Page 68 of Another Last Call
“I love you, Mags,” he mumbled, kissing the top of my head as I nestled onto his chest.
Together, we lay on the lounger, listening to the sounds of the night and the waves on the lake, and I closed my eyes.
This was home.
Epilogue
Caleb
Itwasthebestand the worst summer of my life.
It was the best because The Sea Glass did better than either Mags or I could have ever hoped. Once we announced we were together, things went even more smoothly. I did get a stern talking to from… well, everyone. Annie and Big Tim and Tammy, even though Tammy had only known Maggie for a few months. But all of them wanted to make sure I knew how much trust Maggie was putting in me not to hurt her, not when her livelihood and her home and, most importantly, her heart were all on the line.
I did know that, and I promised each of them that all three of those things were safe with me and always would be.
And it was also the best summer because Maggie moved in with me just a week later. It didn’t take us long to pack up her apartment, and it took even less time for her to make the cabin feel like it was the home we’d always been meant to have. The first time I walked downstairs to see Maggie sitting in the living room with her guitar, singing softly beneath her breath as she taught herself a new song… I’m not even a little ashamed to admit the sight of that made me hard.
Though, the fact that she was doing said activity while completely naked and lounging on the sheepskin rug may have had something to do with it as well.
And that’s why it was also the worst summer of my life. Because Maggie moved in with me. And Maggie moving in with me meant I got to have all of those moments.
I got those lazy mornings with the sunrise filtering into our bedroom, making love to her from behind as we curled up in our bed.
I got passionate moments in the kitchen, bending her over the counter when she got home from work late at night and went to make herself a snack.
I got Maggie, naked and sinking into the plushness of the rug as I thrust into her, her legs around my waist and her moans replacing the guitar as the music that was filling the room.
It was the worst because I got spoiled. Because every moment I wasn’t with her, I was miserable, wishing I could be back in our home with her hair in my fist or her thighs squeezing my head or her nipple in my mouth.
Not that I was complaining.
But it was an amazing summer. Sales were so good that we decided we’d do another renovation during the winter. Unlike the previous year, we didn’t have to close to do it, since there was no real rush. Adding the archway to the back wall was a single Tuesday’s work and cutting the upper wall down to a half wall was another Tuesday. Then we spent a few more Tuesdays finishing and finessing, making the whole area perfect.
There was a slight delay before the final approval. Some kind of anonymous tip that the building might not be structurally sound due to the very thoroughly planned, fully permitted, and extensively inspected renovation. I didn’t mention the delay to Maggie; she’d given me full reign of that reno, and I saw no reason to worry her when I had a feeling I knew what was happening.
As luck would have it, she wasn’t around when an inspector from the town showed up a few days later. That was especially good, since said inspector was accompanied by two men who not-so-subtly took a seat at one of the tables to watch the whole thing go down.
And as luck would have it, I was in the office when all that happened, so I had the distinct pleasure of walking out of the kitchen with a smile on my face as I went to greet the three of them.
“You’re the owner?” the inspector said, frowning as I walked up.
“Sure am,” I replied.
“Thought it was, uh… Josie Myers,” he said, looking at his papers.
“Your info seems to be outdated,” I said. “Josie sold me half the business a while ago. Her daughter, Maggie, owns the other half.”
Then, I turned to the men who had sat down.
“Todd,” I said. “Interesting to see you here. Didn’t you say you were trying to get this place shut down so your buddy could buy the land in some kind of insider deal with the town?”
I’d never seen a man go so pale.
“I said no such thing,” Todd said. “I don’t even know who you are.”
“Caleb Vaughan,” I said. “Remember, I was going to renovate my cabin and you wanted to buy it off me? I bought a shit-load of supplies from you to renovate this place. Well, some of them. After that whole thing where you commented that my girlfriend could be a stripper once your buddy got her business shut down because he was pissed she dumped a beer on his head after he made some inappropriate comments to her?” I looked at the other man. “You don’t happen to be the buddy now, are you?”
“I have no idea what you mean,” he said in a way that sounded like he totally knew what I meant.
