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“That’s it?” Maggie asked.
Her sister gave her a familiar smile, one reserved for difficult decisions that came with delayed relief. “Now, we wait.”
“What if no one bids?”
Her sister glanced at the screen. “The auction just started and there are already two people who marked the guitar as a favorite. They’ll be back.”
In moments like this, her sister’s confidence far outweighed hers. “Thanks for helping me with this.”
Perrin smiled. “We’re a team. Sisters usually are.”
Maggie divided Nash’s instruments. Half were being donated to the school’s music program and the more valuable pieces were being sold at auction. Perrin was a great help in finalizing such arrangements, which proved a special kind of painful when it came time to actually let the items go. But Maggie knew she would breathe easier without the constant reminders of her past cluttering her future.
The auction bids continued to grow. After Perrin left, Maggie continued to box up items. Some went into the trash. Others were bagged for Goodwill. All the necessities would be going with her to her new loft apartment on top of the pub.
“Maggie?” Ryan’s voice called from downstairs.
She pushed the box under the bed and went to the top of the landing. Ryan stood at the foot of the steps. “Hey.”
“All your stuff’s out front.”
Her stomach flipped with a subtle urge to carry it back to the shed, but the feeling quickly passed. “I know.”
“Why?”
She shut off the hall light and came downstairs. “It was time to let go of some things.”
He studied her closely. “Are you okay?”
“I am. I wouldn’t have done it if I wasn’t ready.”
He hugged her and kissed her head. “That’s a big deal.”
She smiled, glad he realized. “Let’s go to your place.”
That night they made love, and Ryan fell asleep in her arms. She couldn’t sleep so she spent hours staring at the ceiling, picturing how she would decorate the loft. Because she’d be downsizing, it forced her to only take with her what she absolutely needed, and that sort of minimalistic simplicity came with an unexpected dose of clarity. For the first time in a long time, she could see her future clearly, and she liked the view.
Chapter 39
Maggie turned the last page of the buyout contract. The bank had agreed to a short sale, since her investment was contingent on the selling of her house. That meant that once she signed the paperwork, the bank would then own the property and she would be renting from them for the next thirty days as she moved out of her home. During that time, they’d list the house on the market and sell it for about ten thousand more than they paid for it. Maggie and Perrin would get the bar and everyone would be happy.
“Any questions?”
She looked at the woman sitting across from her. A bank representative and Maggie’s only advocate in this decision. “I assume this is all boilerplate?”
“Everything’s exactly as we discussed. Once you sign, the check is endorsed, and the money will clear your account in twenty-four hours. You’ll be able to stay in the home until July twentieth.”
That sounded right. Same as the last time she had it explained. Maggie’s hand shook as she lifted the pen. She didn’t hesitate because she thought she could get a better price on the house or because she was second guessing her decision to buy the bar. She hesitated because there remained a flicker of concern that this was a mistake.
Delaying her decision was clearly self-sabotaging. The idea that she might be giving away something she needed made no sense. There was nothing she needed in that house. Not anymore. It was four walls and a lawn. The memories didn’t live there. They lived in her heart.
She scribbled her name across the first blank line and turned the page. There were about thirty places she needed to sign, and each one passed like a bullet through her lungs. When she signed the last blank, the woman took the papers and smiled.
“Congratulations.” She handed Maggie an endorsed check. With that and the insurance money, she would now have enough to buy the bar and live comfortably for a while.
When she left the bank, she texted Colleen Mosconi confirming that she was ready to sign the papers. Maggie’s excitement was only curbed by the remaining details.
She needed to give her notice at Restaurant Supply, and she needed to tell Ryan. Now that the sale was imminent, his parents would find out she was the buyer, since they were partners with Colleen and Paulie.
She’d been warned about how fast word could travel in a family that size, yet somehow she hadn’t been prepared. When she rode her bike into the driveway, she saw Ryan sitting on her front porch—not the back where he usually waited for her. Four feet in front of him, a FOR SALE sign stood plunged into the ground.
