Maggie

"Hey, Maggie!"

I heard my name and turned to see Janine waving at me from across the park. I waved back from where I sat on one of my regular benches where I usually ate lunch.

"Hey, Janine. How's it going?"

"Good. So did you hear?"

"Hear what?"

"About the land, that whole deal with Shane Holloway."

"No, is it done? Did he buy the land?"

I was really curious about what had happened. I hadn't talked to Shane since that last conversation. I saw that he'd called me a few times, but I just couldn't bring myself to call him back. I really needed to get over this in my own way.

I spent my days getting through the hours at work until I could duck out and hide myself away in my apartment. Once there, I would while away my nights watching movies and cooking for myself. I didn't even go out with Janine even though she begged me almost every Friday. I needed time to figure things out for myself. I didn't even go anywhere near the land that Shane was buying, or the cove. It all reminded me of him now, and thinking about Shane and the night we spent together was still too painful.

I didn't understand how I could have misread everything. There were times during these last few weeks, when I was alone in my dark bedroom, that I wanted so badly to call him. I thought about the sweetness and sincerity in his eyes and tears would roll down my cheeks into my ears. I couldn't fathom someone being that good at lying, even an actor.

I'd always thought of myself as very perceptive. It wasn't something I'd ever tried to do—see through a person's facade, practically into their soul—but it happened sometimes. There were times when I felt that I knew a person just by looking in their eyes. And in that moment in Shane's bed, I really thought I knew him. I thought he was truly the one for me. Goddamnit, I felt it, and I thought he did too. But now, not only did I not trust him, but I didn't trust myself anymore either. And that was the hardest thing to accept.

I wasn't even sure if I wanted to hear anything Janine had to say about him, but I listened anyway.

"Well, remember how I told you that suddenly no one in the office was talking about the deal at all? Like no one. It was so weird."

"Yeah, that was about a month ago. What happened?"

"Well, from what I found out today, whoever leaked that info about the permits was fired, and ever since then everyone's lips have been sealed up tighter than Fort Knox."

"Wow, that's interesting. So everything was finalized today?"

"Yeah, yesterday or today," Janine said, picking at her sandwich. "It's all over with, so my friend who was in on the case was free to talk about it. Apparently, the deal started out with Shane's manager, Frank Jennings. He's the one that put the deal together in the first place and was present at all the meetings. But about a month ago, Shane Holloway started attending the meetings and Frank Jennings's name was taken off all of the documents. So my friend is pretty sure that there was something fishy going on with his manager."

"Going on? Like what?"

"Whatever the original deal was that Frank Jennings had put together, was apparently not okay with Shane Holloway. The documents were all redrawn and different permit applications were submitted. I think Frank was the one trying to put the condo thing through on some kind of side deal."

"You're kidding. Without Shane knowing about it?"

"That's the way it looks."

"That's crazy! How did he think he was going to be able to get away with it?"

"I have no idea. Once Shane stepped in, they didn't discuss the previous deal at all. But from what my friend said, it definitely changed."

"Wow, I feel bad for Shane. He told me that his manager was one of the only people in the world he felt like he could trust."

"Yeah, well, I guess money does weird things to people."

"Yeah, unfortunately."

"I saw him, you know."

"Shane?"

"Yeah. He asked me about you."

"Really? What did you say?"

"That you were doing really well. I told him about the misunderstanding."

"Janine, you didn't! I don't need you running around cleaning things up for me!"

"Well, it didn't look like you were going to be doing any of that yourself. Besides, I really felt terrible. I told him it wasn't your fault at all."

"What did he say?"

"That he'd like to see you. I think he meant it, Maggie. I could see it in those drop dead, gorgeous eyes of his."

I didn't say anything. I just sat there and watched the birds in the park pick tiny bits of bread up off the ground. "When was that?"

"Today. Just now. He's sitting over there," Janine said as she pointed across the park. "He seems like a really good guy, Maggie. You should go talk to him. You've been moping around for entirely too long."

My heart started pounding in my chest when I looked where Janine was pointing and I saw him. I didn't exactly see him. He was too far away, but I saw a man sitting on a bench and I knew it had to be him. There was a small crowd of people standing around, shaking his hand.

"Go over there and talk to him."

I looked at Janine and smiled. "Okay. How do I look?" I said as I stood up and straightened my dress.

"You look gorgeous, Maggie. You always do."

"Okay, okay, that's enough. All right, I guess I'll talk to you later,"

"Have fun."

I turned and held up my hand, waving goodbye to Janine, then made my way across the grassy field. With every step I took closer to Shane, I could feel my heart pounding harder and harder in my chest. I'd been so silly to think that I could just make my mind up to get over him and that it would happen. I hadn't stopped thinking about him since that night we spent together. Hell, I hadn't stopped thinking about him for over ten years. Longer than that.

As I approached the bench, Shane looked up and smiled. "I was hoping I'd see that beautiful face of yours."

I felt my cheeks get hot and looked down at my feet while I sat down on the bench next to him.

"Hi, Shane. How's everything going?"

"Good. Everything's going great, actually. I was hoping I'd get a chance to talk to you because I really wanted to thank you."

"For what?"

"For that conversation we had on the phone. If you hadn't called me a liar, I don't know if I would have ever found out that my manager was taking advantage of me. You did me a huge favor, Maggie."

"Oh, Shane, I'm so sorry about that. I really wish I could take everything I said back now. I was horrible to you."

"No, you weren't. You were being honest with me, and I appreciate that. A lot."

"Janine just told me what happened with your manager. I feel terrible for you."

"Don't. It's all fine now. Really."

"But you told me you had such a hard time trusting people."

"I did. But this whole experience was a really good lesson for me. I realized that I could handle the real estate deal on my own and that the world didn't crumble down around me because someone lied to me. It was really good for me, Maggie. It actually made me a lot stronger."

"Wow, that's an incredible way to look at it."

"Well, it's a hell of a lot better than looking at it like I'm a victim and have no control over my life."

"Yeah, I'll bet. So, there are no condos, right?"

"No, no condos. That was all Frank. Apparently he had a side deal going with some group who wanted a small piece of land to build on. He really thought that, once the deal was done, I'd be okay with the fact that he lied because he made me some money. The thing is, he really did see it as an opportunity for me—for both of us. But it was the fact that he went behind my back, that he tried to make a deal that I would have never even considered."

"Building the condos?"

"Yeah, I mean, one of the reasons I wanted to buy this land in the first place is to make sure that something like that couldn't happen."

"Well, I'm really glad it worked out for you."

"Me too." He paused for a moment, then continued on. "I meant what I said, Maggie."

"About what?"

"About wanting you involved in the whole process."

"Really? You still do? After everything that happened?"

"Yeah, of course. Why not?"

"Well, I wasn't exactly one-hundred-percent honest with you. I mean, I really hadn't told anyone about us in all those years, but—"

"Yeah, Janine told me. I really don't care about that anymore, Maggie. It's taken me a little while, but I know that you're an honest person. It didn't take me too long to figure out that, in the grand scheme of things, me being upset about you telling someone that we kissed was incredibly silly."

"I'm glad you feel that way. I felt terrible about how it all came out."

"I looked for you, you know."

"Where?"

"On the beach, in the cove. Every night I would look out there with that telescope to see if you were walking on the beach. I never saw you."

"I couldn't go back there."

"Why?"

I looked up at Shane and I could feel my eyes welling up, but I didn't care. I was tired of trying to hide how I felt. "Because that place … it reminds me of you. It's special to me for a lot of reasons, but mostly because of you."

Shane took my face in his hands and brought his lips to mine, softly at first, but then crushing them with a passion that took my breath away. "Let's go out there now."

"Where? The cove?"

"Yeah, I want to be out there with you. It's ours now, Maggie. Really ours."

I didn't have any meetings in the afternoon, so I called in and told them I'd be out for the rest of the day. I'd never done that before, but I didn't care. I could barely think straight after that kiss and I knew I wouldn't have been able to get any work done for the rest of the day anyway.

* * *

"I've missed this place so much," I said as we walked along the edge of the water, the waves softly washing over our feet. "I don't think I've spent this much time away in my entire life."

"What do you think about putting our house right over there, just past the tree line?"

"Really? Do you think we can?"

"We can do anything we want. This is our land now."

"So this cove will be ours? It won't have public access anymore?" I had to admit the idea made me a little sad. I couldn't imagine if I were one of the people who wouldn't be able to access this cove ever again.

"Well, that was my plan. I figured I'd leave the rest of the beach all along the coast as public land. Maybe even create a park or sanctuary out of the land that borders the coast. There are hiking trails that lead down there, so there will be plenty of space for anyone to explore. What do you think?"

"I have to admit, the thought of having the cove just to ourselves would be amazing, but I don't want to take it away from anyone. I want to share the beauty with the people who come here. Maybe we could keep the property around the houses separate, maybe back a little so that we have all the privacy we need, but keep the cove open."

"I think that's a great idea. You're so amazing, Maggie. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you here to help me with this."

Shane held my face in his hands and stared into my eyes and I felt like we were both eighteen again. It was like no time had passed at all, except that now I knew how he felt about me. When his lips touched mine I couldn't control myself any longer. I wanted him right here on this beach. I wanted to feel the ocean breeze and smell the tropical forest and hear the waves crashing while we made love in this very spot.

Shane threw down a blanket I had in my car and we fell down on top of it. He got on top of me and pulled my skirt up while he kissed his way up my legs. I couldn't believe we were actually going to make love in a public place like this, but the cove was completely deserted, as usual. It felt so naughty, but so incredibly perfect.

When Shane had made his way up to my panties he pulled them down, leaving my skin exposed to the air. As he pushed my thighs apart, I unbuttoned my blouse, then I unhooked my bra and pulled both it and the shirt off. I loved the feeling of the cool breeze rushing around my naked skin, as well as the warmth of Shane's mouth as it closed in around my clit.

I squirmed with delight, gyrating my hips into Shane while he gripped my ass, pulling me into him as if he wanted to devour me. When I glanced down, I watched him pull his shirt up, then off over his head. When his eyes met mine, they were filled with an animal intensity that made me gasp.