A Summer Romance (13 page)

He was momentarily speechless as he took her
in. She was equally impressed as she admired his semi-formal
attire. He wore a dark blue button down shirt, although he’d rolled
the long sleeves to his mid-forearm and left the top button undone.
It was still the nicest outfit she’d ever seen him wear. He even
had on a pair of slacks and loafers that looked to be new. She
realized she’d never before seen him in anything but his work
boots, jeans, and t-shirt.

“We match.” Aaron was the one to break the
silence, although he still looked a bit star struck as he stared
intently at Maggie taking her in from head to toe.

“You look fantastic,” Maggie replied, unable
to stop staring herself. She liked the way his broad shoulders
strained against the material of his dress shirt.

“You stole my line.” Aaron regained his
composure, smiling his dimpled smile and extending his arm. “Shall
we?”

Maggie smiled at his attempt at formality,
hooking her arm through his and allowing him to guide her to the
truck waiting in the driveway. Aaron opened her door and helped her
in, closing the door for her once she was seated.

“I guess I’m doing things a little out of
order,” Aaron said once he’d joined her in the truck and started
off down the driveway.

“What do you mean?” Maggie asked.

“We should have had our first date weeks
ago,” Aaron clarified.

“Better late than never,” Maggie replied,
feeling nervous butterflies as if this truly was a first date,
despite the fact that she’d spent every night of the last week
wrapped in this man’s arms.

It was a short drive to town. Aaron passed
through Sweetwater to the edge of town and pulled up alongside a
beautifully restored old Victorian house. The only clue that it had
been converted to a restaurant was the parking area set to the side
and the awning in the front.

Aaron once again crossed around the truck to
open Maggie’s door and help her down. The air was still muggy
despite the fact that the sun had set. Aaron offered his arm and
escorted Maggie to the entrance.

At the front door Aaron gave his name to the
hostess who found his reservation in her book and politely showed
them to their table. As they walked through the restaurant Maggie
could feel people’s eyes on them. She’d nearly forgotten the way
people in this town regarded Aaron. He seemed unaffected, staring
straight ahead as they were ushered to their table. Maggie tried to
be as stoic as he was.

Still Maggie couldn’t help but notice the
stares and the whispers as they were seated. This continued as they
reviewed the menu and placed their order. One woman was staring so
boldly that Maggie found the nerve to stare right back, making
direct eye contact until the woman finally turned away.

“Don’t worry about them,” Aaron advised,
noticing where her attention had been diverted.

“How can you stand it?” Maggie asked.

“You get used to it,” Aaron shrugged.

“You shouldn’t have to,” Maggie said,
glaring around the room one last time and catching the eye of
several onlookers who weren’t able to turn away fast enough.

“We can go if you want.” Aaron’s voice
sounded defeated as he placed his napkin on the table.

“No!” Maggie replied hastily. She realized
that her reaction was bothering him more than the whispers and
stares. “If you can ignore them, so can I,” she assured him.

“I wish you didn’t have to.” Aaron seemed so
deflated, which only fueled Maggie’s desire to make this evening a
success.

“I have wonderful news,” she said cheerfully
just as their food arrived. Aaron looked at her interestedly so she
continued. “I bought a Jeep,” she announced.

“Wow, that’s great!” Aaron smiled genuinely
and Maggie relaxed a bit. “I have to admit I was wondering who’s
Jeep that was parked in the driveway. So where did you find
it?”

Maggie told him of her trip to town and
happening across Ms. Brandy’s flyer. As she recalled the events of
the day she forgot all about the people in the restaurant around
them.

“So I paid her the $3,000 down and I will
work for her to pay off the rest, which should take just to the end
of summer. I still have a little bit of money left over from
selling my old car, enough to buy groceries the rest of the summer
at least,” Maggie finished rather abruptly. She felt a bit awkward
having mentioned the end of summer. It was something that neither
of them had discussed yet, although it had been weighing heavily on
her mind lately.

“Looks like it was a good day for both of us
on the job market then,” Aaron replied, seemingly unaffected by the
mention of the possible end to their current situation. “I got my
first contract to start maintaining some properties in
Savannah.”

“Is that what your meeting was about?”
Maggie asked, relieved that their conversation had not stalled as
abruptly as her story had.

“Yep. Earlier this week I was contacted by a
Mr. John Branson, he owns some rental properties in Savannah and
needs someone to help keep them up.”

“That’s wonderful, Aaron! I’m so happy for
you.” Maggie felt a swell of pride that he was realizing his dream
of branching out his business, although she wondered if that meant
he’d be moving to Savannah. It was a several hour drive from
Sweetwater. Suddenly she realized the decision of their fate was
not only in her hands. “Will you still work for Ms. Devereaux as
well?” Maggie asked hoping it sounded like a casual question.

“Sure. I explained to Mr. Branson that I
couldn’t start until after the harvest. But once that wraps up, my
schedule will be wide open. I still plan to maintain the grounds
around the house for her, but that only requires one day a week. I
do kind of owe her for all of this really,” Aaron answered. Maggie
felt her chest tightening. If he only needed to be here one day a
week then moving to Savannah would make the most sense. Was this
dinner his way of telling her good-bye? Perhaps the decision was
not hers at all.

“What do you mean ‘owe her’?” Maggie asked
weakly, taking a sip of water. She actually only wished for Aaron
to continue talking because she couldn’t seem to find the breath to
say much on her own at the moment.

“Well, it’s kind of an odd story, of how I
ended up here. I still really don’t understand it myself. But I’ve
been grateful for every moment since I arrived, despite the warm
welcome from the townsfolk.” Aaron rolled his eyes and nodded
toward the room. Maggie again realized that she’d forgotten all
about the other people in the restaurant. Being with Aaron had a
way of making her forget everything else.

“Everything about this place has been like a
dream come true. Especially meeting you,” Aaron emphasized as he
reached across the table to take Maggie’s hand. “For that alone I
could never thank Ms. Devereaux enough, but now this too.”

“I don’t understand. What does Ms. Devereaux
have to do with this new job?” Maggie asked.

“Well, at first I thought Mr. Branson had
seen the ad I ran in the paper, but it turns out that he hadn’t
even really decided for sure that he wanted to hire on anyone. He’s
been keeping up the properties himself, but he just bought a few
more houses that need renovating so he’s really got his hands full
right now and was thinking of hiring someone to help. He’d only
mentioned it to a few close friends and then out of nowhere he
received a letter in the mail from Ms. Devereaux recommending me
for the job.”

“Is she a friend of his?” Maggie asked,
although a part of her already knew the answer.

“He doesn’t even know her, or how she came
to know that he was interested in hiring any help,” Aaron told her
with a tone of disbelief. Again Maggie wondered who was this Ms.
Devereaux and why was she taking such interest in their lives?

“He said he almost didn’t call me, but then
decided it was at least worth meeting me. We met here in town for
lunch yesterday. That meeting went so well that he wanted me to
come take a look at the properties today. I didn’t mention any of
this before because I wasn’t really sure if it was going to pan
out, but today he offered me the job!” Aaron finished his story
with a wide smile. Maggie could see the pride in his eyes and she
couldn’t help returning his smile.

“Ms. Devereaux must really be fond of you,”
Maggie answered, still unsure of what any of this meant for
them.

“That’s the strangest part, Maggie. I’ve
never met her.”

“What do you mean you’ve never met her?”
Maggie practically shouted in surprise “How is that possible?” she
asked, lowering her voice again.

“Have you met her?” Aaron asked.

“No, but… I just assumed,” Maggie said.

“I haven’t been here that much longer than
you. When I arrived the house was empty, or at least has always
appeared that way. I’d never seen anyone coming or going until you
arrived. When I got here the only thing waiting for me was a letter
and a key. My paycheck is directly deposited into an account that
was set up for me when I took the job. I’ve never met her,” Aaron
said again, shrugging to show his own bewilderment.

“So how did you end up here?” Maggie asked,
feeling as if she was on the verge of discovering a piece of this
very confusing puzzle.

“She brought me here,” Aaron answered
quietly.

Before he could elaborate, the waiter
appeared to clear their empty dishes and deliver the bill. Aaron
looked a bit relieved. Maggie sat back, realizing that she’d quite
literally forgotten everyone else in the room.

As they exited the restaurant Maggie paid no
heed to the prying eyes of the other patrons. Her mind was racing,
trying to connect all the pieces and make sense of it. Maggie felt
like if she could just understand why Aaron was here then maybe she
could figure out why she had been brought here as well. The longer
she stayed the less she believed that the flyer placed in front of
her dorm room had been put there at random. She felt like she’d
been chosen by Ms. Devereaux, brought here for a reason, but she
still didn’t understand what or why. She was hoping that maybe
Aaron could help her find the answer.

As they drove down the road Maggie waited
for him to continue his story, but he remained silent seemingly
lost in thought. Rather than pushing him, she decided it was time
to open up to Aaron about her past. She hadn’t even told him about
medical school or why she’d left. He’d already trusted her with so
much of his own past and she owed him the same kind of honesty.

“Do you remember how I said I’d moved to
Boston for school?” Maggie began, but before she could continue
they came around a bend on the dark country road and saw a car
pulled off into the ditch with the hazard lights on.

“I wonder if they need help,” Aaron said as
he pulled up behind the car. “Stay here,” he told Maggie before he
climbed out of the truck and walked to the car to investigate.
Maggie saw him open the door to the vehicle and duck down to look
inside. He immediately straightened and rushed back to the truck
throwing his door open wide.

“Call 911!” he said. “It’s Lacey Buchannan
and I think she’s gone into labor.”

Maggie jumped from the truck and ran to the
car. She tossed Aaron her cell phone. “Call,” she instructed as she
leaned down over Lacey who was slumped in the driver’s seat
clutching her protruding belly and moaning.

“Lacey, Lacey, look at me,” Maggie commanded
as she grasped the sides of her face and forced the girl to look at
her. She was bone white and drenched in sweat. Her breath was
coming in short gasps and her eyes were glassy as she tried to
focus on Maggie’s face.

“It’s too soon,” she whispered before she
was wracked with another pain that had her doubling forward as she
cried out.

“Mama!” came a cry from the backseat, and
Maggie turned to see little Courtney sobbing.

“It’s okay, honey. Your mama is going to be
fine,” Maggie promised as the little girl continued to wail.

“The ambulance is on its way,” Aaron said,
coming up beside Maggie.

“Take Courtney,” Maggie directed. “I need to
move her to the back seat.”

Aaron followed her instructions without
question. He opened the back door and bent down to look at the
frightened little girl.

“Hi, Courtney. Do you remember me?” Aaron
asked in a soft voice. The little girl nodded her head.

“From the picnic.” Courtney’s little voice
trembled as tears streaked down her face.

“That’s right, we met at the picnic,” Aaron
continued calmly. “I’m going to unbuckle your seat belt now, okay?”
He waited for the little girl to nod before he undid the restraint
and lifted her from the car.

“Your mama is gonna be just fine,” Aaron
told her as he held the small girl in his arms. “We just need to
give her a place to lie down until the doctors get here. They’re on
their way, okay?” Aaron’s soothing voice had calmed the child. She
sniffled and nodded her understanding.

“The doctors are coming?” she asked.

“Yes, baby, they are coming to help. Should
be here any minute,” he promised as he slowly walked with her back
towards his truck.

~

“Lacey, I need you to stay with me,” Maggie
said. “I need your help. We are going to move you. Do you think you
can move?”

Lacey shook her head. “I can’t.”

“Yes you can,” Maggie insisted. “We are
going to do this together. First you’re going to swing your legs
out of the car. Come on, Lacey, I know you can do this.”

With a little help Lacey managed to shift in
her seat, allowing her legs to swing out and her feet to touch the
ground.

“See, that was easy,” Maggie encouraged.
“Now I need you to wrap your arms around my neck like you’re giving
me a hug. I’m going to help you get to your feet.”