Henry
"I think Maggie is looking a lot better, don't you, mom?" Eden said quietly, watching Maggie from her seat at the kitchen counter. Her cousin was sitting in the living room, curled up with Sholto on the couch, reading a book.
Her mother nodded. "Of course, now that we are back in Boston."
Eden smiled, glad that everything was getting back to normal. "I'm just so thrilled that she's decided to stay with us here, even though she could easily get her own place now." She turned towards the sound of footsteps in the hall. Henry's head appeared around the corner. "What do you think, Henry? Doesn't she look better?"
Stopping to pour himself a glass of lemonade, Henry glanced over at Maggie, the perfect picture of domestic bliss. It was a struggle to hold back this time and not rush in as he did before. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her away again. "I think she looks as lovely as always," he said.
"She's going to be a hot commodity now," Eden said, raising her eyebrows at her brother-in-law. "You should talk to her soon, or else someone else will come along and snatch her up." Getting them back together was Eden's number one priority; it wasn't as if she had much else going on in her life.
Henry was tired of all the hints and pushing from Eden and Max. The two of them were constantly making comments about when he planned to get back together with Maggie. Neither of them quite understood why they had broken up in the first place. "I will talk to her when I'm good and ready," he said tersely. "It's really none of your business, anyway. As it stands, I'm here to help her with some business matters. She's decided to use some of her money to try and help Finn." Be there for her as a friend, let things progress naturally on their own. That was his plan.
This news made Eden's smile widen. "Oh, I hope it works out! If you can do that, she will definitely love you forever." He just rolled his eyes at her antics, secretly hoping she was right.
Movement from the living room grabbed their attention and they all turned towards the doorway, noticing that Maggie was coming into the kitchen to join them. "Oh, Maggie, we are going to the Piper's on Saturday for dinner," her aunt said as she sat down on a barstool.
There was a silence as Maggie made a face at her aunt's words. "Oh, no," Eden said dramatically, frowning. "I know that look. You're about to tell us something and none of us can argue with you about it." She shook her head and smiled fondly at her cousin. "It's the same look you had when we were nine and you decided you wanted to give up ballet lessons." The two grinned at each other, remembering.
"Maggie, what's wrong?" Aunt Shaw asked.
Maggie turned to her aunt and smiled at her reassuringly. "Oh no, nothing's wrong. But Eden's right. I really appreciate everything y'all have done for me. But I've been back in Boston for a while now, I'm settled in. I'm a grown woman, and now I have my own money." She took a deep breath, looking over at Henry for support. He'd been there for her like no one else; she couldn't help but be grateful for that. "Henry is helping me understand the money aspect and all the responsibilities that come along with it. We're trying to help Finn. It probably won't work, but it makes me feel better knowing that we are trying. It's what mom and dad would have wanted." She stopped again, gathering her thoughts. Henry's smile of encouragement helped her continue. "It's time for me to take control of my own life," she finished.
Gasping, Eden's eyes widened with horror. "You want to leave us? But we need you here! Who will go on walks with me and Sholto?" She cried, her mind already reeling at the possibility of being alone.
It was obvious that Maggie was getting frustrated with the conversation and her cousin's dramatics. "No, of course not. But I would like to make my own life choices about what I want to do with my time," she said firmly. "If I want to stay in my room, I should be able to do that. And if I don't want to go to Piper's, well, then I don't want to go. And I don't," she smiled ruefully, trying to soften her words. "I honestly can't stand them." Her cousin looked so shocked that she couldn't help but laugh a little. "I don't enjoy Boston society anymore. In fact, I'm not sure that I ever did in the first place. There's something I learned when Mr. Bell and I visited our old house. I expected it to be unchanged, the same as we left it, a perfect memory." She blinked rapidly, looking down. "But everything changes. Try as we might, we can't go back. And that's not necessarily a bad thing."
Her words struck Henry as she looked up at him, relief clear on her face now that her thoughts were out in the open. No, they didn't want to go back to the way things were. Because obviously, things weren't as perfect as he had always thought they were, back then. He was more than happy to move forward and start fresh with Maggie, though. Maybe the time was almost right.
John
The front door opened and closed loudly, signaling someone's entrance to the house. There was only one person who it could be, and John couldn't muster the energy to stand up to make sure. It didn't matter, anyway, since it was just a few moments before Faith burst into the room where John and his mother were sitting.
"I hate to say I told you so," she blurted without saying hello. She still came and went from the house as if she still lived there, months after her marriage to Watson. "Admit it, John. I was right and you were wrong. For once in your life, you have to admit you were wrong." She looked between her mother and brother haughtily, not waiting for them to answer. "If you had just listened to Watson and invested in his venture, you would have made plenty of money. Enough to get you out of the hole for sure. Admit it." She crossed her arms, tapping her foot impatiently.
John just blinked up at his sister, unsure what she wanted from him or why she was even there. "I can ask Watson if he will lend you some money," she said, narrowing her eyes. "But he was very angry when you wouldn't invest with him, John. And he says a man should be able to pull himself up by his bootstraps, take care of his own family."
Neither John nor his mother knew how to answer her, much to Faith's dismay. She stomped her foot in frustration and turned away, annoyed at their lack of response. "Oh," she said from the doorway, turning back to twist the knife. "And you can forget about any chance you might have had with Annie Latimer. She'll want nothing to do with you now, I'm sure." With that, she left as suddenly as she appeared, leaving her family members gaping after her.
Sighing, John closed his eyes for a moment. Faith's words stung because there was some truth to them. Though, when he thought about it, he didn't regret the decisions he'd made in that regard. "You won't mind selling the house, will you?" he said finally, looking at his mom with sadness in his eyes, the dark circles underneath them proof of how little he'd been sleeping.
"I don't care about the house," she said firmly. "I care about you."
He gave her a small smile at that. "Thank God Faith is out of the house and settled. It's just the two of us, now." His mom smiled back at him, thinking how proud she was of her son.
Maggie
She was in the kitchen with her cousin and aunt, watching them cook dinner and editing pictures on her laptop when Henry walked in. He seemed to be at the apartment much more often; it almost felt like he lived there. It didn't bother her too much, though, since he hadn't given any indication that he wanted to get back together. And, if she was being honest, he was such a welcome friend in the tumultuous months since she'd been back in Boston.
"I have great news," he said, sitting down next to her and handing her some papers. She looked up at him, not bothering to read them, waiting instead for the explanation that she knew would be coming. "You've made more money."
Closing her computer, she swiveled in her chair to give him her full attention. "Really? Since yesterday? I must be an amazing businesswoman." She said, finally looking at the papers in front of her and trying to understand them.
Henry laughed. "Well, money makes money," he said.
"Oh, well, I'd rather have earned it myself and use it to help someone that needs it," she said with a sigh. She'd never imagined herself as an heiress, sitting in a swanky apartment in Boston, getting updates on her profits from her ex-boyfriend turned financial advisor.
Aunt Shaw turned and looked at her sharply. "Maggie! Goodness, what a thing to say," she said, apparently taking her niece's words as a personal attack on her character. "You're beginning to sound a little bit like, well, I hate to say it, but a socialist!" It was probably the worst thing someone could be, in the eyes of her aunt.
Unable to hide his smirk, Henry stood up to get something to drink. "Mr. Bell was a smart man," he said, sitting back down after he composed himself. "He invested heavily in this startup with this man from Atlanta. You might know him, Maggie, Watson's his name."
"Watson?" Maggie sat up quickly, trying to cover her surprise. "Not Faith Thornton's husband?" She asked with her heart suddenly in her throat.
Henry gave her a strange look and nodded. "One and the same," he said, watching as Maggie struggled to work through the thoughts racing in her mind. "He's being called a genius," he continued. "Probably just getting his 15 minutes of fame, but either way, Faith has caught herself a gold mine with that one."
Good for her, Maggie thought bitterly, not saying anything. Henry had one more thing to add, something to test the waters. "That's more than we can say for her brother," he finished, eyeing her closely to see her reaction.
It felt like she couldn't take a full breath in, as if someone was squeezing her chest. "Oh?" She finally forced out, looking down at her hands and fighting to keep the redness from her cheeks. Of course, she knew that Mr. Bell, for all intents and purposes, owned The Mill and that he was one of John's biggest investors. She just hadn't looked into it too closely since everything was passed on to her, not wanting to invade John's privacy and trusting that he would do what needed to be done. The urge to run away popped up suddenly; she didn't think she wanted to hear what Henry was about to say.
There was nowhere to run to, though. "He wouldn't have anything to do with Watson's plans. It went against his lofty principles, I guess. That'll probably be the last straw for Thornton." She looked back up at Henry, who smiled sympathetically. "I'm afraid you might have to find a new tenant for that property soon, Maggie," he said. Even if she could think of something to say to that, there was no way she could form the words, not with the blackness edging her vision and the roaring in her ears.
John
It was a sold-out show, a crowd like The Mill hadn't seen in ages. It felt fitting, in a way, that Williams' band was the one to play it, possibly the last band that would grace the creaky old stage of the upstairs room. Who knew what tenant would rent out the building next? Whoever it was, John doubted it would be another concert venue. The property was too valuable, in a much too prime and up and coming location. That night was surely the end of an era. At least they were able to send it out with a bang.
"I'll wait for you outside," Williams said after they had one last dram of scotch in John's office, knowing his friend probably needed some time alone. He had poured his heart and soul into The Mill. Williams wished things were different, that he'd stepped in before things had gotten so bad. He also knew that John would have never allowed that to happen.
John just nodded, making his way up the cold stone stairway one last time. There were lights on upstairs, a strange occurrence since Nick was usually good about turning them off before he left. Memories of the last few years crowded into his mind as he reached the top floor. Even though it was cold and silent, the building seemed to echo with the ghosts of every show it had held.
One person's ghost haunted him most of all. He could almost feel the energy of the crowd that was there the first time he saw Maggie, standing over by the bar. The same place where she challenged him over his treatment of that scumbag, Stephen. He shook his head to clear it of that memory.
Turning, he noticed Tom, one of Butch's kids, sitting in the corner quietly doing homework. Tom hadn't noticed his presence, either. "Where's Nick?" He asked, breaking the silence and startling the boy.
"He's just finishing up with something," Tom said. John just smiled sadly at him before moving on to let him get back to his work. He walked over to the barn and leaned against it, lost in thought as he waited for Nick to appear. Maggie snuck back in his mind, of course. There was no escaping her in this place. A memory, one he struggled to push away, bubbled up in his mind. The Greyhound station, in the middle of the night. She was there, and she wasn't alone, either. In the arms of a stranger, looking like she was caught red-handed. Caught doing what, he still wasn't sure. That was a question he would probably never have answered.
Suddenly aware that someone was speaking to him, John turned and saw Nick walking from behind the stage. "I said, have you heard anything from Maggie?" Nick said, looking at his boss with concern.
John blinked, a little dazed from being pulled so abruptly from his thoughts. "You're still here?" He asked.
"Just because it's our last night, boss, doesn't mean we shouldn't make sure everything is set to rights." Nick smiled sadly.
The words were classic Higgins, always one to do a job right. "Well, I suppose I'm nobody's boss anymore, Nick," John said, sighing.
Hopping up to sit on the bar next to John, Nick sighed, too. "If you're ever able to open back up, here or somewhere else, there's plenty of us who would come running back. Just say the word."
John could tell he meant it. He was grateful for the loyalty, especially after everything that had happened between them. "I had everyone write down their contact information, just in case," Nick continued, reaching behind him and handing John a few pages of notebook paper, filled with names and phone numbers.
The gesture caught him off guard. He wasn't sure how to thank Nick for that and everything else he'd done. The two of them were never the type for grand gestures or elaborate speeches. So, John just nodded and smiled, looking down at the papers to try to hold back the tightness that was building in his throat.
"Anyway," Nick said, covering over the moment to save them both the embarrassment. "I was asking about Maggie. Have you heard from her or how she's doing?" John wasn't sure why he was asking him. If anyone would be likely to hear from her, it would be Nick, John thought.
Unfortunately, John did know how she was doing. Even though he hadn't spoken with her personally, he'd been in communication with the ever arrogant and pretentious Henry Lennox, who was apparently handling her business affairs. John didn't know why he was surprised. "She's fine. Back in Boston. I guess there won't be any need for her to ever come back here." Henry had made it a point to mention just how fine she was, now that she was back where she belonged. In Boston, with him.
Nick nodded, watching his boss with acute interest. "That's good. I kind of thought she might have gone to Mexico," he said casually.
His words made John's head snap up so fast he almost bit his tongue. "Mexico? Why on earth would she go there?" He got the distinct feeling that Nick knew something he didn't. He also wasn't sure he liked the direction the conversation was going, but maybe this could finally be the answer he was looking for.
With his eyebrows raised, Nick feigned confusion. "Well, to see her brother, of course. Now that he's the only family she's got left."
Nothing Nick was saying made sense; John was struggling to put the pieces together. "Her brother? Maggie doesn't have a brother," he said, narrowing his eyes at Nick.
"Ah shit, yeah, you see. He was here when their mom was dying. They were real careful to keep it a secret," Nick said with a shrug. "Mary was Mrs. Hale's hospice nurse. She told me not to tell anyone."
It was all John could do to keep from falling to the floor. He stared at Nick, shaking his head slowly. "Why would Richard not tell me he had a son? No one ever mentioned it," he said, almost to himself.
Nick wondered if he should make John sit down. "Something about trouble with the law," he said, eyeing his boss to make sure he kept his legs under him. "I think he had some kind of issue with the Army. It was safer for him if no one knew."
The room was spinning as everything fell into place in John's mind. Suddenly, it all made perfect sense. "He was her brother," he whispered.
Smiling, Nick hopped off the bar and put out his hand. "Well, Thornton, I'll see you around," he said, clapping John on the shoulder.
John smiled back, something he didn't think was possible just moments before. He felt like a weight was lifted off his shoulder as shook Nick's hand. "Have a good one, Higgins. And thank you," he said, pulling him into a hug. It surprised them both, but Nick hugged him back before telling Tom to gather up his things. He turned in the doorway, giving his boss a final salute, then walked down the stairs.