A Summer Romance (11 page)

The women ordered lunch as Maggie began to
fill Andi in on the events of the last few days. She didn’t reveal
the secrets Aaron had shared with her, they weren’t her secrets to
tell, but she did assure her friend that he’d been honest with her
about his past. She also left out some of the more intimate details
of the last few days, but the way she blushed when she spoke of
Aaron told Andi all she needed to know.

“You’re in love!” Andi declared.

“What? No. That’s ridiculous. I’m just… I’m…
in love,” Maggie realized aloud as a smile spread across her face.
There was no denying it. She’d never felt this way about a man
before. The rational side of her mind tried to argue that it was
just infatuation, just an overreaction to this new level of
intimacy that she’d never experienced before, this new level of
emotion.
Love
her heart screamed, the emotion is love. She
couldn’t stop smiling as she went round and round with the idea in
her mind.

“Oh yeah, you’ve got it bad,” Andi
confirmed.

“I guess I do,” Maggie sighed happily. There
was no reason to deny it, no reason to want to.

“So what’s the plan?” Andi asked as she
finished off her sandwich.

“I need to pick up some groceries, and then
I was hoping I could catch a ride home with you,” Maggie told her
as she finished her own lunch.

“No, I mean the big plan. What are you going
to do when summer is over?” Andi asked the question that Maggie had
been ignoring since the day she’d arrived. Maggie felt that
question hit her with full force now, and she didn’t have an
answer.

She felt a familiar tightening in her chest
as it suddenly became harder to breathe. She could feel the panic
gripping her, but she wouldn’t let it take hold. Maggie had been
trying to coast through this summer without making plans, without
thinking of the future. It was all catching up with her now.

She’d always made plans to feel in control,
to keep the panic at bay. She had no plans right now; she had no
control. In the past, acknowledging that fact alone would be enough
to cripple her with a panic attack, but that’s not who she was
anymore. It’s not who she wanted to be. She had come too far from
the person she’d been to go back now.

She’d proven that she could survive without
a plan, and learned that sometimes allowing life to happen led you
down roads you may never have found on your own. However, she also
realized that she couldn’t just float through the rest of her life.
It was time to make a plan.

“I don’t know,” Maggie answered honestly.
“But I think it’s time to figure that out.”

“I’ve got two more hours on my shift,” Andi
told her as they paid for their lunch. “But after that I can take
you home.”

“Alright. I’ll walk around town for a while
to kill some time before I start my grocery shopping.”

The women hugged goodbye and Andi headed
back toward the grocery store, leaving Maggie to window shop and
wander the streets of Sweetwater. Maggie was lost in thought as she
slowly navigated the tree-lined avenues.

She realized that a small part of her had
always planned to go back to Boston. She’d considered this
adventure a break from reality, a respite for her overwhelmed mind,
but the little control freak that lived inside her head had always
planned to go back. She’d only been fooling herself believing that
she was coasting through this summer without a plan. Perhaps she
had allowed herself a few months of a carefree existence, but she’d
only been able to live that way because in the back of her mind she
knew she would return to reality eventually. But things were
different now, so many things had changed. She had changed. Had
what she wanted changed as well?

The idea of returning to her solitary life
in Boston was almost unbearable. But Aaron’s behavior this morning
also made her question whether or not he would actually want her to
stay. And what if he did ask her to stay? Is that what she wanted?
Was she was ready to give up her dream of becoming a doctor? She
realized now that not only had she planned to return to Boston,
she’d also hoped to be accepted back into school.

Maggie had always dreamed of being a doctor,
and although she’d hit a major bump in the road along the way, she
wasn’t really sure that she was ready to give up on that dream. But
how could she have both? How could she have this life with Aaron
and also pursue her dreams? If she had to choose, what did she want
more?

Maggie was so lost in thought that she
didn’t even see the gentleman in front of her until she bumped
right into him.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Maggie exclaimed. She
looked up at the man and found a pair of ice-blue eyes staring back
at her.

“Pardon me,” the man said, gently gripping
Maggie’s arms to steady her as she stumbled backward. She quickly
righted herself and stepped out of his grasp.

“I really need to learn to watch where I’m
walking,” Maggie apologized again. She felt very nervous under his
penetrating gaze.

“The fault is mine,” he insisted. “I’m
afraid I’m a bit lost and I was too busy looking for a street sign
that I didn’t even see the beautiful woman right in front of
me.”

“You’re not from here?” Maggie was so used
to people acting like she was some kind of anomaly that the idea of
another stranger in Sweetwater seemed nearly impossible.

“Just got to town today actually,” he
confirmed. “I’m here to visit a friend, maybe you know him? Aaron
Miles.”

“Oh yes! I’m… a friend of Aaron’s,” Maggie
faltered. “He mentioned you.”

“Did he now?” For just a moment the man
seemed genuinely surprised. Maggie assumed it was because of how
she hesitated when defining her relationship with Aaron.

“Yes, he said he had a meeting today, I’m
assuming he meant with you,” Maggie said.

“You wouldn’t happen to have his number
would you? I’d like to let him know that I’m running late, but I
seem to have the wrong number saved in my phone,” the man said.

“Of course.” Maggie retrieved her phone from
her purse and pulled up Aaron’s number. After giving him the
information he kindly thanked her and headed off down the street.
It was only a few minutes later that Maggie realized she hadn’t
even gotten his name.

Andi did end up staying for dinner. Maggie
hadn’t realized just how much she’d missed her friend until she was
in her company again. It was nice to have an evening of girl talk
and to share her concerns about her budding new relationship.

“Don’t call him tonight,” Andi advised.
“Give him a little time to miss you, honey.”

“But I told him I’d call.”

“Which is exactly why you shouldn’t. You
gotta make him work for it a little. Make him wonder if you’ve got
something better to do. Trust me on this.”

Those were Andi’s parting words before she
headed home. It was still rather early, but another storm was
predicted to blow in that evening and Andi had wanted to make it
home before the rain started.

Maggie decided to follow her friend’s
advice, but it was much easier said than done. She tried to settle
down in the library with a good book and a glass of wine. Barney
curled up at her feet, seemingly happy to be back to their old
routine. But Maggie just couldn’t concentrate on the novel in her
hands. Repeatedly she caught herself picking up her phone and
scrolling to Aaron’s number before putting it back down again. She
missed him terribly and she wondered if he was thinking of her as
well.

Finally she put the book down. She wasn’t
really reading it anyway. She picked up her phone and stared at it.
She wished Aaron would just call her, but of course he wouldn’t. As
far as he knew she was having a girl’s night and didn’t want to be
bothered. Maybe Andi was wrong, maybe she should call him. Maybe he
was sitting home alone just like she was, staring at his phone
hoping she would call.

Maggie realized that even though she had
spent hundreds of nights alone she’d never before felt this lonely.
The difference was now she knew what she was missing. She wondered
if this is what it would be like if she went back to Boston,
spending each night alone missing Aaron, wondering what he was
doing and if he was thinking of her.

Barney jumped up onto her lap, as if sensing
that she needed some affection. The cat purred and rubbed his head
against her shoulder. Maggie hugged the cat to her chest.

“Should I call him?” she asked the cat who
only butted his head against her chin in response “If you say so,”
Maggie said as she picked up her phone.

However this time when she scrolled to
Aaron’s number she realized that her phone had lost all signal.
Suddenly a blinding light flashed outside and almost simultaneously
a clap of thunder as loud as a bomb exploding erupted over the
house. Maggie instinctively ducked for cover just as the lights
went out.

Barney cried irritably and Maggie realized
that she’d thrown herself to the floor and was now lying on top of
the cat. She quickly rolled off of him.

“Sorry, Barney,” Maggie said as she stroked
the cats head, still clutching him in her arms. The room was nearly
pitch black, but was intermittently lit up by the flashing
lightening outside. The roar of the rain sounded like a freight
train and thunder continued to boom overhead.

Maggie felt around on the floor until she
located her phone. She had no signal. The storm must be
interfering. The illumination from the screen gave her enough light
to find her way from the library to the base of the stairs. She was
still carrying the cat and decided that tonight she’d allow him to
sleep with her. She reasoned with herself that he’d probably be
scared from the storm and it would be cruel to leave him downstairs
alone.

She began to ascend the stairs and Barney,
who up until that point had seemed rather unaffected by the storm,
began to shift and squirm in her arms.

“It’s okay, baby,” she crooned to the cat
who seemed more and more agitated as she neared the top of the
steps. Just before she’d reached the landing Barney hissed and
jumped from her arms, jetting back down the steps as fast as he
could go.

“That was odd,” Maggie said into the
darkness. She slowly made her way toward the West wing, wanting
nothing more than to crawl under the covers and wait out this
thunderstorm. Behind her Maggie heard the distinctive sound of a
door closing. She jumped at the sound and whirled around holding
her phone up, but the light was not enough to see more than a foot
or so in front of her. Beyond that was utter darkness. Maggie held
perfectly still listening and staring into the black void. After a
moment of silence she finally turned and fled to her room, slamming
the door shut behind her and running for the safety and comfort of
her bed.

Maggie pulled the covers over her head, just
like she had done as a child, and waited out the storm, counting
the seconds between the flashes of lightening and the following
thunder. Finally as she felt confident that the worst of the storm
was passing Maggie began to slowly relax. The power was still out
but the sound of rain outside had quieted and the sounds of thunder
had faded into the distance.

Maggie decided to try to fall asleep. She
slipped out of her jeans and pulled off her bra leaving only her
blouse and panties. She listened to the sounds of the receding
storm, but her mind wouldn’t calm. She wondered about Barney’s
strange reaction to being carried upstairs, and realized for the
first time that the cat had never stepped foot on the second floor,
which seemed odd considering how much he’d made himself at home
downstairs. She also wondered about the sound she’d heard from the
deserted East wing and considered whether or not the two incidents
could be related. Had the cat sensed something upstairs that had
frightened him? Or had it just been the storm itself that had him
spooked?

As Maggie lay in bed trying to convince
herself that she was overreacting she heard the unmistakable creak
from the staircase just down the hall. She knew that sound. There
was a loose floor board on the third step from the top and it
creaked each time she stepped on it. Maggie held perfectly still as
she listened for another sound. Was someone in the house?

Again she heard the creak of floor boards,
this time closer. Maggie sat up in bed and stared at the door of
the room. Through the darkness she saw a light sweep across the
crevice under the door. She blinked her eyes, hoping that her mind
was playing tricks on her. Then the door to her room swung
open.

Maggie screamed, scrambling from the bed and
getting tangled in the blankets as she fell to the floor.

“Maggie!?” Aaron’s voice broke through the
darkness like a beacon in the night. Relief flooded through her
instantly.

“My God, Aaron! You scared me to death!”
Maggie exclaimed as she fumbled around on the floor trying to
unwrap herself from the bed sheets.

Aaron’s laughter filled the room, which only
irritated her more. “What are you doing on the floor?” he asked as
he came around the bed and shined a flashlight down on her. She
indignantly removed the last of the tangled sheets from her legs
and stood in front of him brushing herself off.

“I thought I was hiding from some psycho
killer who’d broken into the house to murder me!” she informed him
irritably.

“Hiding in the sheets?” Aaron asked and she
could hear the laughter in his voice. She slapped his chest.

“It’s not funny,” she insisted, crossing her
arms over her chest. “You still haven’t told me what you’re doing
here.”

“I came to make sure you were okay,” Aaron
said, and some of her irritation melted away.

“Oh.” Her heart rate was finally returning
to normal.

“So are you?” he asked as he stepped
forward, closing to distance between them and wrapping his arms
around her.