Independence (The Significance Series)

by Crane, Shelly

  Chad…

  Apparently he heard about the wedding from her dad when he stopped by his house today and was hell bent on seeing her tonight to talk sense into her. I threw my clothes back on and came around the corner to find her guilty face resting her chin on her knees drawn up to her chest.

  "How can I make him see that I'm fine and this isn't a mistake?" she asked.

  "Why do you have to justify anything to him?" I said softly and squatted in front of her, pulling her legs down.

  "Because he was my friend my whole life and this isn't just about getting me back. He really thinks you've tricked me or something. He's really worried, I can tell."

  I sighed. It wasn't that I didn't trust her. It wasn't that I was jealous. It was just the fact that I knew he was going to be looking at her like he wanted to take her away and my body was going to want to pummel him for it. "Tell him we'll meet him at your dad's."

  "Really?" she asked and smiled small.

  "Yeah." I leaned up and kissed her forehead. "Whatever keeps my girl happy."

  "I just don't want him to worry." She stood and looked up at me. That reverence was there again. "I want him to know that I'm fine. That I'm safe and happy with you."

  "OK. You've still got lots to do though. I have a couple of pre-wedding things that I have to do, too."

  She nodded. "I need to get something from Dad's anyway. I'll meet him there, be quick, get what I need and then be all ready to go."

  "Sounds good."

  So we drove to her father's house once more. This time to let Maggie and her ex have a pow-wow about the wedding. The wedding that no one was supposed to know about until afterward. I sighed and rubbed her jean clad knee as I drove us through the city. We just had to get through this day. Tomorrow we'd be married and not just significants. It would be real for everyone to see.

  And she'd be all mine. Screw anyone else who wanted her time. She would be mine until we decided to come back to reality.

  Chapter 13

  Maggie

  Chad was on the steps just like he'd been the last time we'd pulled up this way. His scowl was more contained this time. More accepting, but ready to fight anyway. I put on my boxing gloves and got off the bike. Before Caleb could even suggest that he leave, I asked him to come with me. I did love Chad. He had been one of my best friends for all my life. I didn't want him to hurt or worry. And if he saw us together, maybe he'd understand that I wasn't jumping into a tank of sharks.

  "Mags," he sighed. "My g…you look really great."

  "Thanks." I looked at him. Really looked. He looked the same as always. He was still thin and seemingly ready for anything. His favorite position when we all hung out at my house was laying on the couch with my feet in his lap. He was what I needed at the time, but now I just felt sad for him. I needed him to move on with the surety that I was going to be just fine. "You remember Caleb," I spouted hurriedly.

  "Of course." I thought they'd shake hands. They didn't. "He's the guy you're getting married to…after only a few weeks."

  "Maggie wanted to come because you're her friend," Caleb said solidly, but easily. "I'm not going to interfere or play along with your jabs to provoke me, but you better not lay a finger on her and you need to listen to what she has to say."

  "Lay a finger on her?" Chad said, ruffled and stepped forward. "What the-"

  Caleb stayed put. "I know all about your hail-mary kiss," he told him and I was proud of his control. I could tell how much he wanted to do more.

  Chad looked at me like I had betrayed him. "You told him about that."

  "Why wouldn't I? He was my boyfriend, Chad. And he's my fiancé' now."

  "I don't understand why you're so-"

  "Hey, there!" Dad called from the porch. He came outside and I gasped at seeing Haddock by his side. "Look who came to pay you a visit."

  "Haddock?" I asked stupidly, like I wasn't sure.

  "Maggie," he said with a smile, unconcerned with my shock at seeing him. "It's really good to see you."

  "What are you doing here?" I asked carefully and he answered back just as carefully.

  "I'm coming to visit, like I told you I would." He grinned handsomely and bowed a little before catching himself.

  I tucked my hair behind my ear and looked at them. My two dads. Ugh…

  "Who's this joker?" Chad mumbled under his breath.

  I gave him a look that said to shut it, and cleared my throat. "How long are you here for?"

  "Well…I had a house here, and since I won't be needed in London, I'm moving back. I came over to see if you wanted to go to lunch."

  "How do you know this guy?" Chad asked, his lips touching my ear. I shivered, not in a good way.

  "Back off," Caleb told him as he pulled me closer. "You don’t follow directions very well."

  "I know everything there is about her!" Chad challenged. "Don't I, Mr. Masters?"

  "Chad," Dad warned.

  "So I don't think you get to sit here and tell me that I can't whisper to the girl who was mine for over three years! She can make up her own mind. That's why I came here. To talk some sense into her and let her make up her own mind. Because there's no way that she chose you like this. You…tricked her somehow. She's gullible sometimes."

  I scoffed. "Chad, stop. I'm not a child! I don't need you to help me make my decisions."

  "Someone has to!"

  "I'm happy, Chad. Why is that so hard to believe?"

  He scowled. "You were happy with me, too, and yeah, I know I ruined things, but we could have been fine and gotten back together. You were just too stubborn to even give us a chance. And now you're being stubborn about him." He thought. "Is this because your mom left and you think you can't do any better?"

  Caleb broke in and I could hear the grating anger in his tone. "You're right, she can make up her own mind. So stop trying to tell her what she does and doesn't want."

  Chad took a deep breath for his rebuttal, but a car screeched to a stop on the curb and someone stumbled out ungracefully, her heels clacking on the pavement and then disappeared into the grass as she came to us. My mother. I opened my mouth to ask her what she was doing there, but Dad beat me to it. "What are you doing back here?" He moved forward a little and gritted his teeth when she stayed silent. "Didn't we say all there was to say?"

  "I couldn't leave," she declared spitefully. "I couldn’t just leave town even if you don't want me here. I belong to be here more than anyone! I'm her mother and you don’t get to tell me to leave."

  The car threw a suitcase out and yelled something before taking off. She glanced at the suitcase and back to me, but then her eyes drifted to my Dad. And then widened to impossible lemons. "Haddock?" she whispered, but we all heard.

  "Sarah," he said angrily. I swung my gaze to look at him. What was he angry for? He saw me looking and took a calming breath.

  She took you from me, Maggie. It wasn't right for us to have the affair, I know that and you'll never know how sorry I am, but she took you from me.

  I closed my eyes, trying to keep my feelings from getting the best of me. Caleb's hand wrapped around my wrist, his thumb rubbing the pulse beating rapidly there as my parents went on.

  "How do you know Haddock?" Dad asked suspiciously. He looked between the two.

  Mom looked at me to see if I was going to spill the beans or not. I turned away, letting my forehead rest on Caleb's chin. If she was waiting for my help, she could just forget that. She eventually said, "He used to own the flower shop in town."

  "Still do," he said and crossed his arms.

  "Ok, you didn't answer my question," Dad continued. "What are you doing here?"

  "I don't care that you've moved on so quickly," she said snidely. I rolled my eyes though they were closed. The woman was unbelievable. "Some of us are just trying their best here! Some of us can't move on so quickly."

  Dad chuckled without a trace of humor. "You moved on plenty fast for all of us."

  "Besides," she said as if he ha
dn't spoken. "I have nowhere to go. All the money's gone and-"

  "Where's the bracelet I gave you?" I said softly. It wasn't because I wasn't angry, it was because I was about to explode. "Where's the family heirloom you just had to have back?"

  She pursed her lips. "A girl's got to eat, Maggie. No matter how small her figure. And have somewhere to sleep since her family just kicks her into the street like a dog."

  Before I could say a word, Dad boomed, "Don't. Don't, Sarah. You don't get to treat people this way without any remorse and then come crying back when you've run out of gumption on your journey for self discovery."

  "Uh…" Chad muttered beside me in a low voice. "You want to go somewhere with me, Mags, and talk? Let them get out all of their fighting while we're gone?" I looked at him and he smiled in a placating manner. "Just you and me."

  I felt overwhelmed and looked away angrily. For the first time in a while, I felt like it was too much. Their thoughts, my feelings, their anger, Caleb's feelings…and then my mother and Haddock began to go back and forth. She called him all sorts of names, asking what business he had at her home. He in turn took the insults and tried to calm her, but it was clear that he was angry as well. My father was just confused and kept asking what was going on. My world felt like it was crumbling right in front of my feet, but there was no way to take a step back and save it.

  And when my mother asked in an insinuating tone what Haddock was there to see me for, Haddock's disgusted face was enough to wipe away any notion of that. His angry boiled over. "Don't you ever-"

  "She's my daughter. Look at her. She looks just like me. And she does have good taste in men," she sneered our direction.

  My dad cut her off, his voice dangerous. "Don’t ever talk about my daughter that way. She may look like you, Sarah, but she's nothing like you."

  She walked right up to him and slapped him across the face. The stunned silence of the yard was suffocating my senses. He didn't fight back, just stood there in containment of his anger.

  "Mom!" I yelled at her.

  She turned and glared. "Shut up, Maggie!"

  My dad's sudden burst of anger at what she'd done was the last straw in my mind as I overloaded and went down. I wasn't worried. I knew Caleb would catch me, and he did. I welcomed the reprieve from their minds, from their thoughts; all angry and ready to lay some claim to me. Right then, I didn't want anything but darkness.

  I was in my room. I knew because it smelled the same as it always did. Caleb had taken me there after my inability to control my emotions and the effect they have on my head. I sighed. Even after everything we'd been through, I still felt so helpless sometimes.

  I felt his lips press to my forehead. I opened my eyes to find him watching me as he held my head on his lap. "Sorry," I muttered lamely.

  "It's all OK," he assured and smiled down at me with a smirk. The lamp beside my bed was the only light in the room. "It got them all to shut up, that's for sure."

  I heard their thoughts downstairs. "They're still here?"

  He nodded. "Yeah. No one would leave."

  I exhaled in a huff. I didn't want to deal with them. Any of them. It was the day before my wedding! I may have pouted, full on. His lips tilted to the side in a lopsided smile.

  "Man, that's cute." And then he completely switched gears, looking guilty as he played with the front pocket of my jeans. He let his finger slide along the pocket seam before saying, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have egged Chad on. I just made it worse."

  "No you didn't. I understand."

  "You can take care of yourself." He pictured me in his mind when I stood up to the council in London. "You don't need me to be all beating my chest and claiming you, though that's what I want to do. You don't need me to fight your battles for you."

  "I don't think you went too far. It's OK for you to protect me. Besides, Chad was the one getting all up in your face."

  "I'm just trying to figure out the balance between being the tyrant and letting you be you."

  "Babe." He lifted his head. "I don't think you're being protective because you're trying to control me. I think you're being protective because you love me."

  He shook his head, his mouth slightly open. "I thought you'd be angry with me about what I said to Chad."

  "No, I'm glad you said it. He was the one who wasn't even trying to understand." I lifted a little on my elbows. My head ached a little and Caleb pressed his lips to my forehead once more to draw it off. I sat up fully and licked my lips. "I wanted our last day to be peaceful and happy. Instead it's been chaotic and emotional."

  "I know," he sighed. "I'm sorry. Those people down there…they may not show it well, but they care about you, even if it's in their own small, selfish way."

  "What are they waiting for?" I asked.

  "You to wake up. They said they wanted to make sure you were OK first, before they left. Your Dad practically tackled Chad to keep him from following us upstairs." He chuckled.

  "He just doesn't understand," I said and wished there was some way to make him. "He'll never understand that you didn't steal me away from my life."

  "I know," he whispered against my skin. He leaned down and kissed my cheek. "I'm sorry."

  "It's not your fault that Chad's being a jackhole."

  He cracked a beautiful smile. "Jackhole?"

  "Yep." I ran my thumb over the scruff on his chin. I noticed how wound up he was. It was about more than my passing out again. "What's up?"

  "Nothing," he said too quickly and began the math again. "Let's just get this over with and then we can blow this joint."

  "Gladly," I accepted his subject change. As we made our way down the hall, Caleb asked me to text Bish and tell him to meet us. So I did. He replied back immediately and Caleb made me add on not to bring Jen. I gave him a quizzical look, but made the request anyway. The response wasn't as fast. I could almost hear the pout in his voice when he texted back.

  OK… be there soon

  So while I had my phone out, I decided to go ahead and text Beck again. She had to speak to me sometime, right?

  Where are u? I'm worried. U don't have to tell me where u r or come home, just let me know that ur ok

  I stuck the phone back in my pocket and forgot all about it once we entered the hall. There they were. All sitting like ducks in a row in my living room. My mother, who carried the scowl of a scorned woman instead of the one who did the scorning. My ex-boyfriend, who glared at Caleb's hand in mine as if he'd never laid eyes on such a scene before. My new step mother whose eyes danced around the room in her uncomfortableness. My father and then my…father…

  I blinked hard and leaned into Caleb to steel myself before looking back at the motley crew. "Are you all right?" Dad asked and came to wrap me in his arms comfortingly. Haddock looked like he was in actual pain to not be able to do the same. Caleb and I looked at each other and he gave me a sympathetic smile as Dad let go and gave my mother a warning glare as she started to lift from the couch. She sat back down with a huff. Chad just watched the whole thing. "I'm fine," I spouted.

  "What happened?" Chad asked and lifted his eyebrows waiting for the answer.

  "I just don't feel well. And you yelling at Caleb, and then you showing up," I told my mother, "I just couldn't handle it. I can't deal with all of this right now, OK?"

  I turned and paced the room. No one moved, but Haddock. He came up behind me and I turned to find him with a sad look on his face. "I'm sorry if my coming here upset you."

  "It didn't, I promise. We just have so much going on right now." I whispered, "The wedding is tomorrow, too."

  His eyes lit. "Oh, really?" He looked over his shoulder just a bit. "Would you mind if I came?" he asked softly.

  I thought. "Is that even allowed? You're not of this clan."

  "I think since you're the ones making the rules now, you can make an exception." He smiled. When I didn't smile back, he recanted. "It's all right though. I understand. I'll be staying at my house about twenty minutes from
here. If you were to need anything, let me know."

  "Haddock," I stopped him. He looked back at me hopefully. I hoped I was making the right decision. "It would be great if you could be there tomorrow."

  He looked a mixture of relief and devastatingly happy. "You're sure?"

  "I'm sure." Then it came to me. He may be the key to finding Marcus. "In fact, I have something I want you to help me with."

  "Anything," he said without hesitation.

  "Have you heard from Marcus?"

  "No. I've heard from no one. Why?"

  "Because I have."

  He blanched. "Maggie..."

  "We'll talk later," I promised. "I'll call you tonight and tell you all about it."

  He didn't look happy about leaving it at that, but he did. "OK. Please, please, call me. I'll be waiting."

  "I will."

  He nodded and then waved to my father. "Thank you for letting me wait for Maggie here. I'll…see you soon."

  "Not a problem," Dad answered and pulled Fiona up from the couch, placed his arm around her and sighed. "Well…" he said awkwardly. "I guess it's time for everyone to scoot. Lots to do tonight, unfortunately."

  "You're kicking us out?" Mom yelled, but Chad stood. He gave me the sulkiest and most annoyed look I think I've ever gotten from him.

  "Can we talk outside for just a minute?"

  I took a deep breath through my nose. I glanced up at Caleb who bit into his bottom lip, but nodded his head toward the door, telling me he wouldn't hurt him if I went with him. "All right," I agreed. "Let's go."

  He smiled like he'd won. Like I was going to hop into his Honda Accord with him and ride off into the Gainesville, Florida sunset. I rolled my eyes as we reached the front porch. "You've got three minutes, Chad."

  He huffed. "Why? Any more than that and you know I'll talk sense into you?"

  "Two minutes, forty six seconds."

  He sighed. "All right. I've already said my peace. You know how I feel. I just wanted to get you alone for a second without that meat-head with you."