Chapter 7 #2
If Luke knew about Sean, would he be on her side?
Or side with his fellow LEO, like she’d always been afraid of?
The one time she’d threatened to report his abuse, Sean had laughed at her and reminded her that they lived in his jurisdiction, that he worked with every cop available to take her report.
“My brothers in blue would never turn their back on me just to help you,” he’d sneered.
She shook herself from the memory just as Felix was explaining their situation.
Luke’s eyes bored into her, but she focused on Felix.
Their party was in a tavern for the night when a messenger from a nearby village arrives, begging for help.
They were under attack from a group of kobolds, whatever those were.
Reading over her character sheet, she noted that her character had lost her family in a kobold attack. So, when the time came for the party to decide what to do, she made sure to vote for helping the village.
The game was fun, the mechanics weren’t too difficult, and when Felix told her to roll a certain die, Luke would point it out if she didn’t know which one he meant.
Grace was hilarious, and Joe was a steady calming presence for their party, while Luke played up the low intelligence score of his orc fighter.
When her halfling rogue was seriously injured during the battle, they realized that she wouldn’t make it back to the tavern.
“Ungmar grunts and lifts Lyra onto his shoulder.”
“Watch your ax, there, buddy,” she told him.
The rest of the table laughed.
“The other shoulder, obviously. He’s not that dumb.” More laughing, Maggie joining in.
Seeing Luke around his friends, outside of work, was a revelation. And if he was truly not staying, then maybe she could…
She recalled something Alex said when they met for the last time.
“Once you’ve filed for divorce, he has no more control over you. He’ll probably try to claim infidelity if you start dating, but I promise you that will not hold up in court.”
She’d just shook her head. “I wouldn’t want to put anyone else in his crosshairs.”
But Luke was an agent, and he could probably take care of himself. Sean wouldn’t dare touch him. Could he be someone she jumped back into the dating pool with? Just for a short time? If she kept it casual, he’d never have to know about her past.
And what was up with those flowers? Luke hadn’t mentioned them again, but after some thinking she’d remembered that Kirk had been in town that week.
Maybe it had been him trying to get a date again.
Or even Jessica, who was the only person besides Alex who knew where she was.
She made a mental note to text Jess about it later. Maybe the note had been lost.
Sean crossed her mind, briefly. The first time he hit her he’d tried to use red roses to apologize, and gotten butthurt when she reminded him she didn’t like them.
But he couldn’t know where she was. She hadn’t responded to his emails, and while her old laptop was back in Oklahoma, her password was solid.
By the end of the night, her face hurt from smiling and her heart was full. Grace insisted on exchanging numbers, hooking her arm through Maggie’s as they left the boys to clean up.
“Please tell me you’ll come regularly. It’d be so nice to have another woman around.” Grace opened the door for her and they walked into the night air.
“I’d love to, as long as my schedule lines up.
” Thoughts of work reminded her of her dwindling stash of cash, and that the diner wasn’t going to cut it for a long-term solution.
It would do for a start, and she’d keep it for a while, but she really needed to get back to the career Sean had made her cut short.
“Say, do you know where I might find a cheap computer?”
Grace blinked and hummed. “There’s a computer shop out by State College. We can go over there sometime and see what they have.”
It didn’t need to be much. And it meant so much to Maggie that Grace would offer to go with her, since she wasn’t familiar with the area. “That’d be great. When are you free?”
Grace walked with her around the quiet town square, streetlights lighting up the night and reflecting off shop windows. She pointed out an adorable storefront with a pink and white striped awning. “That’s my bakery.”
“So I heard. Virginia says you’re quite the baker.”
“I like to think so.” Grace winked and patted her hip. “And I eat it, too.”
Maggie snorted. “I shouldn’t, but I do.”
“We have a saying in culinary school.” Her new friend leaned in and stage-whispered, “Never trust a skinny chef.”
They burst into giggles as they reached Maggie’s car. “Well, this is me.”
“Great! Listen, come in after your next morning shift at the diner and we’ll head over to State College. I close at two every day so I have plenty of time.”
“What time do you get up?”
Grace shrugged. “When I have to open, I get up at four. But Wednesdays my assistant opens so I can do game night.”
“Nice,” Maggie said, and on impulse, hugged the other woman. Grace returned her hug with a squeal.
“It’s awesome to meet you. And I’m serious, come find me anytime.”
“I will. It was great meeting you, too.”