“How? How do you know her?” Maggie needed to sit down she felt as if she was going to faint.
“Agnes Devereaux is one of your father’s largest investors. He’s known her for years. She used to summer in the Hamptons. I always told your father I thought she took an unusual interest in you as a child, and this just proves my point. She’s practically kidnapped you and turned you into her maid for God’s sake!” Corrine ranted. “But at least she had the decency to send a letter informing me of your whereabouts since you didn’t have enough respect to do so,” she added with a pointed look at Maggie.
“She knows father? Have… have I met her before?” Maggie stuttered. Her mind was spinning trying to connect all the pieces. One thing was certain: she had been chosen. Agnes Devereaux knew her, knew her family, and had chosen to bring her here. But why would she tell her mother where she was? What kind of game was she playing?
“Really, Margaret, we don’t have time for all this nonsense. Go upstairs and pack your bag. I’ll wait for you here.” Corrine Overton gave directions with the authority of someone who was never denied.
“No.” Maggie finally found her strength. She’d stood up to her mother once before and she could do it again. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Corrine Overton’s eyes flashed with indignation. “You listen to me, young lady,” her mother said, taking a step closer, “I may have put up with you skipping off to Boston to pursue some pipe dream about becoming a doctor, but I’ll be damned if I will allow my daughter to be the ‘help’ for some crazy old woman in this godforsaken town. You will gather your things and you will come with me this instant.”
“Maggie, is everything okay?” Aaron’s voice broke through the tension in the room and Maggie spun around to see him walking in from the kitchen.
He was dressed in his usual work clothes, faded jeans and a white tank, his blonde curls were held back by a bandana, and a smear of dirt was streaked across his suntanned face. Their eyes met and the chemistry between them was undeniable.
Maggie turned back to her mother, taking in her perfectly pressed silk suit and hard expression. Under her mother’s scrutinizing stare she felt just like a timid child again. Her two worlds were colliding, her past and her future.
“Margaret, who is this man?” her mother demanded.
“Aaron Miles,” he introduced himself. “I’m the groundskeeper here.”
Her mother laughed, a short bitter sound.
“The gardener, Margaret, really?” she asked. “I would have thought even you would realize you were better than that.”
“He’s not just a gardener, Mother. He owns his own landscaping business,” Maggie defended. She looked back to Aaron for support, but his expression was guarded.
“Enough of this nonsense,” her mother said, waving her hand dismissively. “You are an Overton. You come from a well-respected New England family. You were not raised to be a gardener’s mistress. Whatever little summer romance you think you may have had here is over. You will come home with me and I will not hear another word about it.”
“I’m not leaving,” Maggie said again. “Not with you. This may not be the life you wanted for me, but it’s my life and I’m going to live it how I choose. I’m sorry you made the trip.” Maggie stepped back toward Aaron and took his hand. His expression was unchanged.
“You are going to throw away everything I have done for you, every opportunity, every privilege, for him?” her mother demanded.
“No. For me,” Maggie corrected. “I never wanted your opportunities, your privileges. All I ever wanted was your love. But you only ever saw me as a reflection of you, a pawn that you could play to further your own standing in society. You never saw me for who I was. This is me, Mother. Take it or leave it.”
“You will regret this. Maybe not tomorrow, but someday you will look around you, look at your life and realize what you gave up, what you could have had. And then it will be too late.” Corrine Overton turned and stormed out of the house, her final words hanging heavily in the silence.
Maggie stood staring after her mother, feeling oddly detached from the situation. She wondered if she’d ever see her again, but no emotion came with that thought. She felt nothing at all. She just felt drained, empty.
“She’s right.” Aaron’s voice was heavy with emotion when he spoke. Maggie turned to him in confusion. “I’m just a gardener. I can’t give you the life you deserve.”
“That’s not true,” she protested.
“It is. I’m an ex con who will spend the rest of my life mowing people’s lawns and someday you will finally see that. You will realize that I’m not good enough for you. I knew it from the beginning and I never should have let this go so far.” Aaron pulled his hand from Maggie’s and took a step away from her.