Linda was on her feet before her best friend had crossed the room.
Maggie’s silk scarf was askew. Her hair had escaped the careful pin she always wore at the boutique. She reached Linda and threw her arms around her.
“I’m so sorry,” Maggie whispered into Linda’s hair. “I’m so sorry I called you on the worst day of your life with even worse news.”
“You did exactly what you had to do,” Linda told her, holding on tight. “And I’m glad you did.”
“How are you?” Maggie pulled back and held Linda’s face between both her hands, the way she had been doing since they were ten years old. “Look at me, Linda Heart. How are you, really?”
“A lot better now that I’m finally here,” Linda said. “What a day.”
“What a day it has been for the Heart family.” Maggie nodded in agreement, then turned toward Sophia and Jake. “How was your trip?”
“Hi, Maggie,” Sophia said, getting up to hug her. “It was great.”
“Hi, Maggie,” Jake added, hugging her around the middle. “Where is Toby?” He glanced around, looking for Maggie’s grandson, who was the same age as him.
“He is at home and knows you’re coming to Sweet Blossom Bay for the summer,” Maggie told Jake. “I’m sure you’ll see each other tomorrow.”
“Cool,” Jake said, moving with his sister to sit down.
“Hi, Maggie,” Tom greeted her, walking over to give her a hug.
“What’s the news?” Maggie asked, stepping out of Tom’s embrace.
“Same as when I called you,” Tom replied. “George is still in surgery.”
“It’s been a while now,” Maggie stated, her brow furrowing.
“I’m going to get something from the vending machine,” Tom told them, looking at the four of them. “Does anyone want something?”
“We’ll come with you, Grandpa,” Sophia offered as she and her brother stood up.
“Did Tom tell you what happened to George?” Maggie asked as the kids and Tom left the waiting area.
“No,” Linda answered with a shake of her head. “Do you know? Did Tom tell you?”
“He did,” Maggie nodded.
“Please tell me,” Linda said. “How the heck did my uncle end up with a broken hip?”
Maggie drew in a slow breath and began telling Linda the story. Maggie told Linda how Rosa, the head housekeeper at Hearts Hotel, had gone up to the penthouse with fresh towels and heard Buddy whining at the door. Rosa found Uncle George at the bottom of the back stairs that ran down from the penthouse to the staff hallway. He’d been trying to change the lightbulb above the door at the top of the stairs.
“He was trying to change a lightbulb?” Linda gaped at Maggie. “He went up on a step ladder alone on the top of the stairs to change a lightbulb?”
She pictured it. She pictured Uncle George on a step ladder, one hand reaching up toward a fixture, the way he had probably done a thousand times in his long life running that hotel. She pictured the moment his foot had slipped, or the ladder had wobbled, or his tricky knee buckling as it sometimes did, and her heart thudded as she could clearly picture him going down.
The simple, stupid, ordinary horror of it almost undid her.
“Oh, Uncle George!” Linda whispered. “The man is so stubborn.”
“I know,” Maggie agreed with her. “He could’ve called someone to help him. He still thinks that he can do what he did when he was young.” She shook her head.
“He could have lain there for hours,” Linda said, “if Rosa hadn’t gone up there with the towels.”
“Yes,” Maggie said. “He could have.”
“Where was Martin, the accountant who lives at the hotel now and helps Uncle George around the place?”
