22. Maggie
TWENTY-TWO
MAGGIE
“Dear sister, do tell me . . . who is that delicious man in flannel with you at the ice cream shop?”
Violet’s face filled the screen of her latest video message, her voice lowered so the littles hopefully wouldn’t hear her. But of course, they did, because Carson picked up on ice cream immediately.
Within thirty seconds, the boys were begging for their own.
Ellie wormed her way between my arms, shimmying onto her back and resting her head on my shoulder, as though she wanted to see her nephews, too. Or maybe she just wanted morning snuggles before I dragged myself out of bed.
“We’re not having ice cream for breakfast,” Violet said over her shoulder.
From what I could tell, they were in a hotel room, but where was anyone’s guess.
This video message was two days old, and I still had two more to catch up on.
“As soon as Ethan gets out of the shower, we’re hitting the road.
We’re headed to the Bighorn Mountains today. ”
“Mountains, mountains, mountains!” Ollie chanted, his entire face brightening. I loved both my nephews equally, but I was pretty sure Ollie and I were besties in another lifetime. He would love it here.
I almost paused her message to record one of my own to say as much, but I didn’t want my sister deciding it was some cry for help. And considering I was still a little messed up from what went down in the guest room last night, Violet would sense something was off. Worse, she might alert Mom.
Why I thought it was a good idea to try on that deathtrap of a dress was beyond me. If I’d simply stuffed the damn thing back in the closet after Alyssa bailed on me, my dog wouldn’t have retrieved Luke to save me from it.
I was still haunted by the anguished expression on his face when he froze in the doorway, gripping the frame like it was a lifeline.
Clearly, there was some sort of trauma there.
Considering his line of work, it could be anything really.
A bad or possibly fatal car accident involving a newlywed couple was my top guess.
Except, the things he said to me after I was breathing again seemed . . . personal.
“Ready to go to the mountains?” Ethan’s voice sounded in the background of my sister’s video, and the boys cheered.
“I’m so happy they’re in a good mood this morning,” Violet said quietly. “Last night was . . . hard.”
She forced a smile, but there were bags under her eyes that spoke the truth. I wanted to reach through the phone and hug my sister.
“Well, we have to hit the road,” Violet said, standing from the bed she’d been perched on.
“But you better tell me who that mystery man is. Please tell me he’s the rebound guy and you’re getting”—she looked over her shoulder for the boys—“good and canoodled? My back hurts, my feet are swollen, and a snake couldn’t find its way through the overgrown grass in my jungle if it had a machete, so I need to live vicariously through my big sister. Love you, bye!”
“If only I was getting laid.” I dropped the phone onto the mattress. I’d listen to the other two messages after some puppy snuggles and a cup of coffee.
Ellie licked my cheek, and I hugged her tighter.
We were supposed to be headed to a trailhead a few miles outside of town with Alyssa this morning, but of course, I hadn’t heard a peep from her since she canceled yesterday.
I wasn’t surprised, if I was being honest. This is how it went with female friendships.
They started off with such promise, and over time, those friends became less and less available until I couldn’t reach them at all.
Ellie nudged her cold, wet nose against my neck and let out a gentle groan I’d come to recognize as boredom.
“You know what?” I said, scratching her head. “We can still go on that hike, right?”
Ellie’s tail thumped against the comforter.
If Alyssa decided to reschedule next week as she’d said she would, we’d just go again.
I quickly checked the weather—my days of rucking in the rain by choice were long behind me.
The forecast promised partly sunny skies, a high of sixty-seven, and only a ten percent chance of rain.
“Looks like there’s a hundred-percent chance this hike is exactly what we need. So, what do you say, Ellie Belly? Should we go on an adventure?”
Ellie ran circles around my legs from the moment I forced myself out of bed until the moment the Forester was loaded for our hike. Promises of adventures were one of the only things that riled my dog up like a toddler on a sugar high.
“Hop in,” I said, holding open the door to the back seat.
I glanced at Luke’s place as Ellie shot inside like a rocket, but there was no movement through the front living room window.
Considering his truck was missing, he might be down at the Legion Hall.
I’d be there too if I hadn’t made plans with Alyssa and cleared my schedule as a result.
“It’s better we have some distance,” I mused.
I learned the hard way in my twenties that trying to fix a broken man was a lost cause that only ended up costing me in the end.
I could have compassion for Luke without shouldering responsibility for something that clearly had nothing to do with me.
But that didn’t let him off the hook for an apology.
At the stop sign out of the neighborhood, I hesitated a few seconds longer than required. A left turn put us on the road to peace and serenity for the next several hours. A right turn put me at risk for running into Officer McGrumpy in this too-small downtown. But it would lead me to coffee.
“I bet they have pup cups,” I told Ellie.
After fueling up at Black Bear Coffee, I remembered spotting paper trail maps near the checkout counter of Mason Hardware & Supply, so I made another quick stop.
An app on my phone had a catalogue of trails in the area, and even identified which ones were dog friendly.
But there was something about a handheld map that just couldn’t be beat.
I let Ellie out of the car, leaving her leash in the front seat. Was it out of spite? Maybe.
Joe looked up from the front counter, a warm smile spreading across his face.
“Maggie, good to see you again. You too, Ellie.”
Ellie wagged her tail and trotted behind the counter for pats. Joe didn’t bat an eye at her leash-free status as he fished a treat out of a bucket on the counter and offered it to her.
“Just you today?” I asked, scanning the empty store.
“The boys are helping with the Legion float, and Opal’s in school. Say, heard you been quite busy yourself. You a VSO or something?”
“Not officially, no.”
I’d been looking into a Veteran Service Officer position in Lakewood, before everything went sideways. I’d hoped to secure the position for after the honeymoon. But with all the drama in my personal life, it never went beyond a couple of conversations, and now it never would.
“It’s mighty kind of you to help the guys out. And brave, I might add.”
“Brave?” I asked, reaching for a local trail map beside the register as the click-clack of claws faded. No doubt Ellie off to pick out a pair of socks now that she knew where they were.
“Most of them are curmudgeons on a good day,” he said on a laugh. “But I know they appreciate your help. There hasn’t been a VSO in the area in years.”
“Don’t tell anybody, but I have a knack for finding the soft, gooey center of even the grouchiest ones,” I said, winking.
“Your secret’s safe with me.” Joe nodded at the map. “Heading out on a hike?”
“Yeah, I thought it might be nice to get into nature today. Really enjoy these autumn colors while the weather’s still nice.”
“Whisper Lake’s a good one,” Joe said, opening the map to show me. “It’s about four miles round trip. Dog friendly, too. Hike gets a little tricky toward the end, but you’re young and in shape. You shouldn’t have any trouble with it. Do you have bear spray?”
“I do.”
“Bug spray?”
“Two cans, and mosquito patches.”
“Dog treats?”
“Plenty,” I said, scanning the store for signs of Ellie.
“But I might be missing the actual dog.” I heard the faint clicking of claws in the very back and followed the sound.
I found Ellie in a section of door hardware.
She let out a soft, excited bark when I approached, her nose pointed at a box of glass knobs.
“You’re a little spooky sometimes, you know that?”
“Those don’t squeak,” Joe said to Ellie.
“Actually, I do need a new knob.” I pulled the broken one from my crossbody bag and showed the pieces to Joe. “Please don’t tell your son, but I broke this one on my first day in town. I’m hoping to swap it out before he notices there’s a missing closet knob.”
“He still giving you a hard time?” Joe asked, tugging a pair of reading glasses free from his breast pocket and putting them on.
How did I answer that loaded question? I didn’t feel comfortable telling Joe that his son pushed me up against a wall and kissed me until my bones melted any more than I could tell him about the hurtful things Luke spouted at me after cutting me out of a killer wedding dress.
I settled with, “He’s not so bad.”
“Ah, here we go.” He held up an exact replica of the broken knob.
“You’re a lifesaver, Joe.”
He winked. “I do my best.”
I followed him back to the checkout counter.
Despite Ellie staying at my heel, she still managed to pilfer a pair of socks before I handed over my debit card.
One perk of Luanne hijacking the wedding finances was that Ellie’s sock fund was practically bottomless.
I’d buy Ellie ten thousand pairs of socks before I sent that woman a dime.
Joe packed my purchases into a paper bag, refusing to let me pay for the bag of trail mix he included.
“We’ll call it putting up with my son tax. Plus, you’ll need the fuel for that final stretch,” he insisted.
“That tax might bankrupt you,” I teased, accepting the bag.
Joe laughed. “There’s a soft gooey center in him somewhere. I just hope you don’t lose your patience trying to find it.”