The Sweetest Gift (The Gift) (9 page)

Maggie immediately liked Justin’s place. It had been
built in 1904 and had a lot of the features of an older house.

“Justin, this is so charming,” she said, “and the view
from the patio is absolutely incredible. I’ve always wanted to live in a house
that overlooks the ocean.”

“Thanks, Maggie. I like it. Sausalito is a beautiful
place to live,” he said as they carried their suitcases into his bedroom. The
room was small and held a queen size bed.

“I hope you don’t mind staying in here with me, Maggie.”

She gave him a long look, but didn’t say anything.

Then Justin carried Gabe and Jake’s suitcase into the
second bedroom.

“If you don’t mind Belle, I guess you’ll have to sleep
on the sofa.”

Belle didn’t mind in the least because the living room
had the best view in the house.

“How about if we relax on the patio for a while and then
go into town for some food? I don’t think there’s too much in the
refrigerator,” he said.

Everyone liked that idea because they were anxious to
explore the town. Maggie unpacked her clothes and put them away in the bureau
in Justin’s room while the kids went outside to sit on the patio.

“I bet your women friends love this place,” Maggie said
and smiled at Justin.”

“You’re the first woman that’s been here Maggie,” Justin
answered seriously. “But then again, I haven’t lived here too long,” he added
and then smiled suddenly.

Maggie thought this statement deserved some sort of
response so she threw a pillow at him. He grabbed her by her wrists so that she
couldn’t throw the second pillow at him, and kissed her in retaliation.

After a minute, Maggie broke away.

“You’re going to have to behave yourself Justin,
especially when the kids are around.”

“I’ll try, but I’m not promising anything,” he said and
smiled at her.

Justin went into the kitchen where he found a couple of
beers in the refrigerator. He took them outside and he and Maggie joined the
kids on the patio. After half an hour or so, the kids started getting restless
so Justin suggested that they all go into town.

Justin, Maggie and the kids walked down the hill to Bridgeway Street where most of the tourist shops were located. Maggie wanted to buy some
sweatshirts because she hadn’t quite anticipated how cool it was in San Francisco in August. After outfitting the kids and herself in brightly colored
sweatshirts emblazoned with ‘Sausalito’, Maggie was happy to window shop. She
gave the kids twenty dollars each to buy souvenirs and then she and Justin
followed behind in their wake as they explored the various stores. Justin
reached for Maggie’s hand and stopped to kiss her tenderly when the kids were
too occupied to notice them.

     Belle looked in one shop and then turned back to
say, “There’s some nice jewelry in this store, Mama.” Maggie went into the shop
with Belle and they looked at some dangly earrings that were made out of sea
glass. Belle held a green pair up to her ears and liked the way they looked.

“Can I get these ones, Mama.”

“Yes, darlin’,” Maggie said and smiled indulgently.

“I think these earrings would look nice on you, Maggie,”
Justin said and he held out a pair of earrings made of turquoise sea glass and
sparkly silver beads.

“Those are very pretty, Justin,” Maggie said.

 Justin took the two pair of earrings to the cashier who
put them in small gift boxes in a bag.

“Thank you, my love,” Maggie said as they left the
store. Belle heard her and looked back at Maggie and Justin with a strange look
on her face. Then she hurried down the sidewalk to catch up with her brothers
who were looking at some kites that were displayed in a storefront.

As Maggie and Justin caught up to them, Gabe asked,
“Mama, can we get a kite? It might be fun to take it down to the beach.”

“That sounds like a good idea. Why don’t you and Jake
pick one out.”

The two boys picked out a kite that looked like a dragon
and had a long tail. Justin picked up a ball of string and then paid for their
purchases.

“What do you say, kids?” Maggie prompted.

“Thanks Uncle Justin,” Gabe and Belle responded.

“Thanks Daddy,” said Jake and he held Justin’s hand.

Then they all walked down to the end of Gate Six road to
the public shore, and admired the many colorful houseboats that were moored
there. The kids were entranced with the idea of living on the water and
encouraged Justin to trade in his house for a boat.

“I’m not sure that I would want to bob around all the
time,” Maggie laughed.

“No Mama, it would be really cool,” said Jake.

“I would like to try going out in a sea kayak though,”
Maggie said.

“Haven’t you ever done that before, Maggie?” Justin
asked.

“No, I canoed and sailed when I was at summer camp, but
I’ve never tried kayaking. It looks like a lot of fun.”

“It is. I’ll take you out sometime,” Justin said and
smiled at her.

“Can we take the ferry to San Francisco?” Gabe asked.

“I thought we would do that in a couple days, maybe
after we go visit my parents,” Justin answered. “How about if we get some
lunch? I’m starting to get hungry.”

The kids seemed enthusiastic about the idea, so Justin
led them to a small restaurant that had tables outside with a view of the bay.
The waitress seated them and handed them some menus.

“You might like to try the cioppino, Maggie. It’s in a
tomato-fennel broth and it’s their specialty,” Justin said.

“That sounds good, you know I love seafood,” she
concurred.

So Justin ordered the cioppino for Maggie and the
grilled organic lamb sirloin for himself. Belle decided on the ravioli and the
two boys ordered hamburgers. Justin ordered some wine for Maggie and himself
and they settled in for a relaxing meal. Justin reached for Maggie’s hand under
the table and held her hand until the waitress came back with their food.

“So what do you recommend that we do while we’re here,
Justin?”

“We should probably go into San Francisco and go to
Fisherman’s Wharf, maybe have dim sum in Chinatown. There are some fun stores
there too that I bet the kids would like. We could go to Mount Tamalpais one day and the Muir Woods. I thought we would visit my parents tomorrow in Tiburon.
They’re anxious to meet Jake. Also, I’d like to take you guys to meet my band.
They’re planning on having a cookout on Sunday.”

“Sounds like there is a lot to do,” Maggie said.

“Yes, you could probably stay here for weeks and we’d
never run out of things to do,” Justin replied.

Jake looked sad for a minute.

“But we won’t, will we Mama?” he said anxiously.

“What’s the matter, dear?” Maggie asked quietly.

Jake looked at Justin for a minute and said “I miss
Daddy.”

Maggie looked at Justin.

“Do you mean you miss Zak?” she said.

“Yes, Mama, I miss my other Daddy, and Sarah and Chère
and Monroe and Uncle Caleb and my cousins and Gramma.”

Maggie took Jake’s hand in hers for a moment.

“I’m sorry, Jake. It sounds like you’re feeling a little
homesick. We won’t be staying here too long, just for a short vacation.”

“That’s good,” Jake said looking relieved. “Besides, I
need to go home because I’m going to start school.”

“That’s going to be exciting, Jake. I’m sure you’re
going to like school,” Justin said and Jake suddenly looked a lot happier.

They finished their meal and Justin suggested they head
home. He thought they should get the car and then drive over to the grocery
store to get some food for the week. When they got back to the house, Jake
seemed tired so he stayed home with Maggie while Justin, Gabe and Belle went
over to the grocery store on Caledonia Street. They returned with several bags
of food. Maggie helped put away the food in the kitchen and noticed that Justin
had bought a lot of San Francisco specialties like sourdough bread, goat cheese
and organic fruits and vegetables that had been grown locally.

When they were done putting away the food, Justin opened
a bottle of wine and poured two glasses to take out to the patio. The kids were
quietly watching a video in the living room, so Maggie and Justin had the patio
to themselves.

“Maggie, I’m a little worried about Jake,” Justin said
after a few moments of silence. “He seems a little sad. I’m wondering if he has
had to deal with too many changes over the last couple months.”

“I was thinking about that too. He’s had a lot thrown at
him. Moving from Nashville to Louisiana and back again, finding out that he has
a new father. Maybe we need to provide more stability for him.” Maggie looked
thoughtful.

“He seems kind of anxious about starting school,” Justin
said.

“I think that’s normal, it’s a big deal to start
kindergarten. I remember that Gabe and Belle felt anxious about it too in the
beginning.”

“I was thinking about asking you if you wanted to stay
with me in California for a while, but I don’t think Jake would be happy here.”

Maggie was silent and then slowly answered, “Sometimes I
have to think about what would be best for the children, and what I might want
is secondary.” She reached over and took Justin’s hand and held it for a few
minutes.

The video ended and the three children came out onto the
patio.

“Mama, when are we going to have dinner?”

“How about some spaghetti and salad?” Justin answered.
“That shouldn’t take too long.”

“Good, because I’m starving,” said Gabe.

After they had dinner, Maggie encouraged the children to
go to bed early. Justin wanted to take everyone to Tiburon in the morning to
visit his parents and it would probably be a long day. Maggie and Justin sat
out on the patio and drank another glass of wine and watched the full moon
rise. Then Justin took Maggie’s hand and led her to bed. They made love quietly
so that the children wouldn’t hear, and were asleep by eleven.

.

Chapter 12

The next morning, they all got up around nine.
Justin made French toast for everyone, and then packed a bag with some snacks
to take to his parents’. Maggie packed a backpack with books for the kids and a
Frisbee so they would have something to keep them busy. Then they all got in
Justin’s van and started off to Tiburon. The town of Tiburon was on a peninsula
a few miles north of Sausalito. Justin’s parents had bought a small house on
the edge of town two years previously so that they could be close to Justin who
was their only son.

After a short drive, they arrived at the mid-century
modern house which was perched on a hillside above the town. Maggie liked it,
she thought that the minimalist design didn’t distract from the spectacular
water views. Justin told Maggie that he had helped his parents finance the
purchase of the house. He figured that California real estate was probably a
good investment, even if he wasn’t sure that he was going to stay there
permanently.

They got out of the car and walked up to the front door
and rang the bell. After a minute or two, Justin’s mother and father appeared.
Justin kissed his mother and introduced everyone. Jake looked a little nervous
about being introduced to his new grandparents, so they tried not to focus on
him too much. Instead they invited everyone to sit out on the back deck.

The children started looking bored after a few minutes
of small talk, so Justin suggested that they get out the Frisbee and play with
that in the yard for a while. While they were occupied with their game,
Justin’s mother turned to him and said, “Jake is just precious. He looks so
much like you did when you were small.” Justin smiled at his parents.

“He’s smart too and he’s already playing the mandolin.
One of these days, I’ll have to get him an electric guitar,” Justin said
proudly.

“So are you two going to get married?” Justin’s mother
asked Maggie.

Justin suddenly looked at Maggie’s hand to see if his
mother had noticed her engagement ring, but the ring was gone. Maggie must have
removed it that morning before they left the house.

“I’m not sure what’s going to happen, Mrs. Boudreau,”
Maggie replied. “Justin and I are still getting used to the fact that we have a
child together.”

“Well, I’m sure the two of you will work everything out
together eventually. We are so thrilled we have a grandchild. We never thought
that would happen.” Justin’s mother smiled at her son. “Thank you so much for
bringing him to see us.”

After playing with the Frisbee for a while, the children
started getting restless, so Justin’s parents suggested that they all walk to
town and have lunch at Sam’s Anchor Café. It was a landmark in Tiburon known
for its seafood and the bay views from the deck. The adults and children walked
several blocks down the hill to Main Street and arrived in time to get a table
on the deck. Justin’s father recommended the Dungeness Crab Penne, so Maggie
ordered that. Justin decided on the Grilled Salmon with asparagus while the
children asked for tuna sandwiches and burgers on sourdough buns. Everyone
enjoyed the view of the bay and the San Francisco skyline, and the children had
fun feeding French fries to the seagulls.

After they finished eating, they strolled down Main Street exploring the antique shops and galleries. Justin wanted to take Maggie to
Schoenberg Guitars, so he suggested to his parents that they take the kids to
the Candy Store while he and Maggie looked at the instruments. As they walked
in the door to Schoenberg’s, Justin joked, “This is a candy store for adults.” Maggie
smiled and agreed with him. There were dozens of handmade guitars hanging from
the walls, they seemed to be inviting the customers to try them out. Justin was
looking at some Bourgeois guitars that had just come in, when one of the
salesmen came over.