to protect herself.
“Never mind. I’ll go home. I don’t want to upset the kids, and Ma won’t sleep a wink if she hears about this,” Maggie told him, picking up her purse and moving toward the door now that Nick had decided to let her pass.
“Maggie, you are not to touch that gun under any circumstances,” Rory ordered her. “Please tell me you have it locked in a safe place,” he pleaded, his face pale.
“Geesh, of course I do. Do you think I’m an idiot? It’s in the safe, although now that I think about it, I might not be able to use it anyway. I can’t seem to remember the combination and have been meaning to call a locksmith.
Rory sighed with relief and shook his head. What could he say, the woman was a menace. Meeting Nick’s eyes over the top of her head, he could see that they were on the same page.
“Okay, stay close to her, Nick. She thinks she’s tough, but she didn’t get the name Cupcake for nothing,” he added grinning.
Maggie gave him her best shot in the stomach, but he’d been expecting it, and all she did was hurt her hand. Rory laughed and patted her on the head.
“I’ll give you a call as soon as we pick him up,” Rory told them, trying to keep it light as they went down the hall, but when he turned around the look on his face was feral.
The ride home was spent in complete silence. Nick’s temper simmered, and Maggie tried not to fidget. She had no idea how she was going to get out of this one, and rather than say something that would cause the pressure cooker beside her to blow, she kept her mouth shut. Not an easy task for someone who had a tendency to babble when she was nervous, and tonight she was far beyond nervous and approaching terrified.
Nick couldn’t remember ever being this furious. The weekend he’d come home from school unexpectedly was close though. Fifteen years was a long time, but to him it was like yesterday. Cutting through the back yard to surprise her, he had been the one to get the surprise. The girl he loved was crying in Jim Cassidy’s arms. Nick couldn’t hear everything, but he very quickly got the gist of it. “I don’t know how to tell him,” Maggie sobbed to Jim. “It will ruin all his plans.”
“There, there, honey,” Jim told her, gently holding her and patting her back. “He’ll understand. You’ll see; everything will be all right.”
Nick did understand, all too well, at least he thought so at the time. Maggie, the only woman we could imagine marrying, was in love with someone else. He cut all ties with Maggie that day. Nick returned to school and every letter she sent him was returned unopened. Finally, she gave up and married Jim Cassidy, Nick never knowing that she was pregnant with his child. He still wouldn’t know he had a son, if it hadn’t been for Mason asking him to deliver a message to Maggie on New Year’s Eve.
Jumping to conclusions had not served him well, and he was determined to give Maggie the benefit of the doubt, even though he had a pretty good idea what tonight was really about.
Oh, he was royally pissed about both Jack Harley and the fact that Maggie had kept important details from him. If he or Mason had known that Jack’s harassment had continued, it wouldn’t have been a problem for long. Jack would be in jail, or worse, and the way he was feeling it probably would have been the ‘or worse’.
It was Maggie’s behavior prior to their trip to the police station that really concerned him. She had obviously been terrified, and he was certain that wasn’t an act. But asking for a spanking? That was about as out of character as she could get. He knew his little Maggie, and there was no way on God’s green earth she would voluntarily lay across his lap and ask to have her butt roasted. In hindsight, he was pretty sure he knew exactly what she had done and why. What he had interpreted as her love and trust, she had seen as a fifty-percent-off sale.
Unfortunately for her, she was dead
“Never mind. I’ll go home. I don’t want to upset the kids, and Ma won’t sleep a wink if she hears about this,” Maggie told him, picking up her purse and moving toward the door now that Nick had decided to let her pass.
“Maggie, you are not to touch that gun under any circumstances,” Rory ordered her. “Please tell me you have it locked in a safe place,” he pleaded, his face pale.
“Geesh, of course I do. Do you think I’m an idiot? It’s in the safe, although now that I think about it, I might not be able to use it anyway. I can’t seem to remember the combination and have been meaning to call a locksmith.
Rory sighed with relief and shook his head. What could he say, the woman was a menace. Meeting Nick’s eyes over the top of her head, he could see that they were on the same page.
“Okay, stay close to her, Nick. She thinks she’s tough, but she didn’t get the name Cupcake for nothing,” he added grinning.
Maggie gave him her best shot in the stomach, but he’d been expecting it, and all she did was hurt her hand. Rory laughed and patted her on the head.
“I’ll give you a call as soon as we pick him up,” Rory told them, trying to keep it light as they went down the hall, but when he turned around the look on his face was feral.
The ride home was spent in complete silence. Nick’s temper simmered, and Maggie tried not to fidget. She had no idea how she was going to get out of this one, and rather than say something that would cause the pressure cooker beside her to blow, she kept her mouth shut. Not an easy task for someone who had a tendency to babble when she was nervous, and tonight she was far beyond nervous and approaching terrified.
Nick couldn’t remember ever being this furious. The weekend he’d come home from school unexpectedly was close though. Fifteen years was a long time, but to him it was like yesterday. Cutting through the back yard to surprise her, he had been the one to get the surprise. The girl he loved was crying in Jim Cassidy’s arms. Nick couldn’t hear everything, but he very quickly got the gist of it. “I don’t know how to tell him,” Maggie sobbed to Jim. “It will ruin all his plans.”
“There, there, honey,” Jim told her, gently holding her and patting her back. “He’ll understand. You’ll see; everything will be all right.”
Nick did understand, all too well, at least he thought so at the time. Maggie, the only woman we could imagine marrying, was in love with someone else. He cut all ties with Maggie that day. Nick returned to school and every letter she sent him was returned unopened. Finally, she gave up and married Jim Cassidy, Nick never knowing that she was pregnant with his child. He still wouldn’t know he had a son, if it hadn’t been for Mason asking him to deliver a message to Maggie on New Year’s Eve.
Jumping to conclusions had not served him well, and he was determined to give Maggie the benefit of the doubt, even though he had a pretty good idea what tonight was really about.
Oh, he was royally pissed about both Jack Harley and the fact that Maggie had kept important details from him. If he or Mason had known that Jack’s harassment had continued, it wouldn’t have been a problem for long. Jack would be in jail, or worse, and the way he was feeling it probably would have been the ‘or worse’.
It was Maggie’s behavior prior to their trip to the police station that really concerned him. She had obviously been terrified, and he was certain that wasn’t an act. But asking for a spanking? That was about as out of character as she could get. He knew his little Maggie, and there was no way on God’s green earth she would voluntarily lay across his lap and ask to have her butt roasted. In hindsight, he was pretty sure he knew exactly what she had done and why. What he had interpreted as her love and trust, she had seen as a fifty-percent-off sale.
Unfortunately for her, she was dead
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