Never Tell Your Dreams (15 page)

“They didn’t fire me for being incompetent. They
fired me for not showing up to an eminent domain meeting. This eminent domain
meeting.”

Thank God she didn’t go. If she’d gone to that
meeting and found out it was in Grandberry Falls, they would’ve fired her anyway.

Maggie sat back down to finish her spa treatment.
There wasn’t anything to tell. She had no clue what they were going to do. The
Pelt Company had played their cards perfectly and there were no holes anywhere.
They wanted the Greenlee property, and would stop at nothing to get it.

Liz and Wendy got up, leaving Maggie wondering if
they’d had enough of her already. Wendy came back with a couple flutes of
champagne. She handed one to Maggie. Maggie gave a weak smile, not sure what to
think of the gesture.

Wendy’s hand was missing the antique ring Maggie
loved. Wendy probably didn’t want to get any chemicals on it; after all, it was
precious—not fancy---precious.

Wendy swiveled the chair toward Maggie and leaned
over.

“I don’t think you know, but I gave Mitch the
engagement ring back.” Her eyes darted back and forth between Maggie’s.

Maggie suddenly felt a bottomless peace and
satisfaction.

“He’s not in love with me and I’m not in love with
him.” Biting her lip, she looked away. “I’ve been doing so much traveling for
Figure 8, that I think maybe it’s time for me to leave Grandberry Falls.”

Maggie swallowed hard trying to manage a feeble
reply.

“Mitch didn’t say anything.”

Why hadn’t he told her? She was his best friend.
Maybe he really did love Wendy.

“He doesn’t want you to take pity on him. Maggie,
he’s spent his entire adult life trying to get over you.” Stains of scarlet
appeared on Wendy’s cheeks. “I’m sorry. I saw you back in town and become so
jealous of you. You have the best of both worlds. You left Grandberry Falls and
pursued your dream. I was too afraid to leave.”

“I…” Maggie wanted to stop her.

“Wait. Please let me finish.” Tears filled Wendy’s
eyes. “I didn’t have that courage until I went out of town. I admire you for
that. I thought about you when I was in the hotel rooms. You gave me the
strength in what I want to do with my life. I want to go to New York, be a
buyer, and make a go of it.”

Maggie couldn’t believe what Wendy was saying. This
whole time, she believed that Wendy thought she was nuts for moving away.

“Mitch and I were expected to get married. We were
pleasing everyone. It was like kissing my cousin.” Resting her chin in her
hand, a bemusing smile crossed her face. “He loves you. Just like you love
him.”

Maggie’s eyebrows shot in surprise. “No. I’m getting
over a heart break.”

“I know you almost as good as I know Mitch, and you
weren’t in love with someone Hazel didn’t approve of. I know it and you know
it.” Wendy’s expression grew still and serious. “Now, you need to figure out a
way to save that farm, and get that antique ring on your finger where it
belongs.”

Without another word, Wendy got up and told everyone
goodbye.

Why hadn’t Mitch told her?
Maggie
wondered. She had to think it was because of his passion for saving the farm,
but it was a big issue to overlook. Especially since he had the opportunity
when they got in their little fight.

“Get to work.” Beth laughed when Wendy shut the door
behind her. “I can’t believe how much she loves going out of town. If I didn’t
know better, I’d think she’d leave Grandberry Falls in a heartbeat.”

“Without Mitch?” Belle questioned and shot a curious
eye over at Maggie.

Maggie smiled. Even without Mitch.

Chapter 25

A hundred hearts would be too few to
carry all my love for you. ~ Unknown

Having Maggie close to him all day played havoc on
his emotions. He was already an emotional wreck that she was anywhere near
Grandberry Falls, but in his office was a little too close for comfort.

Her perfume was enough to send him through the roof
and Susie keeping her eyes on them didn’t help matters. Maggie didn’t ask him
anymore questions about Wendy or the engagement, which was a relief. She
scoured every paper they had received from Van Meter and Associates and had
some great questions written down for him to ask Patricia Van Meter.

“So how was ‘girl’s night in’, last night?” Mitch
asked.

Tommy had told him that some of the girls came in to
top off ‘spa night in’, making it ‘spa night out’. He said that Maggie hadn’t
joined them, and he knew she was probably at Hazel’s going through all the
paperwork. . .again.

“It was fun.” Maggie wiggled her glittery blue nails
in the air, and laughed. “Do you think Patricia Van Meter is going to like my
nails?”

“What do you think Patricia is going to do when she
finds out that you are on the case?” He asked.

He tried to keep all conversations on the
professional level. He could picture Susie on the other side of the door with a
glass held up to it listening in. Thank God, she didn’t have internet on her
computer, or she’d be on Facebook changing her status to something like,
Mayor Dozier is in deep water and in need of saving
.

Maggie put her hair up in a pony tail with one of
his rubber bands off his desk. Her tried and true shampoo filled the puff of
air she created sending Mitch’s senses into a tizzy.

“I think they were going to give me this case. When
I didn’t show up, they fired me. This would be a big winner for them.” Maggie
thumbed through the file.

Mitch pretended to listen, but he was having a hard
time. He hadn’t spent this much time with her in years. This eminent domain
problem had to be solved and quickly, before it destroyed his life both
professionally and personally.

“Granny would call this fate.” She tilted her head
towards him. Her big brown eyes dug into his soul.

“Ummm…” He wasn’t sure if she meant them being
together or her being here. “What?”

He had to have time to think, his head was cloudy
with crazy thoughts swirling around.

“This.” She picked up the documents. “I got fired
because I wouldn’t have been able to take my Granny’s land. Fate.”

Maggie went back to looking things up on the
computer that he had no idea about. Damn her! He loved watching her in her
element. She was a great lawyer. Passionate and caring. She still had the same
qualities Hazel Greenlee had instilled in her and they were brightly shining
today. This only confused the situation even more.

“Mitch, it’s getting late and I have to go.” Susie
zeroed in on Maggie, but Maggie didn’t pay any attention to her as she continued
going from document to document and typing things on the computer.

Mitch looked up, towering over Maggie, with his chin
almost touching the top of her head. He didn’t appreciate Susie’s dipped
eyebrows and frown. Wendy mustn’t have told her friends, because Susie would’ve
asked him first thing. He looked at his watch. Time seemed to fall away when he
was with Maggie.

“Okay. Go ahead.” He shook his sleeve back over his
watch. “We won’t be much longer. I’ll lock up.”

Hesitant, Susie gave a slight nod and curled her
lip.

“Bye.” Maggie chirped with a hint of sarcasm in her
voice.

When Susie shut the door, Maggie busted out
laughing. God, how he’s missed that smile she does only when she laughs. His
heart fluttered at the open-mouthed giggle.

“People are so worried about me being near you.” Her
features hardened. “You’re off limits—right?”

If she only knew, she was one touch away from him
being on limits and he was a single man. He reminded himself she was
vulnerable. Wasn’t that what women said when they landed in bed with their ex
after their current relationship crumbled? He continued to picture her and
Grady in New York City to keep him from grabbing her and kissing the senses
back into her.

“Why don’t we go grab the late night showing of your
favorite movie?” He avoided her comment that had turned into a question. He
wasn’t able to answer her honestly and he wasn’t going to start lying now.

He might be a politician, but an honest one if there
was such a thing.

Chapter 26

If grass can grow through cement, love
can find you at every time in your life. ~ Cher

Great idea
, Maggie thought
letting her nerves calm down. If he stood over her any longer, she wasn’t sure
she’d be able to stop herself. Memories of their
night
took over her
imagination.

“Are you okay?” Mitch’s hand radiated heat on her
shoulder. He leaned over and looked at her.

No, she was definitely not okay. Nothing was right
in her life. She couldn’t exactly pinpoint where it went wrong as she played
the last week in her head.

She thought she loved Grady—well, what she
considered love was a working companionship. She thought Mitch Dozier was long
in her past and Hazel was doing great in Grandberry Falls. Little did she
realize she was relieved not to be getting married. Mitch was still a big part of
her life, and the farm was getting sucked up right from under her.

No, she definitely wasn’t fine.

Taking a breath, she said, “I’ll be okay. It’s just
that….”

Mitch interrupted, “you don’t have to pretend with
me. I’m sure you are devastated about your engagement. Grady was a good guy.”

Shaking her head, she didn’t want to hear him take
up for Grady. He was wrong. She could only think of Mitch. It was far too much
for her to handle right now.

Mitch swirled the chair around and put his hand out.
She took it, like she’d done so many times before. “Let’s go. Doc awaits.” He
referred to Doc from
Back to the Future
.

“You always know what I need,” she said hoarsely. 

She looked down at her hand. The five-carat fake
ring was long gone, but she only saw the antique ring she’d tried on so many
times in her life and remembering what Mitch would say, “If we aren’t married
by the time we are thirty, this ring is yours.”

“Excuse me.” Maggie pretended she needed to go to
the bathroom. Any more memories would have her bawling like a baby. She closed
the door and leaned against it, fighting for composure.
Damn
, it’s what
she got for going back into the past.

With a deep breath, she opened the door. Mitch
turned to face her and she lost it, crumbling to the floor.

Mitch wrapped his arms around her and stroked her
hair like he’d done when her father passed away. “It’s okay, Maggie. We will
figure this out.”

Maggie longed to hear the other words he’d always
followed up with,
I’ll take care of you
.

But he didn’t.

“It’s just land and a guy.” His voice was tight as
he spoke and his muscles stiffened up. “Meet me in twenty?”

“Okay.” Maggie wiped her tears, and regained her
composure.

“I’ve got some paperwork to finish up here and I’ll
be over. Other mayoral duties call.”

Chapter 27

Take away love and our earth is a tomb.
~ Robert Browning

There wasn’t much she could do in twenty minutes. To
kill time she headed over to the Trembling Cup. She was going to need caffeine
if she was going to the late-night showing. Getting a latte and going to the
park to see the last showing of
Back to the Future
sounded pretty good.

Through the glass window, a familiar and most
welcomed wave motioned for Maggie. “Hey, girl!” Jenna waved from a corner
table. Her perfect black bob gave way to a graceful sway.

The Trembling Cup was busy from the after-dinner
crowd. It was tradition to eat at the Fatted Pig and finish the night off at
the Trembling Cup for dessert.

Jenna was always one of Maggie’s favorite relatives.
She was a pillar of strength and when Richard was killed. She stayed poised the
entire time, even though her life was turned upside down. Jenna turned her
grief and the town’s grief into a charitable cause by bringing awareness to the
community on the effects of drinking and driving.

Jenna stood up, her green eyes glowing.

“Hi, Jenna.” Maggie set her purse on the table.
“It’s good to see a refreshing face.”

Maggie was beginning to feel the town closing in on
her. She knew how the town felt about the outlet mall, but she sure didn’t want
it to be on Hazel’s land. She was going to fight tooth and nail, no matter who
stood behind her.

“I don’t know how refreshing it is.” Jenna smiled,
swiping her hands through her hair. She picked up a few papers sitting on the
table. “Working on the benefit. It gets bigger and bigger each year.”

Maggie had read in the Grandberry Falls Chronicle
how much the benefit had grown as the town had grown. Surprising, since it was
held on New Year’s Eve and there was a strict “no alcohol” policy. That’s the
great thing about Grandberry Falls; you could always count on the community to
rally behind each other.