Chapter 24
Maggie’s breath caught at the comment beneath her post. She’d posted it less than an hour ago, a graphic about why Bali should be on everyone’s travel list for the new year, and already a “Julie Hopper” had commented: Have you been there, Maggie? This would fit your picture-perfect life.
She swallowed, screenshotting the comment before clicking into the profile. And yep, it was private with no photo. She screenshot that as well and sent it to Ethan, already knowing it would likely be deleted by the time he saw it.
Then she dropped the phone to the kitchen counter and ran her fingers through her hair.
“Everything okay?” Polly asked, as she stepped into the kitchen.
“They commented on my new post.”
Polly stopped beside her. “What did they write?”
“A comment about my life being picture perfect.”
“And their name started with J?”
“Julie. Private account without a photo.”
“Argh. I’m sorry.”
“Me too.” She frowned at Polly’s white overalls. “I thought we were leaving at five?”
They were going to get the office at Bloom ready to paint, maybe even do a first coat.
“We are.” Polly glanced down at her overalls and tight navy tee underneath. “But these overalls are cute, don’t you think?”
“They absolutely are. Though I’ve never understood why painters wear white. Do they want all the paint splatter to show?”
“Maybe they like looking like a rainbow.” She grinned, but the smile dropped pretty quickly and her nose wrinkled. “I could sure use some rainbow in my life after the talk with my mother.”
“Not good?”
Polly grabbed a glass from the overhead cabinet. “You know how she told me she was taking a break from men?”
Uh-oh. Maggie had a feeling she knew exactly where this was going. “Yeah.”
“Well, after two point five seconds, the break is over. She’s met Mr. Right and he’s already basically living with her.”
Maggie cringed. Not that she was surprised.
Polly’s mother had been doing this since they were kids.
She “fell in love” hard and fast. Changed her entire life to fit around the new guy.
Then a couple of months later it ended, and Olivia Mack never came out of it unscathed.
Neither did Polly, who was left to pick up the pieces.
Polly shook her head. “I don’t understand why she does this.”
“Maybe she doesn’t want to be alone.”
“She’s not alone. She has me.”
Maggie nodded, tempted to tell her friend that was different, but Polly wouldn’t get that. To her, men offered nothing useful to a woman’s existence. That’s what her mother’s love life had taught her. That men took but they never gave. That they inflicted pain without remorse.
“How are you and Ethan doing?” Polly asked. “Tell me you’re great so I don’t hate every single man on this planet.”
“We’re great.”
Polly stopped and turned, a frown between her brows. “What was that?”
“What was what?”
“You’re lying.”
“I am not.”
Polly rolled her eyes. “I’ve known you almost my entire life. I know when you’re lying. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I’m being silly about something.”
“I love hearing silly things. Spill.”
Maggie nibbled her bottom lip. “You know the other day when I went to see Ethan at work?”
“Yeah, the day you saved my ass and did a shift at Bloom.”
“Jay was there. And I admit, I get jealous of her because she’s beautiful and formidable and she has this history with Ethan that I don’t.”
“You have a different history with him. A deeper one.”
“I know.” She ran her fingers over the counter. “And Ethan’s given me no reason to question him or how he feels, but…”
“But what?”
“When I was leaving, I turned my head and she was looking at his arm around my waist. And the look on her face made me think…”
“That she likes him?” Polly finished, when she didn’t.
“Well, yeah.”
“Okay. I mean, Ethan’s a great guy, maybe she does like him. But if he doesn’t share her feelings or reciprocate, are her feelings a problem?”
“I guess not. But while she’s here, they’re spending so much time together. Every time I call, I hear her voice in the background, and I immediately feel this irrational pit in my stomach.”
Polly touched her hip. “Tell Ethan how you feel.”
“You don’t think I’ll come off as the crazy jealous girlfriend?”
“You might. But he’ll be aware that you saw Jay looking at him in a way that made you uncomfortable.”
Maggie’s phone suddenly rang.
Polly’s lips twitched when she looked down at the name on the screen. “It’s like the universe heard my advice and took my side. Let me know how he takes it.” She grabbed her drink and stepped into the living room.
She wrinkled her nose before putting the cell to her ear. “Hey.”
“God, it’s good to hear your voice. How was your day?”
“Good. I started planning a couple of vacations for my clients.”
“Of course you did.”
Come on, Maggie, just say it.
“Everything okay?” Ethan asked, as if he could hear her turmoil in the silence.
“You know how you wanted me to be honest with you?”
“Always.”
“Well, this is me being honest… I’ve kind of been jealous of Jay.” She scrunched her eyes closed, because yep, it sounded as immature and pathetic out loud as it had in her head.
“What?”
“I know you love me. But I get this feeling that she cares about you as more than a friend. I guess I feel threatened by her.” And that was about as honest as she could get.
“Mags.” Ethan’s voice was gentle now. “Jay and I are just friends. The way I feel about her is nothing compared to how I feel about you.”
She nodded, even though Ethan couldn’t see her.
“Do you trust me?” he asked quietly.
“Yes.” At least, she was trying to.
“Then trust me.”
He made it sound so simple.
“Come to the bar tonight,” he pushed. “Everyone will be there.”
She wanted to say yes, because she wanted to see him. But… “I already told Polly I’d help her get the office at Bloom ready to paint.”
“I’m good with a paintbrush.”
She chuckled. “Maybe you could stop by after your drink and we’ll put you to work.”
“If you’re there, I’ll be there.”
“I’ll see you then.”
She was still smiling when she hung up.
“You’ll see him where?” Polly asked, as she passed on her way to the sink.
“Ethan’s going to come help us paint after he goes to the bar.”
Polly spun. “The bar? Um, why aren’t you going?”
“Because I’m helping you.”
“Uh-uh, you are not skipping a trip to the bar with Ethan and his friends. I’m fine to get stuff done by myself, or you can come paint after.”
“But—”
“No. No buts. Jay will be there, and you can see for yourself that your man is completely besotted with you.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. And don’t tell him you’re coming. Surprise him.”
Maggie grinned, because that did sound fun. “Okay.”
“And Maggie?”
“Yeah?”
“Wear something sexy.”
Ethan tapped the screen of his phone, the bar loud around him. He’d only been here for ten minutes and he was already counting down the seconds until he could go see Maggie.
He was tempted to open her Facebook messages from earlier today, to read her saying that she loved him one more time.
Thinking about Maggie was good. It stopped him from thinking about other stuff. Like Priya Tan and the missing women and, hell, the fact that Ward had never arrested anyone for the fire at their base.
“You look a bit stuck in your head, my friend,” Joel said, as he came to stand beside Ethan.
“I hate that on top of these women going missing, no one was ever arrested for the fire.”
“Yeah, that pisses me off too.” Joel grabbed some nuts from the bowl and threw them into his mouth. “Maggie and Polly know not to go down to the river alone, right?”
“Maggie sure as hell does. I assume Polly would too.” As far as he could tell, most women in town were feeling uneasy about going out there. Another reason to be angry.
Joel dipped his head. “Good. I might check with Polly anyway.”
“Any excuse to talk to her, huh?”
Joel grinned. “I don’t know what it is about her. I’d rather fight with her than do anything else with any other woman.”
“Is that why you haven’t been dating every woman in this town?”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because that’s what you do.”
Joel put a hand on his chest like he was wounded. “You make me sound like a man whore.”
“Am I wrong?”
“Nope. You obviously know me well.”
Ethan laughed before turning to the pool table, where Jay played Zac. “Can I ask you something?”
“Depends, is it going to make me question my life choices?”
“No. It’s about Jay.”
“Go ahead then. I love gossiping about the team.”
“Do you think Jay cares about me more than she should?” Fuck, he felt like he was in high school again. But the question had been running through his head all night.
He expected Joel to laugh in his face. Call him a self-absorbed prick or something.
“You want the truth?” Joel asked.
“Yes.”
“I think she loves you, man. I think she’s loved you for a long time.”
Shock hit him so hard he was almost winded. “You’re serious?”
“You don’t see it. We always figured it was because you were blinded by your love for Maggie.”
“We? The team knows about this?”
Joel angled his body toward Ethan. “She messages you. Only you. All the time.”
“We’re friends.”
“She’s my friend too, doesn’t message me every day. Doesn’t fill my drawers with granola bars and check in after a mission to make sure I’m safe. Hell, she doesn’t kiss us.”
Ethan shook his head. “No. We were drunk, and we both agreed that we felt nothing.”
“Who said it first?”
“What?”
“Who said they felt nothing first—you or her?”
“How the hell would I remember?”
“I’d put my money on it being you, and her agreeing was an attempt to save the friendship. You probably told her that she’s just a friend, and she knew that if she didn’t say it back, she’d lose you completely.”
Was that true? Was he that fucking blind?
Jay suddenly gave Ryan the pool stick and moved to the far end of the bar.
Ethan threw back the last of his beer before stepping away from the table. “I’ll be back.”
“Good luck.”
He crossed the bar and stopped beside Jay. There weren’t a lot of people at this end, and it almost felt like they were alone. Good. He didn’t need anyone overhearing this conversation.
She grinned at him. “Hey, Squid. Tell me again why the TV in here is a brick and only plays in black and white?”
“Dusty likes to think he lives in the forties.”
Dusty stopped on the other side of the bar, arms folded, white beard hitting his gut. “Hey. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t live in the forties if you could. No cell phones. Cadillacs on the road.”
“World wars, major racial and gender inequality and discrimination,” Jay added.
Dusty frowned. “Well, I didn’t say it was perfect. What can I get you guys?”
“Another Coors Light, please.” She turned to look at Ethan. “You want the same?”
“I’m good.” He shifted his attention back to Jay. “I came to talk to you.”
“Intriguing.”
Dusty grabbed Jay’s beer and, once she’d paid, she turned to look at him. “You have my attention. But if this is about the spilled coffee on your keyboard, it was Joel. That fucker bragged about blaming me.”
“It isn’t about that.”
“Okay.” She sipped her beer. “Shoot.”
Fuck, how did he even word this? “We’re friends, right?”
“Most of the time. Not when you take the last slice like you paid for the entire pizza. Yes, I’m holding onto that.”
Ethan didn’t even crack a smile. “Good. Because someone said something to me about you seeing me as more than a friend.”
She froze, beer midway to her mouth. “Who said that?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It does. Was it Maggie?”
He frowned. “If it’s not true, why would it matter?”
Her lips snapped together and she scanned the room, but he could tell she wasn’t really looking for anyone. And when she glanced back at him, there was resolve in her eyes. “Do you think about our kiss often?”
The hell kind of a question was that? “No. Why?”
Her jaw clenched. “I felt something.”
He didn’t move. Not a single muscle. Because her words felt like a ton of bricks dropping onto his chest. “What?”
“I felt something. And dammit, I don’t know. I thought maybe if I gave you time…”
“Jay—”
“We’ve been friends for years! We get along so well.
We know each other better than anyone else.
I know every one of your quirks. I know that you love pasta, but you have to order it in because you overcook it so it turns into a sloppy mess.
I know that you tap your fingers on the closest surface when you’re overthinking something.
I know every one of your silences. When you’re happy.
When you’re in pain. When you’re so fucking angry you want to hit someone.
And I know that you look out for the people you care about. ”
“I love Maggie.”
She stepped closer. “But that’s the thing! You never really gave me a chance because you never let her go. You carried her with you everywhere, even though she cut you out and walked away without a backward glance. You never let us be a possibility.”
“I don’t—”
“I do. Tell me you feel nothing when I do this.” She rose to her toes and kissed him.