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He normally left his phone on vibrate when he was at work and slipped it in his lab coat so he wasn’t disturbed, but today he put it in his shirt pocket so he wouldn’t miss a text from her. But it wasn’t to be.
***
Sometime after her fruit snack, Maggie fell asleep curled up in the skiff with Brulee. She woke up when the sun began its descent, the air immediately cooling off.
“Girl, we need to get home,” she said, stretching. “I hope this thing starts.”
She pushed it off the beach and climbed in, the motor starting right up. In a minute, she was back home. When her phone was within the reach of the booster, the message alert sound trilled.
“I guess people have been trying to get in touch with us,” she told Brulee.
They walked up to the house with the beach bag, and she saw that the heavy door to the cottage was shut, which meant her aunt wasn’t home. A little annoyance crept in, but she tried to ignore it.
Inside, on the kitchen table next to the binoculars, was a note.
Where are you? I see the skiff beached at Bonnet Island but no Maggie Sue. I’m packing up and moving into Broussard mansion with Val. It was love at first sight all over again. Call me when you get in.
Wadding the note into a ball, she threw it across the room.
Just like that, after nearly fifty years of Val abandoning her aunt, she was going to up and forgive him, and move in with the guy! It infuriated her, but she couldn’t be sure why. It was Elizabeth’s life, and like she said, she didn’t have that much time left. Maybe at the most fifteen years. Why did Maggie care?
She knew why and didn’t want to face it. She was jealous and angry. And for more than one reason. She was angry that her aunt had left her after one lunchtime meal together. She was jealous that her aunt was with thelove of her life, as she’d referred to Val, probably having sex in a bed (not the dock) after spending the afternoon at the café with him.
Her aunt knew all her secrets, that on her wedding day, her husband had probably had sex with her best friend. You don’t just snap back from that overnight. Why’d she expect that of herself? It wasn’t reasonable.
But what could she do to get over it? She’d clearly projected that pain onto Justin. So the man didn’t tell her the Peeping Tom was someone he’d had a brief relationship with. Was that really such a big deal?
Like a conductor was orchestrating that monologue, her phone beeped again, and she remembered she’d never checked her messages. The most recent one was a number she didn’t recognize, but she opened the text.
Maggie, this is Amber Greely. I’m the person who ransacked your cottage. My attorney was able to get your number from the internet somehow, just so you know Justin didn’t give it to me.
I wanted to give you my heartfelt apology. What I did was so hateful, all out of spite and jealousy. Justin never wanted anything more from me; I forced myself upon him, and then when he chose you, it enraged me. I can see how sick that must sound, and I’m going to work on that aspect of myself.
Please find a way I can make restitution to you. I’m going to probably spend time in jail, if that will help.
Yours very truly,
Amber Greely
She did screenshots of the message to send to…whoever. Now that her aunt was out of the picture, she didn’t really have anyone to send it to, yet another reason to feel abandoned.
The next messages were from her mother and her friend Annie; another one from Claudia begging forgiveness, which went into the trash; and then finally, the dinner invite from Justin. It was too late now to go out with him. But since one of the things that had bothered her was the absence of a date with him, she decided to ask for a rain check, her mood improving somewhat since the apology from Amber Greely.
Sorry I’m late in answering. I can have dinner with you another time. Thank you for asking.
She left it at that and threw her phone down. She’d had enough. All the reasons she’d moved to the cottage came flooding back, and the main one was so she didn’t have to deal with people anymore, and that was all she’d done. Deciding she was drinking alone on the porch, she opened a bottle of wine and poured herself a glass. Brulee followed her out and waited for Maggie to get situated in a chair so she could jump up on her lap.
After being out there for about ten minutes, they heard the familiar whinny of the horses. Brulee perked up for a moment, but after getting it that they were safe, she settled back down again, placing her head on Maggie’s knee and falling asleep. Tonight, seeing the horses standing guard in the moonlight brought tears to her eyes. Nothing more had been said about the new band coming over, so these were the regulars, the members who trusted her, and soon they would find their positions, some munching, some lying down.
Her phone beeped again. She hesitated, not wanting any disruption to the fragile peace she had. Curiosity won, however. It was Justin.
I don’t usually ride Spooky at night, but tonight I feel like it. Can I come over?
Sighing, she really didn’t feel up to making small talk with him, and anything other than small talk would be drama, and she didn’t want that, either. So she answered truthfully.
It’s difficult for me to be firm about this but not tonight. I just want to be in peace for a while.
A minute later, he answered, first with a bashful emoji.
