Maverick

by Juliana Stone

  Cooper swore and glanced away. Maverick felt for him. Everyone saw the playboy. The man who went through women like they were candy. But they didn’t know the real man. They didn’t know the pain that had played such a huge part shaping him into the man he’d become.

  “It’s simple really,” Cooper said, looking at Maverick intensely. “When you’re in lust, you taste and then you move on because eventually the lust fades and dies. But when you’re in love, it becomes a living, breathing thing that you want to hold on to. If you’re lucky it stays with you forever. If you’re not it haunts you.”

  “Is that something Lee Holloway would say?”

  Cooper ignored the dig and Maverick looked away from his brother. He couldn’t handle Coop’s probing eyes. Or maybe he couldn’t handle the fact that Cooper was obviously haunted.

  “So do you love her?” Cooper asked quietly.

  Maverick stared at his brother, his thoughts swirling like a tornado. His cell buzzed and vibrated—for how long he had no idea—but he came back to reality and fished it out of his pocket.

  Jack Simon.

  “Hey,” he said, glancing up at his brother, noticing the dark, angry clouds in the window behind him.

  “Donovan needs you, Maverick.” Jack sounded like shit and all kinds of alarms bells went off inside Maverick.

  Fear hit him square in the gut and he shot to his feet. “What the hell’s going on?”

  There was a pause.

  “We need you to come home.”

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Charlie had just said goodbye to Davis when she heard the bell jingle from the front of her shop. It was nearly six o’clock and she was anxious to get home. She had things to discuss with Maverick. Things to get off her chest.

  And dammit, she wanted to see him.

  “We’re closed,” she yelled from the garage as she took a look around to make sure things were fine for Davis to open up the next morning.

  “I see that.”

  Charlie whipped around in surprise, her loose ponytail coming undone in the process. Tugging long tangles of dark red hair from her eyes, she smiled at Cooper Simon.

  And then frowned.

  “Is that a black eye?”

  “It is.”

  “Oh.” She knew that Rick had gone out to his place to retrieve a guitar and her eyes widened. “Oh, crap. Rick didn’t do that to you, did he?”

  “Nah,” Cooper said, strolling her way. He was as long limbed as the other Simons and just as well built.

  Cooper didn’t offer an explanation. He didn’t even ask about his Shelby Mustang. What he did do was center his electric blue eyes on her with an intensity that was unnerving. Charlie wasn’t going to lie, she felt as if he could see right through her and, uncomfortable, she tugged on that chunk of hair again before tucking it behind her ear.

  “Have you talked to Maverick yet?”

  “No.” She glanced toward her office. “My cellphone is on the desk.” The words came out slowly and damn if that crappy, nervous feeling didn’t take hold again. But then, had it ever really left?

  “Where is Rick?” she said, moving toward her office and the phone.

  Cooper followed her and leaned against the doorframe while she scooped up her cell from her desk. She glanced down and saw two missed calls, but no messages.

  “Cooper?” she asked. “What’s going on?”

  “I just got back from the airport. Maverick left for Miami.” Cooper rolled his shoulders and ran his hands across his face. “There’s some kind of problem with Donavan’s baby and he needed to be with her.”

  “Donovan.” Charlie’s stomach dropped like a stone and she sat down on the edge of her desk. “They’re really close. Like best friends, aren’t they?”

  Cooper nodded. “They’re tight. Real tight. Her husband Jack called Maverick around noon and told him to get to Florida ASAP. I don’t know the details because Jack hasn’t returned my phone calls, but as soon as Maverick gets some real information, he’ll call.”

  Charlie nodded, shivering and not exactly sure what to say. She barely knew Cooper and had no ties to Donovan or Jack at all. But she knew how important the woman was to Rick, and her heart ached at the thought of him upset and alone.

  “Maverick was worried about you and he wanted me to tell you in person. I think he tried to call.”

  “He did.”

  Suddenly alarmed, she shot out of her chair. “Oh my God. Connor.”

  “He’s good.”

  “What?” she snapped, rooting around her desk for her truck keys.

  “Your brother. Maverick called some woman and he said you’d know who it was. Said she’d keep Connor until you were done work although I think she was supposed to let you know that.”

  Relief flooded Charlie and she scooped up her keys. “Thanks for coming by to tell me. I appreciate it, but I really need to get my brother. I’m already running late and I didn’t worry because I thought Rick was at the house.”

  “I get it. We’re good. Go get your brother and take care of him. I’m sure you’ll hear from Maverick later tonight or early tomorrow.”

  Charlie watched Cooper leave and grabbed her coat and bag before heading out behind him. Fisherman’s Landing was small town USA so traffic never really was an issue, but tonight it seemed as if everyone and their mother was out on the roads. It took her an extra ten minutes to get to Mrs. Kratz’s place.

  When she pulled up, she could see Connor’s silhouette in the front window and with the gathering dusk, she knew he must have been worried. He hated any kind of change to his routine.

  He yanked open the door before Charlie had a chance to knock and hugged her fiercely, his little arms like bands of steel around her waist. “Rick’s gone,” he said, his words slightly muffled.

  Her heart sank. “I know, honey. He had to go home and be with his friend.”

  But he’ll be back.

  Four words she wanted to say out loud. Four words she wanted to be true and yet, how did she know he’d be back? She didn’t have a crystal ball and she sure as hell didn’t have any kind of commitment.

  What she did have was a little boy who’d grown way too close to a man she’d let into their lives.

  Connor rubbed his eyes and stepped back. “Is his friend okay?”

  “I hope so.”

  “When is he coming back?”

  She glanced up at Mrs. Kratz, but the older woman had no words of advice. She just shook her head slowly and if Charlie wasn’t mistaken, there was a hint of accusation in her eyes. Not that she blamed her. They all cared so much for Connor, and it was obvious that he was upset.

  And the blame for that lay directly at Charlie’s feet.

  “I don’t know, sweetie. We’re going to have to wait and see what he says.”

  “Did he take my keyboard?”

  “No, I’m pretty sure that he didn’t.”

  “I like him,” he replied, his chin trembling in a way that tore at Charlie’s heart.

  She straightened up and handed him his coat. “I do too.”

  They rode home in silence and it was a silence that permeated her entire house. Everything felt heavy. The air. Her body. The silence.

  Connor went directly to the front room and she heard him banging on the keys, but it was halfhearted and eventually he stopped.

  Charlie busied herself preparing something for them to eat, but her appetite was long gone and she threw out most of the mac & cheese on her plate. Heck, she didn’t say a word when Connor pushed his food around and then slid from his chair.

  “I’m not hungry.”

  She grabbed their dishes and deposited them in the dishwasher. Once she was done with that. she leaned against the counter and pasted a smile she wasn’t feeling to her face. “Want to watch the movies we picked out last night?”

  Connor shrugged and didn’t say anything.

  “Lord of The Rings?”

  Again a shrug.

  Charlie felt tears prick
ing the corners of her eyes and she exhaled, squaring her shoulders in an attempt to get her shit together.

  “You and Rick outvoted me, remember? Let’s watch the first one.”

  “I don’t want to watch it without Rick.”

  Okay. Charlie had to take a moment and step back. How long had she been praying for her brother to become engaged again? For him to express himself and take an interest in his surroundings? It had been a long damn haul and now that he’d finally come out of his shell, the reason behind it was gone.

  She couldn’t lose her brother again. Not after everything else.

  She cleared her throat and marched across the kitchen. She didn’t stop until she was on her knees in front of Connor and then she wrapped him in a big, hard, hug. He was stiff at first, but then slowly he melted into her, and Charlie smoothed his curls away from his eyes.

  “Rick would want us to watch the movie. He was as excited about it as you were, so why don’t you go and brush your teeth, get into your pajamas and I’ll make some popcorn.”

  “It would be more fun with him. He says I look like the…the…”

  “The hobbits?”

  Connor nodded.

  “There’s only one way to find out.” Silence greeted her words so she tried again. “Rick wouldn’t want you to be sad, Connor. What do you say?”

  She gently pushed her brother toward the door and sighed in relief when he headed to his room to change. Charlie tugged her cell phone from her purse, but there were no more calls and no texts. She eyed his name for a few moments and then biting her lip, sent him a simple message.

  Hope your friend will be okay. Keep in touch.

  Charlie made the popcorn and then grabbed her cell as she made her way to the family room. Connor was already in his spot on the sofa, with a pillow and a blanket at the ready. She offered him some popcorn, set the movie to play and then settled in beside him.

  She tried not to think about Rick or his friend Donovan. And she sure as hell tried not to think about the fact that she’d allowed herself to fall in love with him. That right there was pretty much the stupidest thing she’d ever done, because it wasn’t just about Charlie.

  Charlie and a broken heart would eventually mend. Maybe. But she had a little boy to think about. A little boy who’d already lost so much and if he was already this upset because Rick had to go away, what would he do when he left forever?

  “I have to break it off,” she whispered, fishing out her cell phone once more. She fingered her phone for a few moments and then shoved it under a pile of magazines on the coffee table. There was time for that.

  It’s not as if I’m going anywhere.

  Tonight she would pretend to enjoy this movie. She would tuck her brother into bed and tell him that she loved him. Then she would walk across the hall to her empty bedroom. She’d have a good cry because, dammit, she deserved one.

  And then when Rick called her, she would tell him that whatever it was that they had wasn’t working anymore. She’d give him the it-was-nice-while-it-lasted, spiel and then she’d move the hell on.

  She settled back, eyes on the TV though her mind was on something else.

  Charlie thought about his smile and the way his eyes got dark when he kissed her. She thought of how he liked to twirl her hair and how he loved to talk dirty when it wasn’t appropriate or how he sang the Sponge Bob theme song in the shower.

  She thought of a lot of things, but mainly she thought that she needed to dig deep and find some kind of strength. Because now she knew what she had to do. She had her plan.

  She just had to stick to it.

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Sometimes life throws the worst kind of crap at you. If you’re lucky, the damage is minimal. You deal with it and move on.

  But sometimes no matter what you do, it sticks. Sometimes there’s nothing to do except to face it head on and hope for the best. In the last week, Maverick had done a hell of a lot of hoping. He’d even done his fair share of praying, and Maverick hadn’t been to church since confession in the eighth grade. So that was saying something.

  He was dead tired and in bad need of some good news.

  For the hundredth time, it seemed like, he checked his phone but there was nothing from Charlie. He’d had one conversation with her on the Tuesday after he’d flown to Florida. Not for lack of trying. But they just hadn’t been able to connect until then.

  So one conversation and he’d known something was wrong.

  Oh, Charlie had said all the right things. She felt incredibly sad for what Donovan and Jack were going through, and she knew that Maverick needed to be there for his friend. Her words and emotions had been genuine. He knew that.

  And yet his gut had told him that the shit was gonna hit the fan. And it had.

  He glanced back at his cellphone once more and saw her name. She’d called the night before, but he hadn’t listened to his voice mail until this morning. He slammed his eyes shut as he heard her voice once more.

  “ Rick I hope everything is all right and that Donovan’s baby will bounce back. I’m sorry to do this over the phone, but I can’t do whatever it is we’re doing anymore. I just can’t. I hope you understand. And well, I guess that’s all I wanted to say. So…If you come back, drop into the shop.”

  If he came back? Charlie actually thought he would just never come back? Anger flushed his cheeks a ruddy color and mouth tight, he shoved his phone back into his jeans.

  He was going back all right and she better damn well be prepared because he was pissed the hell off.

  “Any news?”

  He took a moment before glancing up at his cousin Grace and shook his head. “Maybe. The doctors are in with Donovan and Jack right now. I’m just waiting to hear.”

  “Oh my God. That’s good right?” Grace asked. “I mean, the baby came out of the coma yesterday. That’s a good sign.”

  Maverick nodded. “That was a very good sign.”

  Grace took a sip of her coffee and sighed. “I hate hospitals.”

  “I know.”

  Her hair was now jet-black and it made her eyes pop more than ever. They were huge as she stared up at him. “The baby will be fine. We just have to believe that.”

  “Lily is strong, just like her mama. I’ve got no worries.”

  Maverick pushed off from the wall that had been holding him up and hugged his cousin. He pressed a kiss onto her forehead, nodding at Tucker and Abby as they entered the lounge. They were in a private wing of the hospital, one paid for by the Simon foundation, and all of them were grateful for the privacy it provided.

  “News?” Tucker said, sliding his arm around Abby.

  “The doctors are in with them now. I expect Donovan will let us know the update as soon as she can. Other than that, I think we’re all up to speed. Just waiting on a prognosis.”

  Tucker nodded. “Okay.”

  Several long moments ticked by and Maverick was just about to try and call Charlie again when Grace started to giggle.

  They all looked at her as if she had two heads and she shrugged, “Sorry. I get weird when I’m upset, but I’m just remembering when Tucker and Teague decided to host that Simon Survivor weekend, remember?”

  Maverick grinned and nodded. “Oh yeah.”

  “Like they planned it for days and spent a lot of their own money buying all the gadgets and crap they needed for the games they had planned.”

  “Really?” Tucker scowled. “We’re going to talk about that right now?”

  Grace snorted. “You guys caught that big turtle and made that grotesque trophy out of it and then decided to try and recoup all the money you spent, so you charged ten bucks to watch and fifty dollars to participate.”

  “And what happened?” Abby asked.

  Maverick had this. “What happened is that Teague and Tucker decided to do the first event. If I remember correctly, they had to take a run at each other balancing on one of the water blow ups and whoever stayed up won.”

 
“And?” Abby prodded.

  Grace burst out laughing. “They knocked each other out, and my dad had to rush them both to the hospital because they had concussions. That was it. He stopped the Simon Survivor weekend before it even began.”

  “Sounds to me as if Tucker did that all on his own,” Abby said with a smile.

  The door to the lounge opened and Maverick’s heart twisted when he saw Donovan’s tear stained face. She was so damn pale and small and he immediately crossed the room and folded her into his arms.

  She let him hold her for a few moments and then pushed at his chest, a tremulous smile on her face.

  “Jack will be here in a moment. He wanted to fill in Noah and Eden on the latest news. And it’s good news. Lily is going to be okay.” She let out a long shuddering breath. “There could be some complications down the road, but if there are, they’re complications we can deal with.” She paused. “We can deal with it.”

  “But how did it happen? ” Grace looked horrified that she’d asked the question and shook her head. “I’m sorry. Forget I said anything.”

  “Don’t be sorry,” Donovan said softly. “I’ve heard and read so much and there’s still a lot that I don’t understand. But they told me that what happened to Lily is called Perinatal Asphyxia and basically what it means is that there was pressure or a blood clot I believe in the umbilical cord and it caused a lack of blood flow. It’s like having your oxygen cut off. Kind of like drowning I guess. And it’s why she went into a coma.”

  Donovan’s bottom lip trembled and she leaned into Maverick. “She’s going to be fine though.”

  “She’s a fighter.” He squeezed her shoulder. “Of course she is.”

  Jack walked in just then, and Maverick hugged him. He didn’t do the bullshit guy hug. He pulled Jack into his arms and didn’t let him go until he was good and ready.