“Is that okay?”
Evan placed his hand on her thigh, squeezing tight with a smile. “Perfect.”
She covered his hand with hers, her eyes zeroing in on the identification wristband he was wearing.
After a few beats, Evan said so quietly she almost missed it, “Tell me I didn’t imagine it.”
She looked at him then, finding his eyes full of hope and uncertainty. “What?”
“That kiss,” he said, his gaze drifting to her lips.
Her heart felt as if it was thumping in her ears. Her cheeks burned. She smiled, shaking her head. “You didn’t imagine it. We kissed. And we danced to ‘Everlong’ …” She tried not to laugh at that last piece of information.
“Smooth …” He closed his eyes a moment, smiling, as if he was allowing her words to sink in. But when he looked at her again, trepidation shone in his eyes. “They’re schleppin’ me down to Boston,” he muttered with a forlorn sigh. “I don’t even know for how long. The doctor thinks it could be a month, maybe even two.”
“I can come visit you.” Maggie offered a reassuring squeeze of his hand.
Evan sighed again. “I’d rather you didn’t.”
“Oh …”
“I don’t mean I don’t wanna see you. It’s just …” He paused, raking his teeth over his bottom lip, a look of serious contemplation coming over him as he considered something. “I need to use this time to get my shit together. Not just this—” He indicated the cast on his leg. “I mean everything. Jane suggested a therapist … to talk through my past.”
Maggie knew what he was referring to without him having to say it. She didn’t want to go one, maybe two months without seeing him, but she knew he had to do what he had to do.
“I … I wanna be good for you, Maggie,” Evan said so suddenly he startled her. “After everything you’ve been through, you deserve the best. And I know I can be good for you, but I just need to deal with my past so I can move on, so I can be happy again.”
“You deserve to be happy again, Evan.” Maggie stared deep into his eyes, finding nothing but sincerity within them.
“You make me happy.” His brows raised in hope as he asked, “Will you wait for me?”
She smiled, leaning in even closer, so gentle so as not to aggravate the cuts and bruises marring his skin. “I’m not going anywhere …”
Lifting his hand from her thigh, Evan gently cupped Maggie’s cheek, his thumb grazing the curve of her bottom lip, his eyes staring at her mouth. “I ain’t gonna kiss you. My mouth tastes like blood,” he whispered, his words causing her to flinch.
He smiled, then continued in a hushed voice she could feel all the way through to her soul, “But I need you to know all I want right now is to kiss the hell outta you and never stop.”
Fresh tears stung Maggie’s eyes as she smiled at him. Slowly, she inched closer and closer until their mouths were a mere hair’s breadth apart. She wanted to kiss him, desperately. She’d never wanted anything more. But she didn’t. Instead, she craned her neck and placed a whisper-soft kiss onto his forehead, allowing herself to linger a moment longer, to really breathe him in and bask in everything Evan, as the world around them melted into oblivion.
***
It was almost midday by the time Maggie arrived home from Manchester. She was an exhausted, emotional wreck.
Thankfully, Brad had dropped Jack and TJ home on his way to Manchester so she didn’t have to bypass Jane’s house to collect the boys. But she was scared to see them, scared to see the knowing look of horror in their eyes. This was too fresh. They’d not long ago lost their father, and now Evan, a man who had become somewhat of a male role model to the both of them, had come so close to death in the same way their father had perished.
After she pulled up outside the house, she chose to sit inside the car for a moment, collecting what she could of her emotions, her wits, her composure, before heading inside. She couldn’t risk the boys seeing her in such a state. She’d cried the entire way home. The roads had blurred through the glassy haze her tears had made of the morning sun streaming through the trees. She didn’t know how she’d even made it back in one piece. But she had.
When she knew she couldn’t sit in the car all day, that the boys would have seen her as she pulled up, she forced herself out, wiping her damp cheeks with the back of her hand. By the time she made it up the back steps and in through the mudroom, she realized how quiet and still the house was. With a deep breath, she smoothed down the front of her shirt and lifted her chin in a show of defiance she didn’t feel. She continued through the door to the living room, finding Jack and TJ on the sofa watching Space Jam.
“Hey, guys,” Maggie said softly, touching the back of Jack’s head.
Both TJ and Jack jumped up, their faces fraught with the kind of worry and concern kids their age shouldn’t feel. She was the parent. They were the kids. They weren’t supposed to worry. She was the one who was supposed to worry, and protect them from the horrible realities of life.
“Mom, is Coach okay?” TJ asked in a wavering voice so small it broke her heart.
“Yeah, honey.” She smiled, gathering him in her arms. “He’s going to be okay.”
She felt his tense body relax.
Meeting Jack’s eyes while still holding TJ, Maggie continued, “He’s going to stay in a hospital in Boston for a while so he can get well. But he’ll be back in a month or two, and he’ll be better than ever.”
TJ pulled out of her embrace, looking at her with tears in his inky-blue eyes. “I was so scared that he was gonna be … dead. Like Daddy.”
Maggie shook her head. “He’s okay. I promise.”
He sniffled, wiping his nose with the cuff of his sweater sleeve.
“How about you go get a Kleenex?” Maggie smiled at him.
Nodding, TJ turned and ran through the doorway to the kitchen, and she couldn’t help but laugh at the honking sound of him blowing his nose. She offered Jack a wry smile as she got back up to her feet.
Jack pressed his lips together in the semblance of a smile, looking at her closely with an all-consuming gaze, his brow furrowed with concern. “You okay, Mom?”
Her tears managed to get the better of her, as the events of the last twenty-four hours came crashing down on top of her.
She wasn’t okay. It had been a lot, and it had managed to reopen the wounds she was still recovering from. But she couldn’t tell him that. So, instead, she went against everything she believed in and she broke down, right there in front of her fifteen-year-old son. He pulled her into his arms, holding her tight, stopping her from crumbling completely. Suddenly the child was the adult, and the adult was an inconsolable mess.
Epilogue
Three months later …
Summer had settled nicely in Jewel Harbor. The sun was warm as it shone down from its periwinkle sky. The scent of the ocean lingered in the air. It was a magical place to spend the long August days, and an even more magical place to relax on the warm August nights.
Maggie spent her summer days working at the café, or doing the little jobs she had left to do around the house. She spent what time she could with her boys, but Jack had gotten a job at the movie theater, and when he wasn’t working he was off with Katie; their teenage romance was going strong. TJ was usually too busy with one of his friends from school, off on their bikes doing God only knows what ten-year-old boys do with their days.
The summer had been one of new beginnings.
Maggie had received a letter from Manchester College, accepting her onto their design course. She was due to start classes after Labor Day. She’d never been so nervous in all her life, but she was also excited. She drove TJ, Jack and Katie into the city to check out the campus, and afterwards they stopped in at the Target Supercenter and bought their stationery supplies for the new school year, Maggie included.
Jack, who had turned sixteen in July, had been learning how to drive, much to Maggie’s dismay. He was a great baseball player,
a good student, he could even cook. He was what one might call a natural talent at most things he did. But driving? It wasn’t one of his strengths. Maggie was seriously starting to worry that he’d spent too much time over the years playing those damn video games. She had to keep reminding him that The Fast and the Furious was a movie franchise and not real life.
While faced with life on her own, Maggie finally managed to find herself, the Maggie she’d lost all those years ago. And when she found herself, she realized, once and for all, that she was going to be okay.
The hate she’d harbored for Tom had dissipated. And while the memory of what he did still hurt her, and it likely always would, all she had to do now was look at her two beautiful boys. Tom was a huge part of them. Without him she wouldn’t have them. And she couldn’t go on hating the father of her sons; the man who had given her the greatest gift she could ever have asked for.
Her thoughts often drifted to Evan’s poor darling Hannah, and it made her realize just how short life can be, and just how grateful she was that Tom had given her the two boys she cherished more than life itself.
***
“Oh no!” Jane cried from somewhere in the kitchen.
Maggie stopped wiping down the tabletops and hurried back through the swinging doors, finding Jane standing in a puddle of water which looked to have leaked from under the industrial sink.
“That damn pipe’s burst again!” She threw her hands in the air in frustration. “I’m going to call Steve,” she muttered, pulling her cell phone from the pocket of her skirt and carefully wading through the water so as not slip as she went back out to the front to call Steve, the local plumber.
Maggie continued forward, stepping carefully through the puddle of water. She crouched down, opening one of the cabinet doors underneath the sink and noticed a light trickle of water.
“Steve’s gone camping with his kids. He left for White Lake this morning!” Jane huffed, coming back through to the kitchen in a complete tizzy. “Maybe I can call Brad and see if he can duck out of his shift and come—”
“Have you got a wrench?” Maggie asked over her shoulder, effectively silencing Jane’s words.
“A what?”
Rolling her eyes, Maggie couldn’t help but laugh. “A wrench!”
“I have no idea what that is …” Jane moved to the big locker on the other side of the kitchen, opening the metal door. “We have this here tool kit. Brad left it behind in case of emergencies. Ha.” She snorted. “Like I’d know what do with it.”
Maggie flashed her friend a wry glance, opening the metal box. She rifled through its haphazard contents before finally locating a wrench, albeit a very rusted one. With the tool in hand, she kneeled down, cringing as the cold water soaked through her jeans. Leaning in through the slight cabinet opening, she searched the dimly lit space for the shut-off valve. It was there somewhere. She narrowed her eyes and managed to find it, reaching her hand in almost blindly. After a few twists of the compression nut the water stopped seeping out of the join, but she gave it a couple more twists just to be sure.
“Can you turn the faucet? See if the water’s still coming out?” she yelled back at Jane, waiting until she heard the movement in the pipes.
“Yeah, there’s water,” Jane responded.
“This should hold it until you can get the plumber to come in and take a look.” Maggie exhaled a breath, carefully maneuvering herself back out of the small space. Pushing her hair back from her face, she smiled victoriously up at Jane who was watching her with wide eyes full of wonder.
“How did you know to do that?” she asked with a gasp.
Maggie chuckled under her breath, remembering back a few months to a moment when she was dressed only in a towel with shampoo stinging her eyes. “Actually, your brother showed me.”
A small, wistful smile pulled at Jane’s lips and a contemplative silence fell between the two women.
Right then, the bell above the door to the café jingled, making Jane jump. She hurried to serve the new customer, but lost her footing and slipped in the water, falling into a heap right on top of Maggie. The two tangled women, shocked at first, suddenly broke out into a bout of uncontainable, howling laughter, Jane still on top of Maggie who was now drenched from head to toe from the water on the floor.
The small bell that sat next to the cash register chimed three times. Whoever was waiting was most definitely not patient.
“Oh, don’t get your damn panties in a wad!” Jane muttered through stifled laughter, trying to heave herself up.
“You go.” Maggie sniggered, helping to push her up to her feet. “I’ll mop up in here.”
Jane fixed herself as best as she could, smoothing down the front of her now soaked skirt before hurrying back through to the front of the café, her cheery customer service voice ringing through the air.
Maggie smiled to herself, looking around at the mess. She managed to make it to her feet, her Keds sliding over the wet tile as she stepped carefully across to the cupboard that held the mop and bucket and all the other cleaning supplies.
After mopping up the water, and straightening down the front of her blouse which was so wet it clung to her skin, Maggie smoothed her hair back from her face and walked out to help Jane with whatever she needed. But just as she exited through the swinging doors, she came to an abrupt standstill at the sight of Jane sobbing quietly in the arms of her brother.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming back today?” Jane managed as she trembled. “I would have thrown a party!”
“That’s precisely why I didn’t tell you.” Evan rolled his eyes at her, shaking his head before pressing another kiss to the top of her head.
He was back? Maggie couldn’t help but blink hard in case it was her imagination playing tricks on her again. But it wasn’t her imagination. He was real. Standing right there in the flesh, dressed in a pair of worn jeans and a crisp white T-shirt that hinted at his sun-kissed skin, was Evan, the air around him illuminated like a halo.
“E-Evan?” Maggie whispered under her breath.
At that, Evan looked up from where he had his face buried in his sister’s hair. His blue eyes shined so bright and when his gaze met Maggie’s from across the way, there was a sparkle within them she’d never seen before. He smiled, and that smile took her breath away. He looked healthy, relaxed, and so, so happy.
“You okay?” he mouthed.
Maggie could feel her own infuriating tears threaten to fall. But she swallowed the lump of emotion and smiled back at him, nodding to let him know that she was okay. She was now better than okay. He nodded back. He was okay, too. And so, she stood back and watched the brother and sister reunite, biding her time before she could go running into his strong arms.
***
Maggie added the finishing touches to the potato salad—parsley sprinkled on top, just like her mom always did. She smiled to herself, placing a serving spoon into the bowl and picking it up with both hands to take outside. When she turned, however, she stopped suddenly. Evan was standing in the doorway.
He had his arms up above his head, his hands gripping the top of the doorframe. His navy Red Sox T-shirt climbed up slightly above the waistband of his jeans, revealing a glimpse of toned muscles.
Averting her eyes, she snapped out of her inappropriate reverie, feeling her cheeks flame.
“Need a hand?” he asked with a cocky smirk.
She raised a brow, biting back her smile as she remembered the first time they’d met at the hardware store. He’d asked her that very question while her ass was in the air as she searched the floor for the wayward nails she’d dropped.
Shaking her head, Maggie looked down at the potato salad in her hands. “No. This is the last of it.”
Evan nodded. Looking at the bowl, a slight crease appeared between his brows. He stepped forward, moving toward her, the limp in his gait a painful reminder of the crash that almost killed him, the limp which would likely stay with him for the rest of his li
fe. Taking the bowl from her, he placed it onto the counter before resting his hands on her hips. He looked down at her with all seriousness in his blue eyes.
He’d been back two days, and for those two days he’d barely left Maggie’s side. He’d stayed each night … on the couch, of course. At least until Maggie knew the boys were sound asleep, at which point she would help him upstairs and into her room where they would sleep in one another’s arms.
“Thank you,” he said after a few long beats.
Maggie’s brows creased at his words. “For what?”
He studied her closely, his eyes flitting between hers, dropping down to her lips and back again, taking in every square inch of her face before whispering, “For letting me in.”
Maggie grabbed the hem of his T-shirt, tears burning the backs of her eyes. She swallowed the painful lump of emotion in her throat. “Thank you for putting back together my broken pieces.”
“We’ve both been broken, Maggie,” Evan continued. “And I know it’s gonna take a while but when you’re ready to … to love again …” He smiled hopefully. “I don’t have a lot to give, but I know how to love with all that I have, and I hope you might consider me.”
Consider him? She wanted to laugh. There was nothing to consider. She already knew, without a doubt, that Evan was the only man she wanted to risk loving again. Hell, he already owned her heart, and she was just about ready to give him every other piece of her, too.
Her eyes brimmed with tears. She smiled so wide it hurt her cheeks. When a tear slipped down, trailing her cheek, he reached forward and wiped it away with the pad of his thumb. The two stared at one another until their lips were less than an inch apart. But their moment was then rudely interrupted by a loud, thundering explosion from outside, causing them both to jump.
“What the hell was that?” Maggie gasped, placing a hand over her chest where her heart had just about stopped.
“Brad brought fireworks. Said he wanted to make up for me missing our annual Fourth of July barbecue,” Evan said with a roll of his eyes.
The Long Way Home Page 26