14. Margot
CHAPTER 14
Margot
“ S o she just showed up?” Andie demands, shaking her head. “That’s insane.”
“She did. He handled it well, though.” I look from Andie to Eliza sitting beside her, then to Reyna, Lilly, and Bianca, who are all seated around the booth in Hope Diner. We try to get together for dinner a few times a month, but with Eliza and Lilly both having new babies, it’s been fewer and farther between our hangouts.
“It sounds like it.” Bianca shakes her head. “I knew Jaxson had been through some stuff, but I didn’t realize his wife had left him to die. That’s horrible. Surgery like that—I’m impressed he’s on his feet at all, let alone as active as he is.”
Since Bianca was a prominent surgeon when she’d been in the Army, I’m not surprised she understood what I’d told her about Jaxson’s accident. “I just feel so bad for him. Like, I just want to make him feel better. ”
“Make him dinner. Ask him on a date. That’s how you can make things better,” Andie jokes.
“We’re just friends,” I insist, though the twisting in my stomach at the mere thought of sharing a romantic dinner with him says otherwise.
“Girl, we know you have feelings for him,” Reyna says.
“Seriously, it’s apparent,” Eliza adds.
“Just because you’re all happy and in love doesn’t mean I am, too.”
“I’m not happy or in love,” Bianca says. “And I can see it plain as day.”
I roll my eyes and bump her with my shoulder. “Maybe we need to find you a man.”
“No thanks. Good on that.”
“How are things at the clinic?” Eliza questions.
Bianca, grateful for the subject change, jumps on it. “Not too bad. I prefer animals to people, so it’s always relaxing.”
“And Andie? How’s the boutique?”
“Doing great. A big store in New York reached out to me about carrying some of my designs, so we have a meeting next month.”
“What? Why didn’t you say anything before!” Eliza exclaims.
Andie grins. “It didn’t seem like the right time.”
“Are you kidding me? We should be celebrating you! That’s huge!”
Her cheeks turn pink. “I guess it is pretty cool.”
“Pretty cool?” Reyna fist pumps. “That’s amazing. ”
I smile as I listen to them carry on about possible ways of celebrating such a big win, though my thoughts drift almost instantly to Jaxson. I can see him, bruised and broken, lying in bed, waiting for the woman who should have been his partner to walk through the door.
How lost he must have felt.
How sad.
All while trying to find the strength to heal his body.
It makes me fall even harder for a man I have no business wanting.
“Hey, Margot. Where’s your head?” Reyna asks.
“What? Oh, sorry.” My cheeks heat. “I was just thinking about how horrible it must have been for him to be left behind like that.”
“So your thoughts were on Jaxson.” Eliza wiggles her brows.
“Yeah, I guess they were.”
“And how often are they on the Marine?” Bianca asks.
“More than they should be. But we’re just?—”
“Friends,” Lilly finishes. “Yeah, we get it. But my question is, do you want to just be friends? Or are you craving something more?”
My phone rings, thankfully putting an end to the awkward admission I was about to make. “Hello?”
“Hey, Mom.” His tone is off, his voice different, and fear instantly turns my stomach into a pit.
“Matty, what is it?” I glance down at my phone. It’s not even his number. “Where are you calling me from? ”
“A friend of mine dropped his phone, and I can’t find mine. Can you come get me?” he asks.
“Where are you? I thought you were at home.” My throat constricts, and I slide out of the booth on legs that feel like jelly. My boy. Is he okay? Is he hurt? Did someone take him? My thoughts go to Lanetti, to the worst-case scenario.
“I snuck out to meet some friends, and they left me out at the beach. It’s dark, Mom. I don’t want to walk home.”
Fear rips me apart. “I’m coming. Don’t move. Can you send me your location? I only have the one on your phone.”
“I can. But the battery is about to die. So I’ll send it to you then stay here so you can find me.”
“Okay. Please stay where you are. Keep away from the road.” I push out of the booth.
“What is it?” Reyna demands.
“Matty snuck out and his friends left him. He’s out by himself.”
“Then come on, let’s go get him.” She stands.
“No, it’s okay. I can do it.”
“Margot, let me drive you.” Reyna takes her purse. “Can we settle our bills later?” she asks Lilly.
“Of course. Don’t even worry about it. Let me know if you guys need anything, okay?”
“Okay.” I can’t even think straight as I follow Reyna out to her car and climb into the passenger side. How could he sneak out like this? I thought we were past this. I thought things were finally better .
“Are you okay, momma?”
“No. I’m worried about him.”
“We’ll get to him. Where is he?”
I tap on the pin he sent through a text, then pull up the map and breathe a sigh of relief. “Just outside of town. Looks like ten minutes.”
“See?” Reyna smiles. “We’ll get him. Then you can be wringing his neck in twenty minutes for leaving in the first place.”
We pull onto the main street and start driving while Reyna does her best to distract me, just like she did when we were teenagers. She talks about her school, asks me about the B&B, tells me about how she and my brother are talking about starting their family and then—headlights blind me and Reyna swerves.
“Hang on!” she screams as she jerks the wheel.
We go off the road, hitting a ditch, and my stomach lurches as we flip, landing down a hill upside down. My head slams into the window, and I scream.
The car stops moving, and everything is dead silent.
“Reyna?” I choke out.
She doesn’t answer.
“Reyna!” I scream and struggle with my seat belt. It comes loose, and I fall to the roof of the car, landing on broken glass from what was left of the sunroof. I hiss through clenched teeth but try to crawl over to check her pulse.
Someone grabs my ankle.
I scream again .
They rip me back, and glass bites into my hands.
Scrambling for something—anything—I can use as a weapon, my hand closes around the handle of a glass break tool that fell from whatever cubby Reyna had been storing it in. They release my ankle just as I turn, swinging as hard as I can.
But there’s no one there.
Headlights come to a stop behind me.
“Reyna!” Michael yells.
“In here!” I call out, hope flooding me.
My brother is here. He’ll keep us safe.
Michael’s face comes into view on the driver’s side. He squats down, and tears blur his eyes. “Reyna, no, no.” He checks her pulse.
She groans.
“Thank God,” Michael breathes a sigh of relief. “I’m going to get you down, okay?”
“Sure thing, gorgeous,” she groans. “What happened?”
“We’ll figure it out.” He wraps his arms around her and cuts her seat belt with his pocket knife, then carefully pulls her from the car.
Since whoever grabbed me dragged me most of the way out, I manage to make it all the way out of the car before Michael is around to my side, setting Reyna down and coming to me.
“Are you okay? Where are you hurt?” He looks me over.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened. Someone ran us off the road and—Matty! He’s out here somewhere. He needs help.” I try to get up, but Michael pushes me back down.
“Easy. Matty is fine,” Michael says. “He and Jaxson were playing chess all night. They should be here any minute?—”
Sirens wail in the distance, and another set of headlights pulls up beside Michael.
“That doesn’t make sense. He called me.”
“Reyna texted me as soon as he did, so I called Jaxson for backup. He said Matty was sitting right across from him all night. I don’t know who called you, but it wasn’t him.”
More dread coils in my gut, and my body begins to shake, the adrenaline wearing off. With it, excruciating pain in my hands, knees, and the side of my head returns.
“Mom!” Matty screams.
“She’s over here!” Michael calls out.
Seeing my boy racing toward me, his eyes wide with panic, soothes my soul. He’s okay.
My son is okay.
Which means I will be, too. He kneels beside me and I reach for him, needing to wrap my arms around my boy. He’s gentle as he hugs me back, then pulls away, tears in his eyes.
“Are you okay, mom?”
“I will be,” I try to smile, but I know the pain must be visible on my face.
Jaxson drops to his knees beside Matty. “Where are you hurt? Any large wounds?” He looks me over, and I show him my hands.
“Baby, can you go see Aunt Reyna? Check on her please?”
He hesitates a moment, looking between me and Jaxson, but then nods. “Sure, Mom. I can do that.” He smiles at me, then gets to his feet and heads over toward Michael and Reyna.
“What is it?” Jaxson starts looking me over in more detail, clearly worried I have a life-threatening injury I didn’t want Matty to know about.
“Someone tried to drag me from the car.”
“What?” His tone changes instantly, going from worried to angry.
I meet his gaze, doing my best to focus on him and not the pain. “I think someone was trying to kill me.”