Chapter 14
M aggie walked around to the back of Sarah’s house and stepped onto the beach, her sandals dangling from one hand, a bakery box in the other.
Ahead, she could see Lauren and Sarah sitting on a blanket near the water's edge.
Daniel lay between them on his back, tiny hands reaching for the colorful pinwheel Sarah held above him.
Maggie paused for a moment, watching her daughters.
Lauren's hair shimmered gold in the sunlight, so like her father's had been.
Sarah sat cross-legged, her long blond hair pulled back in a casual ponytail.
The sight of them together, grown women now with lives and families of their own, still had the power to catch Maggie's breath.
She continued forward, her feet sinking into the warm sand with each step.
"Room for one more?" she called as she approached.
Sarah looked up first, smiling and waving. Lauren's gaze remained fixed on Daniel a moment longer before she turned, her expression carefully neutral.
"Hey, Mom," Sarah said, shifting to make space on the blanket. "Perfect timing. We were just debating whether to take this little guy for his first ocean dip."
"Just his toes," Lauren clarified, tickling Daniel's belly. "Though I'm pretty sure Jeff would have a heart attack if he knew I was contemplating submerging any part of his son without him present to document it."
Maggie settled onto the blanket, setting the pastry box between them. "Peace offering," she said, meeting Lauren's eyes directly. "And an apology. I was...inexcusably rude this morning."
Lauren's shoulders relaxed slightly. "You were stressed."
"I was," Maggie acknowledged. "But that's not an excuse for how I treated you. I'm sorry, sweetheart."
"And I should have called first," Lauren admitted. "I’ll do that next time.”
"I'm always happy to see you," Maggie said firmly. "Even when I don't act like it. I hope you know that."
Lauren nodded. “I do.”
Sarah opened the pastry box, eyeing the contents. "Now that we've gotten the apologies out of the way, can we discuss these pastries? Because I'm suddenly starving." She pulled out one of the Portuguese treats and took a bite, closing her eyes in bliss. "Oh, sweet mercy."
The tension broken, Lauren reached for Daniel, lifting him onto her lap where he could watch the waves crashing gently on the shore. "Tell Grandma what we saw this morning, Danny," she said, bouncing him lightly. "We saw dolphins, didn't we? Right off the pier."
As Lauren turned to point toward the water, something in her profile caught Maggie's attention—a tightness around her mouth, shadows beneath her eyes that makeup couldn't quite conceal.
Lauren had always been her most vivacious child, quick to laugh, quicker to plan the next adventure.
But there was something subdued about her today, a heaviness that hadn't been there during her last visit.
Maggie glanced at Sarah, wondering if she'd noticed it too, but Sarah was busy distributing napkins and placing the pastries on top.
"Speaking of wildlife," Sarah said, licking sugar from her fingers and looking at Lauren, "did you hear what they found at Isabelle and Gretchen's café site? Native American pottery, Spanish coins—apparently the building might be sitting on what was once a Calusa shell mound."
"I did hear something about that." Lauren nodded, though her attention remained partially on Daniel. "I hear they’ve brought in some archaeologist from the university?"
"Dr. Reyes," Sarah supplied. "Emma knows her. Apparently, she's quite respected in her field. She did some work with an excavation Emma covered for National Geographic a few years back."
"Small world," Lauren mused, adjusting Daniel's sun hat. "Is Emma excited about the baby coming? Mom said she looks ready to pop."
"Any day now," Maggie confirmed. "They're seeing the Maxwell cottage tomorrow—you know, the blue one right on the beach? I think they're serious about moving here permanently."
"It would be good for them," Sarah said softly. "After everything they've been through."
The three women fell silent for a moment, watching as a pelican dove into the water several yards offshore, emerging with a fish wriggling in its beak.
"So," Lauren said finally, turning to Maggie. "Tell me honestly. How bad is it at the inn? Is Grandma's YouTube fame really causing that much chaos?"
Maggie sighed, running her fingers through the warm sand beside the blanket.
"It's not just the number of guests—though yes, we're booked solid through Thanksgiving.
It's the type of guests. They all arrive expecting some mystical experience they've seen on her channel.
One woman yesterday asked if we could recreate the 'magical sunset moment' from episode three. "
Sarah snorted. "As if you control the sunset."
"If I did, we'd charge extra," Maggie said dryly.
"Honestly, though, between managing the regular inn operations and fielding constant questions about your grandmother's whereabouts, I'm stretched thin.
We all are." She looked at Lauren apologetically.
"Which, again, doesn't excuse my behavior this morning. "
"Have you talked to Grandma about it?" Lauren asked, shifting Daniel to her shoulder as he began to fuss.
"I've tried," Maggie said. "She thinks it's wonderful—all this attention.
She's talking about organizing a 'Silver Wanderer' meet-up at the inn next month. I’m putting a stop to that. I don’t want the inn to be known for this YouTube stuff. If Mom wants to continue with this hobby, that’s her business, but she needs to leave the inn out of it. "
"Wait," Sarah said, sitting up straighter. "She wants to host a convention? For her YouTube followers?"
"Apparently," Maggie nodded grimly. "I managed to convince her the inn doesn't have room, but I suspect she'll find another venue. The woman is unstoppable."
Lauren laughed despite herself. "That sounds like Grandma. Remember when she decided to start that seniors' kayaking club back in Massachusetts? The one the Coast Guard had to rescue three times in one summer?"
"How could I forget?" Maggie groaned. "One of those Coast Guard officers would cross the street every time he saw me coming."
They laughed together, the shared memory easing the last of the tension between them. But even as she laughed, Maggie couldn't help noticing the way Lauren's smile faded a beat too quickly, the way her gaze drifted toward the water with something like longing—or escape.
"How are things with Olivia's tennis?" Maggie asked, trying a new approach. "Has she settled into the new training program?"
Lauren's expression brightened with genuine pride. "She's thriving, actually. Her coach says she has real potential—not just regional tournament potential, but maybe national level someday."
"That's incredible," Sarah said, interest piqued. "I had no idea she was that good."
"Neither did we, until her coach in Massachusetts pulled us aside last year," Lauren admitted. "Said she had the kind of natural talent coaches dream about, but we needed to get her into a more intensive program if she wanted to develop it properly."
"Is that why you really moved?" Maggie asked gently. "For Olivia's tennis career?"
Something flickered across Lauren's face—a moment of hesitation, perhaps, or a calculation about how much to reveal. "Of course it is, what else would it be?”
Lauren seemed defensive and both Maggie and Sarah noticed.
Lauren continued, "The Sarasota Tennis Academy is one of the best in the country. They've produced Olympic athletes, Grand Slam winners."
"That's a lot of pressure for a twelve-year-old," Sarah observed, her tone carefully neutral.
"It is," Lauren agreed, her fingers unconsciously tightening around Daniel. "Jeff and I have had...discussions about it. He wants to go all-in—private coaches, weekend tournaments, the whole circuit. He sees it as investing in her future."
"And you?" Maggie prompted, sensing the unspoken tension.
Lauren exhaled slowly. "I want her to have a childhood too.
To have friends, to go to sleepovers, to be a normal kid some of the time.
" She looked up, meeting Maggie's eyes with unexpected vulnerability.
"But then I worry—what if we don't push hard enough?
What if she could have been great, and we held her back?
I don't want her to resent us someday for not giving her every opportunity. "
It was the most Lauren had revealed about the complexities of her new life in Florida, and Maggie felt a surge of maternal protectiveness.
Behind Lauren's carefully curated image of the successful realtor with the perfect family, there was clearly strain.
Whether it was just the natural stress of relocation and parenting decisions, or something deeper in her marriage to Jeff, Maggie wasn't sure.
But the shadow was there, visible now that she knew to look for it.
"It's a balancing act," Maggie said, careful not to pry too directly. "Daniel here will have his own path, too. And Lily with her nature club. Each child needs something different from us."
"Jeff doesn't always see it that way," Lauren said, so quietly that Maggie almost missed it. "He's very...focused."
Sarah caught Maggie's eye, a silent acknowledgment passing between them. This wasn't just about tennis lessons or moving for better opportunities. There was tension in Lauren's marriage, strain that hadn't been apparent during their last family gathering.
"Well," Sarah said brightly, clearly deciding to shift the topic, "Olivia is lucky to have a mother who's considering all sides of it.
Balance matters. And so does having family nearby.
" She squeezed Lauren's hand. "Trevor and I would love to come watch her play sometime.
The kids too—Noah's been asking to try tennis. "