by Jeannie Moon
Maggie’s hands went to his waist and he could see her nerves jangling from the contact. This woman made him crazy. Threading his fingers through her hair, Will kissed the corner of her mouth. “That’s mean. Your kisses are like a drug.”
Whispering in response, he could feel her tremble. “My family. What if they see?”
“Eh. I’m royalty.” A grin pulled at his mouth; Will completely enjoyed watching her try to hold it together. “They’ll get over it.”
“You’re fresh.”
“Maybe, but you make me crazy, Maggie. All I do is think about you.”
He teased her lips, covering her mouth with his, and drawing her in just enough that she knew he was serious. God, he could lose himself in this woman. It was nuts how much he wanted her.
Maggie dropped her head on his chest, holding onto his shirt as she buried her face against him. Without a thought, his arms came around her, holding her close.
“This is insane,” she moaned. “I shouldn’t be feeling like this.”
“Like what?”
“So out of control. You’re here and I don’t care about anything else. I haven’t been able to get you out of my head.”
“Good,” he murmured into her hair. “I don’t want you to get me out of your head. I want a chance.”
“Will…”
“Think about it. There’s something going on with us, Maggie. I think we have to see what happens.”
“I don’t know if I can. I just… I never thought anyone would…”
“Would ever want to be with you?” he finished the sentence for her. “You can’t be serious.”
Burying her face again, she nodded.
“Oh, Maggie. God, you’re amazing, don’t you know that?”
“I’m so broken. Physically and mentally. I don’t know if I can.”
Without hesitation, he cupped her face and lifted it toward his. “Just think about it. I know I’m the last thing you expected, and that you have a thousand questions running through your head, but think about it. I get you.”
She nodded tentatively. “Okay.”
“Come on. Take a breath and let’s go see the family. I think we’ve tempted fate enough.”
Once he stepped back, he could see the fear, the uncertainty, the questions in her eyes. He felt them too. There were at least a dozen reasons he shouldn’t pursue this with her, but none of them were compelling enough for him to step back.
After a few deep breaths, she shook off their conversation and smiled weakly. A bit of guilt crept in because Will worried that he’d pushed too hard. But when she reached out and squeezed his hand, he felt better.
“If nothing else, Will, you give me quite an adrenaline rush, and I haven’t had one of those in a very long time.”
“Glad I could help. If we make a run at this, Maggie, I promise there will be a lot more.”
“I guess we’ll see.”
* * *
DINNER WAS LOUD. There were more people at the table than in years past, and Maggie was both overwhelmed and touched that so many of her relatives wanted to see her. Aunts and uncles had changed plans and come from out-of-state to hug her, to make sure she was okay, and to offer support in any way they could. Her family was made up of the nicest people in the world.
Mostly. There were those who just wanted to see her at a low point. Her cousin Nora was one of those.
The daughter of her mother’s oldest brother, who had died when she was a teen, Nora was a year older than Maggie and worked in public relations for a major fashion designer. She was quite pretty, in that patrician, fake blonde, I-need-to-eat-a-sandwich kind of way. Maggie had nothing against women who were slender, if they were healthy, but Nora wasn’t; she looked like she was starving.
She and Maggie used to be close, but they’d taken very different paths. And for some reason, her cousin couldn’t handle it.
It shouldn’t have mattered, but Nora turned cold the minute Maggie finished Officer Candidate School and received her commission. When she earned her wings, their relationship went to hell.
It had been extremely uncomfortable sitting across the table from her, but when Nora started flirting with Will, inviting him to a gallery showing in the city, Maggie was ready to kill.
It was too bad her cousin hadn’t seen them kissing.
As she simmered, Maggie realized she’d never felt jealousy before. This was new, and she wasn’t liking it. Claire leaned in and made sure only Maggie could hear her. “You hate her right now, don’t you?”
“Why do you say that?”
Claire almost laughed out loud. “Are you kidding? I’m getting all hot and bothered just watching you and Will exchange smoldering glances, did you think I wouldn’t notice? Gracie has, too.”
“I’m, uh…”
“Stop. It’s awesome. And Nora is just trying to get to you, don’t let her.”
Dessert had been set out, and there were more choices than Maggie had ever seen. Her sweet tooth would be very happy. Whether her jeans would fit tomorrow was another story altogether. Still, she cut into the pecan pie, the cheesecake, and took two cream puffs.
“You’d better lay off the carbs and sugar, Maggie, now that you’re not as active. You don’t want to bulk up too much.” Nora’s words silenced the table. Maggie had a mouthful of the best cheesecake in the world, so she was at a loss.
“Nora!” Aunt Brigid was mortified. “Maggie is physically disabled. You don’t draw attention to it at the table.”
“Mary Margaret has been working at living as normal a life as possible,” her father piped in. “She’s getting better every day.”
“You should know better, Nora. You’re lovely and able bodied, and poor Maggie…”
Were they kidding?
“Poor Maggie is sitting right here,” she snapped. “And if you all don’t stop talking like this, I’m going to take my leg off and prop it up in the front window. It will be like that lamp in A Christmas Story,” she said, referencing the family’s favorite holiday movie.
“Fra-GEE-leh,” her brother mumbled, making Will laugh at the famous line. Wonderful. Everyone was a comedian.
“Nora,” Maggie began, “I’m fine. I’m still working out every day and I’m going to start running again as soon as my therapist thinks I’m ready.”
Brigid was beside herself. “Oh, you poor dear. Therapy? This must have been so hard for you. But a psychiatrist… that’s never happened in my family.”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake,” Maggie rolled her eyes. “I mean physical therapy, Auntie.”
“Oh. Oh well, thank goodness. But really dear, you should take it easy on yourself. You are… you know…”
Did she do it? Did she level her aunt right then and there? She was, after all, ‘disabled’, why not be a bitch, too?
“Well, if I take it easy on myself, I’ll die. So, since I’m over that being an option for me, I’d rather stay in shape. Excuse me.” Maggie rose from the table, took two steps away, and then went back for her plate of desserts.
It was criminal to let cream puffs go to waste.
“I’m going upstairs to take a rest,” Maggie sniffed, affecting her best Scarlet O’Hara impersonation. “This has all been quite exhausting for an invalid like me, and since Mama has gotten the fainting couch I asked for, I must retire before I fall dead away. I do hope y’all will forgive me.”
It was the only way she could escape without killing anyone or bursting into tears, neither of which were acceptable.
In some ways, Maggie wished she could leave, letting her family have a peaceful holiday, but the truth was, she was stuck.
Maggie hadn’t just lost her limb, or her job, she’d lost the thing she prized most: her independence.
And she didn’t know how she was going to get it back.
* * *
THIS WAS QUITE possibly the dumbest thing Will had ever done, and he’d sneaked into his share of girl’s rooms in his younger days. But going to Maggie when her whole f
amily was downstairs was risky. It was possible he was in way too deep with this woman, but he had no intention of walking away, and he got the sense her wise-cracking answers around the table were just a front. She was hurting, and he wasn’t going to let her deal with it alone.
Taking the steps two at a time to the second floor, he stood on the landing and looked at the hallway with three doors. There was another flight of stairs up to the third floor, but he had a feeling she was on this floor.
“Shit!” Thud.
There she was, in the room at the end of the hall. This wasn’t only a risk with her family, but with her as well. It was possible she’d rip his head off. But Will had to try.
Tapping quietly on the door, he heard the movement in the room go still.
“Who is it?” Her voice was small, raspy. She’d been crying.
“It’s Will. May I come in?”
“If I say no, are you going to come in anyway?”
“More than likely,” he responded, smiling because she knew him so well already.
“Crap. Fine.”
Will cracked the door and cautiously looked in to see what he was walking into.
Sitting on the bed, head bent, Maggie’s prosthetic was exposed. Her shoe was on the floor, and the artificial foot was uncovered. She still hadn’t looked at him.
“Maggie?”
“I hate that you’re seeing me like this. But I can’t… I c-c-can’t get it off.” She was upset, swallowing air, hyperventilating—a full-blown meltdown.
“What? Your prosthetic?”
“The button to release it, I-I can’t get it to work. I’m probably just upset, but it’s sore and-and, I want to t-take it off.”
“Okay, let me help.”
“No, I don’t want you to see it.”
“Maggie, it doesn’t matter to me. Haven’t you figured that out? I care about you. Now let me help.”
Going down on one knee, Will rested her artificial foot on his leg. He looked at the device, which was simple and complex at the same time. Luckily, it didn’t take long to find the button she was talking about. “Is this it?”
She nodded. Sniffled. Wiped her eyes with her sleeve. “I hate this. I hate this so much. This is the second time you’ve seen me lose it. I’m not this person you keep seeing.”
“I know.”
He used his thumb, pressed in, and found it was tougher than it looked. Exerting more pressure, he heard the click and felt the tension on the limb release.
Moving it gently, Will pulled her leg from her pants, almost losing it himself. What this woman had gone though was overwhelming. Tears were tracking down her cheeks and he totally understood why.
“I didn’t want you to see me like this. I… I…” She dissolved into sobs so raw and sad, his heart hurt for her.
Rising, then sitting next to her on the bed, Will pulled her into his lap and held her close. “Please don’t cry, Maggie. Please. You know I don’t care, right? That it doesn’t change anything for your family? They love you.”
“Why did this happen to me?”
There was no way to answer, so he followed his instincts and held her, rubbed her back, until the sobs subsided, her breathing steadied, and she started wiping at her eyes.
When she started to settle, Will thought about Cooper’s advice. “Tell her,” he’d said. Maybe hearing a little bit of his story would make her feel less alone. He wouldn’t know unless he tried.
“When I broke my back, I felt completely lost.” He felt her go still in his arms. “I was twenty-five and my life as I knew it was over.”
“Split seconds. That’s what my therapist said. Life changes in split seconds.” Her voice was low, soft, still laced with tears.
“It does. I never saw my back injury coming. I woke up and I was in an ambulance, strapped to a backboard and in a neck brace.”
“It’s terrifying, isn’t it? And the pain…”
He swallowed hard. “I had no pain, except for the splitting headache. The trauma left me feeling nothing.”
She pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes, lifting her head away from his chest. “We’re a mess.” A watery laugh cut through the sadness.
“I’m okay now. And you’re entitled to feel sorry for yourself, but you’re going to get through this. You have to.”
“I guess. But still, I’m so emotional. I don’t think I’ve ever fallen apart with another person like this. Even my mother.”
“Obviously, I survived it. How’re you? Do you feel any better?”
“Other than being embarrassed? I’m fine.”
“Yeah, I don’t want to hear that again.” Pushing her hair back from her face, Will kissed Maggie softly on the forehead and then pulled her in again. He had no intention of letting go until she told him to.
“You’re such a good man. Why the hell are you even interested in me?”
“Funny. I feel like you are so out of my league, I was going to ask you the same question.”
She chuckled quietly, and Will felt like he’d just won the lottery.
“You know, we have a busy weekend coming up,” he said.
“Sunday morning with the kids. I’m looking forward to it in a strange way. But you’d better have coffee for me.”
“I’ll do one better than that. After, I’ll take you to Lindsey’s for breakfast.”
Maggie gasped. Lindsey’s was the best breakfast spot in town… maybe even on the East End. The buttermilk pancakes and cheese blintzes were the stuff of legend.
“Oh, now you’re just teasing me,” Maggie sighed. “Breakfast is serious business.”
“Honey, I never joke about breakfast.”
Stillness fell between them. It was so odd how Will was starting to be able to read her. Something was bothering her.
“I was asked to ride in the boat parade on Sunday night.” Maggie dropped her head, apprehensive. “As a VIP. It’s so dumb.”
“The town wants to recognize your sacrifice. That’s not dumb.” That was the honest truth. What he didn’t like was that Maggie’s feelings hadn’t been part of the equation. The plans were made for her participation before she’d even arrived home.
“No, it’s not, but it makes me uncomfortable.”
“It could be fun.” Will was going to make it fun for her if it killed him, she just didn’t know it yet.
“I’m probably going to be on the Mayor’s boat. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a nice man, but he and his wife are a little too… stuffy.”
“You’re not on the Mayor’s boat.”
Adjusting herself on the bed, Maggie pulled and tugged and got herself into a comfortable position. “I’m not? Maybe you should fill me in. You seem to know things.”
“I’m one of the parade organizers.”
“Uh huh. Go on.” The way she’d narrowed her eyes let him know he needed to come clean.
There went that surprise. He was going to build up to the idea once he’d fed her Lindsey’s pancakes. “You’re riding on my boat.”
Maggie pushed up on her hands, lifted her entire body—which was bent like a pretzel in spots—and turned herself so her back was against the pillows at the top of her bed. The ease of movement stunned him, and impressed him at the same time. This woman was strong.
“I see,” Maggie narrowed her eyes. “When were you going to tell me?”
“After I softened you up with an incredible breakfast,” he grumbled.
“Sneak.” Maggie wasn’t angry, though; at least he didn’t think so.
“I’m going to string the lights after breakfast on Sunday. Want to help?”
“Um…” She was considering it. Her hesitation wasn’t about how to say no, but how to say yes.
“Come on, Maggie. It will be fun.”
“You keep saying that. Sunday had better be an amazing time, or I’m going to tell the whole town you’re a liar… or something.”
“Or something?”
She pursed her lips and he leaned in for a litt
le peck. God, she was cute.
“I’ll tell everyone you’re a lousy kisser.”
He kissed her again, and again. Sweet, chaste kisses that made her skin flush pink and her eyes brighten.
“Okay,” she whispered. “Maybe it will be a little bit fun.”
“You won’t regret it.”
Chapter Six
‡
OTHER THAN A few text messages Friday and Saturday, Maggie didn’t hear as much from Will as she expected after her Thursday meltdown. Which was disappointing; not because of his hot kisses or insane good looks, but because after it was over, they’d had a good time together.
By the time her family had looked for her, she and Will were on her bed watching a football game and rooting for opposing teams. Between them was a bag of kettle corn Maggie had stashed in her room, so when her sisters threw the door open they were treated to Maggie, one leg only, tossing popcorn at Will, who was doing his sit down version of a touchdown celebration.
After the food was packed away, and the guests had gone home, or to midnight sales, Claire and Grace came in looking for information. Did she like him? Was there a romance brewing?
Now, two days later she was more confused than ever. She didn’t know what to tell her sisters or her friends. The answers were mixed. Yes, she liked him. Was there a romance brewing? She didn’t know. Maggie still couldn’t imagine it.
Arriving at the campus field house, Maggie had no idea what to expect with the kids. Will said there were about six, some missing arms, some legs; in any case, it was heartbreaking.
But Will had done a good thing, and she had every intention of helping him with this team. Grabbing her bag from the back seat, Maggie thought about the man who was changing how she saw herself. Will Fitzgerald was an enigma in many ways. Single, and almost forty, she couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t married with a pack of kids. From what everyone said, he was smart, devoted to his students, and well set, which included a beautiful house on one of the canals at the western edge of Holly Point.
He helped Cooper at the bar, worked with disabled kids, and made her toes curl. The guy seemed perfect, and as Maggie found out with her own ‘perfect’ life, there was no such thing. But she liked him, perfect or not, and helping a bunch of kids was a whole lot better than feeling sorry for herself.