just a child then. How did her mother know the Hatfields? There were too many questions left unanswered and she planned to start finding them as soon as she could locate her own Mother, who once again took off somewhere in a flash, supposedly looking for the senior Hatfield. It wouldn’t surprise Maggie a bit if they didn’t take up where they must have left off many years ago.
It was time Maggie left her suite and got to know the Hatfields a bit better. She punched in the number to her porter. “Charles, it’s me again. I need you to stop by in about an hour. I need a companion for this evening. Would you be okay with showing me the resort?”
<>
As if right on cue, the minute Maggie finished dressing there was a knock on the door from Charles. He wore his usual pair of island shorts, bright yellow and green with tropical trees and a crisp white button down shirt tucked into the shorts. He even had slicked down his runaway curls.
“You look very nice, Charles. Thanks for escorting me around the resort,” Maggie said as she smiled and took his outstretched arm. With her other hand, she pushed a number of bills into his. He was making a small fortune these past few days, but that was OK, Maggie liked the fact that she had someone here to help find her way around.
There was a rather large gathering of people around the outside seating area, some mingling with others, a few standing off from the crowd sipping on tropical drinks. A trio of men played soft, classical music outside, just loud enough to flow through the evening air in the background. It was very tantalizing and drew Maggie in. “What’s going on?” she asked Charles, who was privy to most things here at the resort. She was finding out that if she wanted to know anything at all, she just had to pick up her phone.
“It’s a special ceremony tonight. They’re naming a part of the hotel to Phil’s wife who died a long time ago. Weren’t you invited? Everyone in the hotel was?”
“I think I must’ve slipped through the cracks.”
“It’s probably my fault. I think I was going to invite you and then when I saw Uncle Jake in the tub with you, I forgot what I was supposed to do.” Charles shifted his feet.
Maggie patted his arm. “It’s OK. I’m just surprised Jake didn’t mention it to me.”
Charles shook his head. “Oh, no, Jake doesn’t say much when it comes to his Mom. Whenever Phil tries to talk to him about it, he just gets mad and walks away, but then Phil decided to just have the ceremony. It just happened that Jake showed up.”
Maggie stopped short when she spotted Jake sitting by himself by the docks. “Excuse me Charles. If you want to go join the others, I’ll be fine here.” She turned toward the single dock where Jake was sitting, Jax right by his side, laying on the wooden boards stretched out in front of his master. His tail started thumping on the wooden planks when he saw Maggie.
She walked up beside Jake. “It’s beautiful out here.” She stood at the water’s edge watching as the lull of the water rocked back and forth and the lights from the torches along the dock glistened across the water, throwing shadows all around. It was a very romantic night, perfect for lovers. She looked down at Jake sitting on one of the covered loungers that were scattered across the docks.
“Sit down, Maggie. Enjoy the evening with me,” he said.
“I’m not intruding, am I?” He shook his head and stared out into the water, almost as if mesmerized by the flickering lights. Maggie sat down beside him on the empty seat, giving him silent support. She touched his arm that was hanging casually over the arm of the chair. She had a feeling this had nothing to do with the two of them, but with his Mother and she didn’t want to go there unless he brought it up.
Finally, Jake brushed a hand through his hair and took a deep sigh. “I’m sorry about earlier today, leaving like I did. I’m not even sure why I got so angry. You
C. J. Cherryh
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