Never Tell Your Dreams (9 page)

“What can I show you to help ease your pain?” The
sales lady rubbed her hands together. This was what Maggie had gotten
accustomed to with the Cohen’s. When something went wrong, an expensive piece
of jewelry was the answer to the problem.

“Actually,” Maggie slipped the ring off her finger,
“I want to get an appraisal for this.”

The lady took the ring. “Yes of course. Leverage for
the settlement?” She wrinkled her nose in delight.

“Something like that.” Maggie knew all too well,
that no matter what she told the woman, the woman was going to tell the story
the way she saw it and not the truth. It was certain to be in the society
tabloids in the morning, just like all week.

It was the same old song and dance Maggie had seen
at the pawn store, except the sales lady gave Maggie a glass of champagne while
she waited. She eyed the entire bottle of the Dom-- a glass wasn’t going to
make her feel better.

“Miss?” Maggie looked over at the gemologist. “Your
appraisal is ready.”

Her glass was still three-fourths full, she gulped
it down. She wanted to be ready to celebrate and her flute needed to be re-filled.
The dollar signs were adding up in her head. She didn’t need Van Meter Attorney
At Law when she had her engagement ring fund to tide her over until she decided
what she wanted to do with her life.

“I’m sorry. Mr. Cohen did not get this here.” The
gemologist pushed the ring toward her. “We can’t and don’t appraise cubic
zirconium.”

“Cubic Zirconium.” Maggie held onto the glass
display case. The heat from her hands left perspiration marks around her
fingers. “I…”

Maggie grabbed the ring. She didn’t know what to
say. Not only did Grady fake loving her, he gave her a fake ring to prove it.

“No need to say anything, dear.” The saleslady
refilled the flute. “You need a few of these.”

Maggie waved her hand in front of her. “No thank
you. I appreciate your time.”

She walked out with dignity, but once she hit curb,
she ran to her car. It was time to go home to Grandberry Falls.

Chapter 14

Gravitation is not responsible for
people falling in love. ~ Albert Einstein

Mitch had prepared some final paperwork for Hazel.
He wished he could talk her out of giving in to this eminent domain and fight
until the bitter end. Or at least let Maggie know what was going on with her
family so she could help out. Hazel wouldn’t hear of it. She didn’t want to
bother Maggie with it. Belle wasn’t interested in the farm, so Hazel wouldn’t
fight any more and would let them have the land—land that was going to turn
cozy Grandberry Falls into the outlet mall capital.

There was no way he was going to walk past the falls
and not make a wish. Mitch tucked the envelope under his arm and rubbed a
quarter between his fingers. He had to stop himself from wishing the same thing
he’d repeated for the last twenty-five years. His friends would wish for a
pony, stick of candy, or some other present, not Mitch. He wanted to be part of
the Greenlee family—only he didn’t realize his heart already belong to a
Greenlee.

The quarter flipped high in the air, and he watched
it sail through the night breeze ending with a plop in the pool of water below.

“Don’t tell me you still come here every night to
make a wish?” Maggie leaned over the hand rail to see that the quarter had made
it into the falls. “All those years were you wishing you’d become Mayor of
Grandberry Falls?”

Mitch stepped back. He knew the falls were magical,
but after twenty-five years, was his dream coming true?

Her eyes danced when she looked at him. Her soft
features were only accented by the trickling water. Many times they stood here
talking about life, listening to her debate her future, and now—twice in a few
weeks.

“Caught me.” Mitch threw his hands up in the air. He
never missed a good coin toss while walking by the falls—not when he was a kid
and not now. Especially when the Greenlees were involved. “To what does
Grandberry Falls owe the pleasure of you visiting twice in a few weeks? Are you
here to celebrate the annual Jubilee?”

Sure, he’d heard all the gossip from Wendy and her
friends, but he wasn’t going to let them know he was listening. Nor could he
deny becoming a Facebook creeper on Wendy’s account to see what everyone was
saying.

Maggie’s profile picture was still of her and Grady
in front of the Statue of Liberty. Grady might have been all teeth in the
photo, but not Maggie. Her eyes talked to Mitch, there was something missing.

Grady was the one who ended the engagement, but
Mitch didn’t know why or if they planned it that way so Grady’s reputation
wouldn’t be tarnished. It was hopeful thinking to believe Maggie didn’t want to
marry Grady after all.

“Mitch,” Maggie whispered so low, he had to lean in
to hear her, “please don’t pretend with me. You know I have no place else to
go.” She crossed her arms across her body almost like a defensive little girl
and trembled.

She did have a place to go. Here! Home where she was
loved and could do good work, not only for her family but also for the
community.

He couldn’t help himself. He was use to making bad
situations all better for her and helping out Hazel was no different. Mitch
rubbed the sides of her arms. It was an instant reaction—protect Maggie
Greenlee. “I’ve heard the usual town gossip, but I haven’t heard it from you.
Are you okay?”

Maggie’s laughter bounced off the rocks, echoing
through the street. “I’m not sure how to answer that.” Then she broke down in
Mitch’s arms.

He stroked her long pony-tail, welcoming the feeling
on his hand. She was reaching out for comfort and he was glad to be there.

“Shhh.” He buried his head on the top of hers. “It’s
going to be okay. I’ll make sure of it.”

###

Maggie couldn’t help but find comfort in Mitch. She
questioned why it felt so good in his arms. Shouldn’t she be grieving her
broken engagement? Or maybe it was just having someone who cared. Either way,
she didn’t pull away. She nuzzled her head in the curve of his neck, inhaling deeply
taking comfort in Mitch’s smell. He never strayed from his musk cologne.

“We better stop all this or we will be the headline
for The Grandberry Chronicle again.” His welcome laughter filled the empty
spots in her heart.

“You never know what will happen when the two of us
get together.” The memory gave a wry, twisted smile to her face when she
recalled the cow tipping trouble that made headlines.

Reluctantly, she gave a last squeeze and let go.

His presence gave her joy she hadn’t felt in a long
time. She was use to going home from a long day and climbing into
bed—exhausted, and doing it over again in five or six hours. She sure wasn’t
going to miss the five a.m. alarm clock.

“You know the big hoedown is this weekend, movie day
and all. Before the big Jubilee.” His brown eyes met her brown eyes. “Why don’t
you come down for some fun?”

She tried not to fidget when she noticed him staring
intently at her like she was going to explode. She was going to be okay, she
could feel it. She also knew she was going to be on display for everyone to
see. Not only how she dealt with her broken engagement, but how she would deal
with Wendy and Mitch dating.

“I’ll think about it.” She lied.

She wasn’t going to think about it anymore than she
was going to think about moving on with her life. The energy escaped her. What
she was really mourning was how her life had changed so quickly. One minute she
was helping Van Meter and Associates snatch people’s property as an eminent
domain lawyer, and the next minute she’s standing in front of a waterfall
hoping this was the quarter that was going to make it all better.

“You better.” Mitch handed her the large envelope.
“Can you give this to Hazel?”

Maggie took it and immediately noticed it was sealed
tight. She shook it.

“What is it?” She asked.

“Just give it to Hazel.” He yelled over his shoulder
as he walked away.

Chapter 15

When love is not madness, it is not
love. ~ Pedro Calderon de la Barca

It was getting late, and Hazel would be expecting
her by now. When she saw Mitch standing by the falls, she had an overwhelming
feeling, almost confusing, but she chalked it up to the comforts of being home.

Now driving to Hazel’s gave Maggie more time to sort
out her feelings. After all she was vulnerable and Mitch was always there to pick
up the pieces. Only she wasn’t going to be able to rely on him anymore.

She had to figure out where she was going to go from
here. The way she saw it, she had two options. One was to go back to New York
and use her contacts to get another job. Or two, she could open a practice in
Grandberry Falls. If Belle could make a living buying the old Hair Pin salon
and turning it into an upscale spa, Maggie should be able to get a few clients.

What made her stomach churn more was that she wasn’t
just worried about making a living in Grandberry Falls. She was worried about
making a life without Mitch in it.

###

The smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies
seeped under the front door. Maggie’s mouth began to water before she even
opened the door. Hazel was good at comfort food and her warm, home-made,
chocolate chip cookies were exactly what she needed.

“Oh!” The door flew open, and Hazel grabbed Maggie,
pulling her inside. “I heard your car door slam. Get in here.”

Maggie fell into Hazel’s arms. Maybe the cookies
weren’t what she needed after all. There were no more tears to cry. She needed
her heart to fill up with love, and she was at the right place.

“Thank you for letting me come home. I have to
figure out what’s next for me.” There were plenty of options, only none of them
interested her.

The line between Hazel’s eyes deepened. “This is
your home. You never have to have permission to come home.”

Maggie sat down at the kitchen table and downed a
couple of cookies while Hazel poured some of her famous sweet tea in a Mason
jar glass.

Maggie downed a few more cookies in record time, and
threw back the tea as if she was downing a shot of whiskey. She couldn’t help
but smile watching Hazel stir the four large stock pots cooking the sweet drink
on the stove.

“Do you need help?” Maggie got up and put her nose
in the stream of the savory steam.

“Nope.” Hazel gave Maggie a kiss on her cheek. “I’ve
been doing this for fifty-two years.”

Hazel referred to her tea stand at the Jubilee.
Everyone in Grandberry Falls loved Hazel’s tea, and her tea was the first to
sell out at the Jubilee.

“I’ve already made forty batches.” Hazel poured the
magic grain, sugar, in the boiling creation without measuring. She always knew
the perfect amount. “I hear it might be a record crowd this year.”

“I’m sure it will.” Maggie drank the sip from the
spoon that Hazel held up to her lips. “Mmm, good.”

Maggie left Hazel to finish up while she unloaded
her car and put her things in her room.

It was like Maggie had stepped back into her old life.
Everything was the same, not a knick-knack out of place. Even the sound of
Paula from the Home Shopping Channel was a welcome sound. In New York, if
Maggie missed Hazel, she’d turn on Paula and drift off to sleep.

“What’s the deal of the day?” Maggie plopped on the
couch.

The bangles on Hazel’s wrist jingled. She pointed to
the TV. “Some sort of exercise ball.” She rolled her eyes and patted her belly.
“Who ever heard of sitting on a ball to tighten your stomach? Good ole farm
work.”

It was true. There wasn’t an exercise place in town.
Working on the farm was all the exercise most people around Grandberry Falls
needed to stay in shape. The farmers market sold all the fresh vegetables
everyone needed, so many canned goods weren’t bought.

The manila envelope, sticking out of her purse,
caught her eye. She grabbed it and rubbed her finger over Hazel’s name. Mitch
did have great handwriting for a man. She wondered how their dinner was going.

“What’s that?” Hazel questioned.

Maggie held it up and then tossed it over. “Mitch
asked me to give it to you.”

Hazel snatched it out of the air and put it in the
crease of her Lazy Boy. Maggie noticed Hazel didn’t open it, she only protected
it.

Hazel pushed the envelope deeper and deeper into the
chair.

Maggie craned her head to watch Hazel. She was
definitely hiding something from Maggie. But what?

“Hello?” Belle yelled from the kitchen, her keys
skidded across the old country metal table, followed by her hurried steps.
“Maggie?”

Hazel and Maggie stood up, Maggie keeping her eye on
the envelope. An uneasy feeling found a spot in her stomach. Normally she
wouldn’t think anything if Mitch sent an envelope. But this envelope was
formally addressed, not something Mitch Dozier would do.