But there was that little voice inside her that teased with thoughts of how it could be if it didn’t end badly. What if they really did fall in love? What if they could live happily ever after?
What if she could tell Chris he was right, the reward would be worth the risk?
“Would you ever move back to Wyndham Beach?” he’d asked her as he was leaving after his last visit.
“I don’t know. Would you?”
“I would if you would,” he’d told her. She’d searched his face for a sign he was teasing, but she’d found none.
“I don’t see you doing that,” she’d said.
“Not right now. Maybe not for a while,” he’d admitted, “but someday.”
“Maybe someday.”
“Someday for sure,” he’d said right before he’d kissed her goodbye. “You and me, Nat. Someday . . .”
Chapter Twenty-One
MAGGIE
Letting go of the anger Maggie’d held on to for so many years felt like dropping a hundred-pound weight she’d been carrying on her back. Relieved of the burden that had caused her nothing but sorrow, she was free to open her heart completely not only to Joe, but to Brett. It had shocked her to learn he’d suffered, too, and while she wished with all her heart he’d opened up to her sooner, she had no regrets in the way her life had turned out. She’d always believed things turned out the way they were meant to.
On the Monday after her lunch with Brett, Maggie walked into town and stopped at Ground Me for coffee and doughnuts, then made her way across the street to the police station.
“Hey, Maggie. Nice to see you again.” From her post, Coraline checked out the carrier holding two cups of coffee and the bag with Ground Me on the front. “And so soon.”
“Good morning. Is Chief Crawford in?” Maggie ignored Coraline’s scrutiny.
“He’s in his office. I’ll let him know you’re here.” Coraline buzzed him, relayed the message, then hung up. She pointed toward the hall. “You know the way.”
“I do. Thanks.”
Maggie tapped on Brett’s open door with the back of the hand holding the bag.
“Hey, Maggie. This is a surprise.” He stood and walked around the desk. “Is that coffee . . . ?”
“Yes, and a doughnut. Glazed. You used to like those, so I thought . . .” She handed him the bag.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think this was a peace offering.” He moved a stack of files from one of the visitors’ chairs and gestured for her to sit.
“I needed an excuse to come and see you.” She sat and took the top off her coffee to have something to do with her hands.
“You never need an excuse, but I’m glad you’re here.” He opened the bag and smiled. “No one in town does a better glazed doughnut than the guy they have working in the back at Ground Me.”
“I met Joe. We had lunch on Thursday,” she said.
He raised an eyebrow. “How’d it go?”
“Great. He’s . . . well, you met him. I don’t need to tell you what he’s like.” She sipped her coffee.
“I’m so happy it went well for you, and that you saw what I saw in him.” For a moment, his hand holding the doughnut paused in midair. “Meeting him made me wonder what if . . .”
“No.” She waved a hand at him. “We’re not going there. Not today, not ever. He is who he is because of the people who raised him, and we’re going to accept that and not speculate or talk about anything different, hear me?”
Brett nodded. “I hear you, and you’re right. We should focus on who he is, not . . . well, not anything else.”
“I really like him. I can’t wait to see him again.”
“I feel the same way.” Apparently sensing it might be time to change the subject, Brett said, “So Liddy’s buying the bookstore from Fred. It’s about time. Poor Carl really had his hands full, trying to run the hardware store and keep track of his father at the same time.”
They talked for a few more minutes, but then Brett got a call, reminding them both he had a job to do. Maggie left after he picked up the phone, and waved goodbye from the doorway.
On Wednesday, she brought coffee to the office again, and on Friday, she picked up lunch for them to share at his desk. Maggie was beginning to look forward to spending a half hour or so with Brett every few days, and it appeared he did as well. They were more relaxed and friendly with each other than she ever expected they could be, and she enjoyed his company. More than ever, she knew she’d done the right thing in moving back to Wyndham Beach. It had been an emotional decision, the first step in shrugging off the mantle of sorrow she’d worn for much of her life, beginning with the death of her sister, continuing with the loss of her baby, her parents’ divorce, the continued grief for her son, the eventual breakup with Brett, and the death of her mother, and ending with Art’s passing. So many times during his illness, Art had urged her to seek happiness after he passed, to not spend the rest of her life in mourning. At the time, she hadn’t believed her future held much joy, but there’d been more laughter than tears as that heavy mantle began to slip from her shoulders. She’d made her peace with Art when she’d sold their home and made the decision to move on with her life. Now, with every day that passed, life seemed brighter, the future more hopeful, than she’d ever imagined possible. She was
