Chapter 15
Maggie made good on her promise to Luke the next day, after staying up late to work on some ideas for The Busy Bee social media profiles. The two of them spoke to Deb about the possibilities, and she agreed quicker than Maggie thought she would.
“I knew I needed to change with the times, but there just aren’t enough hours in the day. I’d love for you to take this on.”
Deb of course didn’t want her to work for free, nor did she want Luke to pay for her services, but Luke got her to agree to letting him cover the first couple months as an early Mother’s Day present.
God, he was the sweetest.
Spring was starting to peek its head out from behind Winter’s chill. While she needed her coat in the morning, she’d shed it in the afternoon.
Maggie drove over to Too Sweet, to sit at their tables and chat with Grace when she got a lull while she worked. Grace of course plied her with breakfast pastries just as decadent as her cupcakes. At least she’d eaten some scrambled eggs at the Haven.
The social media accounts were taking off, Grace’s confections doing all the work for her. And the homestyle cooking at The Busy Bee was starting to gain traction as well.
“How’s the online ordering coming?”
Grace sighed and put her elbows on the table to prop up her chin. “Slowly. I need to find someone who understands web design.”
“Doesn’t Felix have online ordering for Underhill?”
Her brown brows furrowed. “I don’t know.”
Maggie brought up the website on her laptop. “Yep. And he has to keep track of the inventory; you can bake to order.” She wagged her eyebrows. “You should ask him how he set it up.”
“I’ll do that.” Grace didn’t take the bait.
Maggie suspected the tension she’d seen between them at game night was one-sided.
Joe had a family obligation, so last Tuesday Luke, Maggie, Felix, and Grace played a rousing game of Red Dragon Inn.
Grace told her once Felix was just a friend, but Maggie had been able to tell from the way he watched Grace that he wanted to be more.
Poor Felix.
Around noon, the bell over the door rang and Luke stepped inside, carrying a wicker hamper. “Hey Maggie. Ready to go?”
She looked up from her screen and grinned. “A picnic? Is it warm enough?”
“He’ll keep you warm.” Grace teased from the counter. “Did you pack dessert, Luke?”
“Why would I pack dessert when I could pick it up here?”
“Smart man.” Grace packed some treats into a box while Maggie shut down her laptop and put it back into its bag. She had everything put away by the time Luke finished.
“Where are we going?”
“Chestnut Park. There’s a nice spot a little way in where we can set up.”
“Sounds good.”
With the hamper, it was a bit far to walk, so she locked her laptop in her trunk and then slid into his passenger seat.
“How was your morning?”
“Good! I got the accounts set up for Busy Bee and a couple of posts scheduled.”
He wrapped his hand around hers and squeezed. “Thank you for doing this. I will feel better about Mom knowing that the business is going to be able to support her.”
“Of course. Also, you’re the best son for offering to cover the fees for her.”
He let go of her hand to start the car and back out of the space. “The whole point is to make sure she’s solvent, adding another expense isn’t going to help that.”
“I would have done it for free for her.”
He shook his head vehemently. “You shouldn’t.”
She watched his face, remembering Sean’s words when she’d tossed the idea of going freelance after her job disappeared. He’d scoffed.
“Who would hire you? You’ll never replace your income that way.” And then of course there’d been, “You don’t need to work, I make plenty of money for us.”
At least she’d been fortunate enough not to have student loans.
“Thank you for believing in me.”
Luke looked over at her for a brief second, then put his eyes back to the road. “You’re so passionate about it, how could I not?”
A warm glow settled into her chest. When he left, could she follow him?
And give up this adorable town? The glow dimmed as she considered that option. She had finally found a place she belonged, and she didn’t want to leave Virginia or Deb or Grace. They’d welcomed her with open arms and even Edith at The May Tree had been kind, even though she’d been a stranger.
Maggie pushed the depressing thoughts away as they pulled into Chestnut Park’s small gravel lot. A wooden arch with the name of the park stood over the trail that led inside.
“I haven’t been here yet.”
Luke put the car in park and turned to her. “It’s a small riverfront park. Some walking trails, a playground area for kids. That sort of thing.”
“Sounds lovely.” He came around the car and helped her out, then picked up the basket.
“Do you have a blanket in there?”
“Of course. There are picnic tables, but I wanted to show you my favorite spot.”
They walked arm in arm through the woods. Coniferous trees stood with their leafless brethren, tiny, pale buds jutting out along the branches. That odd spring scent that heralded the coming warmer months danced in the air.
“In about a month, this place will be full with blooms. That’s when the tourists show up.” Luke explained.
“I can’t wait.”
They passed an empty playground, its bright colors standing out amongst the brown trees. “We’re almost there,” Luke assured her.
Assurances weren’t necessary. Maggie was enjoying just walking with him. Birds sang from deep in the trees, and the silence between them was comfortable. She had no pressing need to fill it, to entertain him. His presence, and apparently hers, were more than enough.
He brought her to a clearing just off the walking path, then led her to the back. The sound of rushing water met her ears.
“What’s that?”
“You’ll see,” he said with a grin. Another path from the clearing took them to a grassy knoll overlooking a huge river. Across the way, Maggie could almost make out more trees, and possibly a highway.
“Oh, wow.”
Luke released her arm and let her look at the powerful river rushing past. “The Schuylkill River is a bit muddy right now with the snowmelt. But it’s still nice to watch.”
She turned to look at him and pushed some hair back behind her ear that the breeze had blown forward. “This is great.”
He pulled a blanket out from the basket and laid it down, setting the basket on top. Maggie kneeled on the blanket with him as he pulled out sandwiches, fruit, and bottles of water.
She leaned against him as they ate, watching the river roll past.
“My Dad brought me here. He used to tell me that life was like the river.”
“How so?” Maggie took another bite of her turkey on wheat.
“It’s always moving.” Luke pointed at a spot in the distance.
“The water that makes up the river today won’t be the same as tomorrow, or the next day.
It’s not the same river from the 1800s that carried logs to Philadelphia.
” He lowered his hand and looked at her.
“Life is always changing. We’re always growing, adapting, learning. Even when we think we’re stuck.”
Maggie watched the sunlight dancing along the surface of the water as it moved.
“I like that.” She wasn’t the same person that had married Sean, or the one that had sought love from a mother that wasn’t prepared to fight for her.
She’d grown, adapted, literally moved from one place to another just like the water in the river.
Smiling as she polished off her sandwich, she popped the lid off the container of grapes Luke had packed.
“May I?” He plucked one from the stem and held it up to her lips.
Thank goodness there was no one around to see her cheeks turn red.
She parted her lips, and he slid the grape inside, letting her roll the firm fruit around her tongue before biting into the juicy flesh.
Then he fed her another. She locked her gaze on his, and saw the heat flare in his eyes as she sucked his finger in with it, swirling her tongue around the tip.
“Maggie…” he groaned. He cupped the back of her head and drew her close. She had just enough time to chew and swallow the bite before his lips were on hers.
Food forgotten, he dominated her mouth and overwhelmed her tongue as he tasted her.
Grasping his shoulders, Maggie plastered her body to his, the firm muscles against her soft curves pulling a moan from her throat.
He answered her in kind, then left her lips and trailed kisses to her ear, along her jaw, and down her throat, all the while chanting her name.
“Maggie, Maggie, Maggie…”
She fell to her back on the blanket, pulling him down on top of her. His kisses became more desperate, pulling her shirt to the side to suck at her collarbone. His name was a whimper on her lips as she dug her hands into his thick dark hair.
“Luke… please.”
“Please what, sweetheart?” He paused and held himself above her, panting. His lips were red and swollen. “What do you need?”
God, what did she need? Her brain wasn’t firing on all thrusters and she wasn’t sure what to tell him.
“Do you want me to touch you?”
She nodded frantically. God, she hadn’t been touched with care in so long. Sean hadn’t cared about her pleasure since he showed his true colors.
“Where?”
In answer, Maggie pulled her t-shirt up over her breasts, then unhooked her front closure bra and let them spill out into the sunlight. Luke stared, and stared. Then he drew his hands around them, like he’d been given something precious. Gently, he thumbed her nipples.
It wasn’t enough. “More.” She arched her back and pressed her chest towards him.
He glanced back at her face as though checking in once more, and she knew she was safe with him. Then he fell on her breasts like a starving man, kissing them everywhere while his hands squeezed. His bodyweight on her pelvis added delicious pressure right on her clit.
When he took a nipple in his mouth and sucked, while rolling the other under his thumb, she moaned and ground her jean-clad pussy against his stomach.
“That’s it, sweetheart. Take what you need.” He switched his attentions to the other breast and rolled her wet nipple under the other thumb.
She was nothing more than a ball of writhing, aching need. And she needed to come, damn it. Needed it more than oxygen. Pushing him down, she thrust her hips up at him.
“Are you sure?”
“Please.”
Luke releasing her from her jeans was a relief, and she lifted her hips so he could pull the stiff fabric down. “Panties, too?”
All she could do was nod, and then the warm sun hit her intimate flesh. Luke threw her clothes to the side and laid down between her legs, sucking kisses into her thick thighs.
What was he doing? Her breaths had started to slow down. She looked down over her nearly naked form to see his grin.
“Put your hands on my head. I’ll make you feel good.”
Gingerly, she did as he said, threading her fingers into his hair. He lowered his mouth to her pussy and licked from her opening to her clit.
“Oh!” Her hips jumped in the air, and he chuckled, then laid his arm across her lower stomach.
“Just relax, baby.”
Relax? When he was eating her out like she was his last meal?
His tongue dove inside, and she didn’t have words for how incredible it felt.
No one had done this for her, ever. She’d given Sean blow jobs, usually as part of their foreplay, but he’d never returned the favor.
Was he — was he sucking her clit into his mouth?
! Holy mother of — Red hot heat pulsed in her core, and Maggie’s cries rang out through their clearing.
Then Luke took two fingers and slid them inside her, crooked them just so, and found a spot Maggie hadn’t known about. Pleasure overwhelmed her, and her whole body shook with her climax. Her vision whited out as warmth flooded her from head to toe.
Luke gentled his touch as she came down, her thighs trembling around his head. With a final kiss to her pussy, he drew her panties back up her legs as she lay boneless on the blanket. He stretched himself alongside her, her breathing starting to return to normal.
“You’re so beautiful, Maggie.” He leaned over and kissed each nipple, then started to pull her bra closed.
She stopped him with her hands on his. “What about you?”