A Summer Romance (3 page)

“Aaron Miles,” he introduced himself. She
shook his hand briefly, suddenly feeling very awkward.

“Maggie Overton,” she replied, shyly looking
away, no longer able to hold his gaze. Something about the way he
was watching her made her feel completely exposed. He stood and
reached down offering her his hand. She took it and allowed him to
help her to her feet marveling at how small her hand looked in his.
She stood before him self-consciously wiping the dirt from her
knees. The mangy cat chose that moment to walk between them and
brush against Maggie’s leg.

“Shoo,” she hissed at the cat, still taking
the attack on her plant personally.

Aaron cocked his head to the side and eyed
her curiously.

“So you’ll cry over a spilled plant, but
turn your back on a starvin’ cat?” he asked curiously, there was no
accusation in his tone only puzzlement.

“He’s starving?” Maggie asked, suddenly full
of concern. She looked down at the cat, really seeing him for the
first time. He was dirty and some of his hair was matted. He did
look awfully skinny.

“He’s definitely a stray,” Aaron confirmed,
watching her closely. She continued to watch the cat as it weaved
between her legs.

Aaron turned and walked to the backdoor
carrying the re-potted plant and entering the kitchen without
hesitation. The cat quickly followed after him and Maggie watched
the two incredulously as they both walked right into the house as
if they owned the place.

She followed after them and saw that Aaron
had set the plant on the counter near the kitchen window. He then
retrieved a small bowl and filled it with water from the sink. He
placed the bowl of water at his feet and the cat happily began to
lap it up. Then he looked at Maggie, holding her gaze for a brief
moment and stealing her breath once again.

“Well, it was a pleasure meeting you,
Ma’am,” he said with pure southern hospitality as he tipped his
head and began to make his exit.

“Wait! Aren’t you going to take the cat?”
Maggie asked desperately.

“Nah, looks like he’s making himself quite
at home.” Aaron nodded in the direction of the cat and Maggie
looked to see that he had curled up on the kitchen floor and fallen
fast asleep.

“But I don’t know how to take care of a
cat,” Maggie admitted. She’d never had a pet. Perhaps that was why
she’d developed the admittedly odd habit of naming inanimate
objects.

“They pretty much take care of themselves,”
Aaron assured her. “Just give him food and water,” he instructed as
he opened the back door to leave. Maggie scrambled to think of
something else to say, something clever and charming.

“Alright…” was all she came up with. Aaron
smiled and nodded his goodbye, then he was gone. She looked down at
the mangy creature sleeping on the kitchen floor and wondered if
you could give a cat a bath.

As Maggie pushed the shopping cart up and
down the aisles of the small grocery store she could feel people’s
eyes on her. She was an outsider in a small town and she definitely
felt the part. She self-consciously rubbed her arms, which were now
covered in cat scratches. Apparently, cats in fact did
not
like baths. Her arms were visual proof of that. She’d considered
putting on a long sleeve shirt to cover the evidence but one step
outside into the Georgia heat was enough to make her willing to
risk a few extra stares at her bared and battered arms.

She pushed her well stocked cart to the
register and smiled hesitantly at the girl behind the counter.

“Welcome to Sweetwater.” The cashier smiled
genuinely as she began scanning the items from Maggie’s basket.

“Do I stick out that much?” Maggie laughed
nervously.

“When you grow up here you learn the faces.”
The girl shrugged. “I’m Andi,” she added with another kind
smile.

“Maggie,” she introduced herself and
returned the friendly smile.

“You’re stayin’ at the Devereaux place for
the summer, right?” Andi asked casually.

“How’d you know?” Maggie found it odd that
anybody would know where she was staying.

“I’d heard Ms. Devereaux had brought in
another stray,” Andi said offhandedly and then quickly realized her
words may have been offensive. “Oh… I didn’t mean…” she
faltered.

“No, that’s alright. I guess that kind of is
what I am.” Maggie shrugged, smiling at her reassuringly. She
thought of the stray cat that had intruded on her morning, and her
heart softened to him a little.

“Well, we’re glad to have you!” Andi said a
little too enthusiastically, obviously still trying to make up for
any slight. “So’d you run into a mountain lion or something?” she
quickly changed the subject gesturing to Maggie’s scratched up
arms, reminding Maggie of why she was still mad at that stupid
cat.

“Let me give you some advice,” Maggie
instructed her seriously. “Never try to give a cat a bath.”

Andi began laughing loudly and Maggie
couldn’t help but laugh with her. An old woman in line behind
Maggie cleared her throat impatiently.

“Did you find everything you were looking
for?” Andi asked, slipping back into her role of cashier.

“Actually, I was hoping to pick up a bottle
of wine but didn’t see any.” Maggie thought of the claw foot
bathtub waiting for her back at Devereaux Manor. She missed the
place already. Sweetwater felt too much like the real world. She
wasn’t ready for the real world.

“You can’t buy any here,” Andi replied,
sounding rather disappointed herself.

“Is there a liquor store then?” Maggie
asked. She heard the woman behind her scoff at her question. She
glanced over her shoulder to see a conservatively dressed elderly
woman standing behind her in line. Despite the summer heat she wore
a high collared long sleeve blouse and long denim skirt. Her thin
gray hair was pulled tightly into a severe bun on the top of her
head. She openly sized Maggie up, lingering on her tattered arms,
and then turned away with a look of disgust. Maggie looked back
over to Andi who rolled her eyes.

“We don’t have any liquor stores,” Andi
explained apologetically. “This is a dry county.”

“A what?”

“A dry county. No liquor is sold here.”

“In the entire county?!”

Andi nodded as she scanned and bagged the
last of Maggie’s items.

“I didn’t realize prohibition was still in
effect,” Maggie muttered as she paid for her groceries. Andi
giggled. The woman behind her huffed again loudly and shifted
around seeming agitated.

“And how are you today, Mrs. Bouchard?” Andi
asked loudly, forcing the woman to acknowledge them.

“Well, the Lord saw fit to give me another
day on this earth,” the old woman remarked dryly. Maggie wasn’t
entirely sure if Mrs. Bouchard was necessarily happy about that
fact.

“And all of our days are brighter for it,”
Andi replied cheerfully. Her sunny smile only seemed to irritate
the woman more. It was Maggie’s turn to stifle a giggle.

“It was nice to meet you, Andi.” Maggie
smiled sincerely as she pushed her loaded cart away from the
register. “Mrs. Bouchard.” She nodded in the old woman’s direction,
the smile gone from her face in a perfect impression of her
mother’s cold refined stare. She saw the woman’s eyes widen in
surprise just before she turned to leave the store.

As she made the short drive back to
Devereaux Manor the air conditioning went out in her car. She
should’ve known better than to push Old Betty so hard. This heat
was just too much for her. She rolled the windows down but wasn’t
really sure if the heat outside was improved at all by the wind
created when driving through it.

Just as she turned into the driveway Old
Betty began to sputter and lurch. The check engine lights began to
flash on the dashboard.

“Oh no! Please no!” Maggie begged as her old
car began making a horrible high pitched noise. She tried to drive
as gently as possible as the car wheezed its way down the driveway.
Just as she rounded the fountain near the front steps the car died
with one last sputtering cough. She’d known this day was coming.
Maggie leaned her head against the steering wheel in defeat.

She could feel the panic trying to creep its
way in, the anxiety and the questions bubbling just below the
surface, but she refused to let them take hold. She gripped the
steering wheel tighter and clamped her eyes shut. She would not
panic. She could handle this.

The car could be fixed. She had a roof over
her head, a rather magnificent one, and a trunk full of groceries.
She wasn’t stranded. She had no where she needed to go. That final
thought is what did it. She raised her head and smiled to herself.
She had no where she needed to go. How wonderfully liberating. No
deadlines to meet, no classes to make, no papers due, no tests to
study for. The only real pressing issue was the ice cream that was
currently melting in her trunk, and that she could handle.

~∞~

Several hours later the microwave dinged and
Maggie pulled out a hot potato with an oven mitt. As she dressed it
with cheese, salt, and butter, her new cat strolled lazily into the
kitchen. He really did look much better after his bath.
Unfortunately Maggie couldn’t say the same for herself. Brazenly
the cat jumped onto the kitchen counter.

“Don’t push it,” Maggie warned, pointing her
fork at the creature. With a haughty meow he jumped back to the
floor. Maggie retrieved a can of cat food that she’d purchased
earlier and spilled the contents onto a small saucer placing it on
the floor for the cat.

“There you go, Killer.” Maggie said as she
offered the food to the cat. He rubbed against her leg purring in
appreciation. She leaned down to scratch his head. Then she
gathered up her small dinner and headed for the dining room.

It had felt strange cooking a simple baked
potato in such a well-equipped kitchen, but spending six years
living in university dorms only really prepared her to cook with a
microwave.

She felt even more awkward eating her simple
meal alone in the opulent dining room. Years of conditioning made
her uncomfortable in such a formal room without the proper attire.
Over the last several years she’d become accustomed to solitude,
but there was a big difference between sitting alone in a small
dorm room eating a microwaved baked potato and eating one in a
dining room fit for hosting elegant dinner parties. The chandelier
overhead seemed to be mocking her meager setting. She ate quickly
then headed to the library.

Now this was one room she felt at home in.
It had been so long since she’d been able to read for pleasure. She
circled the room scanning the wall to wall bookshelves and finally
picked a random point to start. Just as she was selecting a book to
settle down with for the night she heard the front doorbell. She
jumped at the sound. She wasn’t expecting anyone and wasn’t sure if
she should answer. After a moments debate she headed cautiously to
the front door. She opened it a crack to peek outside.

“I hope I’m not intruding.” Andi smiled at
her through the crack in the door. Maggie relaxed and let the door
sway open to rest against her shoulder. “I brought wine!” Andi
declared holding up the bottle. Maggie smiled and opened the door
wide as she invited her in.

“Wow, this place is amazing!” Andi exclaimed
as she examined the unique circular foyer.

“You’ve never been in here before?” Maggie
asked as she opened the set of French doors that led to the
parlor.

“Nope. Got close once, but I chickened out,”
Andi explained distractedly as she looked around the sitting room,
wandering over to the love seat near the unused fireplace.

“What do you mean ‘got close’?” Maggie
asked, joining her at the couch with the two wine glasses that
she’d retrieved from a china cabinet.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Andi shook off her
bewilderment. “It’s just so weird to be in here.” she explained
cryptically, as she sat on the sofa and poured the wine.

“You see, growing up in Sweetwater no one
ever saw old Ms. Devereaux. Oh, we’d all heard of her and knew of
the house of course, but no one I knew had ever actually seen the
old woman.

“Some believe she died years ago but had
paid her staff well enough to stay on for decades and just pretend
that the mistress still ran the house. We all see the staff comin’
and goin’, the house and yard always kept picture perfect. But we
never see the woman, and no one, at least no one I know, has ever
been in the house,” she said with another awed glance around the
room.

“No one?” Maggie practically whispered. What
would cause an old recluse to reach out halfway across the country
and invite a stranger into her home when she didn’t even reach out
to people in her own community?

“Nope. So I guess this place was kinda like
a haunted house to us kids growin’ up. A very well kept haunted
house,” Andi laughed. “Anyway, I went off to Savannah State
University a couple years back. I only came home this summer to
help my daddy at his store. When I got back to town all anyone was
talkin’ bout was the strangers that were coming to stay at the old
Devereaux place.”

“You mean she’s never had anyone else come
to care for the property before now?” Maggie asked. This entire
scenario was getting stranger by the minute.

“Never,” Andi confirmed “Like I said, we
never even saw the woman. Truth is I was starting to believe that
she really was dead and gone. There were stories that maybe she
didn’t want the house sold off after she died so she just made
arrangements to keep it lookin’ like she still lived here. You
know, that way no one else would get the house. But obviously she’s
still around. I mean, she invited you here.” Andi left the
statement hanging in the air and looked at Maggie expectantly.