Never Tell Your Dreams (8 page)

“If you ever dream that you are running, you better
hold on.” Her voice was a loud whisper and her eyebrows arched. “You’re life as
you know it, is going to change.”

Change? Hadn’t he had enough change the past few
weeks—months? He found out Maggie had become engaged, he became mayor, and
proposed to a girl the town expected him to—since Maggie was taken.

No matter where he went, someone always asked him
about his intentions. “What about that Owens girl?” or “It ain’t normal for a
fine young mayor like you to be single.”

He didn’t understand why he couldn’t be the George
Clooney’s of mayors. Not in Grandberry Falls. People didn’t understand how you
could choose to be single with no kids. He couldn’t tell them he didn’t choose
it, it sort of worked out that way.

He threw the warm covers off and dragged himself out
of bed. The rain wasn’t letting up and work needed to be done, not only with
the eminent domain case, but other community matters like the annual hoedown
and Fourth of July parade. Big mayor-type decisions. Before he knew it, he was
right in the very spot where he wished his life away.

The pool at the base of the waterfall was
overflowing. It didn’t stop him from making his daily wish. He paused and
pushed the baseball cap up, trying to get a good look to see who was standing
near the falls.

###

“You aren’t going to believe what I read on Facebook
last night.” Susie put the Grandberry Falls weekly Chronicle and a cup of
coffee on Mitch’s desk. Nothing on Facebook was ever big news to Mitch, but
Susie read it like it was the Bible.

Mitch looked at her with a critical eye. “Let me
guess.” He held a finger in the air while he walked around pretending to think,
when really he was trying to come up with something clever.

“You’ll never guess.” Something flickered in her
eye. She couldn’t stand it and had to get it out.  “Ma…”

Mitch put his hand in the air stopping her. “Bess
Buell’s pig got loose and ate John Smith’s cat’s food?”

Susie rolled her eyes. “Really? You think that’d be
Facebook-worthy?”

“Susie, I don’t care. All I care about is this phone
call I need to make to Patricia Van Meter, that lawyer from New York.” He
leaned over top his desk flipping through the roll-a-dex. He really should
learn how to use the Microsoft office on the computer, but it would have to
wait. Hazel Greenlee and Grandberry Falls was more important than technology.

“New York!” Susie slapped her hands together. “Beth
Harrison shared the link of the Huffington Post that said the engagement of
billionaire Grady Cohen and Margaret Greenlee was called off.”

Mitch had to steady his hands from shaking. He
didn’t want to get coffee all over the place or let on to Susie that his soul
was doing a happy dance.

“That can’t be.” Mitch pretended to go back to
flipping the index cards.

What if it was true? It isn’t. Besides, what would
it matter to him? She wouldn’t be coming back to Grandberry Falls; she’d stay
in New York. He glanced out the window at the waterfall. There were a few
people milling around in the damp weather. Probably visitors.

“It was there. I read it.” Susie kept her eyes on
him.

If he showed any excitement, he knew she’d go back
and tell Wendy. He wasn’t prepared to deal with that or acknowledge the
feelings in his stomach.

“Didn’t Wendy tell you? I forwarded the link to her.”

Not eager to discuss any more about this with Susie,
he picked up the phone to call Patricia. “Maggie has nothing to do with my
relationship with Wendy. I wish nothing but the best for her.” He started
pushing the numbers on the phone—to his house.

Did Wendy know?

“Is Patricia Van Meter there?” He spoke into his
answering machine. Susie rolled her eyes and shut the door behind her. Mitch
placed the phone back on the receiver. His stomach was in knots. He sat down
with his hand on his face.

If this was true, he still might have a shot with
her. He laughed and pushed the silly notion out of his head. She was clear away
in New York City where her dreams had come true. He was in Grandberry Falls,
exactly where he wanted to be and nothing was going to change either situation.

His briefcase was sitting next to his chair. Wendy
loved to use Facebook from his laptop. He would quickly get it out of the case
and log in to her account. The password was stored and if he accidently clicked
on enter with her log-in, he’d see the article and get his answers.

There it was, in big bold ink attached to a picture
of Maggie and Grady. Exactly what Susie had said—only there were hundreds of
comments from people he didn’t know. Things that read: “good for her,” “he’s a
slime,” and “back on the singles list.”

Mitch enlarged the picture. He hated the smug look
on Grady’s face, like he won her. He had his hand firmly grasping on Maggie’s
arm. His brown hair greased back didn’t match the neatly shaved goatee. The
suit didn’t fool Mitch either. Grady was a jerk and whether it was him or
Maggie who called off the wedding, it didn’t matter. It was in Maggie’s best
interest.

Susie knocked on the door and opened it before Mitch
could stop her. “Patricia Van Meter is on line two for you.” A line appeared
between her brows. “I thought you were on line one with her?”

Mitch closed the laptop. “Disconnected. New York is
crap.” He picked up the phone and hit line two. “Ms. Van Meter, thank you for
calling me back.”

Susie shut the door behind her.

Chapter 12

Friendship isn’t a big thing – it’s a
million little things. ~ Author Unknown

“Maggie, dear.” Lillian rubbed the back of Maggie’s
hair. “You have to get out of bed.”

Maggie didn’t have to do anything. Since she didn’t
show up for the meeting on Monday at two, she didn’t have a job. How could she
function? Patricia Van Meter didn’t care that Maggie’s world had been turned
upside down. All she cared about was acquiring some hill jack’s land where the
client could plop down one of those outlet malls.

“I’m going to lay here until I rot.” Maggie rolled
on her side and looked out the window over the city. If it was where it was
supposed to be, it’d be facing the window and not the door. She groaned and
closed her eyes.

“No, you can’t do that.” Lillian dropped a manila
envelope on Maggie’s pillow. “Grady wants you out.”

Out? Where was she going to go? She spent her life
savings on the couture wedding dress that was non-refundable, custom made.
Grady told her to take care of the dress and she’d never have to worry about
anything again. “It’s your wedding and our life.” He’d said if it was up to
him, they’d elope.

“I have nowhere to go.” Maggie tried to sort out the
craziness she was feeling in her head. Maggie had no energy to move. From the
window she could see the city was still alive, unlike her. “Lillian, what am I
going to do? What are we going to do?”

Lillian’s hand stilled on Maggie’s back. “You are
going to go to Grandberry Falls and let Hazel take care of you. You will sort
it out. Figure out what’s next for your life. I’m going to go to South Africa a
few weeks early.”

Maggie hated to admit it, but Lillian was right. As
embarrassing as it was going to be, she needed to go home and find
comfort—especially from Hazel.

Chapter 13

Superstition: An itchy palm means that
you are going to get money.

It took another couple days for Maggie to completely
drag herself out of bed and shower. Lillian had made sure Maggie was going to
be okay before she packed her things into storage and said goodbye, promising
she’d keep in touch over the next couple of years.

Maggie had until the end of the week to go. There
was nothing here that was hers but the clothes. Clothes that she wouldn’t need
in Grandberry Falls, so she packed up a couple duffle bags and any spare cash
in the office. Grady never once contacted her. Maureen had sent instructions by
courier, and a personal letter that simply read that she was sorry. Grady had
given her the Volvo as sort of a consolation prize.

She sat on the edge of her bed, fiddling with her
ring. The velour black jumpsuit and tennis shoes would be perfect for driving
and the black matched her mood.

The diamond danced along the walls and ceiling when
the sun caught it at the right angle. What was she going to do with it? Grady
had put in the instructions to keep it, but she had no desire. She slipped it
off her finger and laid it on the night stand that was going to be Grady’s.

She strolled one last time around the penthouse,
remembering all the items that had been on their to-do list once they were
married. Items that were now only a dream. She ended up back in the bedroom.
Looking at the ring was a blow to the chest. She rubbed her hands down her
neatly combed hair she’d secured with a headband and reached out to touch the ring
one last time.

“He did say to keep it,” she murmured, scratching
her right palm. It was beautiful and she was sure she’d never have anything
like it again. She picked it up and slipped it into her pocket. What if she
made it into a pendent? No, it would remind her of Grady and those were
memories she wanted to put behind her. She looked down at her itching hand and
smiled. “Wonder how much it’s worth?”

She walked into the family room and took the ring
out of her pocket. She held it up in front of the windows and took a good look
at it in the direct sunlight before putting it back in her pocket. She looked
out over the skyline, knowing it was going to be her last time in that very
spot. She scratched her itchy palm, remembering that an itchy palm means money.
But how much?

Yes, the ring must be worth a lot.
She wondered
how much. There was only one way to find out.

On her way out of town, Maggie found the closest
pawn shop. Many times she’d seen Pawn Stars on History Channel and they’d love
to get their hands on a precious gem like her yellow five-carat diamond
stunner. She was sure of it.

The store was nothing like she saw on TV. The floor
to ceiling junk and flickering lights made it hard to see where she needed to
go. Speakers of all sizes lined the back of the store, all thumping some type
of heavy metal band.

“Hello.” The guy greeted Maggie with a wink and a
smile. Shivers ran up her legs. She wanted to pawn the ring and get out of
there as fast as she could. “How can I help you?”

Maggie didn’t have time to waste. She was ready to
see Hazel and hide in the country for awhile. “I want to sell my ring.” She
handed the five-carat beauty to him with pride. She knew her itching palm was
telling her it was going to be good.

Big Mike, that’s what his name tag read, took the
ring, pulled out a cloth and put it on the glass top.

She’d put the money in an account until she decided
what she was going to do with her career, her life. She was sure she’d get 30
grand out of it.

“Very nice.” Big Mike continued to look at the ring
from all angles through his loupe. He pulled it from his eye and gave his
offer. “How about 500.”

“Five?” Maggie gasped. Surely Grady did love her.
Maybe he was having cold feet. There is no way he’d spend five-hundred thousand
dollars on someone he didn’t love. “I…” Maggie didn’t know what to do. For a
split second, she thought about calling Grady to make sure he truly wanted to
break the engagement.

“Yep. I can’t do anything with the cubic zirconium,
but the platinum I could melt down or maybe sell the piece as a whole to
someone who wants a really good fake.”

Maggie started to twitch. She was sure she heard him
wrong. “Excuse me? Cubic Zirconium?” She picked the ring up and put it on her
finger, holding it out to get a better look.

“Yea, the stone. You still want to pawn it? Five
hundred dollars is the most I can give you.”

Maggie closed her fist, the ring tight around her
finger. “No, I think I’ll keep it.” There was no way he was right. This was his
living, scamming people out of money to get the best bang for his buck. “I
don’t think the Cohen’s…”

She stopped herself. He had no clue where the
diamond had come from. There was no way a Cohen was going to give a fake
diamond as an engagement ring. There was only one way to find out.

Luckily, across the street was a reputable jeweler
who knew the Cohen family. They’d tell her the truth, and then she’d go back
over to the pawn shop and give Big Mike a piece of her mind.

The jewelry store was a hole-in-the-wall, but a gem
to the wealthy. There were a couple of private showings in the back when Maggie
walked in. Quietly they closed the curtain away from the showroom.

“Hello.” the woman behind the counter smiled at
Maggie, recognizing her from the events she’d attended with the Cohen family,
“I’m so sorry to hear about your broken engagement, dear.”

Maggie tried to seem self-assured, but it was hard
maintaining her composure when she too, was sorry about her break up.