed it and popped it back into her mouth.

  “Is this a vision of things to come?” Simon asked as he approached them.

  Tom and Sarah laughed.

  Maggie grinned up at him. She couldn’t imagine being any happier than she already was, but the thought of a baby with Simon made her feel all warm inside.