Chapter 10

It was Sunday morning, and Maggie decided to enjoy a cup of tea on her patio, making the most of her last day of vacation until summer break.

The sun was shining, and the temperature was perfect. Her plants were growing nicely, but she still was trying to figure out a way to get a grapefruit tree to grow in a pot.

Every garden specialist she talked to advised against it, saying it wouldn’t grow well at all. She would just have to wait until she had a house of her own to try it.

She ate a bagel and got dressed, trying to figure out something to do with her hair for the next few weeks. The way the cast was positioned on her fingers prohibited any real movement to fix it herself.

Maybe Makayla would help once they got to school. She sighed and looked at her clothes, trying to mentally get a list of clothes that would be easy for her to wear.

Going to the bathroom was also an issue. Still rummaging through her closet, she heard her doorbell go off and went out to find Brett coming in with some groceries.

“What are you doing?”

“Putting some fruit and veggies in the fridge for you. I bet it’s hard to cut up those things one-handed.”

“Thank you. It’s hard to accept help when I haven’t needed it before. Although I am still mad at you for paying for my rent!”

Brett looked at her funnily. “What are you talking about? I didn’t pay your rent, although I thought about it.”

“You didn’t pay my rent?”

“No, Mags, I didn’t.”

“Then who the hell did?”

Brett intuitively knew who it was, but shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t know, honey. I’m sorry.”

He fixed lunch and took it down to the pool area for them to eat together. They talked and laughed about life.

“Can you believe that by Christmas, Makayla and Mike are going to be parents? It still blows me away!” Brett said.

Maggie couldn’t help but tear up at the thought. Brett felt like shit as soon as he saw her face. She had always wanted kids, but she hadn’t been lucky in her past relationships.

He took her hand and squeezed it, smiling sweetly.

“I’m sorry, Mags. I didn’t mean to upset you. You will find someone who makes you happy and loves you for you. I promise you will have little ones running around you too!”

She nodded and wiped her face. “I know, Bear, I’ve just been emotional over the last few months…”

He kissed her hand and then changed the subject to summer plans.

They cleaned up and went back up to her apartment, where gave her the keys to his older Jeep Grand Cherokee and her share of the tip money from last night.

She thought it was more than she deserved, but Brett said that Sheila insisted.

“She told me this was your share. I don’t want to cross her, so just take this and don’t fuss!”

“She is something else. You are lucky to have her, Bear. It’s a shame she is looking for a new position.”

His head snapped up. “What do you mean? She can’t leave!”

She smirked at him. “Oh, maybe I heard wrong…my bad!”

“You are evil, Maggie!”

“Well, the look on your face said a ~lot~ more than you think it did, Brett.”

“What do you mean? I was upset at the possibility of losing one of my best employees.”

“Best employee that you are secretly in love with!”

He rolled his eyes. “Whatever, Maggie! You were in the sun too long!”

She shrugged her shoulders as she hugged him and said, “We’ll see.”

He scoffed, kissed her forehead, and told her to have a good rest of the day and that he would see her at the club.

While riding an Uber home, he sent a text to Liam:

“Paying her rent was a smooth move. If she finds out it was you, she will lose it, just a warning!”

Brett chuckled as he read what he had typed, and wondered what would happen next between those two.

Maggie was sitting on the patio with Gus when there was a knock on the door about an hour after Brett had left. She answered it and found a delivery man with a large white box.

“Miss Sloan? Sign here, please,” he asked, handing her his clipboard. She signed her name, and he dropped the box on her coffee table. She thanked him and closed the door behind him.

She opened the box lid and found an envelope on top of some tissue paper.

Pulling the card out, she read, ~Again, I apologize. I would love to take you out to dinner on Friday night to prove it to you. Please wear this!~

She rolled her eyes and looked at Gus. “That man is infuriating, you know that, Gus?”

Gus meowed in response and watched as she opened the paper to see a beautiful green silk dress that looked a lot like the one she ruined in the rain that day.

“Oh, geez!” she whispered as she picked up the dress and held it in her hands, feeling the soft and luxurious material. The cut of the dress was a little different, and it was sleeveless.

When Maggie looked at the tag, she gasped. It was the right size and was from a very famous designer. It must have cost a fortune—more than one month’s rent!

“What the hell is the matter with him?” she said out loud.

She didn’t know what to do. There wasn’t even anyone she could talk to for advice. Makayla wasn’t back yet, and Brett would be no help at all.

She sat on the couch, running her fingers over the material and wondering what to do until her phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Well, what do you think?” That English accent. It was Liam.

“Liam, it’s beautiful, but I can’t accept it!”

“Why not, Maggie?”

“Because it’s too much! The designer is too expensive, and it just wouldn’t be right, that’s why.”

“Did I or did I not knock you over and ruin your other dress?”

“You did.”

“Is this or is this not a very close likeness to the aforementioned dress?”

“It is pretty damn close…”

“Then what is the problem, Maggie?”

“It costs too much!”

“Is that the only problem?”

“Yes! Isn’t that enough?”

“Maggie, you are the only woman I know that complains because a gift is too expensive. Most women would relish in the thought of a designer dress as a gift.”

“I am not most women, Liam!”

“I see that now, although I had suspected that you were very different from other women the moment I laid eyes on you…”

She felt herself getting warmer from embarrassment as she listened to his words and swallowed, even though she had no saliva in her mouth. It had gone dry just hearing him talk.

“Please accept the dress, Maggie. It would make me happy to give it to you. Please?”

She sighed as she heard the soft pleading in his voice. “Okay... you win, Liam.”

“Brilliant! So can I pick you up at seven on Friday?”

“Why?”

“Because I want to take you out to dinner as an apology too!”

“You are insane, do you know that?”

“Not insane, just persistent.”

“Do you always get what you want?”

“Most of the time.”

“Fine. I will be ready at seven on Friday. You can be such a pain, you know that?”

“See you Friday, Maggie! And wear the dress!” He hung up.