An Invincible Summer (Wyndham Beach), Mariah Stewart [best classic novels TXT] 📗

of margaritas.” Liddy was right behind her. “Chips and salsa. But wait. You had dinner with Joe and Brett and you didn’t tell me?”

“I just did.”

True to his word, Brett had her coffee, along with a cherry cheese danish, waiting for her when she entered the shop.

“So what have you been up to since Sunday night?” he asked after she’d taken a few sips of coffee and a bite of her danish.

“Just trying to get things organized for the Fourth. I found horseshoes up on the garage loft, so I thought maybe we could play games if things seemed awkward. You know, get everyone up, break the ice if we needed to.” She hesitated before asking, “Are you going to have any of your kids this summer? Would you want me to include them?”

“Jenna lives with Kayla, and they go to Kay’s mother’s on Martha’s Vineyard every year for the entire summer.” Brett rested a forearm on the table. “My oldest, Chloe, will be with Beth, her mother—my first wife—and her stepfather in Austin. Alexis, my fourteen-year-old, wants to come for the summer, though, and Holly, her mother—”

“Wife number two,” Maggie interjected. Holly, the California surfer girl who was quite a bit younger than Brett. She wasn’t about to admit it, but Maggie had googled all three of his wives.

“Right. Alexis always spends most of the summer here. She’s intrigued by the idea of a secret older brother. She wouldn’t miss this get-together for the world.”

“You told her about the Fourth of July at my house?”

Brett nodded. “We spoke last night, and she asked me what she could do here this summer, and that’s the first thing that came out of my mouth. Party at Maggie’s.”

“Did she ask who I am?”

“I told her you’re Joe’s mother. She’s processing all that. Alexis is really smart. She’ll figure it all out. I still need to come up with something for her to do while I’m working, though. There’s the beach. Emma said there will be classes at the art center, but that’s only for a few hours on Tuesday and Thursday. I can’t leave her alone in the house all day.”

“Think she’ll miss the California life?”

“Doubtful. She has very little interest in board surfing or windsurfing. She’s more of a bookworm. She likes biking and likes to go on hikes, but water sports, not so much.”

“Maybe Alexis could babysit for Daisy while Natalie’s still here. She wanted to get involved with the renovation of the bookstore, since Grace and I are pitching in.”

“I’ll ask her. She’ll be here next week.”

“Great. Liddy’s planning on some nice changes. She’ll have a grand reopening once all the work’s completed.”

“Does she need anyone to paint? I’m hell with a paintbrush.”

Maggie laughed. “Yes, I seem to recall the hellish job you did on that first place we had in Seattle. We could have been evicted if the landlord had seen the mess you made before we got it all cleaned up.”

“I made a mess of a lot of things back then. I know I can never say I’m sorry often enough to make up for any of it. Hindsight’s a bitch, isn’t it?”

“You’ve apologized, Brett.” She was aware the older woman at the next table was listening and watching from the corner of her eye.

“I was an asshole back then.” He lowered his voice. “I don’t know how you could have loved me, but you did. I screwed up your life, and I screwed up my own at the same time.”

“Listen, there’s something I need to say to you. I didn’t intend to do this today, and certainly not here. But there are things you need to know, and I guess . . . well, I guess now is as good a time as any.” Maggie took a deep breath and whispered. “I’ve had a lot of time to think about things. A lot of time to look back and try to remember how things really were. Brett, I could have stood up to you. I could have defied my parents. I could have—I should have stood up for myself, and for our baby. But I didn’t. I let everyone else make that decision, because it was easier for me. And I made you the villain, and I’ve played the victim ever since. I made you pay for the fact I didn’t have the courage I should have had.” Maggie swallowed hard. “So this apology is on me. I shouldn’t have put all the blame on you.”

He started to speak, but she shook her head. “Ultimately, the choice had been mine.” Another hard swallow. “And yes, hindsight is a bitch. We can’t change what happened back then. But we can appreciate where we are now. Joe said he had a great life. He’s happy and successful, and he’s appreciative of the gift we gave his parents. Yes, at a cost to us, but still, things have worked out. I married a man who loved me. My girls are the light of my life. You have kids you love. Joe is back in our lives. I believe with all my heart that things happen the way they’re meant to.” She held his hand, tugged it a little closer, and leaned in. “We can’t go back, Brett, but we don’t have to be defined by things that happened thirty or forty years ago.”

“Then why can’t we start over? Like start at the same place we started the first time around. I ask you out on a real date. You say yes.”

“Do you remember our first date?”

Brett groaned. “I was hoping you’d forgotten. That party at Moose Jorgensen’s. His parents were away for the weekend, his brother was home from college, and he brought a keg. The whole football team was there. I was the new guy, and all the other guys were drinking. Everyone got drunk and sloppy and sick. Okay, I didn’t get sick, but I’m pretty sure I wasn’t at my best.” He shook his head at