Authors: Geralyn Dawson
Holly's young man. She'd been thinking about him, wondering how he'd been doing in the wake of the Greystone contretemps. Wondering if he missed Holly as much as she obviously missed him.
Now she wondered if
he'd
had any dates with another woman.
This was her chance to find out. Besides, talking to Justin would delay her return to her empty house. Her empty life. Maggie couldn't ask for a better distraction.
Approaching the booth, Maggie smiled. "Hello. It's Justin, isn't it?"
"Yes, Justin Skipworth." He studied her for a moment, then offered a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry. I don't remember you."
Maggie clicked her tongue, shook her head, then gave an exaggerated sigh. "That's exactly what a woman loves to hear from a man."
When he winced, she laughed and added, "Don't worry. I'm teasing. I'm almost old enough to be your mother. Emphasis on the word 'almost.' However, it's the mom in me that would like a few moments to visit with you. Could you take a break from your duties here?"
"I suppose, but I don't know—"
"I'm a meddler as well as a mother. I'm Maggie Prescott. I had planned to call you next week, but I'd love to talk with you now if you can steal a few minutes. I was in the ladies' lounge with Holly at the Greystone that day."
"Oh." Light dawned in his expression. The brochure he held slipped from his fingers and fell back onto the table. "You're the lady in the antique wedding gown."
"Yes. Holly and I have become friends since then. She's not happy and I'd like to try and help her if I can."
Maggie watched a dozen different emotions play across his face before he made his excuses to his fellow booth workers, then stepped out from behind the table. "Where should we...?"
"Somewhere more quiet, I think." Maggie jerked her chin toward the Tarrant County courthouse, half a block north of where they stood. "The side steps, perhaps. It's away from the music, but I enjoy the view."
They made get-to-know-each-other small talk as they purchased bottled water and ears of roasted corn at a concession booth, then walked the short distance to the courthouse. A rock band took the stage and cranked up their amplifiers, making conversation difficult, so Justin led the way around to the north side of the courthouse, which overlooked the wildflower-dotted banks of the slow-flowing Trinity River. He dusted off a place for them to sit on the stone steps. Maggie wished she'd worn jeans instead of her favorite floral sundress.
By unspoken agreement, they spent a few minutes savoring their snacks before tossing the cobs into a nearby trash can and getting down to business. Justin twisted the cap on his water bottle and swigged back a sip as if it were a bracing shot of whiskey. "How is she?"
Maggie licked salty butter from her fingers. "You don't know?"
He shook his head. "I haven't seen or spoken to her since that day at the wedding gown sale."
Maggie's heart sank. "That's what I was afraid of. She hasn't been exceptionally forthcoming with information about you. I tend to babble my business to anyone, but Holly keeps her mouth zipped. She's not happy, I can tell that much."
Sipping her water, Maggie watched a flock of pigeons feast on breadcrumbs offered by a darling little redheaded boy. "One thing I do know. Holly loves you, Justin."
"She has a funny way of showing it." He sighed heavily. "I don't understand what happened. You were there. You saw it. Do you understand what happened?"
Recalling Holly's meltdown in the ladies' room, Maggie realized she had a fine line to walk. She wouldn't betray her friend's confidence,
but my heavens, these two seemed to be made for one another.
She wanted to help them find their way back together. Love was too precious to throw away. "I have my suspicions, but that's all they are."
"So what did she say?"
Maggie shook her head. "Sugar, the ladies' room is like a confessional and under the circumstances, I don't feel right betraying her confidence. What I will say is that I don't think we heard the whole story from her. It's my opinion that she thinks she's doing you a favor by turning you down."
"What? Doing me a favor. Is she crazy?" He scooped up a pair of small rocks from the step below him and chucked them one at a time toward the trunk of a nearby oak. "It's my mother, isn't it? The whole North Dallas society thing. She scared Holly off with that wedding gown shopping trip."
"Do you honestly think that?"
Again, a sigh. "No. Holly is stronger than that. But I don't know what to think."
Maggie reached behind her for another small stone.
Handing it to him, she said, "Talk to her, Justin. Get her to talk to you."
The rock hit the oak's trunk dead center. "How the hell am I supposed to do that? She never answers her phone."
"So you've called her?"
"Yeah. A time or two." He shrugged and stretched out his legs. "She never picks up, and I'll be damned if I'll talk to her machine."
Justin's long face made her want to reach over and hug him, but instead, she tried lightening the moment by patting his knee and teasing, "If you don't do something about that hound-dog expression, Doctor, we're liable to risk a leash law violation."
He looked at her with sad, golden-brown eyes. His mouth twitched, then he let out a low, mournful howl.
Maggie laughed, then gave in to the impulse to give him a hug. "You're a mess, too, Justin. As big a mess as me, I do believe, and that is saying a lot."
"How's that?"
"For one thing, my love life is in even worse trouble than yours."
"That's hard to believe."
"It's true. It's one of the reasons Holly and I bonded in the bathroom." Now it was Maggie's turn to offer a rueful smile. "She witnessed a scene between me and my husband that afternoon that gave yours a run for its money. She witnessed a repeat of a sort here today."
"Here? Holly's downtown?"
"Not anymore. She took our friend Grace home after the scene with my husband."
"Oh."
Justin pitched one more rock at the tree, then shot her a curious look. Maggie could tell he wanted to ask about Mike. It was human nature to compare scars, wasn't it?
"I don't want to talk about my husband. I don't even want to think about him. To be perfectly honest, that's one of the reasons why I'm meddling."
The pigeons took flight, swooped over them. Maggie shielded her head with her hands until they were gone. "Justin, in your heart of hearts, why do you think Holly refused your proposal?"
He sighed heavily and leaned back, resting his weight on his elbows and stretching out his legs. He fastened his gaze on the leafy branches of a giant oak where a pair of mourning doves sat cooing side by side. "I honestly don't know. What does that say about our relationship? I've dated the woman for months. I thought I knew her, but obviously I misread her big time. My romantic proposal turned out to be a major disaster."
Romantic? He'd considered that romantic? What happened to candlelight and soft music? Maybe Holly had the right idea by refusing him, after all. "Why did you propose to her there, like that?"
"At the wedding gown sale, you mean?"
Maggie nodded.
Justin snorted with disgust. "I did it as a tribute to her mom. Her mother died of breast cancer. Holly talks about her a lot. They were very close. I thought she'd be pleased, that she'd feel like her mom was with her at such an important moment. Dumb idea, huh?"
Maggie winced. "It was a lovely thought, but in hindsight, I think you'd have been better served with candlelight and flowers."
"Yeah. I figured that one out myself." Justin rolled up to a seated position, then clasped his hands between his knees. "I never thought she'd turn me down."
It wasn't the self-mocking tone of voice that caused Maggie concern so much as the hopelessness in his expression. Reaching out, she touched the younger man's arm and spoke from her heart, spoke from her experience. "Justin, don't give up on Holly. Don't forget that her problems, whatever they are, are real to her. Respect that, even if you don't always understand it. Don't forget that she's hurting and needs patience and support. She's been there for you when you needed her, hasn't she? If you really love her, how can you quit on her?"
"What?"
"Think about it, Justin. Try to figure out why she turned down your proposal."
"What do you think I've been doing for the past couple of weeks? All I do is think about it." He shot a heated scowl her way. "And I didn't say anything about quitting on her. Look, she cold-cocked me that day at the Greystone, but I recovered. It took a few days, but I called her. Of course, since she won't pick up the phone I might as well be calling Mars. Collect. I love Holly, but dammit, I'm human, too. This can't be all one-sided. She's got to make an effort, too. Every time she knocks me down, I'm a little slower getting up. Honestly, unless something changes, one day I'm afraid I won't get up at all."
"Or you'll go buy a boat," she muttered glumly.
"What?"
Maggie groaned and buried her head in her hands. She'd had this argument before a dozen times. With Mike. This was
their
argument. Mike's words were coming out of Justin's mouth. It was all getting too weird.
Needing a calming influence, Maggie reached for her purse and removed her lipstick and cosmetics mirror. She freshened the coral color on her lips, then returned her feminine armor to her bag. Slowly, she stood.
"I think her mom is the key to this situation. I think Holly is still grieving."
"Grieving? She isn't grieving. It's been thirteen years."
"Grief is as individual as a fingerprint, Doctor. I don't care if it's been thirteen days or thirteen years. Nobody has the right to say, 'Time's, up.'"
He held up his hands, palms out. "You're right. You're right about that. I just don't think you're right about Holly in this instance. She talks about her mom fairly often. She never tears up or anything. Sure, losing her mother was hurtful, but she's moved on. She's healed."
"Has she?" Maggie thought back to that day at the Greystone where Holly had cried I
don't want to die.
"What does she say about her mother's death?"
"Not much." Justin frowned. "Not anything, really. What I know about that I've learned from her father."
"You made it through medical school, Justin. You must have a brain in that head of yours. Use it. Figure out why she's scared."
"Scared?"
"Yes, scared. It's obvious as yellow on roasted corn. Figure out why, Justin, and you might just find the key to convincing her to marry you."
Maggie reached out a hand. "And in the meantime, since I'm in the process of becoming her friend, I think I'll do what I can to help."
Justin let her pull him to his feet. "Why? Why do you care? You hardly know her. You just met her two weeks ago."
"Ah, but it was a heckuva meeting." Maggie glanced in the general direction of the Greystone and shrugged. "I like Holly. Why shouldn't I care? Besides, in all honesty, helping her is going to help me just as much. I can use someone to mother for a little while."
"You think you can mother her into marrying me?"
"Maybe. Mother or scheme or manipulate. Sometimes the words are interchangeable."
Justin clucked his tongue and shook his head. "You are a piece of work, Maggie Prescott."
"Actually, I'm a mess. But I feel better than I did an hour ago, so I think I'll let you get back to your booth and I'll head out. I have places to go, men to meet."
"Men to meet?"
Maggie shrugged. She couldn't pinpoint exactly when the idea occurred to her, but it had been sometime during the past hour. What began as a whim had taken on substance as anger and the need for retribution seeped through her. "What's good for the gander and all of that. Say, do you know any nice men my age who might want to take me out?"
"You're married."
"So is my husband, but that doesn't seem to stop him from dating. You know, the more I think about the notion, the better I like it. We're separated, you see. Mike and I. Today I found out we're more separated than I had previously thought. Why shouldn't I see other men?"
Justin blew out a harsh breath. "You're dangerous, Maggie. I don't know if Holly should be hanging out with you. You'll give her ideas."
"I don't know about that. Holly appears to be pretty good about coming up with ideas of her own. Like the plan she'd made for the day you proposed. Now, that was an idea."
"Oh, yeah? What was it?"
Maggie tugged him down the stone steps. Maybe she shouldn't tell him, but he deserved to know what he was missing. "I have two words for you, Doctor. Storeroom sex."
Justin froze. His eyes widened momentarily, then narrowed when he grimaced. His voice raspy, he repeated, "Storeroom sex?"
"Something about crotchless panties, too." Pleased with his stunned expression, she reached out and patted his arm. "Don't whimper, sugar. It's not seemly for a medical doctor. Besides, I think she might have been kidding about the panties. Might have been a thong."
* * *
Sunday afternoon, Holly wheeled the lawn mower into the shed, then used the hem of her tee shirt to wipe the perspiration from her brow. Despite the pleasant temperature of the spring day, she'd managed to work up a sweat in the time it took to push the old mower over the three-quarters of an acre of green grass and pesky weeds.
Justin had tried to buy her a riding mower when the grass started growing this season, but she'd resisted. She already let her neighbor across the street show her up as it was. Mrs. Litty was fifty-seven and, as she was quick to point out, she still didn't use self-propelled equipment. While she didn't come right out and call her younger neighbor a wussy, Holly understood the implication.
Holly's home was in Richland Hills, an older suburb of Fort Worth located midway between downtown and D/FW airport. The town was a little pocket of rural surrounded by city, where modest homes sat on two-acre lots. In backyards, horses were as common as swimming pools. The homeowners were a mostly friendly mix of older residents who'd lived in their homes thirty years or more, and young families, many of whom had returned to the neighborhood in which they'd grown up.