Page 23 of Captiva Book Club

“Well, if we play match-maker, I best have a talk with Luke first. We’re talking about two people here. Katie shouldn’t be made to be the answer to Luke’s issues. He needs to step up and be a good guy. He needs to earn Katie’s interest and be someone who deserves her.”

Maggie nodded. “I agree completely. So, I’ll call Claire and run it by her too. After all, neither of us have a clue about Katie’s situation. There might already be a boyfriend in the picture. Your job will be to talk to Luke, and for heaven’s sake, don’t let him RSVP just yet.”

Maggie was about to leave when Ciara stopped her. “Wait! You said you wanted to talk to me about the book club.”

“Oh, right. I’m sorry, my head is in the clouds these days. I just wanted to make sure you got the book.”

“I sure did. I already started it. I’m loving it already, and I’m sure excited that we’re doing this. Has anyone been in touch with Linda? I know she’ll want to be a part of this.”

“That’s a diplomatic way of putting it. Something tells me that Linda won’t be very happy that Claire is the one who got us all on board. We’ve all been avoiding Linda every time she brings it up. Now, we’re all ready to participate because Claire asked us? You know that won’t go over very well.”

Ciara nodded. “You have a point. I wouldn’t want to be the person to break the news to Linda.”

“You and me both.”

Maggie loved her new match-making idea, and left Powell Water Sports in a better mood than she was in when she first walked through the shop’s front door. Now, driving over the Sanibel Bridge, she took a deep breath and tried to hold on to that positive feeling as she headed to her mother’s condo in Fort Myers.

Her mother’s condo was only thirty minutes away from the Key Lime Garden Inn, but that was because most of the travel was getting to the bridge. Just over the bridge, she had a little less than a mile to go.

She’d battled with herself over the last two days, wondering how she would tell her mother about the upcoming biopsy. The only reason she finally settled on telling her was because they both had made great strides in repairing their relationship.

Maggie’s childhood wasn’t fraught with tensions and trauma. No, her family didn’t air their troubles, preferring to keep a stiff upper lip through every challenge that came their way. It didn’t serve anyone in the Garrison home well to keep emotions at bay. Nonetheless, throughout her childhood and into her adult years, Maggie perpetuated the very same behaviors that contributed to the demise of her marriage.

Her sister Kat and brother Michael suffered the same affliction, and neither had a great marriage because of it. Her brother Michael was so removed from his feelings, that more than once, his wife, Michelle, reached out to Maggie for support.

Now, as Maggie pulled into her mother’s driveway, she looked in the rearview mirror to see if her face showed signs of tension or stress. She pinched her cheeks, smiled and got out of her car.

Her mother was standing at the front door, and as soon as Maggie reached her, she looked at Maggie and said, “What’s wrong?”

“What? Nothing…I’m fine, everything is fine.”

“Come in and let me look at you,” her mother insisted.

It was moments like this one that immediately made Maggie tense and on the defensive.

How does she do it? I feel like I’m six years old again.

“Mom, let me get in the door before you scrutinize me. Can we please talk about something other than how I am? How are your roses doing?”

It was a subject that excited and energized her mother. Gardening had always been her favorite hobby, and it was an easy topic to deflect talking about Maggie.

“Oh, come out and see. They are absolutely gorgeous. Look!” she said, pointing to her favorite pink roses. “Aren’t they something?”

Maggie smiled. “Oh, Mom, they are precious. Mind if I take a few pictures?”

“Go ahead, take as many as you like. I’m going back inside to make us a pot of tea.”

Maggie smiled. All through Maggie’s childhood, she’d watch her mother make her tea and sit alone at the kitchen table lost in thought. The teapot was Maggie’s grandmother’s and although they didn’t have much money or anything special, the teapot was carefully treasured for the memories it held.

Maggie shot several photos before joining her mother in the kitchen.

“So, I got that book we’re supposed to read,” her mother announced. “It looks pretty good, although I don’t understand why anyone would want to go off and live practically in a shack.”

“Did you ever want to do that when you were married to Daddy?” Maggie asked.

“What, live in a shack? Maggie dear, don’t you remember we practically lived in one when you were little.”

“Oh, that old house? I remember that, but we moved when I was four years old. My memory is pretty blurry. I guess we did live in rather humble conditions back then.”

---