“I LIKE THE WAY you talk, Hank.”
“Yeah? I like the way you talk back.”
Maddie chuckled. The whole world, when viewed from the safety of Hank’s arms, was a warm and wonderful and welcoming place. Maddie had learned that last summer. And she’d thought, until today, that she’d never know it again. She knew now that, before, she hadn’t put Hank first, and he hadn’t put her first. Could it happen again? Afraid that it could, she said, “Hank?”
Hugging her naked body to his side where they lay together in the rickety old bed of the beach cottage known locally now as the Madison Cottage, Hank answered, “Yes?”
“I’m scared.”
“Of what? That you’ll get cooties from this bedding?”
“No, silly.” She playfully swatted at his muscled and bared chest, one she never tired of caressing. She then thought about cooties. “Ohmigod, maybe I should be.” Her alarm had her trying to sit up, but Hank held her firmly and intimately in place. Maddie still managed to brace herself on her elbow. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “You don’t think we actually could, do you?”
“It’s a little late to worry about that. We’ve been in this bed for about an hour. But are you itchy? Do you feel bugs crawling on you?”
Suddenly she did. They were everywhere. In a panic brought on by the mere suggestion, Maddie began scratching. “I will just die if I get cooties.”
Hank laughed and pulled her down for a quick kiss. “I’m only teasing you. I got fresh bedding from Mr. Hardy. I think we’re adequately protected, even beyond our other forms of protection.”
Satisfied—in all ways—Maddie again curled up beside him, resting her head at the crook of Hank’s shoulder and his chest. She loved the scent of him. Clean, male, sensual. His aftershave added a citrus-tinged musk that always fired her senses.
“So tell me,” Hank said conversationally as he stroked her bare skin from waist to hip. “What has you scared?”
Maddie blinked, reveling in his nearness, their closeness. Now she hated like anything to bring up her fears. “I don’t know if I want to tell you. It feels so good to be here with you, Hank. It really does. But every time we start talking, we start walking—and always in opposite directions from each other.”
“Not naked we won’t. So here’s the deal. We can’t get dressed until everything is out in the open. No naked pun intended. So, do we have a deal?”
No way was she going anywhere naked. Then her sex-sated mind treated her to a romantic picture of herself and Hank strolling hand in hand, au naturel, upon the beach outside. Savoring that image, Maddie sighed, yet agreed. “Okay, deal.”
“Good. So you’re scared because…”
Banishing images of beach strolls, Maddie focused on the important moment at hand and steeled her courage. “I’m scared because … well, I’m afraid we can’t make this work between us, Hank. I mean I know we’re good together, even beyond the physical aspects—which, by the way, are wonderful. But we also talk and laugh and, I feel, respect each other. Those things are important.”
“So far I agree. I would also add that you’re a gnawing hunger in my belly. But I think right now what I’m feeling is actually a gnawing hunger in my belly.”
Maddie chuckled, hearing herself how his stomach was growling. As if having found its kindred spirit, her stomach growled right back at him. “How flattering for us both, huh? Okay, so basically we get along. We have fun. And all that’s good. But we had all that going for us before, Hank. Yet we couldn’t make it work. Who’s to say that won’t happen again?”
In the silence, she could now hear Hank’s heart beating. Maddie closed her eyes, concentrating on the sound and trying to imprint on her soul its reassuringly repetitious sound. Hank shifted his position, as if to signal his coming answer. “We say it won’t happen again.”
“You sound so sure.”
“I am. Well, no I’m not. I’m sure I want it to work, I know that much.” He kissed her forehead. “But maybe we should have a little fear. You know, something to keep us constantly aware that it could go wrong if we don’t keep trying.”
“That’s true.”
“Exactly. You’d think at our ages that we should have already realized that much.”
“Oh, I don’t know. History books and novels are full of examples of people who should have known better but didn’t. So maybe it’s not age as much as it is learning from each relationship. But that’s the part that scares me. I’ve never had a relationship that lasted for very long. So all I know is how one ends badly, Hank. I hate that about me. And it worries me for us.”
Speaking of her fears had Maddie cupping Hank’s cheek to draw his gaze to hers. “Please tell me there’s an us here to fight for.”
Hank took her hand in his and kissed her palm. “There is, Maddie. We’re definitely an us worth fighting for.” His expression became thoughtful, introspective. “Now, that’s interesting. And maybe that’s the point here for both of us, the lesson we need to learn.”
“What is?”
“That we keep coming back to each other. That we do keep fighting, or want to, at any rate, for what we feel for each other. Before you, Maddie, I can tell you that the minute a woman got serious about me, or things got otherwise complicated, I was outta there, using work as an excuse to distance myself.”
“You did that with me, too.”
“Yes. And I was stupid. I’m sorry. I’ve certainly suffered for it. And it didn’t work. Because here I am, coming back because the old ways weren’t working. Pretty much, my heart was telling me something my brain hadn’t yet figured out.”
“And what was that?”
“That it’s different—no, I’m different—with you. Hell, running away is the last thing I want to do. Or work. I can’t think. I can’t concentrate. Nothing satisfies me. I don’t want to be anywhere but with you. Now, that’s got to mean something.” He paused, staring at her as if waiting for her to say something. She didn’t. “You’re supposed to jump in right here and say it does mean something. Because if it doesn’t, then I have to get up and walk into the ocean and just keep going.”
Maddie’s heart soared. She tugged her hand out of his and pulled herself up on an elbow. Staring down at him, she ran her hand over his smooth-shaven jaw and down his muscular neck. “It means something, Hank. It means everything. I read a saying the other day that had a big impact on me. Some man—I forget who—said that love isn’t difficult, but when we think it is, it’s usually because we’re loving ourselves too well. Isn’t that a wise insight?”
“Profound, too. I like it. It makes me feel guilty, but I like it.”
“Me, too. I thought about it a lot. And I just want to say … well, I want to say—” She took a deep breath, stepped out over the abyss, and allowed her heart to pour out its words. “Hank, do you know how much I love you? Do you have any idea? I don’t give a damn about me, about anything but you. I’m every bit as bad as you are. Nothing and no one but you can make me happy—not now and not ever.” She rested her head against his warm chest and hugged him. “Just you. I only want you. I love you.”
Hank lifted her chin. Maddie stared into his black eyes and saw a look of wonder had claimed his face. “Maddie, do you realize that’s the first time you’ve said you love me? And I’ve never told you. So here it is: I love you, Maddie Copeland. With all my heart and soul. I have to have you in my life, that’s all there is to it. And I think everything else is possible if we love each other well enough.”
“Oh, Hank, this is everything I could have ever wanted. I think I’m going to cry.”
“I might join you,” he said drolly, “because, I don’t know about yours, but my last month has been hell.”
“You poor thing. I’m so sorry.”
“No need to apologize. I’ve been the idiot. After my six weeks were done here, I took off for Europe, telling myself I could get you out of my system. The joke was on me. All I wanted to do was say to hell with it and come grab you up.”
“Hank, there were only about four weeks in this past month where I wished you would. I had the same urge to run to you. But I didn’t know where you were. So I just gave up and figured you knew where to reach me.”
“Yes, I did. Right here in Hanscomb Harbor, which by the way has been a major part of my thinking.”
Maddie stilled, not sure she wanted to hear his next words. What if he wanted her to leave here? She loved Hanscomb Harbor. The old defenses reared their heads—and Maddie recognized them. Instantly she squelched her selfish desires and prepared herself to put Hank’s wishes first. This was the new way. Unselfish giving. “So, what about Hanscomb Harbor?”
“I think we should live here. Buy some land. Build a house.”
Maddie stared at him, her mouth suddenly dry, her heart pit-a-patting. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying I think you should marry me and we should live here.”
Maddie could barely swallow. “What?”
Hank chuckled and spoke louder. “I think you should marry me and we should live here in Hanscomb Harbor.”
“You do?”
“I do,” he said in a normal tone of voice. “I guess I should get used to those two words: I do. So will you?”
Maddie sat up, pulling the top sheet modestly over her breasts. “I don’t know.”
Hank sat up, too. “You don’t know? Did I miss something? Why don’t you know?”
“I’m scared.”
His elbows resting atop his sheet-covered knees, Hank stared at her, his expression incredulous. “Talk to me, Maddie.”
She twisted until she could throw her arms around him. Hank held her tightly. With her head nestled against his neck, she cried, “I love you, Hank. I’m sorry. I know love is chancy at best. I know it’s a big leap of faith. I know all that. But Hank, I need something, okay? I don’t think I could stand it if you stuck me here in a house and went about your life. It’s my biggest fear and yet that’s essentially what we’ve been doing. And it sucks. We’ve both said we hate it, and yet—”
“Maddie, listen to me.” Hank pulled her arms from around his neck and held her back so he could look into her eyes. “Everything is different. When I came back from overseas, I reorganized my company. Turns out, it was the easiest and the best thing I ever did because it was so well run and because I do have good people. You’ve met them. So I put them in charge. And hell, I can commute. I do have a jet. And a helicopter. New York’s not that far. And I don’t have to go in every day, either.”
“I do not believe this is you talking. James Senior just rolled over in his grave. Or urn.”
“I’m sure he did. But thanks to my grandfather I’ve learned I can work and step back some and have a life, too. So he gets his wish. No more Mr. Workaholic Madison. And you’re stuck with me around the house. Or working in your shop, if you want.” His expression became faraway, wondering. “I think I’ve developed a thing for those little red aprons.”
Maddie smacked at him. “Stop that.” But his was the most unbelievable speech she’d ever heard. And because it was, Maddie said, “I don’t think I believe you, Hank. About not working so hard. Or even playing so hard. Are you sure you can and not explode? It’s hard to change your nature. And I’m not really sure I want you to. I mean, this is the you I fell in love with.”
He smiled at her. “You are so beautiful, Maddie. But I learned something else about myself. It wasn’t that I couldn’t take it easy and slow down and enjoy life. It was that, before you, I had no one to slow down for or with. But now I do. I have you.”
“Oh, Hank, that is so great.”
“I think so.” He chuckled. “Although they might not at Madison and Madison. Which is now the daily headache of the very capable Mrs. Chesswell. I am now the chairman of the board, and she’s the president. I bumped everyone on the board of directors up one notch. And I even gave Miz Smith to the new president.”
Maddie recalled the black-wearing snippy woman she’d met in the ladies’ room that day of the stockholders’ meeting … and made a face. “Poor woman. I mean Mrs. Chesswell.”
“She can handle her. And it’s only for a while. I’m thinking of asking the scary Miz Smith to run our lives from here. What do you think? You know, the secretarial stuff. The details. Letters. Travel. Upcoming meetings we have to attend. I think we can hold a lot of them here. The board would like that, I’ll bet, now that Hanscomb Harbor is a hangout of the rich and famous, which includes us, of course.”
“Hank, this is overwhelming. It’s like winning the lottery and finding out you’ve inherited Shangri-la, too. Good Lord, I’m going to have people. And Miz Smith. And bodyguards. What about them?”
“George and Burton? They’ll be around, chauffeuring and piloting. Guarding us. So … will you marry me?”
Maddie had been so invested in listening to him that she almost missed his proposal that he slipped in again. With thrilled happiness coursing through her veins, she nevertheless shrugged dramatically. “I don’t know.”
Disbelief sobered Hank’s expression. “You don’t know?”
“No.” She fought a grin. “I need time to think.”
As if wounded, Hank sank back against the pillows. “While we’re young, Maddie.” Then he raised his head and met her grinning gaze. “So, I’ve talked to my mother.”
Maddie grinned. “Have you?”
“Yes. She tells me you gave her James’s house on Long Island.”
“Her and Celeste. They’re such fast friends now that I thought they should have a second house. A small vacation home. I’m hoping their antics can draw some of the tabloid heat off us.”
“You’re brilliant. And very generous. Besides, Gerta can keep an eye on them for us and warn us if they break free.”
“That’s true. But what worries me more than those two is what happens if Lavinia Houghton bonds with Miz Smith? Can you see that? They’ll institute a scorched-earth policy that will leave us all crispy critters.”
“We’ll just have to avoid church bake sales. Now, let’s talk money. I was thinking—”
Maddie put a hand over his mouth. “No. I want you to listen to me now.” When she saw in his eyes that he would, she lowered her hand. “Just hear me out. Hank, I want to keep in my name what James left me. I want my money to stay separate from yours. I’m not saying this well, but I want us both to have, I don’t know, freedom, I guess. Our own independence.”
Hank looked troubled. “A way of walking away, you mean?”
“No. A way of staying together, Hank. Being together because we want to be. Not because we have to be. Not because of legal and financial intricacies. But only because we love each other. And love each other like two people who don’t have a dime or a possession between them. Just themselves. Equals. Only in that way will I not be afraid. Only in that way can I make a big leap, Hank. Does that make sense?”
His expression relaxed, and he nodded. “Actually, it does. I was going to say something along those lines about the money, too. About how I think my grandfather wanted you to be on a par financially with me so you didn’t feel secondary or intimidated or whatever you would have felt.”
“All those things, actually.”
Hank took her hand and kissed it. “I think I understand. And I can honestly tell you, Maddie, that on every level you leave me in the dirt. You are the best person, the nicest woman, I know.”
She grimaced. “Oh, everyone says that to me. How nice I am. Vanilla ice cream. Boring.”
Hank laughed affectionately at her. “Maddie, you’re about as boring as that lobster clock over there.”
With Hank, Maddie focused on the big ugly red ceramic clock urn sitting on the table in front of the flowers. “Ohmigod, Hank, I forgot the urn. That’s really James over there. I mean we’re going to do this, aren’t we?” Gripped with sudden fervor, Maddie held on to Hank’s hands. “James, Hank. He brought us together. We’re doing what he wanted, aren’t we? It worked. Ohmigod, it worked.”
Hank sat up. “You’re right. It did.” He divided his gaze between Maddie and the lobster clock. “You think he knows? I mean about us, right now, somehow? Up there, I mean.”
“Oh, I hope so. He deserves to know.” Suddenly troubled, Maddie’s features registered her concern. “Hank, have you worked through your emotions about him not … well, telling you he was dying? I would hate for you to still have hard feelings.”
“I don’t,” Hank said quietly. “I think I understand a lot more now. I talked a lot with Jim. And he said my grandfather didn’t want me to see him weak and sick like that. It was his silly pride, Maddie. Another lesson in there for me, right? I can keep my pride and live alone and die the same way. Or I can come down out of the towers of big business and live. At least, I think that’s what he might have meant.”
Maddie nodded. “I think you’re right. He used to tell me to quit being afraid of love. Just take a leap and live. And look at me—I did. And it was with you. How sweet and loving of him to worry about us so.” Then she thought of something else that animated her. “Ohmigod, Hank, Jim has a letter. It’s from James and it’s to us. We can get that now and open it.”
“Wait. Does that mean you’re saying yes to me, Maddie? You know, you haven’t said it yet.”
Maddie smiled and cupped his cheek with her hand. “Yes, Hank, I will marry you. And we will have a big wedding and invite all of Hanscomb Harbor. Celeste will be my matron of honor. And Beamer will be our canine of honor.”
“I think you ought to ask Lavinia Houghton to be your maid of honor.”
“You’re just being bad now. And your best man will be…?”
“Jim, of course.”
“An excellent choice. He’ll be so pleased.” A loving warmth swept through Maddie. Emotion and tears of joy threatened to swamp her. “And you and I will have a long and happy life together and give your mother and Celeste and Jim and Mary the grandchildren they want—or deserve, however they want to see it.”
Hank stared at her. “I love you, Maddie.” Then he looked up to the cobwebbed ceiling of the ratty old cottage they inhabited. “Hey, up there, thank you, Grandpa, for this most precious woman. I will always treat her like the treasure she is.” Hank met Maddie’s gaze, his dark eyes glittering. “I have a surprise for you. I’ve got the letter.”
Maddie smacked at his arm. “You’re lying.”
“I am not. Jim gave it to me when I told him I was coming here. Where’s my shirt?”
With Hank hot on her heels, Maddie jumped out of bed and helped him hunt for it. Embarrassingly enough, their clothes were everywhere, a telltale trail that led straight to the lumpy-mattressed bed.
“Here it is,” Maddie cried out triumphantly, standing over by the kitchen table and holding up his light blue oxford shirt.
Hank, magnificently naked and unconcerned, padded over to her. “In the pocket. Look in there. I folded it up.”
With due reverence, Maddie pulled the envelope out and unfolded it. “I feel as if we should have some sort of official ceremony for this. Music or something. A drumroll.”
“Darn. I left my bagpipes in the city. You want me to hum something appropriate? Or get out two spoons and play them solemnly?”
Maddie laughed at him. “No. Don’t be silly. Here.” She held the letter out to him.
As if under arrest, Hank held his hands up and backed away. “Not me. You open it. He was your friend.”
Maddie advanced on him, the letter held out like a weapon. “And he was your grandfather.”
Hank stopped. “That’s true. Give it here. I’ll open it.”
Maddie pulled it back. “No. I want to.”
Hank grinned, folding his arms over his bare chest. “How’d I know? Go ahead, then. Open it.”
Maddie exhaled and stared solemnly at Hank. “Here I go … opening it.” Her hands suddenly shaking, she pulled at the sealed edge on the back of the lined envelope, tearing it open. Her heart in her throat, she reverently lifted the flap and pulled from it a single, trifolded piece of paper. Barely able to breathe, her heart beating too fast, Maddie straightened it out. Sure enough, James’s handwriting. She read his words. Her breath caught. She looked up, seeking Hank’s gaze. “Hank, this can’t be. You are not going to believe this. It’s crazy. Ohmigod. Look.”
His expression apprehensive, Hank came to her side. “What are you talking about? What can’t be?”
Blinking back tears, her chin trembling, Maddie practically danced in place as she held the letter out to him. “This. Take it. It can’t be. Read it.”
Frowning mightily, Hank took the paper from her, watched her dance in place … and then read. His mouth dropped open, he stared at Maddie. “Son of a bitch,” he shouted. “You’re right. How could he know? He couldn’t. It’s impossible. And spooky.”
Proving it, his eyes widened like a spooked child’s on Halloween. Maddie watched Hank pan the cabin’s interior, as if he thought they weren’t alone. His gaze lit on the lobster urn, then Maddie. “There’s no way he could have known it would end like this. None. And that other stuff he wrote? We didn’t even know. Not until this minute. No way, Maddie.”
“I know.” Flapping her hands, Maddie was all but on her tiptoes now. “This is so—is there a word for it? Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. I don’t even know whether to be scared or uplifted, Hank. He wrote this before we’d ever met.”
“I know.” Hank again read his grandfather’s words.
That was when Maddie stopped, sobered, and suffered a clear, lucid moment. “For God’s sake, what are we doing? It’s like James is right here with us. Put on some clothes.”
As if they were teenagers caught by their parents, and with her scalp tingling from a mixture of excitement and righteous fright, Maddie grabbed up pieces of clothes, sorting hers from his, tossing him his, and quickly shrugging into her own. And Hank—the letter held between his lips—was right behind her, dancing and twisting until he was more or less clothed.
That accomplished, they stood in the cabin, facing each other. Maddie could barely catch her breath, so agitated was she, so full of disbelief. Hank’s heightened color and breathing said he fared no better.
Maddie gnawed at her thumbnail. “I feel like I should make the bed.”
Hank had to take the letter out of his mouth before he could answer. “It’s a little late for that.”
“True.” Maddie paused, then leaned in toward Hank, pointed at the lobster clock, and whispered, “Do you really think he’s here right now?”
“I’m not going there, Maddie. I’m really not. I’m just going to accept. How about you?”
“Me, too. I accept.”
“Good. Me, too.”
“You already said that, Hank.”
“Good.”
Then … Maddie stared at Hank. He stared back. But Maddie proved to be the first one not able to stand the suspense. “What should we do now?”
“I don’t know. What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know.”
“Good.”
“Hank, we’re losing it.”
“I know.”
“Don’t say ‘good’ again.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“Good.” Suddenly Maddie’s mood brightened a bit. “You know what? We shouldn’t be scared. Because this is really great. There’s no way James’s wording is accidental. Or even a good guess.”
“That’s true. But he couldn’t have known, Maddie. So, what do you think it is? Divine? Providential? Something from the Great Beyond?” Hank’s expression was as sincere and hopeful of a rational explanation as was his tone of voice.
“I don’t know. But there are things in that letter James couldn’t have known when he wrote them. He couldn’t have. And I can’t explain it. Can you?”
Hank rubbed absently at his chin. “No. But let’s try not to overthink this.” Then he did. “The way I see it is we’ve been through a lot of hell, but we made it. We’ll just focus on that. I think my grandfather saw in us what we couldn’t see in ourselves. I think he knew we’d see it in each other if we got together. And I think he counted on us having the courage to keep fighting to get it right. I believe we finally have. And I think he always knew we would, so he just anticipated us.”
“Okay. Maybe. That’s good. I like that. Anticipation.” Calmer now, more willing to consider Hank’s explanation, Maddie smiled at him, hoping even a tenth of the love she felt for him shone through. “And you explain the stuff in the P.S. how?”
“I don’t. Just leave it, okay? Accept that it is in there and it happened.”
Maddie nodded. “Okay. Good. So when did you get so wise?”
“Are you serious? About five minutes ago when I read this.” He held up the letter.
Maddie nodded. “You’re absolutely right. I mean, look at us. Here we are, the two of us handed a great big silver lining. And what do we do? Start looking for clouds. For explanations.”
“Well, no more. Come here, you.” Hank held his arms out invitingly, and Maddie walked into his embrace.
“God, Hank, I love you,” she murmured, reveling in the warmth and the solidness of his body as he pressed close to her. “Is it possible to die of happiness? I could, you know. Right now. This minute. Because you feel heavenly to me.”
“I’m glad, but don’t you dare die. You’re not getting off that easy. You’re going to stick around here and enjoy me for a long time, dammit.”
With that, Hank held her out from him and looked down into her eyes. His expression serious now, he said, “Maddie, I hope to make you forget those clouds that worry you. I can’t say enough how convinced I am that this outcome has been inevitable from the moment we met. And I think, even before you and I met, that my grandfather saw in you the same qualities that he knew I could and would come to love.”
“Oh, Hank, do you really think so?”
“I do. I also think that all my grandfather did was give us both a chance, the opportunity, to get it right. And we did. That’s what we need to realize. We did it, Maddie. We broke through—”
“You’re right. We did.” Overcome with that exciting realization, Maddie felt tears prick her eyes. “James made this possible, Hank. Not with his money or power, things I never wanted anyway. He knew that. He just used them to set us on the path that would lead to this moment. He was a dear, sweet friend to me. And how I love him for that.”
Her expression intensified. “But not like I love you, Hank. What I feel for you is completely beyond anything I ever dreamed I could ever feel for anyone. I will always love you. And I will try my best to make you happy.”
Hank’s frown was a pout. “Well, great. That was a beautiful speech. Thanks a lot. You didn’t leave me anything to say but the lame ‘Me, too.’” He grinned. “So … me, too. I love you, Maddie.”
Maddie pulled him to her for a soul-searing kiss. Then, together and as one, they again read James’s final yet astounding message to them both.
To Maddie and Hank, the two people I love most in the world.
I knew you could do it. Hank, I see so much of myself in you (and so much that is better) that I now entrust you with my most precious friend—Maddie. I know you will love her and see in her all the qualities I saw. And to you, Maddie, my sweet friend, I leave you my beloved grandson. After today, honey, you are no longer the Not the Happy Ending Princess.
Congratulations to you both. This is the happy ending you both (and I) deserve.
Love,
James (aka The Old Man)
P.S. Don’t forget to put fresh water out for Beamer. And keep Lillian and Celeste away from bake sales. Oh, and thanks for the brass plaque on the cottage door there. That was a nice touch.