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Smashwords
Amazon
Category:
Romance
Publisher: Smashwords
ISBN-10: 1463555598
ISBN-13: 9781463555597
Maggie and Sam grew up in the same town, knew each other in school, admired each other from afar, but never dated. She was just a little too straight and narrow for this bad boy. Now they’re all grown up and back in their hometown – she to deal with a family crisis, he to prove that he’s changed his ways. Neither can deny their attraction but they’re still at odds. She’s down on family life – can he be the one to convince her to settle down?
“Melanie! Where are you?” Maggie called as she stormed into the kitchen, letting the screen door slam behind her. Even the scent of freshly baked blueberry muffins didn’t soothe her temper.
“I’m here, hang on,” Melanie answered as she came down the stairs. “Where were you? I made breakfast for us.”
“I took the dog to the vet. By the way, did you know that Sam Callahan—Sam Callahan from high school—was the vet?” Maggie demanded.
Melanie didn’t bother to suppress a smile. “I did actually, yes.”
Maggie gaped at her. “Then why didn’t you tell me, for god’s sake? You could have at least warned me.”
“I thought it would be more fun this way,” Melanie answered. When she saw Maggie’s scowl, she laughed. “Oh my god, you don’t still have a crush on him do you?”
Maggie stared. “What are you talking about? I never had a crush on Sam.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“I was just surprised to see him. So surprised that I couldn’t remember how to speak properly and made a fool of myself.”
“Maggie at a loss for words, now there’s a first. You do still have a crush on him,” Melanie said as she retrieved two coffee mugs from the cupboard.
“I do not! And why are you saying ‘still’? Who said I ever did?” Maggie asked as she paced.
“Oh, come on, Maggie. I read your diary. Why else were you writing ‘Mrs. Maggie Callahan’ over and over and over?”
Maggie felt like she’d been hit with a brick for the second time that morning. “You read my diary? My private and personal diary? How could you?”
Melanie shrugged. “Isn’t that what little sisters are for?”
Maggie was so angry couldn’t speak. She left the kitchen and let the screen door slam behind her, stalking across the driveway back to her apartment over the garage.
Melanie followed her. “Come on, Maggie, it was years and years ago. Don’t be mad.”
“It may have been years ago but I only just found out that all of my private thoughts weren’t so private after all. So, did you have fun? Did you share them with all your friends?” Maggie fumed.
Melanie bit her lip. That told Maggie all she needed to know.
“Try to understand what it was like for me, Maggie. I was the little sister always two steps behind you. I just wanted to see what it was like to be grown up. I’m sorry if you feel like I invaded your privacy. I didn’t do it to hurt you.”
Maggie harrumphed. “Well, I guess it’s no good denying I had a crush on Sam. But ‘had’ is the operative word. As in past tense.”
Melanie held up her hands. “Okay, whatever you say. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you about him. I never thought you would get so worked up about it. He’s still pretty hot, huh?”
Maggie only glared at her in reply.
Melanie moved toward the boxes that were still stacked up near the small bookshelf. “Hey, you didn’t unpack your books yet. Need some help?”
“What? Oh, no, thanks. I’ll do it later on sometime. I’m not really in the mood to read that stuff right now anyway.”
Melanie sat down in the reading chair. “Okay, now I know something is wrong. You don’t want to work? What gives?”
Maggie sighed and sank down on her bed. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I guess I’m just burned out at the moment. I’ve been working so hard to finish up my degree and have been focused so long on writing and then defending my dissertation that I just don’t even want to think about any of that stuff for a little while.”
“Are you saying that you don’t want to be a professor anymore?” Melanie asked incredulously. “It’s all you’ve been working for all these years.”
“What do you care? You always thought what I was doing was boring anyway,” Maggie replied.
“That’s not the point,” Melanie answered. “I can’t deny I couldn’t see the appeal of studying all those long dead artists and all the dull and dry history that went along with it—”
“Thanks a lot.”
“Let me finish. You obviously saw something in all that stuff that I didn’t. So why are you just tossing all that aside now? Do you want to just quit?”
“No, that’s not what I’m saying,” Maggie answered. She fell back and lay on the bed. “At least I don’t think that’s what I’m saying. Hell, I’m tired. I don’t know what I want to do anymore. But what I do not want to do is read those books. Not now anyway.”
“I have an idea.”
“This ought to be good,” Maggie muttered.
“Smart ass. I should just let you lie there and wallow,” Melanie said, preparing to leave.
Maggie sat up. “Okay, I’m sorry. What’s your idea?”
“Why don’t you paint? You were so good at it and it’s what got you interested in studying art in the first place. Why not get your hands dirty again? It might be just what you need to get over this rough spot.”
Maggie smiled. “You know, you’re pretty smart for a bratty little sister. Thanks.”
{...}
“Now let’s go eat, I’m starved. After breakfast, we’ll go to the library and get you a couple of big juicy romance novels. That should clear the cobwebs out,” Melanie said, wiggling her eyebrows.
“Sure,” Maggie answered half-heartedly. But she didn’t think she’d get any romance novels. That was the last thing she on her mind right now.
Excerpt
Maggie had readjusted her expectations after dinner so she wasn’t overly surprised when Sam pulled his truck into the parking lot of the local tavern.
She pressed a hand to her jittering stomach as she waited for him to come around and open her door. She thought she’d conquered her nerves over dinner but apparently there were a few stray ones who hadn’t yet gotten the message to relax.
“Come on,” Sam said as he opened her door. She slid out and allowed him to lead her inside.
She’d never been inside the Green Mill Tavern. She’d been too young when she left Liberty the first time and it wasn’t a place she frequented during the few short visits she’d made over the years. Her mother had disapproved of the tavern and anyone who patronized it. Just that thought alone gave Maggie a little thrill as she crossed the threshold.
It was bigger than it looked on the outside. The large L-shaped room was hazy with smoke and filled to capacity. People swayed together on the dance floor to a Garth Brooks ballad, others tapped their feet at their tables. Sam pulled her along as he made a beeline for a vacant table.
“What would you like?” he said, raising his voice to be heard over the music. “Beer? Wine?”
Maggie glanced around and decided that a hundred other people couldn’t be wrong. “Beer is fine, thanks.”
“Be right back.”
The song changed and Maggie watched in fascination as the people on the dance floor arranged themselves into lines and began to dance in a practiced set of moves. She’d heard of line-dancing of course but had never seen it in person. It wasn’t the sort of thing that her colleagues back at Columbia would have gone in for.
The music was getting to her and she began to tap her foot. Part of Maggie longed to join the fun but a larger part reminded her of her general lack of coordination and kept her glued to her chair.
“Here you go,” Sam said as he set a bottle of beer in front of her. He took a swig of his own and gestured to the dancers. “Care to join them?”
“Oh no, thanks,” Maggie stammered. “I can’t really dance.”
“Well, it’s time you learned,” Sam answered. “Why else did you think I brought you here?”
The current song ended to claps and hoots from the dancers. When the next one began, Sam grabbed Maggie’s hand. “This one is perfect. Come with me.”
She followed him to the dance floor reluctantly. “It’s okay, Sam, really. You don’t have to do this.”
“Oh but I want to,” he said as he pulled her close. He smiled at her. “Relax. Just follow me.”
Maggie took a breath and tried to do as he asked. She immediately stomped on his toe. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” he answered. “This is a two-step. It’s real easy, just like this. We’ll just make our way around the floor. Nice and slow.”
Maggie’s stomach pitched a little as she concentrated on following his lead. She wanted so much to make a good impression on Sam.
And she hated to look a fool.
The dance was easier than she thought and soon she was able to look up at Sam instead of down at her feet as they shuffled around the floor.
“See, it’s not so hard,” Sam said when he caught her eye. “Admit it, it’s kind of fun, isn’t it?”
Maggie smiled. “Maybe.”
“You know, I have a confession to make to you,” Sam said. “I’ve wanted to dance with you for a long time.”
“Really?” Maggie asked as she took a quick look down at her feet.
“You probably don’t remember but it was at the Homecoming Dance, the year I was a senior. ‘Every Breath You Take’ by The Police had just come on and I caught sight of you standing with a group of your friends. You were wearing this amazing blue dress, kind of like tonight and you turned and looked at me. I wanted so much to cross that dance floor and ask you to dance with me but I just stood there. Then some friends of mine came up and pulled me away.” Sam flexed his fingers on her back. “I’ve never forgotten that moment.”
Maggie looked up at Sam too stunned to speak. She couldn’t believe that he remembered. She thought that she’d been the only one who noticed.
That moment had been frozen in time for her. She’d written about the incident in her journal and had replayed it in her mind over and over again. How many times had she broken her own heart with longing for a dance that never happened?
And now here she was in his arms.
Sam ran his thumb up and down her spine slowly, tracing each vertebra, then leaned down and brushed a soft kiss across her upturned lips.
Maggie’s stomach flipped and her eyes grew wide. She couldn’t believe that this was happening, right here, right now.
She pulled away from him.
“Maggie?” Sam asked as he let her go.
Maggie looked at him, eyes wide. “Excuse me but I think I’m going to be sick.”
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