Chapter 34
Chapter thirty-four
LEE
“So, have you told her yet?” Charlie lingered in the corner of the bar with me while our friends exchanged gifts and wrapped up the brunch. Everyone had somewhere to be.
Including me.
“Not yet, no. I’m waiting until everyone clears out. Will you be up there with her tonight? It’s y’all’s first Christmas without Cole and…”
Charlie nodded, patting my back. “Of course. Sutton made her a whole batch of fried chicken and chocolate chip cookies, and I ordered some side dishes from Treylor Park. I’ll do a big spread and stay the night. She’ll be fine, Lee. We have her, don’t worry.”
I watched Maggie move around the room, hugging our friends and passing out kisses on the cheek and cheers with her glass. She looked vibrant and happy, but I could tell something was eating at her. It was written all over her face.
And, as usual, I was the only one who noticed.
“I’m not doubting your ability to take care of your sister, Charlie. I’m just saying that—”
“That you love her and you want her to be happy, which is why you’re doing what you’re doing. I know, Lee.”
What I was doing was not solely contingent on me, but when the offer presented itself, I took it as a sign and ran with it. It was almost like I was sitting on a mound of questions, and when I got the phone call after leaving Charlie’s the day before, they’d all, somewhat, been answered.
“Will I see you after Christmas? I have to help Jordan and Doyle with a delivery for a big party tonight, so I have to run,” Charlie said somewhat quietly.
“Yeah, man, you’ll see me. I’ll be by tomorrow. I have some gifts for you two and the cat.”
“Of course you do,” he chuckled. “Alright, brother, see you tomorrow. Merry Christmas, Lee.”
“Merry Christmas, Charlie.” I watched him glide through the bar and kiss his sister on the cheek. Jordan and Doyle waved over their shoulders before piling out the door, and Sutton followed behind with Charlie and Ryan in tow.
“Man, Ryan and Sutton, huh?” Maggie locked the door and slipped on her apron, starting work on cleaning up the brunch table.
“It’s kind of weird, right? Like, they’re a great fit, but they’re not.”
She smiled softly. “Same could be said of a lot of couples around here, I think.”
I let out a puff of air and joined her at the table, clearing up dishes and putting the poinsettias back around the bar. Her comment opened the door to a bigger conversation, but I decided to let it ride on the wind.
That night, there were bigger fish to fry.
I watched her work, cleaning up the mess we’d made. She took such pride in everything she did, and from what I understood, that was the O’Malley in her. No matter what happened, the bar would come back to life. She just needed a little bit of a financial push to make it happen.
Magnolia didn’t need me to make her dreams come true. Every success she was going to have was because of her. She was the hardest working person I’d ever met.
Soon, she’d be getting ready for New Year’s Eve, and hopefully, she’d glide right into the New Year with a successful business.
We’d already hired a few more people so that our friends didn’t have to pick up the grunt work and they could continue to enjoy the bar as guests. I’d called in a bookkeeper friend of Momma’s to help out with the finances.
And with her soon-to-be husband due back any day now, she’d be just fine.
“Maggie, I gotta talk to you about something. Can we sit?”
“Sit? No way. I’m not getting all tangled up in another one of those ‘pick me, choose me, love me’ rom-com diatribes with you again, Lee. Charlie should be back in a few hours, and I want this place cleaned so I don’t have to come downstairs at all tomorrow unless I need to fix myself a drink.”
“Magnolia,” I said her name sadly, yet sternly. “I really, really need to talk to you.”
She could tell by the look on my face and the tone of my voice that something was wrong, and it wasn’t another one of my speeches. Speeches which were epic, by the way, so I wasn’t sure why she was throwing so much shade.
“Is everything okay? Is it your momma? Is it Dane?”
I took a seat at one of the tables, and she joined, sitting next to me, her eyes trained on me but nervously playing with the strings of her apron.
“Everyone’s fine, Magnolia. It’s just… I’m going to be heading back to Nashville. After the New Year.”
Her eyes widened in disbelief, and she quickly shut them, blinking twice as if trying to erase the shock from her face. “I see,” she said. “That’s big news.”
“Right, it surely is.”
She slowly eased to her feet and started cleaning again. I followed behind her, tugging her arm ever so slightly, turning her toward me. “Don’t you want to know why I’m leaving, Maggie?”
“Is it because I didn’t stop my life to ‘choose’ you? Because if it is, I’m not interested,” she snapped, ripping her arm back.
A laugh escaped me. “No, though, we both have to admit I did try to pack that charm on, huh?” A wave of sadness washed over me, a finality that I didn’t realize I’d been waiting for had finally arrived.
“I’ve been asked to open up for Marc Roberge on his solo tour.
Ryan and I will both be going. We’re the first act of three, so it’s not a big deal, but it’s a good gig. ”
Maggie nodded. She made her way to the long table, finally meeting my gaze at a safe distance. “I thought you weren’t performing anymore, just writing.”
I shrugged. “I mean, this will be a huge chunk of money, and our album is, like, a quarter of the way through. It will help me sell some more music and make some more money. In the end, this is a good idea for us, the Trust, the bar, you know?”
“Right. Well, will you come back for the wedding?”
I shook my head. “I was never coming to the wedding, Magnolia. In no world of mine would I ever stand witness to you marrying my brother. Which is the second half of this conversation.”
She studied me from across the room. I could feel the knots forming in my stomach, and I knew I had to choose my words wisely here.
“Just be careful, Maggie. With your heart. With Dane. With my family. But mostly, with your soul and the very essence of, well, you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that not everyone on this earth has your best interest in mind and not everyone cares about you enough to keep your feelings safe.” I paused the slow crawl I was making toward her and scrubbed a hand over my face.
“I know it took you a long time to patch your heart back together after I left, and I’d hate to see it get smashed into a million pieces again. ”
She slowly lowered herself onto the bench that lined the back wall of the bar, staring blankly at the table.
Before I said more than I should, I made my way to the door.
If I didn’t walk away and put some space between us, she’d never have the freedom to figure out what I knew, and had known, on her own.
“For what it’s worth, though, Magnolia Pruitt, breaking your heart was the worst thing I’ve ever done. And if I had the chance, I would spend the rest of my days gluing all of the pieces back together, even the ones I wasn’t responsible for.”