She was about to be, Maggie thought as the motor rumbled to life again. Tessa made a wide turn—rather effortlessly, too. She’d underestimated that girl, who’d never once wavered in her belief that her father was a great man.
She’d been right. They all had been—everyone but Maggie, who’d clung to her grudge and her promise and her false beliefs that she’d been wronged.
She hadn’t been wronged. She’d been…protected.
“I knew you’d want to be here!” Jo Ellen shot forward before the boat reached the dock, her legs almost buckling as it rolled in the water. “Oh, my God!” she squealed as the shoebox-sized container slipped from her hand.
In a blur, Roman vaulted forward, diving down to catch the box as everyone on board let out a shout.
“Intercepted!” He straightened and gracefully raised the box overhead, holding tight to what was left of Artie.
Dear, dear Artie.
As the entire crew cheered his catch, Jo Ellen put her hands over her mouth, looking like she didn’t know whether she wanted to laugh or cry.
The boat rumbled closer and Tessa docked, then turned off the engine.
Vivien scrambled out before anyone else, reaching for Maggie. “Is everything all right, Mom?”
“It’s going to be. I have to say three words I rarely use—I was wrong.”
“Oh, yes!” Jo Ellen hooted. “It’s fine, really, everyone?—”
“No, no. I wasreallywrong,” she insisted, still winded. “So, so wrong.”
She looked at Eli, Kate, and old Seamus on the bow, and the two teenagers who didn’t really know just how out of character this was for Maggie.
Tessa lowered her sunglasses as if she had to get a better look at this new and terribly frazzled version of Maggie.
Vivien slid a supportive arm around Maggie. “What happened?” she asked softly.
“A man came to see me,” she managed to say. “And he told me…everything. Jo…oh, my sweet Jo…”
She held her arms out, and Eli helped Jo Ellen climb out of the boat to get to Maggie.
“Who? What man? Maggie, what is going on?”
Maggie squeezed her, all her pent-up joy making her nearly lift her friend in the air.
“He was a hero!” she exclaimed. “Artie saved our lives and Roger saved that house and they only made us promise to stay apart to protect us.”
As Jo Ellen let out a cry of disbelief, the others bombarded Maggie with questions. Who, what, when, how…
She ignored them. She’d tell them everything, eventually. But now, she just wanted to toss off the past, let go of the pain, and finally,finallybreak the promise she’d made to Roger.
She wrapped her best friend in the longest, tightest, most loving hug she could muster, pressing a long overdue kiss on Jo Ellen’s precious cheek.
Of course, Jo Ellen didn’t ask questions or demand an explanation or look sideways and say, “I told you so!”
She didn’t because she was as pure a soul that ever lived, that dear, optimistic out-of-state Yankee who’d showed up in Maggie’s dorm room a lifetime ago.
There, as the sun poured over them and the questions finally stopped, Maggie and Jo Ellen stood on the dock and held each other like the soul sisters they’d always been.
“I love you, Jo,” Maggie whispered to her friend. “And I’m sorry it took so long to say that.”
Jo Ellen drew back, her eyes filled with tears. “I know that,” she said. “And I love you, too, Mags.”
“Come on.” Maggie slid her arm around Jo’s waist. “Let’s give Artie the proper send-off he deserves. And while we do…” She turned and addressed all the shocked friends and family who watched. “I’m going to tell you a story of how Artie Wylie saved all of our lives.”
