Chapter 10
Ethan lifted his beer, Trap loud and busy around him.
“Okay, you need to tell me what’s going on and you need to tell me now.”
Ethan frowned at Connor. “What are you talking about?”
Joel scoffed from the other side of Ethan. “For the last three days, you’ve been stuck in your head, and we all want to know why.”
“All?” Ethan asked.
Connor nodded. “Yep, Ryan and Zac asked us to report back.”
Jesus. “Not that it’s anyone’s business, but I went to see Maggie.”
There was a short pause before Joel spoke. “And?”
“And, I don’t know. Being that close to her and not being able to touch her like I used to was fucking torture.”
“So, what, are you gonna give it another go with her?” Connor asked. “Can you trust her not to disappear on you again?”
The thought of that happening, of letting her in only to lose her a second time, hit him like a sucker punch. “I don’t know. That period of my life when she disappeared is a blur.”
“It was hard for you,” Connor said.
“We saw it,” Joel agreed.
Hard was an understatement. He tipped back his beer again. “How are you both doing since moving here?” He needed to focus on something else.
Joel laughed, but there wasn’t much humor in the sound. “Anywhere is better than Houston.”
Houston was where his family lived. They were a pretty big deal, owning a drilling company and sitting on state energy boards. They were everything Joel wasn’t—arrogant, money-hungry, and pretentious.
Connor lifted his shoulder. “Being back with the team feels like coming home after being away for too long.”
“I feel it too.” He really did. Deep River was his hometown, but it was the people who made a place feel like home.
He’d gotten along with his parents and brother but had never been too close. And they’d never had the same connection to Deep River that he had. Probably why his younger brother now lived in Singapore and his parents were constantly jet-setting around the world.
“Being bossed around by Ryan feels familiar, but in a good way,” Joel added.
Ethan laughed. Ryan had led them through a team training today, where they’d carried out an evacuation for a mock casualty moving downstream in the river. It had been hard, but the good kind of hard.
“I’m not feeling great about finding those two missing women though,” Connor said, a bit more solemnly. “Too much time has passed.”
Ethan nodded. Tomorrow they were tracking the west end of the river. But yeah, it wasn’t looking good. “We may not find them, but hopefully we’ll be able to prevent it from happening again.”
Both missing people were young females who’d gone into the forest alone.
That was never a good idea. The woods around Deep River were vast, and it was easy to get lost, especially for tourists.
But it was strange that they hadn’t even found evidence of the women yet.
Not a piece of clothing or a dropped water bottle. Nothing.
A woman stepped beside Connor and tried to get the bartender’s attention. Ethan frowned when the guy walked straight past her.
The fuck? There was no way he didn’t see her.
The woman lifted her arm. “Excuse—”
The bartender turned his back on her to shine glasses.
Connor’s eyes narrowed, and when the guy moved farther down the bar, he called out, “Hey!”
The guy looked at Connor. “You need something else?”
“No. But this woman would clearly like to order something.”
The reaction from the bartender was subtle. A small clenching of his jaw. A tightening of his fingers around the glass in his hand. He turned to the woman. “What would you like?”
“Just an ale.” Her words were quiet, almost unsure.
A small nod, and the guy grabbed her a bottle. Connor had his gaze narrowed on the man the entire time, and once he’d finished serving her, he turned to the woman. “Everything all right?”
“Of course.” She swallowed, not looking the least bit okay. “Thank you for your help.”
Connor nodded, his eyes on the woman as she walked away. When he turned back to the bar, he still looked angry. But Connor had grown up with three sisters, so he would always be the first to stand up for a woman.
“What the hell’s the bartender’s problem?” he growled.
“I don’t know,” Ethan said. “I might let Dusty know when he comes back to the bar.”
All three of their phones vibrated at once, meaning it had to be the group chat.
Zac: Yo, Joel, I’m at your house dropping off some first aid kits and there’s a cat on your couch.
“The fuck,” Joel muttered, before typing on the phone.
Joel: Whose cat?
Zac: Must have followed me in, but it doesn’t seem to want to leave.
Ethan: Does it have a collar?
Zac: No.
Joel scowled. “Irresponsible owners.”
Ryan: Might be a stray.
Connor chuckled before looking at Joel. “Sounds like you’re a cat dad now.”
“I do not own a cat. I do not want a cat. I just got away from the annoying dog next door in Houston.” He turned back to his cell.
Joel: Get it off my couch.
Zac: Already done. Now it’s rubbing against the fridge like it wants me to feed it.
Joel: Do not feed it!
Ryan: Jesus Christ, just check if it belongs to the neighbors.
Zac: And if not, obviously the thing lives here now, so you’ll either need to assume your role as cat dad or burn the house down. I’m giving him some cooked chicken from your fridge.
“What the hell?”
Ethan laughed. As Joel continued to madly text, Ethan noticed Connor was distracted by something or someone over his shoulder.
One side of Ethan’s mouth lifted. “You looking for that woman?”
“No. Just scanning the bar.”
Yeah right. He was looking for her. Probably because of the woman’s big blue eyes.
Joel stepped away from the bar—still texting—when a woman took his place. She had a sickly sweet scent to her. A scent Ethan remembered.
Nel smiled up at him. “Hey, Eth.”
She called him “Eth” a lot. And for some reason, it always grated on his nerves. “Nel. Did you just get here?”
“No, I’ve been at a corner table. I was hoping you’d spot me first and come over.”
He didn’t know what to say to that. He hadn’t initiated a third date. He hadn’t contacted her, and she hadn’t contacted him. He’d assumed they were both on the same page. He really should have called her after that town meeting, but he’d been distracted by Maggie and busy setting up the team.
“I really enjoyed our two dates.” She stepped closer and touched his shoulder. That scent of hers overpowered every other smell in the bar. “What do you think of a third?”
He grasped her wrist and gently tugged it down. “That’s not going to happen. I’m sorry.”
Her jaw dropped. “What? Why? I thought we had great chemistry.”
How the hell was he supposed to answer that question?
Did he tell her that Maggie had re-entered his life and now everyone else paled in comparison?
Did he break it to her that he hadn’t moved on from Maggie at all, that she’d always been there, living inside him?
And even though he wasn’t sure what their future held, he knew it didn’t include Nel.
“I’m sorry.” That’s all he said. Two words.
Her brows furrowed, then she quickly turned and walked away. He felt like an ass. He should have called her earlier, been more upfront.
He was about to turn back to Connor when a familiar woman at the end of the bar caught his attention.
Polly’s eyes widened before she swung her head in the opposite direction.
Was Maggie with her?
His heart sped up, and he turned to scan the bar, but it was too busy to spot her. He crossed the small distance between him and Polly. She was still looking in the opposite direction. “Polly?”
She didn’t turn right away.
He tapped her shoulder. “Polly?”
She looked at him like she was pretending she hadn’t noticed he was there. “Ethan. Hi.”
“Are you here alone?”
She paused. Then the bartender set two drinks down in front of her—a beer and a whiskey sour. Maggie’s drink.
He looked back at Polly. “Where is she?”
“So you’re telling me, Ethan stood in that little apartment looking at you like he wanted to fuck you—”
“I did not say that,” Maggie spluttered from the passenger seat.
“And you suggested friends?” Polly continued, like Maggie hadn’t spoken.
“Of course I suggested friends. Things between us are complicated and he’s taken.”
“According to town gossip, he went on a couple dates with her. I haven’t heard anything about them going on a date since you got back to town.”
Her heart kicked at her ribs. “But—”
“Don’t you bring up those condoms again.”
Maggie’s lips slammed together, because that was exactly what she’d been about to say.
“Just because Nel bought condoms does not mean she bought them for her and Ethan,” Polly finished.
Maggie sucked in a long breath as Polly pulled into the parking lot.
“What are you saying I should have done? Kissed him? Confessed my undying love and admitted that breaking up with him before letting him explain was the worst decision I’ve ever made but also that he should have answered my texts and calls that night? ”
Polly put the car into park and turned, giving Maggie her full attention. “I’m saying, you need to forgive yourself, ask him what happened that night, and live the life you want.”
Maggie’s next breath came out as a stutter.
Polly touched her leg, her voice softening.
“You spent over a decade living with a woman who did everything in her power to make you feel awful about yourself. And that night, the fight between you two was bad. Should you have broken up with Ethan and cut him out of your life? No. Should you have asked him about the unanswered texts and phone calls and the woman at the bar? Absolutely. But Lilith made you feel undeserving of love, so in your mind, you were doing Ethan a favor.”
“Ethan was the best thing in my life. And I didn’t even let him explain. I just cut him out.”
“I know.” Polly leaned forward. “But he’s back. And you’re back. You’ve healed from a decade of living under your evil aunt. And Ethan doesn’t hate you. All of that has to be for a reason.”
She nodded quickly. “I’m sorry. Tonight’s supposed to be about drinking and celebrating five years of Bloom while ignoring how jobless I am.”
“You’re not jobless.”
Maggie laughed as she climbed out. “I did one shift in Bloom. That does not make me employed.”
Polly linked her arm through Maggie’s as they headed to the bar. “You’re on the payroll. You’re employed, baby. And to celebrate, we’ll have a drink and maybe even send Ethan a flirty text, because I guarantee the second he saw you back in town, he forgot all about—”
Polly stopped mid-sentence as they stepped into Trap. Because there at the bar were Ethan and Nel. And not only were they close, their conversation looked intimate. Nel had her hand on his shoulder and her mouth close to his. Ethan touched her wrist.
Polly tugged Maggie toward the back of the bar before she could witness any more.
That hurt. It had no right hurting, but it did.
They stopped at a table.
“I need a drink,” Maggie breathed.
“Me too. I’ll get them. I’ll, uh, go to the opposite end of the bar so he doesn’t see me. I’ll be back.”
“Thanks.” She really was thankful, because there was no way she wanted to go to the bar and see more of Ethan and Nel.
Her head was down when Polly set the drinks onto the table. She looked up—but the beginnings of her thanks died on her lips when she saw Ethan, Connor, and Joel.
“Sorry,” Polly mouthed.
Maggie stared up at Ethan, pretty sure she looked like a deer caught in headlights.
“Hi. I, uh, didn’t know you guys were here.
” The lie fell out of her mouth. But what was the alternative?
I saw you and your girlfriend getting close at the bar and it was both nauseating and a bit like a blow to the midsection.
“Luckily, I saw Polly and where there’s a Polly, there’s often a Maggie.” His smile was devastatingly handsome, and he stood so close she could smell his familiar sandalwood scent.
“Yeah, lucky.” She lifted her whiskey sour and drained half the glass.
“You’re a beer drinker?” Joel asked Polly, grabbing a handful of nuts from the bowl on the table.
She raised a brow. “Surprised?”
“A little.”
“Because I’m a woman?”
One side of his mouth lifted. “Maybe.”
She rolled her eyes before looking at the nuts in his hand. “You know people use the bathroom, don’t wash their hands, then rifle through those things?”
“I thought they tasted a bit smoky.”
The horrified look on Polly’s face almost made Maggie laugh, but then Ethan stepped closer, head lowering to her ear. “You look beautiful.”
A warm sensation bloomed in her belly. She wasn’t good at believing people when they said that, but with Ethan, she could be convinced. “Thank you. You look nice too.”
He wore a tight navy shirt, the material stretched around his chest and arms like a second skin.
When he touched the small of her back, she almost jumped out of her skin.
“I’ve missed you the last few days,” he whispered.
Her mouth dried. The kind of dry where she wasn’t sure she could make words work, because her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth.
“Is it okay that I’m touching you?” he asked.
“What about—”
She stopped when she noticed a man and woman rise from a booth not too far from her table. A familiar woman. “Lilith?” Her aunt wore a tight red dress that made her look ten years younger, and when she wobbled in her heels, Maggie straightened. “Is she drunk?”
Lilith wobbled again, and the guy slid his arm around her waist. Then Lilith looked up and directly at their table.
Maggie’s stomach dropped. She wasn’t sure why until Lilith headed their way.
“Maggie, I didn’t expect to see you here.” She did a once-over of Maggie’s jeans and top.
The old Maggie would have wanted to cover herself. Either that or shut herself in a room where no one could see her. “Well, we’re both in Deep River. We’re going to see each other a bit.”
“Hm.”
The old familiar sound was both disapproving and unnerving.
“Are you okay?” She wasn’t sure why she was asking. She shouldn’t care. Lilith had never cared about her.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
Maggie shot a glance to the guy beside Lilith before looking back at her aunt. “It looks like you’ve had a couple of drinks.”
Lilith stiffened. “And what? You think I need saving?”
“That’s not what I said.”
“I saved you. I took you in when you had no one. Put a roof over your head. And you up and deserted me the first chance you had.”
“What the—”
Maggie touched Polly’s hand to silence her. She didn’t need saving anymore. “I appreciate you taking me in, but—”
“But what? Now you don’t need me, so you can do and say whatever you want?”
“Yes. That’s how it works.”
Lilith stepped closer. “I don’t need people asking if I’m okay. I don’t need anything, least of all from you. Go save someone who actually wants you around.”
“Hey!” Ethan shouted.
Lilith turned to him. “And you can go back to your second lapse in judgment.”
Then she walked away, clearly not caring about the chaos she left behind.