Chapter 53 The Return
THE RETURN
MAGGIE
Because Zeke remained so diligent in selling our belongings, he ended up sleeping on the sofa while I slept with a blanket and cheap pillow on the empty mattress in my room.
There were too many people coming and going throughout the evening for us to have a chance to talk again.
But I knew it wouldn’t do any good to try anyway.
I broke everything when I couldn’t admit the truth.
And I still didn’t understand why I struggled to say it. I felt it, with my whole heart. I loved Zeke. That was as natural as drawing my next breath.
Saying it out loud, however, didn’t feel natural. Every time I thought of telling him, I went through the same emotions as I did with my purging obsessions. There was some kind of mental block preventing me from admitting my feelings to him.
Going through the motions the following day seemed like more of regression than a relocation. We signed with the movers who arrived to load up our stuff, then Zeke headed into the housing office to sign us out of the apartment.
I called Seo-yeun to apologize for not returning to work. She didn’t seem to mind, having worked with so many Army wives before. She wished us well on the move and the ended the call with a click. I only worked there for one day, after all.
The finality of what I lost hit me hard with that click. We had a life here at Humphreys. A life I didn’t want to lose.
There wasn’t even enough time for me to say goodbye to Barb.
Zeke returned so we could head out to the airport. From the outside looking in, he acted like a typical attentive husband. He carried both our bags, kept track of our tickets, boarding passes, and passports, and always waved me in front.
We made it all the way onto the plane before he spoke to me. “Once we get back to Savannah, I’ll drop you off in River’s Run.”
I waited for the rest of his statement. When it never came, I clarified, “And you’ll be…?”
His jaw clenched. “I’ll go on post so I can get a room.”
“Another apartment for us?”
Finally, he turned to me. “Maggie, you won’t be going with me after this.”
Horror rooted me to the seat. There was an emptiness to his gaze that I didn’t recognize. With all the people on the plane around us, I would cause a scene if I started crying the way I wanted to. That fact probably served as a prime motivator for Zeke to tell me the news right then.
Instead, I turned to the window and let the tears fall freely.
The layover this time landed in Dallas. Zeke offered to get us food, but I ignored him and powerwalked to the next gate. We had close to six hours to kill; I would spend every single minute of those six hours with my headphones in if I had to.
A decision that immediately exasperated Zeke. “Don’t be like this, Maggie. You know this is for the best.”
Nobody else waited near our gate, so I whirled on him with a vengeance. “Don’t tell me what I know, Zeke Hayes! None of this makes a lick of sense!”
He slammed his carryon down before kicking backwards into the seat. The impact left a small dent. “Goddamn, Maggie, just tell me that you love me! There’s no way that you don’t feel this, too! I don’t get why this is so hard!”
More tears filled my eyes, but I blinked them away. “I don’t either,” I whispered.
The Savannah Airport looked cold and gray when we landed. I managed to get a few hours’ sleep on the plane while still keeping my distance from Zeke, but I felt haggard and weary beyond my years.
Zeke picked up a rental truck and we silently headed back to River’s Run. His own truck was lost in transit somewhere, never arriving in Korea, but no longer parked on post here.
Seven times I tried opening my mouth to say something.
To yell at him for being foolish. To declare my love for him.
To cry over what he wanted us to give up.
But each time, I remembered Barb’s advice on not letting my emotions do the talking.
“Not every thought in your head has to come out your mouth!” she always told me.
I missed Barb something fierce. She would tell me exactly how to handle things with Zeke.
As we passed the sign for River’s Run late in the afternoon, panic really started to set in. This couldn’t be good-bye. I didn’t want this to be the last time I saw Zeke.
We were almost to Main Street when I finally burst out, “Spencer says I owe him five thousand dollars. He threatened to blow up Marla’s bakery if I didn’t pay him.”
Zeke’s head whipped around in my direction before he pulled off on the side of the road. He put the truck in park before turning his whole body to face me.
“Why does he think you owe him so much money? And what does Marla have to do with it?”
There was no sense hiding it anymore if I already lost Zeke anyway.
“Because the last time I went to his place, I accidentally knocked over some drugs he had on a table. I think it might’ve been cocaine.
The shit went everywhere. Spencer’s always been a bit of a dealer, but usually it was small potatoes—weed, maybe a little X here and there.
Something harder would’ve been a step up for him. ”
My husband pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. “So let me get this straight. You accidentally ruined a drug dealer’s stash, so now he’s threatening to kill Marla? Where does she fit into this?”
Chin wobbling, I sniffled back my tears. “He’s using her as a way to get to me. Because I left and he couldn’t find me. If he knows we’re back in the States, he’ll probably try to come after you, too.” That thought sent a shiver down my spine.
“I’d like to see him try.” Zeke sighed from the weight of the world on his shoulders. “Do you have a means of contacting him?”
“I can message him through Facebook. I deleted his number as soon as we got married.”
The statement earned me a small smile that I couldn’t return.
“Tell him to meet you someplace out in the open, someplace discreet, okay? This guy sounds like a lunatic and I don’t want to run the risk of anyone nearby getting hurt.” Zeke put the truck back in drive, pulling back out onto the road.
“Like the old canning factory?” I suggested. “The company built a fancy new building closer to the highway a while ago, but left the original building. Teens use it as a place to meet up and smoke on the weekends. No one will be there now.”
Zeke nodded. “That’s perfect. Tell him to meet us there at ten o’clock tonight, and I’ll have his money.”
I gasped. “We’re gonna pay him?”
“We’re gonna end this,” came Zeke’s cryptic reply.
Another shudder made the hair on my arms stand up, so I didn’t question him any further. Until it dawned on me right as we pulled into Marla’s parking area.
“Why are you doing this? You don’t have to help me if we’re…if we’re not…”
“Because no one gets to threaten you, Maggie. Whether we’re together or not.
You’re not a burden, you’re a gift, remember?
” Zeke’s voice sounded as cold and detached as it had our entire journey back, but I couldn’t stop the hope that bloomed in my chest. He still loved me. I had a chance to fix this.
And I knew exactly how to do it.