My instinct for self-preservation takes over. Despite the fact that I’m only wearing a sheet, I push past Stone and Margaret and bolt out the door, running across the small patch of grass until I’m at the guest house once more. Scrabbling, my hands fumble with the handle, and fortunately, the house isn’t locked. I bolt inside and slam the door behind me before collapsing against it in shock and surprise.
What the hell? What’s happening? Was that Margaret, of all people? She’s supposed to be dead. I personally joined multiple search parties looking for her, and I even attended her funeral and wake. Sure, there was no body nor evidence that she’d passed away, but still. It’s been six years. How can she appear out of nowhere?
But that was definitely her. The Margaret who made an appearance had the same brown curly hair, charming coffee eyes, and friendly, open smile. She didn’t even seem surprised to see me standing nearly nude behind her husband. Why not? What’s going on?
I make my way over to the old sofa and collapse, trying to catch my breath. The cabin is the same way I left it, except no one’s been here in ages now. The furniture is still old and stained, but very comfortable. The drapes are all pulled closed, but sunshine seeps through the cracks and edges. There’s a film of dust on everything, but otherwise, I’m alone. Thank goodness because I need to think.
Where the hell has Margaret been? What happens now? Will she want to get back with her husband? I know that Stone and Margaret were in the middle of a separation cum divorce when she disappeared, but so many things can happen in six years. Maybe she’s changed her mind. Maybe Stone’s changed his mind. It seems unlikely, given that we’ve been in a solid relationship for years now, but who knows? Push comes to shove, she is his wife, in law and name, whereas I’m just a woman he’s seeing.
I drop my head to rest heavily in my arms. This is a nightmare come true. Stone was just about to file the paperwork to declare Margaret legally dead in absentia with the State. Only then would he able to get a divorce, and marry me afterwards. I remember when he proposed. He got down on one knee, his eyes suspiciously bright.
“Jenny Rafferty,” he growled in a low voice while taking my hand in his. “I know we’re in an awkward position, but I have to ask. My feelings for you can’t be contained, and I want to claim you before the world. Will you consent to being Mrs. Stone Harrison? Will you be my wife?”
My eyes filled with tears as my fingers gripped his.
“Yes of course,” was my heartfelt reply. “But how? You can’t get married to me while you’re still married to Margaret. Bigamy is illegal in Maine, remember? Also, you can’t get divorced from her while she’s technically only missing.”
He nodded miserably before pressing a kiss to our conjoined hands.
“I know, but that day is coming soon. We’ve been waiting for the clock to run for a long time now, and it’s almost done. In a few months, I’ll be able to ask the State to declare Margaret legally dead, and then we’ll be free to move on.”
I stared at him with a lump in my throat.
“You know we don’t have to get married,” I said. “I believe in you. I believe in us. We can make this work even without a piece of paper.”
A spark ignited in his eyes then, and he shook his head roughly.
“No, I want to do it, Jenny. I want to claim you. I want to shout it from the rooftops that you’re mine, and I want every person within five hundred miles to know that you belong to me. Here,” he continued in a low, emotional voice before fumbling in his pocket. “This isn’t much, but I want you to take it as a token of my promise.”
With that, Stone produced a beautiful diamond in his hand. I gasped. The stone sparkled and shimmered in the light, and my eyes filled with tears. With a joyful smile, I took the ring and slipped it onto my left hand, admiring at how the light zinged this way and that through the beautiful stone.
“I accept,” I whisper with my heart in my eyes. “I want to be yours, Stone Harrison, and I can’t wait until we’re married.”
I look at the ring with eyes filled with tears now. Will we still get married? I’m an engaged woman after all, and Stone is a man who carries out his promises. Yet Margaret’s reappearance throws a wrench in everything. How could this happen? Where has she been? Will we call off the wedding?
My hand slips to my burgeoning belly, protectively cradling the baby within. You’ll be fine, I say fiercely in my head. Mommy will take care of you no matter what happens. Mommy loves you sweetheart. Daddy does too, but it may take some time to figure things out.
With dread growing in my heart, I wait in the gloom of the cabin. I can’t move because I can’t bear to go out there and find out what’s going on. Will my fiancé leave me? Will he forsake our child? The thought is so painful that a lump forms in my throat, and I swallow hard, trying to make it go away. There’s only one thing to do: to wait and see what develops next.