Round Twenty-One
MAGGIE
I wake to sunlight streaming through my bedroom window, each ray penetrating my closed eyelids and warming my retinas.
And yet, I’m impossibly comfy, so I keep my eyes shut and snuggle into a mattress that feels like a cloud.
I curl onto my side and hug my pillow, and with a smile curving my lips, I draw a long breath in, holding the familiar scent in the base of my lungs for as long as my body allows it, then I exhale again and hum in pleasure.
Half-dozing, I search my consciousness and try to remember if today is an early workday or a late workday. If it’s an early, then the sunlight warming my skin means I’m already incredibly late.
Fortunately, the panic doesn’t come. Because it’s Friday, which means I get to sleep in.
It means I can crawl out of bed when I’m good and ready, and make a cup of coffee at a leisurely pace.
I get to sit on my back porch and stare across the fence separating my yard from Billy’s, and if I’m lucky, I might get to watch Jeremy play basketball for a few minutes before school.
If I’m really, really lucky, I might get to watch both Casters playing basketball before school. Those are the days he’s happiest of all.
Friday is my favorite day of the week. Except Sunday; Sundays are even better.
“Are you awake, Maggie?”
I startle and freeze as whispered words trickle into my consciousness.
Am I dreaming?
“Maggie?” Jeremy’s warm breath caresses my skin. “It’s time to get up, Maggie.”
I whip my eyes open and look straight into a smiling pair of bright greens.
Gasping, I squeeze my eyes shut once more, open them, and try again to no avail.
“What the—” I yank my blankets up, terrified to show the poor boy more than he’s signed up for, then I cast my horrified gaze around the room that is absolutely not mine.
“Oh my gosh! What am I—What happened—What…?”
“You fell asleep watching your movie.” He grins his toothless grin, which is almost charming enough to make me forget my current predicament. “You were asleep on the couch, but then my dad came home from his meeting.”
Whimpering, I hold my breath and slowly, excruciatingly carefully, twist my head and peek over my shoulder to find… not another person in the bed with me.
Oh, thank God!
“My dad was gonna wake you up and send you home,” Jeremy whispers.
“But I said you should sleep here instead. Cos you were already asleep and I didn’t think it was nice to make you get up.
” He bats his lashes like Dopey does for Snow White.
“That was the right choice, huh? Cos you were already asleep—”
“I-I slept in your house?”
He bobs his messy-haired head. “Uh-huh. Like a sleepover for friends!”
“W-where did your dad sleep?”
“On the couch.” He digs his elbows into the mattress, less than a foot from my face, and sets his chin in his upturned hands.
“He said you would freak out if we left you downstairs alone, and he also said you would freak out if I slept in the bed with you.” Pulling back, he thrusts a gesturing hand toward the floor.
“He said I had to sleep in my bed, but,” he leans conspiratorially closer, “as soon as he tucked me in and went downstairs, I dragged my stuff in here so you wouldn’t be alone. ”
Hugging the blankets to my chest, despite the tight grip of my jeans and the bra I still feel wrapped around my torso, I push up to one elbow and peek toward the floor, only to discover a nest of blankets and pillows. Teddies. A single sock. And a basketball.
“You…” Frowning, I bring my eyes to his feet, one with a sock, one without. “You slept on the floor?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Even though you had a bed just along the hall?”
He nods.
“Because you didn’t want to freak me out if I woke?”
More nodding.
“What if I woke up in the middle of the night and needed to pee?” My heart thrums recklessly out of control, and my stomach swishes until a sickly sheen coats my insides.
But I poke Jeremy’s belly anyway and elicit a squeal of delight from the seizing boy.
“I might’ve stomped on you and not even known until I’d already made a pancake of you. ”
“No tickling!” He thrashes and throws his head back. “Magnolia! Tickling is cheating.”
“I might’ve crushed your tiny head with my giant foot.
” I sit up and poke his ribs, but I’m not immune to the fear that Billy could plod upstairs and complain of too much noise, so I look past Jeremy and study the doorway.
“I would’ve felt terrible for squishing you.
We would’ve gotten brains all over the floor. ”
“Nuh-uh!” He giggles. “Brains don’t leak out like that.”
“How do you know? You’ve never cooked a child in a cauldron before.”
He comes to an abrupt stop, his chest heaving for fresh air and his beautiful green eyes locked onto mine, but then he grins again. “Nuh-uh! My dad said you don’t even cook children!”
“And you believed him?” Scoffing, I drag my blankets off and exhale a breath of relief when I find my clothes exactly as they were last night.
But wrinklier. “You foolish little boy. Of course he would tell you that. He doesn’t want you to be afraid of the witch next door.
” I muss his hair and push to my feet, then I glance around the room in search of…
I don’t even know. My stuff, I guess. Though I don’t seem to have anything.
“Your phone’s still downstairs.” Jeremy curls himself around my arm and, as I start across the room, stumbles across his nest bed instead of walking around it.
“Do you wanna eat breakfast with me, Maggie? I have to go to school in a little bit, but that’s not for another whole hour.
That’s loads of time to eat cereal with me. ”
“Actually.” I slow at the doorway and peek into the hall. God forbid the big, bad boogeyman with a detective’s badge jumps out and scares us. “I have to go home, since I haven’t been back since last night.”
“But you would only go home to have breakfast, right? You could do that here.”
I peek toward the stair landing, then over the railing and down into the entryway.
No Billys in sight. “I really need to go home.” I drag my arm from his and hurt the sweet boy’s feelings as his smile drops, but then I take his hand and earn his happiness once more.
“You could walk me down. Help me collect my things.” Hide from your father, so I don’t die of humiliation!
“And then I’ll probably see you tomorrow sometime. ”
“Tomorrow?” Too friggin’ loud, Jeremy’s shouted word carries all the way down the stairs. “It’s only the start of today. Why do I have to wait all the way until tomorrow?”
“Because you’ll go to school soon, and by the time you’re done, I won’t be home anymore, because I’ll be working. Then I won’t get back again until really late tonight, and by then, you’ll be asleep.” I chuck his chin. “Hopefully in your bed and not on the floor of your dad’s bedroom.”
“I didn’t mind. It was comfortable, and I liked being near you, in case you woke up and got scared cos you didn’t know where you were.”
Sweet, sweet boy.
“Never change, okay? You remind me of someone else I used to know a long time ago.”
“My dad?”
“Mm. But you…” I slow my steps at the bottom of the staircase. Setting my hands on his shoulders, I study his face. “You’re perfect exactly how you are.”
“My dad says I’m weird sometimes.”
I snort. “Your dad is weird, so his opinion doesn’t count. Now…” I lower into a crouch and gesture toward the living room. Coward! “Could you run in there and get my things? Just my shoes and phone and keys. I think that’s everything.”
“Sure!” He dashes away. “Where do you even go for work so late at night anyways?”
The sound of my jingling keys plays through the house. Then Jeremy’s pounding steps against the hardwood floor.
“You get home really late sometimes.” He skids back into the entryway, his arms loaded with my belongings. “It’s super late.”
I accept my shoes and slip them on, one after the other. My bladder aches with the need to pee, and my nervous system is shot to hell. Where is Billy? “How do you even know what time I get back? You should be asleep by then.”
“My dad told me.” He dangles my keys from the tip of his finger. “He stays up late sometimes and sees you. And then he grumbles, cos he says being out that late is bad for you, cos you should be inside relaxing.”
“He grumbles about me being awake late…” Finished with my shoes, I snatch my keys and stun the boy with my fast movements.
“But he can’t possibly know how late I’m awake unless he, too, was awake at the same time.
Thus, rendering his grumbling mood nothing more than a rant built on hypocrisy.
” I take my phone and drag him in for a hug.
“Thank you for getting all my things. And for being my guard overnight. I might’ve been really scared if you weren’t there.
” Pulling back, I press a kiss to the tips of my fingers, then I set those fingers on the very center of his forehead.
Jeremy’s smile turns goofy and crooked.
“I hope you have a fun day at school.”
“I hope you have a fun day at work,” he tosses right back. “Looks like you might sneak out without seeing my dad after all. That’s lucky.”
A fiery blush colors my cheeks and spreads all the way into my chest.
“I-I wasn’t sneaking out. I was just trying to be considerate, in case he was still sleeping. That’s all.”
He releases a wild, guffawing laugh, then he latches onto my hand and drags me toward the front door.
“You were sneaking, but it’s okay, cos I sneaked last night after my dad told me to stay in my room.
” He swings the door wide and flashes a gap-toothed grin.
“You want me to walk you home? It’s a very long way,” he giggles. “You might get lost.”
“Oh, I think I’ll be okay.” I extricate my hand from his and slip my phone into my pocket. “You should eat your breakfast and get ready for school. Probably go find your dad, since he’s notably absent when he should be here… parenting.”
“I’m right here, Magnolia.”
A piercing squeal tears along my throat as I jerk left and slam my elbow against the doorframe.
Hissing, I furiously rub the ache and bring sheepish eyes around to the man arrogantly rocking in his old man rocking chair.
He nurses a half-empty cup of coffee, a smug grin, and a chest on display beneath its white Henley glory.
Damn, damn, damn him!
He tips his chin toward my picnic basket, perched helpfully at the top of the porch steps. “Figured you’d be down soon. Wanted to make sure I caught you before you ran off.”
“She was trying to sneak out, Dad.” Jeremy leans against the doorframe, folding his arms and kicking one foot over the other like he’s thirty instead of eight. “She gets shy sometimes, I think.”
“It happens, son. When someone is intimidated, they usually either lash out, which often leads to landing their butts in our cages down at the station, or they retreat into their shy little shell and hide. Like cowards. It seems Magnolia is a retreater under pressure.”
“So my options are to become a public nuisance, or a coward?” I stalk across the porch and scoop up my picnic basket.
Except, I expect it to weigh so much more than it does, so I grab on with too much strength and almost send the whole thing flying.
“The fact that you think these are my only options says more about you than it does me.” I broaden my shoulders and jut my chin forward, too damn proud not to.
Then I bring my attention back to Jeremy and fake a smile.
“I’ll see you around. Maybe tomorrow, okay? ”
“Definitely tomorrow! We’re going to Ramone’s barbecue, remember? I already told him you would come, and he said he was gonna cook a steak speshly for you. That means you have to come.”
“Guess it’s settled then.” Smirking, Billy rocks in his chair and sips his coffee. “Sleep well?”
“Yep.” I stumble onto the porch steps and retreat. I am a coward! “I’ll text you later to debrief last night’s meeting.”
“Mmhm.” He grins behind the lip of his mug. “Tell your stuffed cat we said hey.”
Frustrated, I stalk across his lawn with clenched fists and lungs that can barely keep up with my temper.
“Oh, Magnolia?”
I stop with one foot lifted, my body halfway across the lavender boundary.
Billy’s mocking tone taunts me as I glance back and find him standing instead of sitting.
He’s bent at the hips, his elbows on the porch railing.
The instant our eyes meet, his smirk grows wider. Prettier. “Goodbye. Have a great day.”
“Yuh.” I hurdle the garden with an undignified grunt. “Goodbye.”