Chapter 4 #2
“It’s such an amazing thing you, Kate and Reid are doing there.”
“Mostly them. Without their support, I couldn’t do what I do.”
“It’s mostly you, Maggie. They would say the same thing. Don’t sell yourself short. You’re changing people’s lives with that program.”
“That’s the goal.”
“You sound down. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing at all. I’m not down. Just busy.”
“You swear? You’d tell me or Kate or both of us if you weren’t okay, wouldn’t you?”
“I would.”
“Promise?”
“Yes, Jill,” Maggie said, exasperated. “I promise. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“See you then. Love you.”
“Love you, too.” She ended the call, muttering about overprotective older sisters who felt the need to constantly mother her.
That, too, was a holdover from their mother’s accident, when Jill and Kate had become much more than older sisters to Maggie.
They, along with their stepmother, Andi, had been the ones to see Maggie though adolescence, puberty, her first period, her first date and many other milestones.
They were much more than siblings to her, and she was so happy to be able to see them all the time again. She loved them even more than the horses. “But sometimes they drive me crazy with their mothering. I have a mother. I have two mothers, counting Andi.”
From the doorway came the deep sound of a male clearing his throat. Maggie closed her eyes and counted to five. Dear God, now the man had heard her talking to herself, too? She opened her eyes and turned to him, forcing a smile. “All set with the paperwork?”
To his credit, he didn’t mention what he’d overheard. “Yes, ma’am.”
“No, sir.”
“Ma’am?”
“You’re not going to ma’am me.” She glanced at his paperwork, which listed his date of birth. “You’re four years older than me. I’m Maggie. Not ma’am.”
“Sorry, ma’am… Er, I mean Maggie.” And the accent… Sigh. It was on the same dreaminess level as Reid’s and Ashton’s. God help her, but he was temptation personified.
Maggie scowled at him, trying to maintain some semblance of professionalism. “Being called ma’am makes me feel like I’m eighty.”
He smiled, and holy wow. That smile took him from handsome to staring-at-the-sun gorgeous.
She blinked, forcing herself to act somewhat professional in the face of unreasonable male beauty.
Taking the clipboard from him, she put it on her desk.
“Let me show you to your accommodations.” She gestured for him to lead the way, and after locking her office door, she followed him to the driveway, where a huge black pickup truck and horse trailer were parked.
They walked to the stables, where Maggie introduced Brayden to Derek.
“Welcome,” Derek said as the two men shook hands. “I’ll get you set up with a stall for your horse.”
“That’d be great. Thank you.”
“My pleasure.”
Maggie gestured to a set of stairs. “The apartment is up there.”
She led the way up the stairs, aware of him behind her and thankful for the jeans she’d splurged on in New York that flattered her figure, even as she told herself to quit having such stupid thoughts in a professional situation.
Hadn’t she learned her lesson with the last guy she’d met through her work?
The memories came over her in a flood of images, things she would never forget. She shuddered in revulsion, and for a terrifying second, she feared she might be sick in front of her new employee. At the top of the stairs, she paused, took a deep breath, tried to find her equilibrium.
“Are you all right?” Brayden asked.
Damn it, Maggie thought. The last thing she needed was a new employee seeing her undone over things that happened months ago and should’ve been long forgotten by now.
It’d been a while since she’d awoken in a cold sweat after having dreamed about that night and months since she’d moved hundreds of miles away from him.
Why was he resurfacing now, in the middle of an ordinary workday? “Yes,” she said, “I’m fine.”
Taking another deep breath, she released it and gestured to the door on the right.
“Derek lives there. Your place is here.” She opened the door on the left side of the landing and led the way inside to a cozy studio apartment with a combined living area/kitchen, a bathroom and bedroom.
“It’s not much, but it’s clean, and the furniture is new. ”
“It’s more than enough for me. I don’t need much.”
He was so tall, he could reach up and touch the seven-foot ceiling. The small apartment seemed smaller with him standing in the living area.
She handed him a set of keys. “You’ll find sheets and towels in the bathroom closet, and there’s a laundry room off the kitchen that you’re welcome to use.”
“Sounds great. Thank you.”
“I’ll leave you to get settled. Let me know if you need anything.”
“I will. Thanks again.”
Maggie went down the stairs, eager for some fresh air and a moment alone to recover her equilibrium.
Why now? Why when she was showing Brayden to his quarters had those memories popped into her mind to remind her that she could run but she could not hide from the nightmare she’d left behind in New York?
Tears burned her eyes as she walked to the back side of the stables to a well-worn path, beaten down by years of feet and hooves traversing it.
She put her head down and walked toward a meadow that Kate had told her was among her favorite places on the vast property.
In the distance, Maggie could see the windsock that marked one end of the runway and the hangar where Reid and Ashton kept their Cessna.
When Maggie had fallen off a ladder and been badly injured years ago, Reid had flown Kate home to Rhode Island to be with her.
Keep thinking about things like that, how surprised she’d been to see Kate there when she woke up from hours of being unconscious, how her mother, stepmother and sisters had helped her with everything for months as she grappled with two broken arms. Think about that.
At the time, Maggie had thought having two broken arms was the worst thing that would ever happen to her.
She’d since learned it could get so much worse.
Think about the boys… Eric, John and Rob, who were her father’s sons with Andi, and Max and Nick, her mother’s sons with Aidan.
Her brothers had brought her endless amounts of love and joy, especially Eric, who was not only her brother but one of her closest friends.
The two of them had shared a special bond since Andi and Eric first came to live with her family, and that bond had only deepened over the years.
Maggie told herself to think about John and Rob, who were in the thick of their Little League baseball schedule and full of excitement about each game. John was a pitcher, Rob a catcher, the two of them the stars of their team.
And Max and Nick, who were getting so big and always wanted to talk to Maggie when she FaceTimed with their mom. They didn’t understand why she didn’t love skateboarding and hockey as much as they did.
Whenever the memories of that night returned to haunt her, she tried to power through them, to think of the people she loved, the new niece or nephew who’d be arriving soon and her many blessings.
If only she could blot out the things that haunted her, including the vision of her mother being hit by that car all those years ago and one horrific night now seven months in the past, but still far too present for her liking.
Maybe if she’d told someone…
“No. I’m not telling anyone. What good will that do? It wouldn’t change anything, and it would only upset the person I tell. I need to just stop thinking about it, put it in the past where it belongs and move the fuck on.”
Maggie screamed with frustration, thankful for the vast open space where she could vent to the passing breeze without fear of being overheard.