New guy flushed bright red.
The boss looked from the new guy to her, and his tension eased. “I’m sorry, Ms. Swanson. I was under the impression something else had occurred.”
“I’m sure you were. I’m here for the next month and a half because I need this job. But I don’t need it bad enough to put up with sexual harassment from New Guy.”
“My name is Trent,” New Guy said through gritted teeth. “And it wasn’t sexual harassment. This is a big misunderstanding.”
“You’ll be hearing from my attorney.” She nodded at the boss. “Good day.”
Before she could leave, the partner tossed Trent out on his ass and did his best to keep Maggie at the office. But she didn’t want to spend the rest of her summer uncomfortable and on edge working a job she didn’t love for so-so pay. She was better off working elsewhere or just enjoying her summer with Emily. They’d have to scrimp to get by, but Maggie could make fun day trips for them both that cost nothing.
The partner, eager to make it all go away, offered her a month and half’s salary if she’d just leave, no lawsuit and no bad talk about the company.
Knowing she didn’t have the money for a lawyer and had no intention of finding one, Maggie pretended to dither before accepting his terms. Now she had the income without having to do the work. Win-win.
“You have a deal. But I’d advise you to take a hard look at Trent, because I can guarantee he’s going to cause you problems.”
And so, one and a half month’s salary richer, one asshole poorer, she returned home.
The next morning, she drove Emily out to a friend’s house in South Beacon Hill for a playdate. Since the other girl’s mom had things well in hand, Maggie took the time to do a little grocery shopping. After buying enough to last them the week, she picked up a chattering Emily.
As they started to leave the parking lot, Emily squealed, “Stop! Stop, Mag-Mom!”
Maggie slammed on her brakes, only to hear several people behind her honk their horns.
“Emily, don’t do that! What’s wrong?” Maggie’s heart wouldn’t stop racing.
Emily pointed out her window. “That puppy’s in trouble.”
Maggie looked out only to see a puppy on South Othello, in the middle of the road. The poor thing looked as if it had already been hit and was limping in one direction, then a car would roar by, beeping, and the dog crawled the other way.
“What the heck? Fudge this!” Proud for calling on the right F word with Emily in the car, she made a right turn and parked on the side of the road without blocking traffic. Maggie turned off the car and left the windows partially down due to the heat. Her heart racing, she said to Emily, “Stay here while I rescue the dog. You don’t leave the car or unlock the doors. Do you hear me?”
Emily nodded, her eyes wide.
Maggie locked the vehicle and rushed to the puppy. She waved at traffic to slow down and grabbed the dog, running back to her car. The poor thing was shaking, its back leg stiff. It looked…well, to be honest, the little pit mix was so ugly, he was cute. He had scars and bruising and was bleeding from a few cuts. Yet when she opened her hatchback and settled him in the trunk, he remained still and quiet, just looking up at her with sad eyes.
Her heart melted. “You poor thing.”
“Mag-Mom, we have a dog!”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Emily. He might have run away from someone who’s upset and missing him.” Though Maggie didn’t see a collar on the little guy.
She rounded the front of her car to get back in. “Don’t be disappointed if we can’t—”
Then something big hit her. And she saw black.
***
“Ma’am? Ma’am? Are you with me?” A deep voice rocked her back to consciousness.
Maggie had no idea where she was or what had happened. “Emily? Where’s Emily?” Wow. She sounded terrible, and her throat hurt.
“Emily’s right here with me. She’s sitting right next to us. No, don’t turn your head. You’re fine, and Emily’s fine.”
“I’m here, Mommy.” Emily cried and sniffed and cried some more. “Reggie’s here. And Frank’s here too.”
“Frank?” Reggie? She blinked up at a very muscular man wearing a navy-blue shirt with an EMT logo on it. A glance behind him told her they were inside a vehicle of some kind. An ambulance? “Are you Frank?”
The man smiled, and Maggie distantly noted that his dark-brown eyes seemed full of compassion, his hands gentle as he moved them over her face and looked into her eyes. He shone a light, and she flinched.
“Hmm. I’d say you have a slight concussion, but we’ll get you all checked out, so don’t worry. No, Ma’am. I’m Reggie. Frank would be the puppy your daughter found.”
“Huh?”
Reggie, he’d said his name was, scooted down her body, looking her over, then focused on her right arm. “Do you remember what happened to you?”
Emily remained by her side.
Maggie tried to recall, and it came back in pieces. “Emily had a playdate. I went shopping. On our way home, she screamed at me to stop because a poor puppy was stranded in the road.” Maggie frowned, and the motion caused to her moan.
“Mommy!”
Emily’s shriek didn’t help her headache.
“I’m fine, sweetie.” She looked to Reggie. “Just a little headache.”
“Mm-hmm. I’d imagine you’ll have a big one.”
“Yeah, well, I got the dog back into the car. But when I went to get back inside, on the driver’s side, I think…” She paused. “Did someone hit me?”
He touched her arm, and her breath caught, the pain more than she could stand.
“Sorry. Yes, you were clipped by someone speeding by and not paying attention to the road. The police talked to him. But your forearm… You might have a break. My guess, radial fracture. An X-ray will tell us more. In any case, it’s not an open break, so that’s good. But you’re going to hurt until we can get you some pain meds.”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Reggie will make you better,” Emily said. “Brownie likes him.”
Maggie looked from Reggie to Emily, who stood without her bear.
Reggie looked back at her. “I was lucky enough to teach your daughter and some other smart kids about fire safety and being an EMT at the library. Remember, Emily?”
“Is this BLS?” she asked.