Aaron chuckled softly, she could feel his warm breath on her skin and it sent shivers through her. “Trust me, Maggie, nothing about us is easy.” And with that cryptic response he swept her up into his arms and carried her to the bed. He laid her down gently and stood over her. He was just a silhouette in the darkness.
“We come from different worlds,” he told her as he slowly began unbuttoning her blouse. Her nipples were hard peaks below the thin fabric, aching to be touched. “Our paths would never have crossed if we hadn’t both been brought to this place.” He pulled her blouse open and slowly trailed a finger down from her collarbone to her waist. She arched her back at his touch.
“And I know that I’ve never done anything good enough to deserve you,” he continued as he placed a soft kiss on her abdomen and hooked his fingers under the waistband of her panties.
“That’s not true,” Maggie argued breathlessly as she lifted her hips so that he could slide them off. “You don’t see yourself like I do.”
“No one does,” he whispered just before he claimed her mouth in a searing kiss.
13
Maggie woke the next morning to Aaron gently caressing her cheek.
“I’m sorry to wake you,” he whispered as her eyes fluttered open. “I need to go but I didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye.”
“Where are you going?” she asked, trying to sit up as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.
“Don’t get up. It’s early.” He gently pushed her back down onto the bed. She went willingly, fighting just to keep her eyelids open. “I’ve got another meeting. This one is in Savannah so I’ll probably be gone most of the day,” he explained as he slipped from the bed and pulled his jeans back on.
“Another meeting?” Maggie asked sleepily.
“I should be back by dinner, and hopefully we’ll have something to celebrate. I’ll tell you all about it later, okay?” Aaron searched the room until he found his discarded t-shirt.
“Alright,” Maggie conceded, pouting a little.
“Go back to sleep,” he whispered as he leaned down to kiss her. Then he slipped out of the room, quietly shutting the door.
~∞~
Several hours later when Maggie woke again she was left to wonder about yet another mysterious meeting, however, this time Aaron had promised to tell her all about it. Unfortunately he’d said he’d be gone most of the day which meant she had a very long time to wait.
She tried to fall back into her old routine. She had her coffee on the veranda and then took a stroll around the grounds with Barney in tow. The orchards were in full bloom and the sweet smell of peaches permeated the humid air. Aaron had told her that the harvesting crew would be arriving at the end of this week. It made her sad to realize that the harvest would start soon, because that was quite literally the beginning of the end. When the harvest was over it would be time for her to leave. She wasn’t ready for the end of summer yet, wasn’t ready for the decisions that would come with it.
As Maggie made her way back to the house she felt anxious. The abundance of free-time that had once felt like a blessing now seemed a burden. She had no idea how to fill her time. She wondered if it was missing Aaron’s presence that made her feel so restless.
Finally unable to sit still any longer, she decided to take a bicycle ride into town. The heat was oppressive, but she was fueled by a need to keep moving, and somehow she’d actually grown somewhat accustomed to the unrelenting heat.
She was covered in a healthy layer of sweat when she reached Sweetwater. Her first stop was at the corner diner where she ordered an ice-cold coke and used the restroom to splash some water on her face and freshen up. After that she felt revived enough to take a walk around town.
She wandered in and out of a few shops, but mostly she just walked and contemplated the choices that lay in front of her. She was falling in love and she knew it. It was easy to imagine spending the rest of her life making love to that man, but she was just too much of a realist to dwell in that fantasy for too long. She knew that if she stayed her days would not be filled with making love in a mansion. She would need to find a job and a place of her own.
Was she ready to build a life here? Was she ready to give up on her dream of finishing medical school? Could she be happy living a quiet little life in this small town? Questions swirled through her mind as she wandered the streets aimlessly.