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“That’s me. I guess you don’t remember me?” he asked with a quizzical smile, sliding off his horse. She noticed his powerful thighs and had to force herself to look away, trying not to grin.
“I spent part of every February here with her. We probably ran into each other.”
Her heart was thumping in her chest. Remember him? He wasalmosther first kiss. Almost.
Looking at her sidelong, a slow grin took over his face. “I remember you well,” he said. “Sassy.”
“Oh god, get over yourself,” she cried, bursting out in laughter. “I haven’t been called that in a long time.”
She really wanted to invite him in, but decided the closed gate was a good omen. Keep him on the other side, safe and out of reach.
“We had a lot of fun, if I remember correctly,” she said, remembering more about him as they talked. “Don’t you have a daredevil brother? I can picture him hanging upside down from the chimney by his belt.”
“Yes! Dave. He’s the sheriff in town now.”
They talked for ten more minutes, and Maggie just happened to glance over her shoulder as the sun began its descent.
“This place has the most amazing sunsets. I had forgotten.”
“Talk about town has it that you’re here permanently.” He looked pleased, smiling down at her.
“I am. I still can’t believe it.”
“That was a bold move to make. Going from the city to this. Takes a lot of guts, for a young woman.”
“Not really,” she said, tossing her ponytail. “I always loved it here, and when the opportunity arose, I grabbed it. It was a chance of a lifetime.”
“Do you have plans?” he asked gently, watching her.
“I’m definitely in the one-day-at-a-time mode right now.”
“They say that’s the best thing anyone can do.”
They stood across from each other on either side of the gate for a good thirty seconds before a screech owl had its say.
“Yikes!” Maggie gasped. “I guess she told us.”
“That’s my cue. I guess I’d better let you get back to the cottage before it gets too dark,” he said, not hiding his desire to stay longer. “Spooky here might take me on an adventure if I don’t get her back in the barn before that sun sinks too low.”
“Ha! I enjoyed seeing you again,” she said, threading the chain through the fence and gate and securing the lock. “Where are you again?”
“About a mile north of here.” He pointed over her shoulder. “There’s a trail that skirts around your property. The fence ends about two thousand feet east.”
“Ugh, I thought it went all the way around.”
“No one is going to go that deep into the thicket with their car anyway. A human can barely get through. There’s just a path for horses.”
Justin gently turned Spooky around by the reins, gathered a little mane in his left hand, and swung his leg over the horse, climbing back up. She watched in awe how graceful he was, but powerful. Those thighs again.
“See ya later,” he called out, disappearing into the woods.
She snapped the lock shut and walked quickly back to the cottage. The sun was well below the horizon, but would cast light for another twenty minutes.
Inside, she knew she might be a little paranoid, but it was her first night alone in the cottage, so she locked the back door, which led to the brick terrace from the kitchen, and closed the shutters along the back of the house.
Back in the kitchen, she looked through the cupboards and decided to have cheese and crackers for dinner. She fixed a plate like a treat, opened a bottle of wine, and took it all on a tray out to the front porch.
There were citronella candles on the porch, so she lit two and sprayed her body with repellent against the no-see-ums, little flying insects that could squeeze through the finest screen. The wine ready, she sat watching what remained of the sunglow on the headland. Tomorrow she’d walk down to the dock and sit a while. Listening to the night sounds, a screech owl announced its presence in the wood to her left, possibly the same one watching over the gate.
