Chapter 7 #2
“Yes, Poppy arrived early this morning. She’s absolutely perfect.”
“That’s fantastic! Congratulations.”
“Thank you. I feel weird accepting congrats when I didn’t do anything.”
“You became an aunt today. That’s a big deal.”
“It sure is. Thanks.”
After a quick trip to her apartment to brush her hair and teeth and change her clothes, Maggie shared the news with everyone she encountered over the next few hours.
Friends from home, college and New York lit up her phone with a flurry of texts after Kate’s team released the news about Poppy’s arrival.
She was drinking a cup of coffee when another text arrived from the last person she ever wanted to hear from again. Heard the news about your sister’s baby. Congrats.
Maggie choked on the mouthful of coffee and nearly vomited from the revulsion that overtook her at the sight of his name on her screen.
How was he still able to contact her? She’d blocked him, hadn’t she?
Her hands shook as she tried to find her contacts to check.
It took longer than it should have to locate her contacts and find his name still there.
How could his name still be there? How could he think it was all right to send a casual text as if they were still friends?
She found the link to block him and pressed it firmly before dropping the phone on her desk and covering her face with her hands as a torrent of unwelcome thoughts and memories swamped her tired brain, leaving her devastated all over again.
Approaching footsteps had her scrambling to wipe tears from her face and control her rampaging emotions.
“Um, is this a bad time?” Brayden asked from the doorway.
Once again, he’d caught her in a less than professional state.
“I can come back later.”
Maggie forced herself to rally, to stuff the traumatic memories back into the box where she kept them sealed off so she could function.
“No, it’s fine. Come in.” She took a deep breath and held it for a second before releasing it slowly, trying to center herself and find some calm amid the storm raging inside her.
Apparently, she failed miserably.
“What’s wrong?”
Maggie stared up at his handsome face and couldn’t form a single sentence. Words jumbled about in her brain, but she couldn’t make sense of any of them. Between the exhaustion and the reopening of a still-healing wound, she had nothing.
“You want to ride?”
Maggie nodded. She wanted that more than anything.
“Let’s go.”
Somehow, she managed to stand, to follow his direction to get her boots and meet him at the stables, where she stood idly by like a helpless fool while he quickly and efficiently saddled his horse and Thunder before leading them both outside.
“You need a leg up?”
Shaking her head, she swung herself up into the saddle and immediately found the calm she’d been unable to locate until now.
Riding Thunder always made her happy and settled her in a way that nothing else could.
Since her horse Destiny had died years ago, Maggie hadn’t been able to bring herself to look for a new one.
When she’d come to Tennessee, she’d immediately bonded with Thunder, which had worked out well since Kate had given up riding while pregnant.
Maggie followed Brayden around the stables to the same well-worn path she’d traversed the night before.
They rode for miles in quiet communion with the horses and the natural beauty of the Matthews estate.
She appreciated that Brayden didn’t try to get her to talk.
He simply kept her company as they rode toward a wooded area she hadn’t yet explored.
They slowed the horses as they continued toward the woods.
“Have you ridden in there before?” he asked.
“Not yet. I had a phobia about going in there alone.”
“Too much Little Red Riding Hood as a child?” he asked, cracking a small grin.
“Something like that.”
She’d encountered her own version of the Big Bad Wolf, this one wearing a Brooks Brothers suit and Italian loafers. The memory sent a shudder through her.
Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to ride into the woods with another man she barely knew. How could you know which ones were trustworthy and which ones weren’t? “Let’s stop here,” she said, her voice sounding higher than usual and far more uncertain than it should have, which infuriated her.
Right when she wanted to be projecting a serious, professional demeanor, her insides felt like they’d been put through a paper shredder. Goddamned Ethan and the freaking text that had set her back months.
When they reached the creek that ran through the property, they dismounted to let the horses drink.
“I want you to know…” Maggie said the words before she thought them all the way through.
“What do you want me to know?”
“That I’m not always a hot mess at work. Just when you’re around, or so it seems.”
He laughed. “No judgment. I promise.”
“Thank you, but still… I wasn’t sleeping the other day. I often close my eyes when I’m thinking.”
“What happened today?”
“Something I’d much sooner forget.”
“Ah, yeah, I know how that is.”
“Do you?”
He nodded.
Maggie wondered if he was referring to whatever had happened to land him in juvie, but she couldn’t ask.
He’d already put that off-limits. “After Kate’s baby was announced, I got a text from a guy I thought I’d blocked.
Someone I should have blocked.” Why was she telling him this?
What was it about him that made it so easy for her to talk to him?
“Oh damn. That sucks.”
“You have no idea how much that sucks.”
“I hope you’ve blocked him for good this time.”
“Hell yes, but I can’t believe that all this time, he was right there in my phone, able to pop in any time and remind me of why I can’t bear to hear from him. I feel like I’ve been walking around with a grenade that’s had the pin pulled and could’ve blown up at any second.”
“You must’ve been pretty rattled after whatever happened if you forgot to block him.”
“I was. Rattled, that is. Still am if a simple text can screw me up all over again.”
“There was nothing simple about that text, which he must’ve known.”
“Yeah, he knew that.”
“I’m sorry he ruined such a happy day for you.”
Maggie forced herself to raise her chin, to keep soldiering on the way she had for months now. “He hasn’t. I won’t let him steal this day from me or Poppy.”
“Good,” Brayden said.
“Thanks for suggesting a ride. It helped.”
“It always helps.”
“You want to have our meeting out here?”
“Works for me.” He went to his horse, opened a saddle bag and pulled out a sheet that he spread on the ground. “Have a seat in my office.”
Maggie smiled. “What else have you got in there?”
He waggled his brows. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
Yes, I would like to know. I’d like that very much.
Brayden sat next to her on the sheet, which he’d positioned so they could keep an eye on the horses.
Thunder wouldn’t go anywhere without her. She assumed his horse was the same. “What’s your horse’s name?”
“Sunday Morning.”
“I like that. Where did she get her name?”
“My mom’s favorite song was ‘Easy Like Sunday Morning’ by the Commodores. She used to play it all the time. It was the first song I ever knew all the words to.”
“You said ‘was’ her favorite song. Did you lose her?”
He nodded. “Somewhat recently and very suddenly.”
“Oh God. That’s awful.”
“It’s been rough.”
“What happened?”
“Car accident.”
Maggie gasped as memories of an accident she wished she could forget assailed her. “I’m so sorry, Brayden.”
“Why did you suddenly go completely pale?”
“Did I?”
He nodded.
“My mom was hit by a car when I was nine. I saw it happen.”
“Oh damn, Maggie.”
“Yeah.”
“Did she… Was she…”
“She survived it but was in a coma for three years.”
He snapped his fingers. “I’ve heard this story. I saw your sister on TV years ago. She talked about how that accident changed her life and her family’s life.”
“It sure did, but we were talking about you and your mom. I didn’t mean to hijack the conversation.”
“You didn’t. It’s fine. I’m sorry that happened to your mom.”
“I’m sorry for what happened to yours.”
“Thanks. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that she’s really gone.”
“I’m sure. It takes a while for things like that to sink in.”
“So I’m told.”
Maggie turned so she could see him. “If you… If you want to talk about it with someone who gets it, I’m around.”
“Thanks. That’s really nice of you.” He took a moment and seemed to make an effort to shake off the grief. “I meant to tell you I signed the contract at your lawyer’s office yesterday. He said he’d get the signed copies to you.”
“He’s not just my lawyer. He’s also my future brother-in-law. He’s marrying my sister Jill in July, and his dad is Kate’s husband.”
“Ah okay. Well, let me tell you what I’ve got planned for the kids, and you can give me a yay or nay.” They’d talked in higher-level specifics during the interview process and had agreed to get further into the details once he was on board.
“You’re the expert. I’m not going to micromanage you.”
“Still, I’d like your approval.”
“Okay, I’m listening.”