I decide to wait a few days before I sit down and tell them, as hard as it was for me to comprehend why they left, it will be even harder for them to understand. I’m off from work today, cleaning and getting things done around the house while the girls are at school and Joey’s at therapy, when there’s a knock at the door.
“Mrs. Pedersen?”
Answering the door to see an attractive man standing there in a suit.
“Yes,” I answer.
“Hi, I’m Detective Justice Tanner, I was wondering if I could speak to you if you have a few minutes to spare?”
“Detective?” I ask and my first instinct is if this is about my parents because what else would it be about?
“I’m investigating the disappearance of Dornan Fredricksen and Maven Lofgren,” he says with furrowed brows of concern and I open the door wider, allowing him to come inside.
“Can I get you anything?” I ask. “Water?”
“No ma’am, I won’t be long I don’t think,” he says with a slight southern accent.
He follows me into the front sitting room, and I take a seat on one of the chairs in front of the picture window, while he sits on the couch, setting a folder onto the coffee table and opening it.
“You’ve known the missing persons for some time correct?”
“Yeah.”
“And how did you meet them?”
I’d probably be telling this guy everything because I have nothing to hide, but there’s something about him I don’t like, and a little voice in my head is screaming at me to give him nothing.
“What does that have to do with them missing?”
“Must be weird being married to- what would he be, your step-brother? Since your husband’s parents adopted you…you’re not blood, but that’s sort of incest.”
My stomach bottoms out because I’ve totally forgotten my fake documents. I never thought about how on paper, Gwen and Joseph adopting me did make me Joey’s sister.
“Again, what’s this have to do with Maven and Dornan?”
“Officer Milton says he never remembers you until you were a teenager, isn’t that weird?”
He says this with a smile and I give him a disgusted look.
“There’s no record of birth parents, no school photos in any of the Plantain records, only your name that you were a student is all there is.”
I stand from the seat. “If you’re here to question me about my life, then you’re not welcome here,” I tell him, pointing a finger towards the door with my outstretched arm.
Just then the front door opens and Joey comes rushing in. “You got a warrant, pal?” he says, walking directly up to Justice.
“No, I was just asking your lovely wife about your missing friends,” Justice says while standing.
“You want to talk to anyone, get a court order,” Joey says sternly.
Justice steps around Joey and gives me a smile.
“Nice meeting you, I’m sure we’ll run into each other sometime soon,” he says as he leisurely walks towards the door. “Y’all have a good day,” he says with a saccharine smile.
The door closes and Joey walks to me, wrapping his arms around my biceps.
“What did he tell you?” he asks with a tone of voice he’s never used with me before.
I furrow my brow and shake my head. “Nothing, why? Is there something I’m not supposed to know?”
I ask this because I wonder if Joey will confess to me what I already know, that my parents were killed. He exhales deeply, his eyes searching mine.
“No, but that guy’s a first-class asshole, I don’t want him to have upset you,” he says, pulling me close and kissing me.
A sinking feeling occurs in my stomach even though I know he’s keeping what happened from me. I should be used to the secrets. But I wonder how much more I can take. Not that I don’t have my own secrets, but part of me feels like Joey keeps everything from me. My secrets about Michael kissing me, and losing the baby haunt me, but I think in an attempt to keep things on an even keel, I won’t disclose those things until it’s time.
Chapter 24
Years go by, the girls grow older, and the MC dismantles. I only know this because Joey told me that with Detective Tanner sniffing his nose around, Sven decided that the club could afford to stop the illegal stuff. I was relieved that not only did I not have to worry about my husband’s physical safety, but that he wouldn’t be caught and sent to jail or something. It also meant that he worked during the day and only left for brief periods of time if he needed to go check out cars in other states.
That’s what the business was focusing on now, cars. Not only the collision shop but they also owned used car lots and as a part of that, Joey and Drag found rare cars to sell for big bucks to private owners. I think he liked this work since he enjoyed cars, but knew the excitement from the club action dying down made life a little dull for him. He ran off that adrenaline, being in the military, doing illegal shit with the club, he liked that part of it. Even if it was detrimental to his health, he’s just that kind of person.
We didn’t have any direct contact with Maven and Dornan while they were gone, but Joey heard through Chilly that they were well. They’d had two children together, which blew my mind. I’d known before they left that they’d become a couple, but seeing them kiss one time, to hearing they had kids blew my mind. It almost felt like I mourned them the first month they were gone, then it morphed into some weird limbo. They weren’t dead, just living a life no one was part of.
Six years passed, and not much in Plantain changed. Sven had a stroke and that affected all of us close to him. He’s always been a father figure to Joey, and I think what happened with Sven had him worrying about his own parents’ as they got older. Gwen wanted to move to Florida, but Joseph wasn’t having it. Instead, he appeased her by buying a condo there where they would go for long periods of time. It sucked when they were there, but it was awesome that we had a place to take the girls for a cheap vacation.
We tried having another baby, but I wasn’t getting pregnant. I hadn’t told Joey about the miscarriage, so when I wasn’t getting pregnant, I was almost relieved. I didn’t want to go through that heartbreak again. Joey said we should ask a doctor and be tested to see why we were having such a hard time, but I kept telling him that it just wasn’t meant to be. I knew it frustrated the hell out of him when I said that, but oh well.
Natasha was fourteen now, and the drama she was becoming was enough to make anyone not want to have any more kids. It wasn’t that she was bad necessarily, but knew what buttons to push with Joey and often did. We’d told her she wasn’t allowed to date until she was sixteen, but constantly had boys over, or talked on the phone with them.
When Joey would put his foot down, that we didn’t want boys in bedrooms or in the house when we weren’t there, she’d throw out a comment about him never being there when she was little so why did he care now what she did. It made me angry that she would act like that, but I understood she was a teenager. But it made Joey’s blood boil.
I saw on the news that a case was being brought against the president of a biker club. He was someone I hadn’t recognized, but Joey did tell me his club used to be friendly with theirs. A few weeks later, we got some surprising news, Maven and Dornan were coming back. I wasn’t sure if it had anything to do with the president guy’s trial, or not, but I was excited to see my old friends.
We all gathered at the collision shop as we waited for them to arrive. Missy and Gwen set up the clubhouse to celebrate and Em and I made a ton of food for the occasion. Joey held my hand tightly as we all stood at the end of the driveway waiting. I know he was anxious to see his friends and I think it worried him a little that their bond might’ve suffered from the years spent apart.
When we see an SUV turn off of Main Street, the kids start clapping and we’re all smiles as it parks in front of us. Dornan gets out first and looks the same as I remember, if not bigger with muscle. Immediately Missy and Sven a
pproach, and when Maven gets out, I feel my eyes begin to tear up with happiness. She looks happy, radiant, and more beautiful than I remember. She’s followed by two little blond haired boys and I smile at seeing the spitting images of Dornan.
They tuck up on either side of Maven, who takes their hands and leans down to tell them something, then they pull away from her and run towards their grandparent’s. Now I do cry, watching as they hold their grandkids for the first time, and the emotion even in Sven’s expression has Joey wiping under his eyes.
After greeting his parents Dornan moves towards Joey, smiling as they step closer and hug one another, and I know distance could never break these two. After a long moment, they pull away and smack one another’s arms and Dornan turns towards me.
“Hey Katie,” he says as he hugs me, tight and welcoming.
“Good to see you,” I tell him, and hear as Maven greets Joey.
When Dornan and I break our hug and he moves over towards Smokey, Maven comes over and we look at one another for a long minute. I can barely contain my smile as I open my arms for her. I can’t explain how it feels when we hug, reuniting with the woman I came to love like a sister.
“I missed you,” she says and I nod, words not being able to push past the tightness in my throat.
“We need to catch up,” I tell her as she steps back.
“Definitely,” she nods.
During the party, I don’t get much time to socialize with either Maven or Dornan, they spend a lot of time with Missy and Sven which is understandable. But the weeks after they come home, Maven and I don’t get any time to get together. I understand that too, she’s been busy with the kids, getting them into school, acclimating to a new life, I get it. I try not to take it personally, and it makes me happy that at least Joey and Dornan have been spending nearly every day together.
When Joey tells me that Dornan and Maven are planning their wedding, I nearly squeal with excitement. Immediately I text Maven to ask if she needs any help, she simply replies with a no. When I congratulate her she only says thanks. That kind of stung. Again, I blamed it on her just being busy. As the wedding drew closer and Missy, Gwen, and Em requested I do their hair for the event, I asked Maven if she also would like me to do her hair, to which I got no reply.
The night of her bachelorette party, I was apprehensive. I couldn’t help but feel like Maven didn’t want me there, since it was Missy who invited me. But I decided to make the best of it, and remind myself that there was no weirdness between us. When I arrive with Gwen to the bar, Maven’s already there with Em and she barely glances my way. I sit there for a while and keep convincing myself that this is nothing. When Em orders shots, I thank God for the welcomed distraction.
We do a few shots, which I notice Maven’s not partaking in. When I ask her why she’s not drinking, she acts like she didn’t hear me. When Missy and Skye arrive, Maven jumps out of her seat and welcomes the two. I knew Skye had left to live with her fiancé, but with Maven being our only source of knowing what was going on with her, I hadn’t heard anything about her in years.
I talk with Skye for a bit, catching her up on some of the things that have happened since she left. Drag had also just arrived back to Plantain recently from a long absence from the club, and I wondered why she wasn’t asking about him. I knew she crushed on him, but maybe her fiancé had made her longing for Drag to dissipate.
When I’ve had just about enough of Maven carrying on as if I don’t exist, I text Joey and ask him to pick me up from the bar. I tell Gwen I’m heading out, and don’t say goodbye to Maven, not like she’ll notice I’m gone. I don’t want to lessen her fun night by asking what’s going on, so I decide to say nothing. When Joey drives up in the Cadillac, I get in the passenger seat and start crying. Instantly, he’s pulling me to his side.
“I feel like she hates me and I don’t know why,” I tell him.
“No, beautiful, she doesn’t hate you, she’s just busy,” he says.
I roll my eyes, which he can’t see, because how long do I use that excuse for her behavior. The wedding comes and it’s such a beautiful event. I’ve never seen Dornan so happy, and it makes me feel so good for him that the woman he’s wanted for a lifetime is officially his wife. Seeing him with his boys is also a different Dornan than I’d ever seen, those boys are his life.
A few months pass, I hear through Gwen that Maven’s pregnant, and I’m shocked when Skye calls me to help with a surprise baby shower. I know Maven and Skye have been hanging out a lot lately, which is not surprising since she’s also pregnant. Part of me wonders if the only reason I was asked is because Maven doesn’t know. But once again, I put my fears of what’s happening aside and do everything I can to help with the shower.
I hear through Skye one day as we shop at a bulk store for plastic cups and paper plates, that Maven asked her and Drag to watch the boys when she goes into labor. For whatever reason, this stings more than anything. She barely knows Skye and Drag, I mean compared to Joey and me. I bite back my initial irritation and smile and tell her that’s great, but hearing this has me really boiling inside.
The evening of the shower comes, and when we arrive, I help Missy set up the tables and cake, placing the presents around it. My job is to take photos so Maven can put them in a baby book or album. When Maven arrives she’s surprised and it makes me happy to have given her something she never had before. The shower goes well, even though once again I’m being ignored. After the presents are opened, we leave, I just can’t sit and watch Maven and Skye grow closer as our relationship grows further apart.
I know Joey thinks I’m being overdramatic or sensitive, and maybe I am, but it does hurt. It hurts especially when I see how Joey and Dornan spent six years apart but it seems like they barely missed a beat, whereas Maven acts like we were never friends. The morning after the shower I head over to their house, I can’t go on another day feeling this way, especially if it’s all in my head. Dornan and the boys are playing outside and he gives me a smile as he tells me that Maven’s in the house somewhere. Entering the back door, I hear the washer and dryer running down in the basement but someone walking above me upstairs. I make my way to the steps.
“Maven?” I call out.
“Up here,” she replies and I pause at the top of the steps to figure out what room she’s in.
I then hear some drawers closing and walk to the door, peeking in to see her in the nursery. “Wow, this looks nice,” I tell her and her head turns to look at me, and she seems surprised it’s me. “Sorry, I know you’re busy, but, I just wanted to talk real quick,” I state.
She nods but turns back to what she’s doing, I inhale deeply, mustering the courage, before I say, “I know, well, I feel like, things between us have been a little…tense, since you’ve been back. I don’t know if it’s just because we were apart so long, or, I just don’t like feeling this way, if it’s something I did-”
“It was before we left, Katie,” she sighs, turning to face me.
My expression falls, my brows furrowing. “What do you mean?”
She steps closer. “The night we got drunk at the MC party, and Brayden assaulted me, you didn’t say anything to me afterward…you didn’t even ask how I was, that hurt me Katie, like you didn’t even care. I needed you, but you acted like nothing even happened.”
My stomach drops, my mind churning and rewinding, remembering the party and me passing out, but nothing about what happened to Maven. I know Joey acted weird the next day, and didn’t wake me to have wild drunk sex with me that night.
“I…no one…I didn’t know,” I finally get out. “Joey didn’t tell me anything happened, no one told me anything happened.”
A flush of embarrassment washes over me, and guilt. “I swear Maven, had I known anything, you know I would be there for you in an instant.”
Her expression morphs from hardness, to understanding, and then sadness.
“Did Joey know?” I ask what I already fear is true, and my chin war
bles.
Her eyes soften as she steps closer, putting her hand on my bicep. I clear the tears from my eyes and look at her. “I’m sorry that happened to you Maven, and I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”
Before she can say anything, I rush out of the room. I’m on the verge of breaking down, mentally, physically, I’ve reached my breaking point. Flying out the back door, I hear Dornan call after me, but I keep heading for the car. Peeling out of the driveway, again clearing the tears from my eyes, and trying to keep it all together until I get home.
I’m thankful the girls are at Gwen and Josephs because I just want to finally get all the bullshit between me and Joey out in the open. I park in our driveway and come in through the backdoor, my cellphone ringing in my purse, and I enter the kitchen to see Joey with his phone pressed against his ear, knowing full well Maven’s called him to tell him what just happened. The ringing stops when he sees me and kills the call.
“Katie,” he sighs.
“No!” I yell, pointing an index finger at him. “All this time, you let me think I was being ridiculous about Maven being mad at me, you told me it was nothing when you knew exactly what it was!” My hands push his shoulders, sending him back a step. “Why didn’t you tell me? I’m so sick of all the secrets and all you had to do was tell me the morning it happened! I asked you, Joey, I asked you what happened at the party and you didn’t tell me!” My fists beat at his chest as tears stream down my face.
He remains silent, knowing he’s wrong and takes my physical release of what I feel.
“I know I should’ve told you,” he finally says, “but I, I didn’t know how-”
“I asked you!” I repeat.
“It’s hard for me to tell you shit when I know it will make you upset, okay!” he hollers back, grabbing my biceps and halting my fists. “I’m sorry it fucking eats me up when you hurt, even if it’s from something like that, when you hurt for someone else, I hate seeing you like that!” He stops and inhales deeply.
Take On Me: Plantain Series Book Three Page 23