Chapter 3
Chapter Three
F eeling a little queasy, Maggie strode into her small kitchen. She put some bread in the toaster and leaned against the counter.
Her torn-up bed told the story of her restless night. She kept seeing the shocked look in Ace’s eyes, hearing his voice.
Are you sure it’s mine?
Asshole . She yanked the fridge open, and pulled out some orange juice. She took a sip and paused. Her stomach swirled unhappily. Was this morning sickness starting or was she just feeling crapola?
The toast popped up and she slathered it with butter and honey. Then she grabbed her phone and pulled a face. She had a bunch of messages from Ace.
Her stomach whirled again. There were several voicemails, too. She deleted them without listening to them.
“You can jump in the Bay, Ace Oliveira.” She couldn’t deal with him right now. She’d told him, now she could move on and deal with things by herself.
So, he thought she’d sleep around, then tell him he was going to be a father without being certain? He knew her. How the hell could he accuse her of that?
Maybe there was something wrong with her? It seemed like the men in her life always let her down.
She munched on the toast and looked out the window.
She had a small apartment in the Marina District, close to work.
The building was old, and her apartment was a cozy, one-bedroom.
It wasn’t fancy, since she funneled all her money into her business, but it did have warm, honey-colored wooden floors, which she loved.
This is crazy, Magdalena. You’ll never make this business work. You’ll just end up in debt. You’ll be a failure.
Her father’s voice. She sighed. Leo Lopez loved her. She was his only child, but he’d been a successful businessman with a fleet of small planes before he retired. He put a lot of expectation onto his only child.
He hadn’t wanted her to join the Navy, hadn’t wanted her to start her own business, wanted her to get married. He was always doubting her.
Like Ace had.
When her father finds out she is pregnant… Ugh . She finished the toast and pulled on her windbreaker and boots.
She needed to get to work. All the men in her life could take a flying leap.
She was taking Hetty out later this afternoon.
Gus was coming to help with maintenance.
And this morning, she needed to put her new drone up for a test flight.
She’d get some morning shots of the Golden Gate Bridge.
She had another young employee, Charlie, who was her drone guy.
He was twenty-two and a geek down to his bone marrow.
He did a lot of her drone work, but he was currently in Australia on a two-month trip, getting drone footage of the outback.
That meant more work for Maggie.
As for Ace Oliveira, she was putting him in a box and not thinking about him for a while.
She jumped in her ancient, green Jeep and drove to the helipad and office.
On days when she didn’t have any gear and the weather was decent, she often walked.
The rent for her office and helipad on the pier was exorbitant, but it was so worth it.
Tourists and businesspeople made up the bulk of her clients.
She pulled to a stop in her allocated parking space outside the chain-link fence, and jumped out. The fog was burning off the Bay, and off to the left, she took a second to admire the Golden Gate Bridge. The view never got old.
She strode down the pier and unlocked the office. It wasn’t much—the front room of the small building had a couch and some waiting chairs. Her desk was tucked into one corner, and there was a pocket-sized kitchen and bathroom.
Maggie filled the coffee machine and set it to work. The smell made her stomach curl up. She pressed a hand to her belly. She still couldn’t quite comprehend that there was a life growing inside her.
She heard heavy footsteps and shook her head. She watched Gus stomp in.
“Morning,” she said.
He grunted at her. Maggie grinned. She loved the old guy. She poured him a coffee and handed it to him. The chipped mug had “I’m not a superhero, but I’m a mechanic, so close enough” written on the front of it.
He grunted again, looked at the mug and shot her a look. “You think you’re funny, girlie?”
“Yep.” Since her stomach was still unhappy, she decided to forego her usual mug of coffee. “All the time.”
“Cheeky. No respect.”
She grinned at him. “Let’s get to work on Hetty, old man.”
Gus’ gaze narrowed. “You look tired.”
“Oh, you’re so charming, and good for a woman’s self-esteem.” She shrugged a shoulder. “I didn’t sleep well.”
Her cell phone rang. The ring tone was a funky salsa song that she’d saved for Ace. Jaw hardening, she ended the call without accepting it.
Gus raised a brow. “That guy still causing you problems?”
It took her a second. “Chris? No.” He was a guy she’d gone on a few dates with, who wasn’t happy when she said she didn’t want to see him anymore.
They’d had zero chemistry, and the fact that she was obsessed with someone else didn’t help.
She lifted her chin. “He hasn’t called in a while. This is something else. It’s fine.”
Gus didn’t look convinced. “Need me to warn some other guy off?”
Warmth filled her chest, then she felt the dreaded prickle behind her eyes. Shit . If she cried, Gus would be horrified. She was totally blaming hormones.
“Aww, look at you being sweet.”
He sipped his coffee and shot her a look. “Let’s get to work on that bird.”
Maggie spent an hour with Gus, helping him with Hetty. Then she washed the grease off her hands and pulled out her new drone.
Her phone pinged. She glanced at the screen. More missed calls from Ace. She felt the temptation to answer, even as she told herself not to give in.
He’d made his feelings known. She just wanted to get on with her life. She huffed out a breath and snatched up the phone.
Answer the phone, gatinha . I’m at work, but we need to talk.
Please pick up.
Maggie, quit being stubborn. I said I was sorry.
He had? She wrinkled her nose. What was there to talk about? They’d had sex. She was pregnant. She couldn’t see Ace settling down into domestic bliss, and she had no desire to watch him move onto the next pretty, young thing that caught his eye.
She couldn’t afford to let him in. He’d walk away eventually.
Enough. Pick up the damn phone.
Mmm, someone was losing patience. Well, he’d have to wait until she was ready.
She opened the drone box. “Ooh.”
The DJI Inspire 2 was pretty. Her older DJI Phantom 4 was great, but with this baby and its increased capabilities, she could take better photos, and make more money. Soon she’d have a little person to support, so this would help.
She pressed a palm to her belly, emotion swelling inside her.
She hadn’t thought much past the shock and panic and surprise. Past the worry of telling Ace and her parents.
But she realized she wanted this child. It hadn’t been planned, and she’d likely be doing this alone, but she’d never see it as a mistake. She wasn’t a teenager, she was healthy, and she had a business.
There was no other option except to bring this little person into the world.
Maggie pulled the drone out and checked it over. She slipped her tablet into the controller, then grabbed everything, and headed outside. She set it down and went through the pre-start sequence.
She heard childish laughter and looked up. Through the fence, she saw a group of kids laughing as they walked past. Two women were with them, sipping coffees and chatting as the kids pointed at things, eyeing the boats in the marina next door.
Then her gaze snagged on a lone man at the fence. He had a ball cap pulled low over his face. He might have been looking at the boats, but Maggie got the distinct impression he was looking her way.
Probably admiring Hetty. Shaking her head, she started up the drone and clutched the tablet. The familiar whirr filled her ears. She sent the drone straight up, and then over the water.
Saturdays got pretty busy in the air around the Golden Gate Bridge and over the Bay. There were often lots of tour helicopters. Keeping a tight flight path, she flew out toward the bridge, zooming in to get some good shots.
The drone handled well. She did another loop, then sent it home.
She glanced over at the helo. Gus was busy with Hetty, and she could just see the bottom half of his body sticking out the back of the bird.
Maggie returned her gaze to the sky and quickly spotted the drone. Yep, it handled like a dream.
The kids were inside the fence now, at the edge of the water, pointing down at something.
She smiled. God, she was going to have a curious, laughing child before she knew it.
She lifted her head. The man at the fence had moved farther away, and it looked like he was hunched over his phone.
Suddenly, her tablet screen flickered.
Maggie frowned. What the hell?
It flickered again. She glanced up and saw the drone wobble.
Her heart shot into her throat. She hit the emergency home option. It should land automatically at her feet.
As she watched, the drone veered. It was falling like a bullet. Maggie tapped the screen again. Nothing.
Fuck . She set the controller down and lifted an arm to shield her eyes from sunlight.
Come on. Land.
The drone zigged and zagged, looking like it was drunk. Shit . It wasn’t going to land like she’d hoped.
Then it sliced left—
Toward the kids.
Fuck . She sprinted forward. “Look out!”
The kids looked up, confused. The mothers frowned at her.
Maggie waved and pointed in the air.
The mothers dropped their coffee cups and jerked, launching at their kids.
“Come on.” Maggie reached them, shoving them out of the way. “Get behind the fence.”
They ran ahead of her, and Maggie spun. The drone aimed right at her.
She sprinted across the concrete toward her office.
The drone changed direction, arrowing toward her.
If it hit her…
It was going to hurt, or worse.
Maggie picked up speed, her lungs burning, her pulse racing.