Maggie's Turn (25 page)

"But you never tried to win me back. Did you Andrew? You thought an apology was all you needed to find your way back into my heart? The affair hurt. It hurt me deeply. But do you know what hurt more? The fact that even after you'd made your choice, you didn't do anything to fix us. You didn't want me enough, or love me enough, to fight for me. If you'd really loved me, you'd have tried harder to bring me back to you. Your anger, resentment, and indifference are what hurt me the most."

"I'm sorry, Maggie. I truly am. At the time, I didn't realize I was doing any of that. I really want us to start over and put this all behind us. I want us to feel like a family again. Please, Maggie. Give me one more chance. We were so good together once. We can be again."

Maggie could no longer hold back the rush of tears. She wanted so much to believe Andrew meant what he said. He was her first love and the father of her children. She wanted to feel his love for her again. But she was afraid it was too late.

"I'm not sure there is anything left to fix," she said honestly. "Give me a little more time, okay? I'll call you later. Goodbye, Andrew."

Chapter Twenty-Three

Maggie composed herself after her heartfelt conversation with Andrew, then walked downstairs and met up with Rob in the kitchen, her camera in her hand. It was after ten o'clock by then, and she hoped she hadn't ruined his plans for the day by coming down so late.

"There you are," Rob said with a huge smile. He was freshly showered and dressed casually in a sage polo shirt and jeans. As Maggie walked up to him by the island counter and accepted the mug of coffee he offered, she smelled the spicy scent of his aftershave.

"Sorry I'm up late," Maggie said after sipping her coffee. "I had a call from home, and it took a little while."

"Everything's fine there, I hope," Rob said, a look of concern sweeping over his face.

Maggie nodded. "Everything is fine, at least with the kids. Andrew, well, he's another story."

Rob cocked his head to one side and stared at Maggie with warm eyes. "Do you want to talk about it? I'm a good listener."

"Thanks, but no. I'll leave it for another day. Right now, it looks like a beautiful day outside, and I'd rather go enjoy that instead," Maggie told him.

They sat at the table out on the veranda and enjoyed their coffee and croissants that Emma had made earlier in the morning before Maggie was even awake. They were light, flaky, and delicious. Maggie couldn't help but let out a long sigh of contentment when she bit into the delectable treat smothered in butter.

"These are incredible," Maggie said, as she began buttering a second croissant. She looked up and saw Rob grinning at her, his eyes sparkling. "What?" she asked.

"It's nice to see a woman actually enjoy food," he said. "Most women I've known through the years won't touch bread or butter, or anything that's the slightest bit fattening. You manage to not only enjoy it but continue to stay looking gorgeous."

"Don't be silly. I look like someone who eats bread and butter. But I don't care. I'm not going to insult Emma by not eating her delicious croissants." Maggie looked around. "By the way, where is Emma? I didn't see her when I came down."

"She's already gone. She came early this morning, then headed out, because she didn't want to disturb us. She's also taking care of a little errand for me."

After breakfast, Rob led Maggie out to the garage. He entered a code into the garage door opener unit, and it opened to reveal his motorcycle and a big ATV.

"I thought I'd drive you around the property today on the four-wheeler," Rob said. "There's too much land to cover on foot."

"That sounds like fun," Maggie said, happy she'd worn her sneakers. As she walked into the garage, she saw four cars parked side-by-side. "Wow, look at all the cars. Your insurance bill must be a doozy."

Rob laughed. "Yes, I suppose it is. What can I say? I love cars."

Maggie noticed that he owned two convertible sports cars, one black and one red, a black four-wheel drive SUV, and an extended cab pickup truck. All the vehicles shined to perfection and looked new.

"Do you have a chauffeur hiding around here somewhere to drive you around in all these vehicles?" Maggie asked, teasing.

"Very funny," Rob said, grinning. "Hop on."

He drove her down the driveway, then they took off on a dirt road that followed around and through the many acres of vineyard. At intervals, he'd stop and point out the different types of plants. One section held grapes used to make Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Another section was for white wines, and yet another for red wines. Most of the vines had already been harvested since harvesting started as early as July and lasted into October, depending on the growing season. In one section, grapes still hung on the vines. Rob explained that they were harvested last for the sweeter wines.

"For someone who doesn’t make wine, you sure know a lot about it," she told him at one stop.

"Well, you can't live around here and not learn something about the wine business," he told her with a grin. "Tonight, we get to sample some of the wines made in previous years from these very fields."

The day was beautiful with the temperature in the high seventies and a cooling breeze rolling off of the ocean a few miles away. Whenever they stopped, Maggie snapped pictures of the colorful fields and rolling hills.

After a time, Rob drove up a hill to a gazebo, which overlooked the fields. In the gazebo was a picnic table with a cooler sitting upon it. "Emma left us some lunch up here," he told Maggie, as he offered his hand to her to help her off the four-wheeler.

Maggie accepted his hand and swung her leg over the machine, then they walked toward the gazebo and its welcoming shade. Maggie was aware the whole time that Rob hadn't let go of her hand, and she didn't pull hers away either.

"Wow. Emma is everywhere, isn't she?" Maggie said. "I wish I had an Emma of my own. Maybe if I'd had help at home, I wouldn't have felt like running away." The words came out before Maggie realized what she'd said, and she pulled her hand away from Rob's and pursed her lips. "Sorry. Too much information."

"I don't mind," Rob said casually, as he began to unpack the cooler. Emma had packed sandwiches, strawberries, grapes, pasta salad, a bottle of red wine, and two glasses. There were also two bottles of water in the cooler.

"Wine?" Rob asked, looking over at Maggie.

Maggie nodded. "Sure. Why not?"

 He opened the bottle and poured out two glasses, then they sat down at the table and began eating their lunch.

After a few quiet moments, Rob spoke up. "You can talk to me if it'll make you feel better," he said as he took a sip of the wine. "I'm a good listener."

Maggie looked into Rob's deep chocolate eyes. She didn’t doubt that he was a good listener on top of all the other things he seemed so good at. He was kind, warmhearted, and caring, that much was certain. He'd already found a small place in her heart, but she had to be careful not to let him in too deeply, or she might find herself doing something she'd regret.

"It's not a very interesting story," she said, looking out over the fields at the tall pines in the distance. "In fact, it's probably the most cliché story there is. Two people get married, have children, run into trouble, one cheats, and the other has a midlife crises and runs off. I'd tell you the ending, but I don't know it yet."

Rob stood and walked over to the same side of the table as Maggie. He sat down beside her, lifted her hand from her lap, and placed a light kiss on the back of it. "It may be an old story, but it hurts just the same. I hope your story has a happy ending," he told her.

Maggie turned to face Rob. She cocked her head, eyes questioning his. "Have you ever been married?"

Rob shook his head.

"Why? You have everything a person could dream of, except someone to share it with. I can't imagine why someone hasn't scooped you up yet."

Rob laughed, a gentle sound vibrating from deep within his throat. "You give me too much credit," he said.

"Has there ever been anyone special?" Maggie wanted to know.

Rob looked up, out into the horizon, his expression deep in thought. Finally, he turned back to Maggie. "There was someone once. It was a long time ago, before Matt and I sold our business and made so much money. All those years we were in business, I worked night and day, and I loved it. Work was my life. I had a girlfriend then, but she hated that I was married to my work. I couldn't help it—I loved what I did, and I just knew that Matt and I would succeed. Finally, she left. A year later, we sold out. I think if she had just waited a little longer, we might have ended up married."

"Did you ever contact her again?" Maggie asked.

"No. I heard she had married and had a couple of kids. I'm sure she's happier with someone else."

"Now you have time for someone in your life," Maggie said softly.

Rob sat there, still holding Maggie's hand, unconsciously rubbing his thumb back and forth, across her palm. He looked up, meeting Maggie's eyes. "Unfortunately, the right woman hasn't come along," he said.

The longing in Rob's eyes was too much for Maggie. She broke away from his touch and stood, turning to stare out at the vineyards. From behind her, Rob's words came through the air and landed softly on her heart. "I feel sorry for your husband. He doesn't truly understand what he's losing."

***

Andrew sat on his bed for a long time after his conversation with Maggie. She was right. He had been angry at being caught like a child with his hand in the cookie jar. He'd resented ending the affair and blamed Maggie for it. So, instead of coming home and begging her forgiveness, as he should have done, he'd masked himself with his anger and gone about his daily life without acknowledging what he'd done and trying to fix it. But he hadn't done it on purpose. He hadn't known his whole being was reflecting how he felt.

I'm not sure there's anything left to fix,
Maggie had told him. Had he lost her already? Could he blame her if he had? She'd waited a long time for him to apologize, and he finally did. But was he too late?

He stood and walked over to the wall of family photos in their room. The one that stood out the most was the one of them together on the beach at Lake Tahoe when they were still in college. They had been so young then and so much in love. What had happened? They'd grown so far apart over the years that he hadn't even noticed it had happened until he'd started looking at other women. But then he'd justified his actions by telling himself that Maggie wasn't paying enough attention to him, and he deserved attention.

"I'm an idiot," he said aloud to the empty room. "I sacrificed everything for a cheap affair."

Andrew lifted the framed photo off the wall and sat once more on the bed, staring at the picture. Maggie had stayed with him, even when they were no longer close, even after she'd found out about the affair. At the time, he hadn't appreciated her keeping the family together by staying. Now, he understood why she'd stayed. It wasn't only to give the kids a stable home. She had stayed because she'd believed at some point, he would actually feel remorse for his actions and ask for her forgiveness. She had stayed because she still believed in him, after everything he'd done. But now, she was gone. And not only that, she was with another man at this very moment. A man who might have much more to offer than he ever would. A man who might see in Maggie everything she truly had to offer that Andrew had ignored for years.

"It can't be over. Not yet," Andrew said to the photo in his hands. "I love Maggie. I've always loved Maggie. I was just blinded by my own ambitions to see how good I had it all along."

Suddenly, Andrew knew exactly what he had to do.

Downstairs, Kaia was eating breakfast and watching Saturday morning cartoons that she was much too old for but enjoyed nonetheless. Andrew smiled at the sight of his daughter, sitting there in her pajamas, eating cereal and staring at the television. He wanted to remember this very moment. The exact moment he'd decided he would do anything to fix his family.

"What?" Kaia asked, in her usual annoyed tone. Her question brought Andrew out of his thoughts, and he walked over to the table and gave Kaia a big hug from behind. Kaia didn't resist his hug, but she turned to him afterward and looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. "What was that all about?" she asked.

"Do you think you could stay with your friend Megan for a few days?" Andrew asked her.

Kaia shrugged. "I don't know. I can ask. Why?"

Andrew grinned. "Because I'm going to go get your mother and bring her home," he said.

***

Maggie and Rob rode home silently on the four-wheeler as the sun made its way west, preparing to settle into the horizon for the night. It was late afternoon, the air was cooling down, and shadows were growing long.

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable back there," Rob said, as they both stepped off of the four-wheeler in front of the garage.

Maggie shook her head. "No, no. It's okay."

"I'd hate for you to miss the party tonight because I said something that upset you," Rob told her. "You still want to go, don't you?"

"Of course. I'll go clean up right now. What time does it start?"

Rob smiled. "I think the tourist bus comes around four o'clock, so we can go down any time after that."

Maggie nodded, then headed inside the house and up the stairs. When she entered her room, she was surprised to see a cute, black sleeveless dress hanging by her closet. Below it was a pair of shiny red pumps. She slipped out of her sneakers and socks and tried one of the shoes. It fit perfectly. She hoped the dress would, too.

Forty-five minutes later, Maggie headed back downstairs. The black dress fit perfectly. It was fitted on top and at the waist, and the skirt flared out slightly from her hips down to a couple of inches above her knees. The red shoes gave the outfit a pop of color, and they were surprisingly comfortable as well. She didn't know how Emma knew her sizes, or where she'd found the dress and shoes, but she was grateful she had. Maggie had left her hair down, after styling it the way Bobbi had taught her, and been careful to do her makeup just right. She felt beautiful as she entered the family room, and the look on Rob's face told her that he thought she looked beautiful, too.