Independence (21 page)

"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 s
ad for him. I needed him to mov
e 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 s
ee 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 le
ft and you think you can't do an
y 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 grit
ted
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 b
e here more than anyone! I'm he
r 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 sni
dely. 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 hadn'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 a
ll 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
t
here 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 lik
e 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
wa
s 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, f
rom their thoughts
; a
ll angry and read
y
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 h
e 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 th
e 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 wish
ed
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 lea
ned down and kissed my cheek. "I'm s
orry."

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

He cracked a beautiful smile. "Jackhole?"