Chapter Thirteen #3
Especially if her time in Pine Hill was dwindling as Lukas had warned. “A girl has to eat.”
Grinning, Walker joined the guys at their table.
Maggie could tell they were teasing him.
That he didn’t seem to mind, but rather, almost looked proud, did funny things to her insides.
Walker liked her and didn’t care that his friends knew, didn’t care that they were teasing him.
Because even though he knew the things she’d done, he cared about her.
She saw it in his eyes, felt it in the way he treated her, heard it in the things he said, and felt it in the way he’d kissed her beneath the mistletoe.
Her gaze automatically shifted to where the greenery hung from the rafter, and she smiled.
She’d never see mistletoe that she didn’t think of kissing Walker.
Maggie and Mrs. Harvey made up the orders, then dinged a bell, indicating that the orders were up.
She picked up two of the trays, as Walker joined her to get the other two.
Another bell dinged as she set her two on the table in front of the guys, one that indicated another customer had come into the café, Maggie turned to greet them, then froze.
Was her mind playing tricks on her?
Because she’d swear her ex-fiancé was in Pine Hill.
*
Noticing that Maggie was still standing next to their table, Walker turned to see who she was looking at. A man in an expensive suit that stood out like the Easter bunny would on Christmas morning had come into the cafe.
Walker stood. “Do you know that man, Maggie?”
A silly question since she obviously did.
Not taking her eyes off the newcomer, Maggie nodded, then greeted the guy. “William.”
William? That was Maggie’s ex? Why was he in Pine Hill?
Whatever the man’s reason, he was headed toward them.
The guy was almost the same height as Walker, probably six-foot.
His dark hair was cut in a military style.
He had a strong chin with a cleft and blue eyes that had locked onto the stiff woman next to Walker.
Taking in her Harvey’s café apron, he glanced around the café. “You’re working here?”
Maggie didn’t budge. “It’s a job.”
“I’m sorry you’ve been reduced to this.” The man’s jaw tightened, as did Walker’s.
Maggie’s chin lifted. “I was reduced to much less than this, William. Not that you were around to witness my fall.”
As Maggie had likely intended, the man flinched. Walker’s fingers curled. Seeming to remember he was there, Maggie glanced at him and shook her head.
“Are you okay?” he asked at the same time as her ex asked, “Is there somewhere private we can go to talk?”
“No.” Which of them Maggie was answering was unclear or maybe she answered them both with her, one bold word.
“We need to talk, and this isn’t the place,” William told her. “It’s important. You know it is for me to be here.”
Maggie’s gaze went from her ex to Walker, then back to William before she nodded. “Let me get clocked out and we can go talk.”
Walker’s heart contracted. Seriously? After the guy had abandoned her when she’d hit her lowest, he just waltzed back into her life and she was giving the guy what he wanted? Going to go talk with him when she should tell him where he could go?
“Maggie,” Walker began, but she shook her head.
“It’s okay. There has to be a reason why he’s here.” She wiped her hands on her apron. “The only way for me to know why is to talk to him.”
What she said made logical sense, but old insecurities were kicking up big time.
Which wasn’t logical. At no point had Maggie said she’d changed her mind about anything.
Quite the opposite as she’d reminded him several times that she’d be leaving.
And, despite the fact they’d kissed, had held hands a few times when no one else was around except Zoie, and that she lit up when she saw him, she didn’t know how long she’d be in Pine Hill, but that she didn’t expect it to be much longer.
“There’s definitely a reason, Magpie. We need to talk.”
“Magpie?” Walker’s fingers curled tighter into his palms. “That’s what he called you?”
“A lot of people called me that. Magpie-twenty-two was my call sign.” Maggie’s voice broke as she said the latter. Avoiding eye contact with both Walker and her ex, she took a deep breath. “I’ll go check with Mrs. Harvey to make sure it’s okay for me to leave.”
With that Maggie walked off. She kept her shoulders high and straight, but Walker knew she was struggling to maintain her composure.
Because of the reminder of the loss of her wings by William using her call sign or because of the reappearance of the man she’d once been engaged to but who had foolishly broken her heart?
How could the idiot have chosen his career over Maggie?
“Who are you?” William asked after Maggie had gone behind the counter to talk to her boss.
Maggie’s boyfriend, he longed to say. But despite the past few days, she’d never labeled him that way. He suspected she’d be upset if he did and would launch a fresh wave of I’m leaving reminders.
“Maggie’s friend.”
“I see.” The man’s eyes narrowed, taking note of Walker’s body language that had to be sending signals Walker had no right to be sending.
Or maybe, after their kiss, he did have a right to feel concerned at this guy’s reappearance into Maggie’s life.
Either way, he was concerned. Highly concerned.
Knowing how much William had hurt her and how much Walker would like to crack a few knuckles across the guy’s face, highly concerned Walker too.
“Everything okay?” That came from Ben who now stood behind Walker.
Apparently, his coworker had picked up on that something wasn’t right with the newcomer. It struck Walker that Ben one hundred percent had his back no matter what happened in the following minutes. Glancing at the table, he realized the entire crew did.
Emotion hit, reminding him of what a great life he had in Pine Hill. A life that had been great prior to Maggie. No matter what, if and when she chose to leave, he’d be just fine. If that moment was now, with her ex, yeah, he’d still be fine.
He was used to the women in his life leaving with their exes.
*
Once they were outside the building that housed the café, Maggie faced the man she’d not seen in a year and a half.
The man who she’d have given her life for once upon a time.
Even now, her breath caught at the sight of him.
But not from a happy pitter-patter of her heartbeat, but more at the anger that he had the audacity to show up in Pine Hill.
How dare he show up here and taint her new life with physical reminders of the old?
At one time, she’d wondered what it would be like if their paths crossed again, what he would say, what she would say.
She’d just never expected to actually see him again.
Had she gone back into a coma and was living in some alternate reality because his being in Pine Hill felt that farfetched?
Or maybe she’d never woken up after the crash and had been existing in some alternate world inside her mind?
The cold wind whipping against her face reminded her that she was awake and aware of her surroundings. “What are you doing here, William?”
His jaw shifted back and forth, then he asked, “How long have you and the fireman been an item?”
His answer being a question about Walker had Maggie frowning. “Is that what he said?”
Was that what they were? An item? She sure didn’t know how to label them. More than just friends, though, because she didn’t kiss just friends.
“He didn’t have to say anything. He was ready to take my head off.” William chuckled as if the thought amused him.
His dimples dug in, giving Maggie pause. How had she ever thought Walker’s dimples and cleft chin were anything like William’s? Where William’s face was chiseled and formidable, Walker’s was warm, kind, loving. They were as different as night and day.
“What did you tell him about me?”
At the irony of William questioning her about Walker, Maggie snorted. “Nothing that wasn’t true.”
“Then you are seeing him?”
Not knowing where they were going anyway, Maggie stopped walking and put her hands on her hips. “You did not come to Kentucky to ask me if I was seeing someone. Why are you here, William? Because it’s cold, and if this is all you want to talk about, then I’m going back inside.”
To Walker. Because he had not been happy that she was going outside with William. She understood, but she’d been curious as to why William was there too.
Her bravado had William deflating, and actually looking concerned, as if Walker had momentarily distracted him from whatever real reason he was there and whatever it was wasn’t good.
“Why I’m here is a long story, Maggie, and definitely not one to be told in the middle of a cornfield in this Podunk town.”
“Pine Hill is not a Podunk town.” Maggie didn’t point out that they weren’t in the middle of a cornfield.
Or any field. They’d been walking toward the gravel parking lot that still had areas of snow that hadn’t completely melted away.
Spotting an unfamiliar car with a rental tag, she realized the shiny Beamer must be his. “But, fine. Where would you like to go to talk?”
“DC.”
Her jaw dropped and she scoffed, “Have you lost your mind?”
“There’s a lot you don’t know, Magpie. Someone with a lot of strings has been pulling them and your case is going to be brought before the DRM. Soon.”
Not knowing what specifics he knew, she didn’t mention Lukas or iSecure. She wasn’t sure that it would matter if William knew their connection or not, but either way, she wasn’t revealing anything.
Chin lifting, she looked him straight in the eyes. “What does my dishonorable discharge case being brought before the DRM have to do with you?”
“More than you may think.” Sighing, he looked around the farm’s parking area, almost as if he were checking to see if they were being watched. “We should be on our way.”
“You’re not making sense. I’m not going to DC with you.” But she was going to call Lukas to find out what was going on. Something sure was.
“When you hear what I have to say, I think you will change your mind.”
He was right.
*
“What do you mean that she’s gone?” Shifting Zoie in his arms, Walker prayed he’d heard Sarah wrong.
Her remorseful facial expression said he hadn’t, though.
Then again, he knew something was up when he’d gone by Harvey Farms earlier and Maggie hadn’t been there.
Mrs. Harvey had looked frazzled when she’d said Sarah had called to say Maggie wouldn’t be there.
That was when he’d decided to go by Hamilton House to check on her in person rather than calling.
“She left yesterday afternoon,” Sarah clarified from where she stood next to her kitchen island.
Jeannie was in her attached highchair, scribbling on a Christmas coloring book with markers. Reeling, Walker sat down on one of the barstools. Maggie hadn’t answered his text messages the night before, but gone? Without a word? Acid bubbled in his throat, making him nauseous.
“It was all very unexpected,” Sarah rushed on. “She arrived here with someone she knew from when she was in the military. I was shocked when she told me she was getting her things and leaving. It was very rushed.”
“She packed her things?” It was bad enough when he thought she’d stayed out overnight with her ex, but if she’d taken all her things too … Walker swallowed.
“It wasn’t much. She only brought one duffel bag with her when she arrived.”
“And she left with everything?” Crazy that he wanted to be positive he was understanding Sarah correctly.
“Everything she came with. I’d given her several things, but she didn’t take any of those.” Sarah nodded. “I’m sorry, Walker.”
So was he. If Maggie had taken her things, she wasn’t planning on returning to Pine Hill.
No wonder Mrs. Harvey had looked so flustered.
It was the week before Christmas, and she’d lost one of her best employees.
And he’d lost—what? Maggie had never agreed to anything with him, never labeled what was happening between them.
What had started happening the moment their eyes had met at Sarah’s Halloween party.
“I always knew she was leaving.” Just not that she would be heading out with her ex.
That stung. He’d started believing something had shifted between them, telling himself that maybe she would stay, maybe they had a real chance. He’d told himself that she was happy and could be happy staying in Pine Hill. With him.
Yet, she’d left with her ex.
Would Walker never learn? Surely, by now, he knew that the past had a nasty way of repeating itself.
“You don’t look as if you believed she would really go.” Sarah held out a plate. “Here, have a cookie.”
Walker’s gaze dropped to the cookies.
He realized he hadn’t even noticed the delicious smell that filled Sarah’s kitchen and sighed. “Thanks, but I’m going to pass.”
His stomach would reject anything he put into it. Zoie on the other hand, reached for the cookie and grunted. Walker nodded that Sarah could give her one. Taking a bite, Zoie made an mmmm sound.
Sarah reached into a kitchen drawer, pulled out a bright red silicone bib, and handed it to him for Zoie who already had a chocolate dribble running down her chin. “You’re in love with Maggie, aren’t you?”
Walker shook his head even as he questioned if Sarah was right. “I knew she was leaving from the beginning.” He’d just wanted to believe she’d change her mind. “Falling in love with her would have been foolish.”
“Sometimes our heart makes decisions without consulting our brain first.”
Taking care not to disturb where Zoie gnawed on the cookie, Walker leaned back on the barstool. “You got lucky with Bodie.”
“Ha. You think so now, but my brain definitely told me not to fall in love with the man who first arrived in Pine Hill. Fortunately, my heart knew better and saw through to the man he was inside.”
“Our situations aren’t the same. Bodie loved you back.” It was difficult to imagine that the couple was ever at odds. They were so in sync now.
“You think Maggie doesn’t love you back?”
His chest hurt, but he just shrugged. “She left Pine Hill with a man she was once engaged to marry. What do you think?”
“That you shouldn’t make rash judgments until after you’ve spoken with Maggie.” Before he could point out that he’d been down that road before, Sarah held up her hand. “I’m speaking from experience. Sometimes we just have to have faith in love.”
Walker was all out of faith in regard to matters of the heart.