Chapter Twenty-Six
Magnolia
Iwas hiding. Hiding and feeling sorry for myself. After storming out of the house, I'd jumped in my car and taken off, headed nowhere. A few minutes later, I'd pulled over into the parking lot of Starbucks. I was crying too hard to drive safely.
I'd told Vance I didn't trust my judgment anymore. It was the most honest thing I'd said in a long time.
I didn't trust my judgment. On anything. I would have sworn that Vance had feelings for me. I truly thought he loved me, at least a little.
The blank look on his face when I'd asked him—I couldn't remember it without wanting to throw up. My life was a mess. I sat there for almost an hour, staring through the windshield of my car at the front window of Starbucks with no idea what to do.
Vance called. I ignored him. He called again. And again. I didn't answer. There was nothing to say. His silence when I'd asked him if he loved me had been brutal.
I couldn't bear to listen to his excuses. I was terrified he’d talk me into coming back, into settling for affection when I wanted love. It wasn't his fault if he didn't love me, but it would be mine if I accepted anything less than everything.
That had been my mistake with Brayden. Settling.
I finally texted him to make sure he was gone when I got back. Then I couldn't bring myself to go home. I ended up calling Charlie, dodging her questions and begging her to take care of Scout. I felt bad for abandoning him, but I just couldn't stand the idea of sitting alone in my house.
When my grandmother had died, it had been so lonely. Letting Brayden move in had helped, but I knew it would be so much worse now that Vance and Rosie were gone. I couldn't face it yet.
I drove down the street to the AC Hotel at Phipps Plaza and checked into a room. Between room service and the mall downstairs, I could hole up there forever. I was curled up on the king size bed in my room, watching the television screen flicker when my phone rang again.
I was ready to ignore it, but the unfamiliar number caught my attention.
"Hello?"
"Maggie, it's Evers."
"Evers, if Vance put you up to calling, you can just tell him to leave me alone."
There was a long silence. "This has nothing to do with Vance," he said, and I realized his tone was all business.
"I'm here at your house. The team finished with the system a few hours ago and left to get lunch.
The system wasn't armed, but the motion activated video capture was turned on.
They got an alert that someone was in the house, and when they pulled up the video to check the system, it wasn't you or Vance. "
"Who was it?" I asked, afraid I already knew what Evers would say.
"It was your dickhead of an ex, Brayden. He has a key and claims you gave him permission to enter."
"I did not," I said, furious. "Did he get into the house?"
"He'd already entered by the time the team got back, but they caught him filling a backpack with small valuables. Have you had any trouble with things going missing?"
I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. "I took his key when we broke up. He must have had another," I said, stating the obvious. "Things have been going missing. I thought I was crazy, that I was just misplacing stuff."
"Please tell me you want me to press charges," Evers said.
"He's still there?" I asked.
"We weren't going to let him walk after he broke into your house," Evers said. "You contracted with us to manage your security. We had permission to be in the house, and he's not on the list of residents. I'll call the police for you right now."
"Yes, please. Absolutely call the police. Do I need to come back there? I'm . . . out for the day. I can if I have to, but—"
"No, Maggie. You don't have to come back right now. I can handle everything for you."
"Is Scout okay?" I was sure Evers would've said something if my dog had been hurt, but I had to make sure.
"Your dog? He's a weird looking little guy, but he's fine. He was in the backyard. Not too crazy about having all of us in his space, and he really doesn't like your ex, but he's fine."
"Charlie’s supposed to stop by at some point this afternoon and pick him up. She's keeping him overnight. Can you make sure anyone who's there knows it's okay for her to take him?”
"No problem, honey. We've got everything under control."
"Thanks, Evers. Is there any way to track down the things he might've taken?"
"Email me a description of what you know you're missing, and I'll get my guys on it."
"I'd appreciate it," I said. "The only thing I'm really worried about is my grandmother's bracelet."
"We'll find it. I promise." Softly, he said, "And Maggie?"
"Yeah?" I asked, wary at his change in tone.
"You had a fight with Vance?"
"I don't want to talk about it," I said. I'd known Evers a long time, and he was a good guy, but he was Vance's friend first.
He proved it by saying, "Yeah, I don't really want to talk about it either. Just listen. I know he can be a jackass, but be patient with him. He cares about you."
That wasn't good enough for me. Not anymore. I didn't say that to Evers.
I would love Evers forever if he could track down my grandmother's bracelet, and I was immensely grateful that he'd put in the security system that had caught Brayden stealing from me. But I was not talking to Evers about my disaster of a relationship with Vance.
"Call me if you need anything from me," I said and hung up the phone.
That was one problem solved. At least I knew I wasn't crazy. I hadn't lost my bracelet or the clock. I wondered if he’d been trying to get into the house the times he’d shown up claiming he wanted to talk to me. It was a great cover if he was caught lurking around. I was so stupid.
Great job, Magnolia. Boyfriend number one is a cheating thief, and boyfriend number two basically made you the nanny and then talked his way into your bed.
I was done with relationships. After emailing Evers a description of the things I thought were missing, I took a long bath and settled in on the bed to watch the Die Hard marathon that was currently playing on one of the hotel's movie channels.
The universe must have known I was going to be nursing a broken heart if it gave me hours of John McLane.
When I'd broken up with Brayden, watching action movies and eating ice cream had seemed like the best way to soothe my bruised heart. Explosions and Bruce Willis weren't doing the trick this time.
I found myself wiping my cheeks off and on as the time passed, tears leaking from my eyes as I tried to ignore the heavy weight on my chest.
I thought about ignoring Charlie when she called, but she had my dog. I didn't really want to talk to anyone, but she was doing me a favor by taking Scout for the night. I'd feel terrible if something was wrong and I didn't answer.
"Hey, Charlie. Is Scout okay?" I asked.
"He's fine. Aiden has him in the backyard, trying to wear him out with the tennis ball."
"That won’t take long,” I said. Before she could say anything, I went on. "I don't want to talk, Charlie. No offense."
"I'm not going to make you talk about my shithead cousin. Promise. I was only calling to see what you're going to do about the show tomorrow."
The show. Vance's show at Sloane's gallery. I'd completely forgotten it was the next day.
Crap.
I would rather be coated in honey and strapped to the top of a fire ant hill than go to that show.
"I'm not going to the show," I said.
"Maggie, you have to go to the show. You're responsible for setting it up."
"I am not. It's mostly Sloane's work. It's her gallery."
"You know what I mean. You've been working on this for six months. You can't stay home. And you can't spend the rest of your life hiding out."
"I know that," I snapped. "But can't I have a few goddamn days to wallow before I have to get out there and act like a human being again?"
"No," Charlie said. "If it weren't for the show, then I'd say sure. I’d tell you to pack a few bikinis, go on vacation, and suck back pretty drinks with umbrellas in them until you can't remember his name anymore.
But if you don't go to that show tomorrow, every single person you know is going to be talking about it.
Do you want them feeling sorry for you?"
"I don't care what those people think," I said.
I didn't.
Okay, I kind of did. I didn't want to be the sad-sack reject who got dumped by her fiancé and then was stupid enough to sleep with her boss. Not that Vance was my boss in the traditional sense, but still.
Missing the show would make me look sad and pathetic. Just because I felt sad and pathetic didn't mean the entire world had to know about it.
Reading my mind, Charlie said, "I know you don't care what they think, but you're going to regret it if you don't go.
Here's what we’re going to do. I'm going to pick you up tomorrow.
I'm going to bring you something to wear, and I'll help you with your hair and makeup.
You're going to look un-freaking-believable.
We're going to sweep in, dazzle everyone, and then disappear.
You only have to hold it together for an hour.
We'll show everybody how fabulous you are and get out. "
I could do that. Especially if Charlie was with me. I could absolutely hold it together for an hour.
"I love you, Charlie," I said. "You're the best."
"I know," she said. "Are you going to tell me where you are yet?"
"Nope," I answered. "Text me when you're ready to leave tomorrow. I'll tell you then."
"You don't trust me?" She asked with a smile I could hear over the phone.
"Nope," I said again. This time, she laughed out loud. "Probably a good call. I'll text you tomorrow afternoon. Try to get some sleep. You don't want circles under your eyes tomorrow."
I hung up and tossed the phone on the bedside table. Charlie really was a good friend. The best. I dreaded the idea of going to the show. I hadn't decided if I was going back to work for Vance.
Just then, with my chest hollow, my stomach queasy, and my cheeks scratchy with dried tears, it seemed impossible.
Curled under the covers of my hotel bed, the flash of explosions and gunfire on the TV reflecting in the plate glass window across the room, I decided I wasn't going to think about the future for the next twelve hours.
I was going to watch TV, eat room service, and hide from life until I was forced to get out there and show everyone that I was just fine.
Even if it was a big fat lie.