“Your dad sounds like he was good to you.”
“He really was.” She reaches out and grabs a honeysuckle from a bush. She holds it on her fingers then flicks it onto the ground. “I think he was trying to compensate for my mother’s death. I mean, I know he was. But it was nice, you know?”
“I haven’t really talked to my mother about my father yet.”
She looks at me, surprise in her eyes. “Really?”
“I know, that’s awful, right?” I shake my head, staring at the path in front of us. “I tried to once, when he first passed. She wasn’t ready, and I just…” I trail off.
“It’s never too late, you know.”
“Yeah. I know. I’m going to. I call her every day just to check in.”
She laughs. “I know, I hear. She’s always asking you about me.”
“She can’t help herself. She thinks this whole thing is insane, and she doesn’t even know that it’s fake.”
“Can you blame her? We did rush into a marriage.”
“True. I just…” I trail off. “I wish I could tell her how much of an asshole Dad used to be. And how much happier she seems without him.”
I expect her to give me a disgusted, horrified look. Instead, she seems thoughtful. “From what I can tell, your father wasn’t a kind man,” she says. “I doubt your mother needs to be told that.”
“True.” I shake my head. “It’s just not simple.”
“It never is.”
“Even though he was a tough person to be around sometimes, he was still her partner for forty years. Can you imagine that? Being with someone that long?”
“I know.” She laughs. “God, we’ll never make it.”
“Not with that attitude.”
“Would you even want to be with someone that long?” she asks.
I shrug and look up at the sky. The sun’s bright and the clouds drift lazily across the blue. “When I get married, it’s going to be for real,” I say, my voice low, before I grin at her. “And I’m aware of how that sounds.”
She laughs. “You really mean that though, don’t you?”
“I want a partner. I want a wife. Don’t you?”
“I don’t want a wife, but I do want a partner.”
“I love the idea of being with someone for the rest of my life. I just… I have to find the right person. I don’t want to make the same mistake my mother made.”
Maggie goes quiet for a few minutes. We get closer to the pier and I put my arm around her without thinking. She reaches up and takes my hand as it drapes off her shoulder, her fingers intertwining with mine.
“I want that too,” she says, her voice soft.
I smile and we walk down the pier together.
Larry Sloan stands at the end, wearing khaki trousers, dress shoes, and a dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He has a tackle box next to him, and his line bobs in the water.
“Mr. Sloan,” I call out from a respectable distance away.
He turns and frowns then shades his eyes. “Josh Cork?”
I nod and wave, moving closer. “Hello, Larry. How’s the fishing today?” Maggie hangs back a bit, her arms crossed over her chest as the wind picks up, blowing across the water.
Larry laughs. “Terrible,” he says. “But it’s always terrible.” He starts to reel his line in. When he finishes, he puts the rod down, leaning it up against a pillar. “What are you doing out here?”
“Came to talk.”
He wipes his hands on a towel and frowns at me. “I figured you would sooner or later. But I also figured you’d go through my office.”
“What can I say, I love the great outdoors.” I grin at him. “Did you meet my wife, Maggie, yet?”
“Nice to meet you, Maggie,” he says.
“Same to you. Do you know if this lake is good for kayaking?”
He frowns. “I’ve seen a few people out.”
“I’d love to go out sometime. But Josh here is too afraid to go with me.”
I laugh and shake my head. “Not exactly true, but okay.”
“You like to spend time outdoors, huh?” Larry frowns at her. “That’s a good thing, in my opinion.”
“I agree.” She beams. “But sorry, I didn’t mean to derail this business meeting.”
“Not a business meeting,” Larry says and looks at me. “Unless I’m missing something here.”
“Thing is, Larry, she’s right,” I say. “I’m here for business.”
He sighs and glances down at his rod. I can tell the last thing he wants to do right now during his sacred time is discuss anything related to work. But he turns to me and forces a smile on his face. “What can I do for the CEO?” he asks.
“Funny you should put it that way.” I walk closer and lean up against a pillar. “You’ve heard what’s happening, right?”
He shrugs. “Something about it. Just whispers.”
“Whispers?” I laugh. “Come on, Larry. You’re new, not stupid.”
He narrows his eyes at me. “All right, you want to be that way?”