Chapter 3
Chapter Three
The week had gone from bad to worse as far as Maggie was concerned. She was even more depressed after meeting with her lawyer on Tuesday. Although he agreed to represent her, if it came to that, he vehemently urged her to reach some kind of out of court agreement with Nick.
“The courts are leaning more heavily towards father’s rights than ever before, and I’ll tell you Nick’s case looks good. I’ve heard he’s a tough lawyer, Maggie. Don’t underestimate him,” he told her.
“Then my letters mean nothing,” she stated angrily.
“Well no, they show that your intentions were good, in the beginning. You tried to do the right thing, and that will help with the Judge, but in fifteen years you’ve never made any attempt to contact Nick again.
I’m sure if you had reached out to him at some point during that time, you wouldn’t be in this position. ”
Maggie grabbed her purse and thanked Frank, even though he hadn’t been much help. She left his office more confused and more upset than ever.
The kids had been super excited when she’d told them about going with Nick on Saturday, and even Caitlin had insisted that she too was going to the ‘cade’.
The scene Nick had created at work was quickly forgotten by everyone except Maggie and Jack Harley, who seemed determined to undermine her authority.
His almost constant sexual innuendos made her more uneasy than angry.
She was used to her share of good-natured ribbing, and it never went any farther than that, but Jack’s sly remarks were different.
Unable to admit the man actually scared her, she tried to laugh them off, but it was becoming more difficult.
Jack was an expert stone mason, but she would have to let him go if he didn’t change his attitude.
The entire crew had to work together, each person doing their job safely and efficiently, and she refused to spend her day trying to dodge him.
Maggie waited until Friday to confront him, figuring he’d have the weekend to think about what she said.
“I’d like a few minutes of your time, Jack,” she told him, catching him alone for a moment as she had no intention of embarrassing either of them.
“Baby, you can have all my time,” he drawled suggestively, a cocky grin on his face.
When he tried to slip an arm around her, Maggie shrugged out of it. “That’s what I want to talk to you about. I… ”
“No need to be bashful, boss lady,” he went on, clearly misreading the look on her red face and apparently undeterred by her less than friendly attitude. “I imagine you get pretty lonely without a man. I could see things weren’t exactly great with your uh… friend the other day.”
Maggie swallowed. This wasn’t going at all as she’d planned, and while she didn’t want to antagonize Jack, she definitely wanted this conversation back on track.
“Look, Jack, what I do with my friends is no concern of yours,” she began, pulling herself up to her full height and squaring her shoulders. “This kind of talk is exactly what I wanted to speak to you about.”
“So talk,” he told her sharply, leaning against the building and folding his arms across his chest.
Although he was an attractive man with his blonde hair, good looks, and muscular build, he did absolutely nothing for her. She knew he was a drinker, and the word around was that his wife had left him because of it. Maggie always sensed anger in him, even when he was being deceptively calm.
For a moment she considered simply firing him and being done with it, but Maggie was a fair woman, and she wanted to be sure she made her position perfectly clear.
In the past, there had been men who had a hard time adjusting to a woman foreman; the majority of them had worked out just fine after they realized she meant business.
“Jack,” she began, removing her hard hat and wiping her sleeve across her forehead. “First off, I want to say that I think you’re about the best brick layer I’ve ever seen—”
“You should see me without the bricks,” he grinned.
“Damn it, that’s just about enough,” she almost shouted, really angry now as she pointed her finger at him. “I think you could be a real asset to this crew, Jack, but you have got to stop speaking to me in that manner. I may be a woman, but I’m your boss. I don’t appreciate you—”
“You would if you’d let yourself.”
Maggie gasped in rage.
“You may try to act like a man, boss lady, but I could make you feel like a woman,” he drawled smugly, raking her body with a heated gaze.
Maggie was speechless with anger. The nerve of this guy was colossal.
Taking her silence as an invitation, Jack reached out and hauled her against him, his lips smothering her protest. For a second she was too stunned to react, but when she did it was violently.
His hard arms squeezed her ribs, and she struggled to draw breath. She was sorry she’d decided to have this talk after hours. Panicked, Maggie brought her knee up quickly and stumbled back at her almost instant release.
“You bitch,” he ground out painfully between clenched teeth. “What did you do that for?”
Maggie wiped her hand over her mouth and stood perfectly straight. Her eyes glittered with fury, and when she spoke to him there was no question she meant every word.
“If you ever lay a hand on me again, you’re through.
I’ve tried to explain how things work around here, buddy, and if you’re too stupid to understand, get your stuff and get out.
I am the foreman and you are an employee, and that’s all we’ll ever be.
You do your job and keep your hands to yourself.
Treat me with the respect you would a man, and we’ll get along just fine.
If that’s not acceptable to you, then you know what to do.
And if you’re back here on Monday, I’ll assume we have an understanding. ”
Spinning on her heel, Maggie walked away quickly.
She couldn’t let him see how shaken she really was as she felt his eyes boring into her back.
Once in her pickup, Maggie’s hands were so slippery with sweat she could hardly turn the key.
She’d had troubles of this nature before but never to this extreme.
Most guys got the message quickly enough, and as she drove home she tried to figure out what was different about the problem with Jack Harley.
By the time she’d driven two miles, she knew. This time she was afraid.
* * *
Maggie pulled into the driveway and eyed the blue van suspiciously.
It was obviously brand new, the dealer invoice still stuck to the window, and she had absolutely no idea who it belonged to.
Great, company, she frowned, climbing down from the truck.
She was hot, tired, dirty and mentally exhausted; the last thing she wanted was conversation.
Walking in the back door, she didn’t stop to remove her boots, but called out to the kids on her way through the house.
Receiving no answer, she hurried toward the living room, the sound of the television drawing her.
When she reached the doorway she stopped, taking in the scene.
She knew why the kids hadn’t heard her. They were engrossed in a movie.
The coffee table was covered with pizza boxes and sodas.
Caitlin was firmly entrenched on Nick’s lap, and his shirt had several sauce stains on it that matched the mess on her face.
Jason and Todd were on the floor, inches from the TV, something she didn’t allow.
Absently, she did notice that everyone had their shoes off—a small concession given that almost every other house rule was being broken.
She didn’t allow eating in the living room, no one had changed out of their school clothes, and not one coaster was in use.
Great, she thought—at work and at home, I have no authority.
Walking up to the couch, she finally spoke. “I’m home.”
Three voices said “Shhh… ” in unison and her hands came to her hips as Nick turned to look at her over the top of Caitie’s head.
“Batman,” he whispered, sliding Caitie off his lap and standing up. His eyes registered her fatigue and grabbing one of the pizzas, he walked to her, motioning for her to go into the kitchen.
Maggie turned and stomped away. His eyes had been incredibly gentle, and the sight of him and Caitlin snuggled up on the couch had softened her shamefully.
After the day she’d had, she obviously couldn’t trust her emotions, so she forced herself to keep quiet until they were in the other room.
Saying the first thing that came to mind, she looked him right in the eye.
“There better not be pizza on my couch.”
Nick almost laughed. He could sense how tense she was and controlled himself. Of all the things he’d expected her to complain about, that hadn’t been it. The fragile beauty in worn jeans and dusty boots never failed to surprise him, and he hid his grin.
Maggie proceeded to the sink and washed her hands, trying to gather her thoughts.
On a good day, Nick rattled her, but coming home on a bad one and finding him firmly ensconced with her kids was something else.
Even with the sauce on his shirt he was sexy as hell.
For some odd reason, what she really wanted to do was throw herself into the protection of his arms and tell him all about her terrible week.
Jack’s face flashed into her mind. She shivered as Nick came up behind her.
“Does my being here bother you that much?” he asked softly, his eyes dark with anguish.
He’d tried to stay away until tomorrow, but the night had stretched long and bleak before him.
Her whispered, “It’s not you,” had him instantly alert, and without thinking he spun her around so he could see her eyes. It was a mistake.
“What’s wrong, Magpie?”
The old endearment brought a grin to Maggie’s face; no one had called her that in years. “God, we’re old,” she told him, sliding out of his grasp and scrubbing at the tears.