What Tomorrow Brings (Florida Keys Series) by Cyndi Raye Page B

with gray. He stood tall, was well muscled for an older man but his twin sons looked just like him. Phillip Hatfield aged well.
    Jake stood facing his Dad. What Jake had revealed tonight had been carried by a man torn in grief and tortured in guilt. Maggie was afraid to let him carry that burden any longer. He had to talk to his Father. She needed to go. “Hello, Mr. Hatfield. Come sit over here. I’m just leaving.”
    Jake reached out to take Maggie’s hand to stop her, but she pushed it back. She looked into his eyes, silently pleading with him. “It will be okay,” she whispered the words, then placed a light kiss on his neck. “You know where I am if you need me.” With a final hug, she let him go and walked away from the two of them. If Jake were ever to move on with his life, he needed to put this behind him.
    <>
    Maggie strolled around the courtyard for a bit, enjoying the beautiful surroundings while wondering how Jake and his Dad were making out. On occasion, her head would swing back towards the dock and she found the two in deep conversation, Jake’s hands moving back and forth at times. She was far enough away she could make out their shadows and smiled to herself when she saw them stand up and shake and then his dad threw his arms around Jake’s shoulders.
    “Maggs!” Her mother’s voice drew Maggie away from the dock. Kate McCoy looked furious! With a martini glass in one hand, she leaned on a chair and pulled off her heel, shaking it out and then replacing the expensive shoe on her foot. Maggie watched her balance herself like no one else could and then continue on as if nothing had just went on with her shoe.
    “Mom, this is a happy moment, why do you look so angry?” Maggie gave her a hug, just to try to relieve some of the tension that was apparent.
    Kate stared at her daughter. “Furious is the word! I’ve just been called a “love ‘em and leave ‘em gal’ by non other than the man who claims he had loved me once!”
    “Mom, what are you talking about?” Maggie watched in surprise as her mother downed the rest of her Martini, shook her wrist and immediately a server appeared with a tray of drinks. Maggie watched fascinated as Kate pulled some bills from her bosom and threw them onto the serving tray.
    Maggie laughed. If it was the 1940’s, Kate McCoy would’ve made a perfect Elizabeth Taylor.
    “What’s so funny?” Kate faced her daughter, and immediately overstepped her ankle. “Grrr, these shoes are coming off,” Kate fumed. She shoved the martini glass into Maggie’s hand and commenced to reaching down to take off both shoes. “That’s much better,” she said, holding them by the straps in one hand and grabbing the glass out of her daughter’s hand.
    “Mom, you better slow down, I’ve never seen you drink like this,” Maggie uttered, a bit concerned now as she watched her mother falling apart right before her eyes. This never, ever happened before in all of Maggie’s twenty seven years. She watched her mother struggle through many things, but touching alcohol like this was a first for Kate.
    “I’m gonna find that man and give him a piece of my mind,” Kate muttered and frantically searched for any sight of Phillip Hatfield. Kate peered towards the docs and started walking that way when Maggie realized just who she was angry at.
    “No, Mom, this isn’t the time to confront him. There’s more going on here than you know.” She hooked her arm into her Mother’s and led her towards the hotel. “Let’s go have a girl’s night, we’ll drink and talk and all that kind of stuff and you can tell me what happened, OK?”

Chapter Thirteen
    Mother and daughter sipped on the left over wine that Charles had brought up earlier in the day. Maggie didn’t have the heart to bother the boy any more, he seemed to be having fun out on the grounds, laughing with a bunch of other teens he found to hang out with. Maggie and Kate were propped up on the King bed, sipping on