Chapter 4
Maggie leaned against the back wall of The Busy Bee and took a breath of the cold air. The kitchen was hot, and she needed to step away to make this phone call. She left her coat open so she could cool off a bit, then dialed the number at the top of her now very short contacts list: Alex.
It rang three times before Alex’s assistant picked up. “Steele and Richards, how can I help you?”
“Hey Christian, it’s Maggie Watson—” She tripped over her tongue and almost used Sean’s last name but stopped at the last moment. “Is Alex there?”
“Hi, Maggie! She is, let me patch you through.”
Her insides trembled with nerves as she waited for her lawyer to pick up.
“Maggie! How are you?”
“I’m doing well, thanks. How are you?”
“Oh, about the same. I’m afraid I don’t have much of an update for you.”
Maggie bit her lip. “Oh?”
Alex sighed, and she knew it wasn’t going to be good news. “Your husband is refusing to sign the divorce papers. And he’s trying to have you declared missing, but I already spoke with the police chief and gave him the bare bones of the situation.”
She grimaced, even though Alex couldn’t see her. That would not bode well for Sean or herself. “What exactly did you tell him?”
A shuffle of papers echoed over the line. “That any report to that effect would be a false one and not to take it seriously unless it came from me or my office.” A pause. “We got your back, Maggie. Don’t worry.”
Maggie breathed a sigh of relief but her nerves still didn’t settle. “Even though he’s one of them?”
“The chief saw the protection order,” Alex’s voice was gentle.
“Sean is not to contact you, even by email. I notified the judge that he’d reached out, but I’m pretty sure he got off with a warning there.
You’ve signed your share of the paperwork, and even though I feel you should take him to the cleaners, I understand just wanting a clean break. ”
“I don’t want the house. Or anything in it.”
“I know, but legally he owes you half. Anyway…” They’d had this discussion before, and Alex knew how it ended.
“All he needs to do to keep this out of court is sign and you’ll be free.
And trust me, he doesn’t want to go to court, which I’ve told his lawyer.
Because it won’t be pretty if it does.” She could hear the shark’s smile in Alex’s voice.
Maggie had heard from her midwives that Alex was a lion in the courtroom, and she’d been thrilled to get assigned to her.
“I’ve said all I can say without disclosing the abuse, as you requested. ”
Maggie breathed deep in an attempt to get the churning in her stomach to calm down.
She’d documented the bruises and injuries herself, only going to a clinic when absolutely necessary.
Even though she knew she couldn’t go to the police, she’d started planning for her escape the first time he raised a hand to her.
It had taken far longer than she liked to get away, but Alex had all her evidence now and she trusted her.
Sean had been a detective on that force for ten years and if she aired that dirty laundry, she was certain he’d kill her.
“Hopefully he signs it soon and we can get this over with.”
“Well, he does have time and I think he’s going to drag this out as long as he can. But I’m here for you, don’t worry.”
“Thanks, Alex. I have to go back to work.”
“Take care, Maggie.”
“You, too.” Maggie hung up the phone and headed back inside. Between the chill outside and the conversation, she had cooled off plenty.
The afternoon saw the teenagers popping in for milkshakes after school, hanging out before going home for dinner.
The dinner hours saw more people, often families with small children, or single elders that didn’t feel like cooking for one.
The local mechanics shop had their evening hours on Tuesdays so one of their guys came by to pick up a large order for the whole shop.
Shorty was behind the grill by then, but Deb was still there, in the office doing paperwork.
While her feet were sore every night when she got back to the bed-and-breakfast, she felt fulfilled for the first time in a long time.
No one else paid for the roof over her head or put food in her stomach.
Honestly, between the free breakfast at the Haven, and the meals Deb insisted on comping for her, she didn’t have much in the way of expenses.
And Virginia was very lenient on when she paid.
She’d given her a weekly rate at a steep discount and Maggie was free to stay as long as she liked.
Apparently, March was part of the off-season.
She should probably wonder why the hell such a small town would have tourists but she was so grateful for the fresh start that she didn’t want to question it too closely.
At the end of the night, around eleven, she flipped the sign to “Closed” while Shorty cleaned the grill. Maggie piled the dirty dishes into the bus bin, then hefted it onto her hip and swung through the kitchen door. Deb was inside, gathering the garbage from the bin.
“I can get that, Deb,” Shorty called out. He was a tall Black guy, possibly in his sixties, with a receding hairline and the demeanor and body of a teddy bear.
“You’re busy. And I needed to get out from behind that desk.” Deb shook her head as she hefted the bag over her shoulder and headed for the back door. “Those order forms will be the death of me.”
Maggie and Shorty laughed, then returned to their closing duties. Maggie was in the middle of loading the industrial dishwasher when she heard the scream from the alley.
They stopped what they were doing, looked at each other, then bolted for the outside door.
“Deb?”
In the alley behind the diner, Debbie lay in a heap on her side. The garbage bag had broken open beside her. Maggie didn’t feel the cold air despite wearing nothing more than a t-shirt as she ran for her employer.
“Are you okay?”
Deb groaned, but it sounded more like humiliation than pain. “Damn black ice got me.”
Shorty reached down and lifted her up under the arms. “You okay, Debbie?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fi—” Her words cut off with another cry as she tried to stand on her own. Maggie pushed forward to catch her, but Shorty just lifted her by the arms again.
“Shit.”
“What hurts?” Maggie tried to stay calm.
“Left ankle.” Even in the yellow light of the streetlamps, Debbie looked white as a ghost. Maggie hurried to slip her shoulder under Deb’s left arm.
“Lean on me. We’ll get you back inside. Shorty, can you get the door?”
“Sure, Maggie.” He ran ahead and held the door, a beacon of warm light that while it was only ten feet away, took forever to reach at Deb’s slow, pained gait.
Once they had her inside, Maggie set her up in the dining room with an ice pack while Shorty went back outside to deal with the garbage.
“What do you need me to do?”
Deb shooed her away. “Let me ice this while you finish up in here. I should be fine by the time you’re done.”
Maggie bit her lip, but did as she was told, wiping down all the tables, then flipping the chairs upside down and mopping the floor. She hesitated when she came to the section where Deb sat in a booth, her leg up on the bench with the bag of ice.
“Let’s take a look, shall we?” Maggie pulled the bag away and gasped. Deb’s ankle had swollen up like a balloon, turning purple. “Deb… I think you need to go the hospital.”
Deb looked up from her phone and scowled. “What? No way I’m… damn.” She looked down at the ankle and grimaced. “Great.”
“I’ll call the ambulance,” Maggie pulled out her phone.
“No! Lord, girly, the bill will kill me.” Deb wiped her brow, then handed her phone over. “Call my son, Luke.”
“Luke?” Maggie asked as she took the phone. “I thought your son was Aaron.” He came in once in a while to get food with his friends.
“That’s my younger son. My older one is in town visiting. Just got in a few days ago.” She sighed. “I can count on him to come get me.”
Maggie’s brows furrowed, but she did as she was told, dialing the number on Deb’s unlocked phone. It rang a few times, then the call picked up.
“Mom? What’s up?”
Oh my. When she said older, she definitely meant older. Aaron was only eighteen, but this guy sounded like he was Maggie’s age, with a voice like butter. Maggie gulped as she tried to focus. “Um, hi, my name is Maggie and I work for your mom. She fell taking the garbage out and —”
“Is she okay?” The concern in his voice was almost foreign to her. When had someone ever sounded that upset for her, instead of at her?
“Well, yes, but her ankle’s swollen and she can’t put weight on it. I offered to call an ambulance, but she asked me to call you instead.”
“I’ll be there in five minutes.”
“Thank you.” Maggie blinked at the phone, the connection broken. He’d hung up on her. Well, seeing as how the swelling wasn’t getting any better, he was right to hurry.
“He’s on his way.” Maggie handed the phone over to Deb. “Why did you want me to call him?”
“Cause if he talked to me, he’d fuss, and I’d rather put that off as long as possible,” Deb smirked. “Even if it’s only five minutes.”
Luke hung up the phone and looked at the gamers sitting around the table. “I gotta go, I’m so sorry.”
Felix’s brows drew together in concern. “What happened?”
“Mom fell at work, that was her new server. She says she needs the hospital but won’t call an ambulance.” Even as he spoke, Luke was sliding his leather coat on over his shoulders. “I’ll catch you guys next week.”
His best friend caught onto his sleeve before he could bolt from Underhill Books and Games. “Let me know if you need anything, I’m right next door.”
Luke nodded his thanks and pounded up the stairs to the main shop floor.
Felix had only locked the door from the outside, so he let himself out and sprinted to his car.
On a normal night, he’d walk to the diner from the game store, but with Mom unable to bear weight on her leg he’d need the car close by.
He drove around the mall, the green space in the center of town with their namesake tree in the center, to get to The Busy Bee. Parking directly outside the front door, he turned his flashers on and hurried inside.
Mom was sitting in a booth along the wall, her gray head just visible over the back. “Mom?”
“I’m here, Luke!” She waved her arm, and he dodged the tables with their chairs flipped up as he jogged to her.
“What happened?”
“I slipped on black ice in the alley taking the garbage out.” Mom’s utter disgust with the situation dripped from her words. “Oh, Luke, this is Maggie, my new girl.” She waved to the other side of the booth. “Maggie, my oldest, Luke.”
“Hello.”
Luke turned, not having realized Mom wasn’t sitting alone.
Across the table, her black puffer coat on her shoulders, sat not a girl, but a woman.
Bright red hair down to her shoulders haloed Maggie’s round, ivory face, green eyes like emeralds sparkling out at him.
Plump, rosy lips sat beneath a delicate, upturned nose.
Before his mother could remind him of his manners, he stretched his right hand in her direction. “Pleased to meet you.”
She shook his hand, and he felt a tingle when she touched him. “Wish it were under better circumstances.”
Luke flexed his hand as they parted. There must be some winter static in the air. “Thank you for helping my mom.”
Maggie graced him with a small smile. “Of course. Your mom’s a lovely lady.” She looked at him and then at Deb. “Do you want me to help you to the car?”
“I can—”
“That’d be great, Maggie. If I try to lean on this one, I’ll dislocate my shoulder.”
Maggie hopped up to help Mom out of the booth, and Luke moved aside. Mom could easily lean on her, placing an arm over her shoulders, as both women stood a head shorter than him. Once they were steady, he cleared his throat. “I’ll get the doors. Are you all locked up?”
“Just flip the lock as we go out, Maggie. Shorty said he’ll get the rest in the morning for breakfast shift.”
“You got it.”
Luke held the door to his car open while Maggie helped Debbie lower herself inside.
The waitress pulled a bag from her purse and laid it over Deb’s ankle. “There. Hopefully that will keep the swelling down.”
Mom patted her arm. “Get back safely, dear.”
“I will. Feel better, Deb.”
Luke shut the door carefully, then looked at the angel in a yellow Busy Bee shirt. “Ice pack?”
“It didn’t seem to help the swelling but I’m hoping to keep it numb for her.” Maggie bit that plush bottom lip, and Luke had to fight the urge to pull it out from underneath her tooth. “I’m worried it’s broken.”
He nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure she gets seen.”
“Keep me and Shorty posted?”
“Of course. Thank you again, Maggie.”
“No problem.” She turned and waved, heading off to an ancient sedan parked at the end of the block.
He watched until she got into her car and drove away. Then he slid inside his own car to get his mom to the county hospital.