Some guy in Dallas? What is she talking about?
Fuck.
5
Bryant
“Maggie’s seeing some guy in Dallas?” I growl. Fuck, I know I don’t have a right, but jealousy is clawing inside of me. Maggie and I mutually agreed that as long as the two of us were sleeping together there would be no one else. It sounds stupid, but I was happy with it. I even hoped it might be enough to make her move home.
“Praise Jesus, you do have a little jealousy inside of you.”
“You’re wrong,” I respond, refusing to believe it. “Maggie would tell me if she was interested in someone else.”
“Oh please. I love my daughter, but she’s a runner.”
“I’m sorry?”
“She’s a runner, honey. When the walls start closing in, she runs. I know because that girl is so much like me I live in fear of what she’s going to do next.”
“Maggie’s a smart woman, Ida Sue,” I defend. “She’s just a little broken. Besides, I think all parents worry about their kids.”
“You’ve just started with Terry. You wait and see, Bryant. Raising children is like slowly being pecked to death by a chicken.”
I would laugh, but I’m still worried about the fact that Ida Sue thinks Maggie is seeing someone.
“What makes you think Maggie is seeing someone else?”
“She’s been getting calls from Dallas the last couple of weeks on her cellphone—”
“Ida Sue, that doesn’t mean she’s seeing someone,” I mutter.
“And for each of those calls, she’s left the room and whispered. Plus, she’s now made three trips to Dallas, including this latest one which was last minute.”
“That still doesn’t prove anything,” I insist, stubbornly. It sure as hell doesn’t sound good, though. Could Maggie be dating someone else?
“You seem concerned, Bryant. If it matters so much, then why were you set to go to Washington?”
I frown. Leave it to Ida Sue to see through my shit. I could deny everything, but there’s just no point.
“Hell, Ida Sue, I wasn’t going to leave Mason. I was just hoping maybe if Maggie thought I was leaving…”
“She’d what? Drop down to her knees and kiss your feet? Beg you to stay?”
“Maybe. What’s so wrong with that? She’s had me jumping through hoops for six years. It’s her turn,” I grumble, feeling like an idiot hearing it put like that.
“Bryant Matthews, I’m not sure you could find your ass with both hands in your back pockets. You let Maggie have her way for six years, and you think things will just magically go your way? Do you know my daughter?”
“Fine,” I growl. I felt stupid before, but if Ida Sue keeps pointing shit out, I might never recover. “What am I supposed to do to make Maggie give us a real chance?”
“I’m glad you asked,” she says with a grin that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
“Well?”
“How do you feel about chains and handcuffs?” she asks. She sounds so innocent and is smiling so big that panic hits me almost at once.
Shit.
6
Maggie
“You will never guess what I learned today, Maggie.”
I look up to see Green strutting in, Rusty in his motorized chair following him. He’s been coming by Mom’s house for breakfast every morning—mostly because Kage went with my sisters, Mary and Petal, for a girl’s weekend. I know it’s because he’s lonely. Hell, I practically eat every meal here, so I can’t say much.
I thought about going to Bryant’s when I got back this morning. The temptation was strong when he texted me to tell me he dropped Terry off at school and would pick him up this evening before I came over for dinner. I talked myself out of it. My head is a mess, and I was afraid I’d blab everything to him, and he doesn’t need that from me.
I should have gone into work this morning, but I couldn’t make myself. The biggest reason is that I just didn’t think I could “people” right now. I have known for a while now that I’m a loner—a definite recluse. If it wasn’t for my job and my son, I probably would go through life not seeing another soul but my immediate family and Bryant and be happy. I’m not like the rest of the crazy Lucas clan, except maybe Blue. He’s just as withdrawn as I am.
“What’s that?” I ask Green, remembering his question and pulling myself from my thoughts. I’m only mildly interested as I finish my doughnut—which my ass definitely doesn’t need, but I decided to eat anyway.
“Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather when I ran into Bryant—”
“It’s not like that’s a huge surprise, Green,” I mutter, ignoring the way my heart flutters in my chest at the mention of Bryant’s name.
He’s always had that effect on me. Divorce never stopped that. Some people get married too young and go on to have healthy relationships. Me? I’m the twisted masochist that will always be in love with the man I demanded a divorce from…
I’m pathetic. I own it, but sometimes, I think Bryant is too. I mean, there’s a reason we had a son together years after our divorce was final. I close my eyes, pushing away the guilt and the pain that always comes with looking too closely at my relationship with Bryant.
“You didn’t let me finish,” he scolds. I lift a brow, giving him an annoyed look, and Green, being just another in a long line of my asshole brothers, laughs. “I was saying,” he grumbles good-naturedly, “Bryant was at Addie’s restaurant, and he was talking about taking another job. I mean, I knew he had a couple of offers, but I didn’t really think he would switch.”
“Why are you telling me this? I gave up knowing where Bryant was spending his days and nights years ago,” I tell him, doing my damnedest not to sound bitter—mostly because I am. I know that’s also ironic since I’m the one at fault. It doesn’t change things, however.
“Could have fooled me. If you ask me, it seems like you both have an unhealthy fascination with knowing where the other is all the time.”
“No one asked you, little brother.”
“Hey, all jokes aside, you need to hear this,” he says, suddenly more serious which sets off little warning bells inside of me.
“Green, it’s Bryant’s business if he switches jobs. He takes care of Terry, and he’s a good father. That’s all that matters when it comes to whatever relationship I have with him,” I tell him, thinking if I say it often enough, one day I’ll make myself believe it.
“He was asking old man Brooks what his hardware store charged for U-Haul trucks, Mags,” he says quietly, and it’s such a simple sentence to deliver the huge blow that it does.
“A U-Haul? What on earth for?” I ask, surprised I can get the words out.
“He’s decided he’s going to leave my old team, Mags.”
“But he loves that job,” I murmur, not believing it.
“Yeah, I know. That’s what floored me,” Green responds and I can still hear the disbelief in his voice. He would feel that way, too, since he’s the one that gave Bryant a recommendation and helped Bryant snag a lucrative deal. It was rough at first because he wasn’t around some weekends when Terry needed him, but luckily, my job allows me to be home anytime Terry is. Bryant never neglected Terry, though. As screwed up as our relationship seems from the outside, we’ve always put our son first and been good to one another.