What Tomorrow Brings (Florida Keys Series) (10 page)

Maggie squeezed his hand. “Maybe something happened to them, have you thought of that?”

“Yes, we did a search. We checked hospitals and the morgue and even the homeless shelters and the nooks and crannies where the homeless hide. Our conclusion is they loved their life of drugs and alcohol more than they loved their son.”

“That’s a sad story and you are so kind to reach out Jake. I knew you were a man of integrity.”

He looked down at her bikini top that barely covered her breasts. “I’m afraid that is not always true,” he said and dove for her, catching her in his arms because there really was no place to go in the small tub. He looked down at her and was just about to give her a much desired kiss when the hotel door swung open. Maggie held her breath. She was getting tired of interruptions. She wanted to be kissed!

“Maggs, I made it! Maggie, hello?”

“Mother!” She stared at Jake, horrified. “ I forgot she was on her way. I told her to have Charles bring her up!”

A very lovely, tall and assertive woman, who was an older version of her daughter except for the lighter hair, sprinkled with a few wisps of gray, sashayed onto the Lanai as if she had a mission to accomplish. She stopped short when she saw Maggie and Jake in the soaking tub. “Oh Maggs, you didn’t tell me you had company!” Then, she walked right up to the tub and held her hand out to shake Jake’s hand.” You must be Jake. How are you? We talked on the phone for a brief moment when I was reserving your bungalow.” Kate McCoy, smiled, turned and made herself comfortable on one of the chairs. She picked up a chocolate covered strawberry and poured a glass of wine.

”Mother, do you find it odd that you are interrupting our soak?” Maggie asked, incredulous.

“Not at all Maggs, I knew it was bound to happen. Oh, you have no idea how hard it was to get you to finally come down here and meet Jake. I knew he would be perfect for you.” She looked up at her daughter and smiled, one of those I know what is good for you smiles.

“What! You actually did plan all of this?” Maggie stood up in the tub. She looked at Jake. “Were you part of this too, Jake? Trying to get me to find the perfect mate for one of my mother’s crazy ideas so that I settle down and give her grand children?” She cocked her head. “ Did she pay you?”

Kate McCoy’s laughter rang out. “Maggs honey, Jake had nothing to do with this. All he knows is that his Dad asked him to let you stay there. I’ve known his Dad for many, many years. He was doing me a favor, that’s all.”

Maggie sat back down. “Mother, you exhaust me. How could you send me here and then try to hook me up with someone? That’s not fair play. Jake and I are simply just friends.”

“Oh really?” Kate puckered her lips and lifted her brows. “I don’t know what you see, but where I”m at it does not look that way, my dear.”

Jake’s brows crunched together and he suddenly spoke up. “We are? Maggie? I thought we were working on being more than that? Or is that all you want from me?” Maggie didn’t like the sound of his voice all of a sudden.

“I don’t know Jake.You know we’ve talked about this and we said that we’d see what tomorrow brings.”

“I think it brought your Mother!” He swore under his breath. Jake got out of the tub, dryed off and left. He didn’t even look at Maggie.

“Now look what you did Mom, you pissed him off. Why do you always have to be so outspoken?”

Kate popped another strawberry in her mouth and licked her fingers. “These are good. Jake’s got a lot of really great things going on. You’d be wise to stick with him, Maggie. Now, get out of that tub and go after him. He likes you a lot.”

Maggie sunk deeper in the tub. “Go away Mother!”

Her Mother shook her head and laughed. “Perhaps I’ll go look up my old pal Phillip Hatfield. I’ve spoken to him over the phone and in emails, but I haven’t seen him for over twenty years, not since he lost his wife many years ago.”

Chapter Twelve

Maggie sank further into the tub, until the only thing sticking out was her face. Going back over the conversation, she just realized that Jake’s mother must not be alive. Was that why he didn’t like going into hospitals? Kate said that she died over twenty years ago so Jake had to be 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?”

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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 were right, we did agree we would see what tomorrow brings.”

“I’m pretty sure that I should be the one apologizing. My Mother seems to bring out the worst in me at times. She’s rather a bit pushy,” Maggie admitted. She turned to look at him and saw such a sad look deep in his eyes, she reached over and touched his cheek. “This isn’t about earlier Jake, is it?”

He turned his head slightly and brushed his lips across Maggie’s hand. “No.”

“Talk to me Jake.”

He pulled her off the chair she was sitting on and practically fell onto his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and curled up against him. “Maggie, I care a lot about you. I do, and I trust you. I’ve just never talked about this before with anyone, not even my Dad.”

She brushed light kisses on his chest and gave him a hug. “Then perhaps it’s time to get it out, Jake.”

“It’s been a long time since my Mom died and yet I can see it in my mind just like it was yesterday.”

“How old were you Jake?”

“Eleven. I was outside playing. It was the weekend and Jon was bugging me to go fishing with him so he could catch some fish and dissect them. He said he wanted to be a fish doctor. I thought it was gross but wanted to watch him anyway. So, I ran inside to tell Mom we were going and she was sitting at the kitchen table looking kind of weird. You know, like she was about to throw up.” He wrapped his arms around Maggie and she snuggled even closer.

“I really didn’t think much about it at the time, but I told her we were going to the docks and she said OK, but go down to the workshop and tell Dad to come to the house.” I ran out of the house and then Jon was already down by the dock waving at me to hurry up. So I forgot to go to Dad’s workshop and give him Mom’s message. I ran to the dock and it was almost twenty minutes later until I remembered. I raced to the workshop to tell Dad, but it was too late. When he got to the house, my Mom was already on the floor.”

Jake lowered his face into Maggie’s hair. She could feel him tremble. He was a man of integrity and he wouldn’t break down. He just needed a moment to pull himself together. “Mom was still alive when the ambulance came, but she had a brain aneurysm. They put her on life support and I went in to her every day for two weeks. I told her I was sorry. If I would’ve told Dad when she asked me to, she may still be alive.”

Maggie hugged Jake. “I think you’ve carried this far too long, Jake. There was probably nothing you nor your Dad could’ve done.”

“I’m thirty two years old, Maggie, and I’ve never told a soul that until now. Until you. That’s twenty one years of silence. It was what drove me to become a multi-million dollar real estate investor. I’ve put everything, every feeling, every piece of guilt into driving myself to become something my Mom would’ve been proud of. You’d be surprised at what I own here in the keys. I’m not bragging, I’m just saying my guilt drove me. I know she’d be proud of me if she were alive and I worked hard to make sure of it. But, I can’t even stand there tonight along side of my Dad and watch as they dedicate this hotel to her. Do you know why? Because of my guilt. I am the sole person who could have saved her. But I got distracted by going fishing with Jon. It haunts me every single day of my life.”

“Son.” Maggie could feel it the moment Jake realized that his Father was right behind him. His body stiffened, his muscles became taut and she heard his deep breath go in but not out. “Jake, it’s time we talked.”

Maggie jumped up off of Jake so he could stand up. She wanted to reach out to him, but just stood there in case he needed her. How much had his Dad heard of their conversation? She looked at the older version of Jake. He was a handsome man. His eyes were lined with a few wrinkles but he had the same dark familiar eyes of a Hatfield. His hair, dark brown, was sprinkled 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.

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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.