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“Probably never a dull moment at Bayou Cottage!”
Maggie didn’t realize that the horse delivery would morph into an impromptu party. Soon, several trucks arrived with food and drink, yet another lapse of communication by Justin.
“I’m so sorry,” he pleaded. “Once again I’m guilty. I just took it for granted that you’d know they would stick around for a while. I promise it won’t be long. The other volunteers are here to drive the riders home, and they just brought food for lunch so you wouldn’t feel obligated to feed everyone. Once they get their own horses loaded up, we’ll be on our way.”
“I’m sorry. I’m overwhelmed,” she said, feeling like a maniac. “It’s like everyone has lost their minds—my aunt, Annie—and now I’m having a throwdown for a bunch of people I don’t know.”
“You live here now, so this might be a good time to meet everyone,” he said. “They’ll want to help you with the band if you need it.”
“Like Gloria and Bubba?” she asked, snickering.
“Yes, exactly like them. Come with me so the introductions can be made.”
The next hour went exactly like Justin had said, with the riders and other volunteers helping the horses acclimate by offering treats and water. But they were truly wild and weren’t interacting with the humans. A few started threading into the woods behind the cottage, where they’d find the first bale of fresh, fragrant alfalfa, a reason not to wander too far from their new home.
“How will you keep them from leaving?” Aunt Elizabeth asked.
“They’ll stick around for the treats, and then after a while when they discover how quiet it is here, they’ll stay because it’s safe. They’ve a couple of hundred acres to roam.”
By noon, everyone was gone but Annie, Justin and Steve. They sat on the porch, talking, while Elizabeth and Maggie cleared the air inside, sitting on Maggie’s bed.
“I like what you did to my old room,” Elizabeth said, looking around. “It’s very serene.”
“I took your advice,” Maggie said, lying back with her legs dangling over the edge of the bed.
“How’d it come about?” she asked, sitting at her old vanity, stretching her skin back. “I need a facelift.”
“No, you don’t. He told me I was the woman for him, and that made it easy to forgive him. He’s who I want, too.”
“Well, good. Not that it was my goal for you to take my advice. I just wanted you to be happy. I know you’re still hurting from the other thing.”
“It’s why I’m not rushing into anything. I don’t want to move from the cottage for one thing,” and here she whispered, “and I don’t want him to live with me.”
“It does feel like it occurred a little fast,” she said, looking at Maggie. “How long did you know Russ before you married him?”
“Obviously, not long enough. You know it was Claudia’s part in that that is lingering! I don’t care about Russ. But I loved Claudia. I grew up with her. What I need is closure.”
“Well, let her have it. Think about coming into town next week and make a date with her.”
“I don’t feel like driving into Jacksonville. It’s too far to go for someone I might hate.”
Swiveling around on the stool, Elizabeth looked at her niece. “Oh, my dear, she’s not in Jacksonville any longer. She moved back to Pensacola.”
Maggie sat up, surprised at this news. “I just left there! It’s like the world turned upside down overnight.”
“You’ve been gone for a while, dear.”
“Wow, I guess this place is working its magic on me because I’ve lost all track of time. I don’t feel like I’ve been here that long.”
Elizabeth stood up and held out her hand. “Come, dear. I’m going to call Gus for a ride back to civilization. You have guests to entertain.
“Tomorrow, I’d like you and your young friends to come to the Broussard mansion for a pre-wedding luncheon. We’re not having a big wedding, you know. Just you, your mother and Val’s sister, who’s flying in from St. Louis, will be our witnesses. Justin is welcome to come if he can get away from the clinic. The real festivities will be Sunday. Garden party attire, if you don’t mind.”
“I’m surprised my mother can tear herself away for the wedding.”
“She’s coming in Sunday morning and leaving Tuesday morning.”
The wheels in Maggie’s mind were turning. Her mother making what she would refer to as a death run to the impromptu wedding of her seventy-year-old aunt seemed incongruous. Equally bizarre, asking Justin to the wedding not only felt awkward, it seemed superficial. If her aunt wanted him there, she should specifically ask him. That made up her mind; she was not inviting him.
