A Summer Romance (20 page)

The farther she got down the hall the hotter
it became. The air was humid and smelled of dust and disuse. This
was obviously an unused wing of the big house. Some of the lights
were burnt out, the air vents closed off, and the doors of the
rooms locked. Maggie found it odd that while the rest of the house
was kept immaculate even in the owner’s absence that this wing
would be allowed to fall into such decay.

As she neared the end of the hallway Maggie
decided that it had probably been exhaustion causing her mind to
play tricks on her. There had been no light in this hallway. Then
she noticed that one of the last doors in the hallway was slightly
ajar. She approached the door slowly reaching out with a trembling
hand and pushing it open, dim lighting spilled into the
hallway.

Maggie staggered back a step. She hadn’t
really expected to find anything, but here it was, a room at the
end of this unused hallway with a light on inside.

It was a small room with a single window
shrouded by heavy curtains. The light was coming from a small lamp
on top of an old dresser. Several large pieces of furniture were
shrouded under drop cloths covered in a thick layer of dust. Maggie
scanned the room noting another door on the far wall, presumably
leading to an adjoining room. Slowly she stepped inside, not sure
what she was looking for but feeling as if she was on the verge of
finding something important.

She approached one of the hulking masses of
nondescript furniture pulling back the drop cloth and stirring up a
cloud of dust. She coughed and fanned the clogged air until it
cleared. When the dust settled and her eyes adjusted she realized
that below the drop cloth was a baby crib.

Her heart was pounding with excitement as
she stared down into the old crib and saw a tiny blanket with the
name Jonathan embroidered on it. She reached out slowly, fearful
that the aged blanket would crumble to dust at her touch. Just as
her fingertips brushed the surface she heard a noise come from the
next room. She pulled her hand back quickly. She held her breath as
she stared at the door that connected this room to the next. She
heard another sound, a scuffling noise. Could someone be in that
room? Slowly she began to back away, trying not to make a
sound.

The sound of the doorbell pierced the
silence, ringing through the house with an ominous bellow. Maggie
turned and fled down the hallway her mind racing with
questions.

When she reached the landing she stopped to
catch her breath. Her mind was overwhelmed with possibilities. She
couldn’t focus them. The doorbell rang again. She took a deep,
stabilizing breath before going down the stairs to answer the
door.

She was too busy trying to process what
she’d found that she hadn’t even stopped to wonder who could be at
the door. When she opened it she nearly fainted.

“Margaret, my God look at you!”

“Mother?”

“When I first learned that my daughter was
living on some plantation in Georgia I could scarcely believe it.
But if someone had told me that I would find you here, barefoot in
thrift store clothing I would have called them a bold faced liar. I
can hardly believe my own eyes!”

Corrine Overton walked into the house as if
she owned it. At her mother’s words Maggie looked down at her
cut-off jean shorts and bare feet, shrinking inwardly. Why couldn’t
she have arrived yesterday when Maggie had worn a nice dress for
work? Her mother always had preferred her in a dress.

“Honestly, Margaret, what has come over
you?” Corrine demanded.

“You know I don’t like it when you call me
that,” Maggie practically whispered. The old argument was an
instinctive reaction. She still hadn’t really accepted the fact
that her mother was standing here.

“And you know that I don’t care for the way
you’ve butchered your perfectly respectable name,” her mother
countered.

It was surreal to be standing here with her
mother whom she hadn’t spoken with in over six years and to be
having the same old argument they’d had countless times throughout
her youth.

“What are you doing here, Mother?” Maggie
finally asked.

“I’ve come to take you home,” her mother
replied with a tone that implied the reason for her presence should
be obvious.

“Home?” Maggie felt breathless and slightly
light headed.

“Look, you’ve had your little adventure, but
it’s time to get your life back on track. Your father has a very
nice young man for you to meet. We’ve arranged a dinner for this
coming weekend. That will give us enough time to get you home and
cleaned up.” Her mother reached for her hand and examined Maggie’s
fingernails with disdain.

“I’m not leaving,” Maggie said, pulling her
hand back. “I have responsibilities here. I’ve been paid to stay
the length of the summer. I can’t just leave.”

“I’m well aware of the arrangement you made
with Ms. Devereaux. I’m sure your father can deal with the
termination of that agreement to everyone’s satisfaction. He knows
how to handle her.”

The room started spinning. Maggie couldn’t
breathe. This couldn’t be happening.

“I don’t understand,” Maggie whispered
breathlessly.

Corrine Overton sighed with impatience. “Ms.
Devereaux is the one who informed me that my own daughter had
traipsed down to this little nowhere town to become a glorified
housekeeper,” her mother spat the words at her.

“How? How do you know her?” Maggie needed to
sit down she felt as if she was going to faint.

“Agnes Devereaux is one of your father’s
largest investors. He’s known her for years. She used to summer in
the Hamptons. I always told your father I thought she took an
unusual interest in you as a child, and this just proves my point.
She’s practically kidnapped you and turned you into her maid for
God’s sake!” Corrine ranted. “But at least she had the decency to
send a letter informing me of your whereabouts since you didn’t
have enough respect to do so,” she added with a pointed look at
Maggie.

“She knows father? Have… have I met her
before?” Maggie stuttered. Her mind was spinning trying to connect
all the pieces. One thing was certain: she had been chosen. Agnes
Devereaux knew her, knew her family, and had chosen to bring her
here. But why would she tell her mother where she was? What kind of
game was she playing?

“Really, Margaret, we don’t have time for
all this nonsense. Go upstairs and pack your bag. I’ll wait for you
here.” Corrine Overton gave directions with the authority of
someone who was never denied.

“No.” Maggie finally found her strength.
She’d stood up to her mother once before and she could do it again.
“I’m not going anywhere.”

Corrine Overton’s eyes flashed with
indignation. “You listen to me, young lady,” her mother said,
taking a step closer, “I may have put up with you skipping off to
Boston to pursue some pipe dream about becoming a doctor, but I’ll
be damned if I will allow my daughter to be the ‘help’ for some
crazy old woman in this godforsaken town. You will gather your
things and you will come with me this instant.”

“Maggie, is everything okay?” Aaron’s voice
broke through the tension in the room and Maggie spun around to see
him walking in from the kitchen.

He was dressed in his usual work clothes,
faded jeans and a white tank, his blonde curls were held back by a
bandana, and a smear of dirt was streaked across his suntanned
face. Their eyes met and the chemistry between them was
undeniable.

Maggie turned back to her mother, taking in
her perfectly pressed silk suit and hard expression. Under her
mother’s scrutinizing stare she felt just like a timid child again.
Her two worlds were colliding, her past and her future.

“Margaret, who is this man?” her mother
demanded.

“Aaron Miles,” he introduced himself. “I’m
the groundskeeper here.”

Her mother laughed, a short bitter
sound.

“The gardener, Margaret, really?” she asked.
“I would have thought even you would realize you were better than
that.”

“He’s not just a gardener, Mother. He owns
his own landscaping business,” Maggie defended. She looked back to
Aaron for support, but his expression was guarded.

“Enough of this nonsense,” her mother said,
waving her hand dismissively. “You are an Overton. You come from a
well-respected New England family. You were not raised to be a
gardener’s mistress. Whatever little summer romance you think you
may have had here is over. You will come home with me and I will
not hear another word about it.”

“I’m not leaving,” Maggie said again. “Not
with you. This may not be the life you wanted for me, but it’s my
life and I’m going to live it how I choose. I’m sorry you made the
trip.” Maggie stepped back toward Aaron and took his hand. His
expression was unchanged.

“You are going to throw away everything I
have done for you, every opportunity, every privilege, for him?”
her mother demanded.

“No. For me,” Maggie corrected. “I never
wanted your opportunities, your privileges. All I ever wanted was
your love. But you only ever saw me as a reflection of you, a pawn
that you could play to further your own standing in society. You
never saw me for who I was. This is me, Mother. Take it or leave
it.”

“You will regret this. Maybe not tomorrow,
but someday you will look around you, look at your life and realize
what you gave up, what you could have had. And then it will be too
late.” Corrine Overton turned and stormed out of the house, her
final words hanging heavily in the silence.

Maggie stood staring after her mother,
feeling oddly detached from the situation. She wondered if she’d
ever see her again, but no emotion came with that thought. She felt
nothing at all. She just felt drained, empty.

“She’s right.” Aaron’s voice was heavy with
emotion when he spoke. Maggie turned to him in confusion. “I’m just
a gardener. I can’t give you the life you deserve.”

“That’s not true,” she protested.

“It is. I’m an ex con who will spend the
rest of my life mowing people’s lawns and someday you will finally
see that. You will realize that I’m not good enough for you. I knew
it from the beginning and I never should have let this go so far.”
Aaron pulled his hand from Maggie’s and took a step away from
her.

“Don’t say that. It’s not true. I love you!”
Maggie tried to reach out to him but he took another step back.

“I’m sorry for that,” Aaron said sadly. “I
never should have allowed that to happen. I never meant to hurt
you.” He kept backing away and she just watched in disbelief unable
to stop him, unable to move.

“I’m sorry,” Aaron whispered his voice heavy
with tears. Then he turned and walked away leaving Maggie alone in
the big house.

She just stood there staring after him,
feeling completely and utterly destroyed.

“Why?!” she screamed out into the empty
house “Why are you doing this to me?!”

She crumpled to the ground, her knees
hitting hard on the marble floor. “Why did you bring me here?!” she
shouted angrily, then she buried her face in her hands and
cried.

Maggie tried to sleep. She still felt
emotionally exhausted but she’d already spent the last day in bed
and sleep was evading her. Ms. Brandy had been very understanding
when Maggie had called to tell her she was sick with the flu. She
wished it was the truth, wished that her pain was physical. She
could take medicine to ease those symptoms, but there was no cure
for a broken heart.

She’d been avoiding Andi’s calls. She knew
she couldn’t avoid reality forever, couldn’t stay in bed forever,
but she felt like getting up out of bed and going out into the real
world would be acknowledging that her relationship with Aaron was
over. It would be the first step to moving on. She wasn’t ready to
take that step, wasn’t ready to let go. But she couldn’t stay in
bed any longer. She felt fidgety and restless. Her body ached from
disuse and she needed to move.

The warm water of the shower washed over her
and released the tension in her sore muscles, but she felt like an
empty shell, hollow on the inside. She dressed mechanically and
walked downstairs to make a cup of coffee. She was shocked to
realize it was dark outside. More time had passed than she
thought.

She still went through the motions, sitting
at the kitchen island and sipping her coffee. She finally glanced
at the clock over the stove and saw that it was midnight. She was
instantly reminded of the midnight picnic her and Aaron had shared
at the lake. Her heart constricted with pain at the memory and then
she was suddenly filled with a new sense of determination.

This was not over, she wouldn’t let it be.
She needed to see Aaron, needed to talk with him again. She wasn’t
just going to give up, and she wasn’t going to let him give up
either. She stormed out the back door into the dark night, charging
ahead with a sense of urgency.

She easily found the path that led to the
barn and pressed ahead into the dark forest. She noticed that the
woods were eerily silent tonight. The sky was shrouded with clouds.
There were no stars, no moon. The forest seemed to be mourning with
her. All of the magic was gone.

She began to move faster, practically
running as she broke out into the small clearing in front of
Aaron’s house. The windows were dark, the loft overhead shut tight.
She walked slowly across his small lawn, her breath coming in
ragged gasps. She hesitated before knocking on the door. Could she
handle it if he rejected her again?

She almost turned back, but she’d come this
far and she needed to see him. She held her breath as she knocked
on the door. There was no answer. She knocked again, louder this
time, and waited, but no one came. She tried the handle and it
turned in her hand.