Maggies Marriage (Cloverleaf #2) (6 page)

Rachel laughed and added silverware by each bowl. “I like it. Growing up, my house was never like this.”

Mary smiled as she busied herself stirring the contents in an enormous stainless steel pot, adding a dash of spices. “When you were younger, Maggie, you and your brothers were always running around here like a pack of wild animals.”

“Funny, I don’t remember that,” Maggie said.

Rachel chimed in, “At my house, my dad was always working, and my mom was usually out with her friends. My brother was busy getting into trouble, and I just hung out and read loads of books.”

Mary turned off the chili, which had been simmering most of the day. She pulled out a cast iron pan filled with cornbread. “Dinner is ready, if you guys want to round up the family.”

Everyone approved of the delicious meal. The children gobbled down their food and ran off to play. Most of the adults were working on their second helping of chili, laughing and sharing stories.

Maggie felt the familiar vibration of her cell phone as it buzzed in her jean pocket. Reaching awkwardly in her seat to retrieve it, she saw that it was Michael calling. She had ignored him for the last two days and hesitated to answer this one. Excusing herself from the table, she answered, “Hello.”

“Maggie.”

“Michael, what do you want?” Maggie instantly felt herself annoyed with him.

“I’m actually surprised you picked up. I have been calling you for almost two days,” he complained.

“I don’t really know that there is a whole lot to discuss right now. I needed some time to think.”

“How’s Melanie?” Michael asked softly.

“She’s doing fine, busy playing with her cousins right now. Do you want me to get her so you can talk to her?” Maggie offered.

“It’s okay, I really just wanted to check in with you.”

“I’m fine. We’re fine,” Maggie retorted, but she wasn’t all that sure she was fine. She knew that their daughter wasn’t exactly fine either.

“I don’t know if I’m fine. I think you guys need to come home. I miss you both.”

Maggie could hear the loneliness in her husband’s voice, and a part of her wanted to run right back home, but to what? To Michael never being there, to basically being a single parent, to living a lonely existence?

“Michael, I think we still need some time to figure things out.”

“Can’t we work on things here?” he pleaded.

Maggie countered, “Isn’t that what we’ve been doing?”

She could hear Michael release a long sigh. “I don’t know. I just feel like you should be home, here in Seattle.”

“Well, I disagree. I’m sorry, but I need you to figure out your priorities. That is something I have been asking you to do for a long time.”

“Maggie, I don’t feel like you are being fair. Everything I do is for our family. You are pregnant with our second child. You are keeping our daughter away from me. What do you want me to do?”

“Michael, I’ve got to go. I don’t want to discuss this anymore right now/” Maggie hung up the phone, and she felt a mixture of guilt and irritation as she started to return to the kitchen.

Her mother was at the sink rinsing dirty, chili-encrusted bowls as Rachel was wiping down the large table.

Looking at Maggie, Mary asked, “Everything, okay, dear?”

Rachel stopped cleaning and waited for Maggie’s reply.

“I don’t know.” Maggie’s answer was honest. She had no clue how to handle this whole mess with Michael.

“Was it Michael that called?” Mary asked cautiously, turning the faucet off and facing Maggie. Rachel approached, concern etched on her face.

Maggie nodded. “Yeah. He wanted to talk, but I don’t know, I just can’t.”

“Was he asking you to come back home?” Rachel inquired as she reached out to stroke Maggie’s arm.

“He wants us to come back. Of course I feel guilty because he brought up the pregnancy and Melanie. I don’t know, I just don’t want to be there anymore.”

“I understand, but it has to be lonely for him without you or Melanie there,” Mary pointed out, taking her daughter’s hand in her own. “I know you weren’t happy there, dear, but running away isn’t the answer.”

“Mom, I’m not running away. I have tried to make it work for a long time,” Maggie said defensively.

“Maggie, I was thinking it might fun to grab dinner one night,” Rachel suggested. She must have sensed Maggie’s discomfort.

Maggie smiled. “That would be great, I’d really like that.”

She was thankful that Rachel was trying to redirect the conversation, she wasn’t in the mood to defend her actions to her mother, who plainly didn’t agree with her. This was her battle, her mess to figure out.

The evening started to wind down; the home was no longer the loud and rambunctious place it had been only hours ago. Patrick and the twins had left, and Daniel vanished shortly after to go hang out with a couple of his buddies. Liam and Rachel were in the process of leaving, still lingering over tea with Mary and Maggie in the dining room.

“Mary, you are making me fat,” Rachel claimed as she finished a homemade scone.

“Nonsense, you could use a little meat around those bones.”

Turning to Maggie, Rachel asked, “Is Melanie going to start school this week?”

“I’m going in tomorrow to register her.”

“Is she excited at all?” Rachel asked cautiously.

“Honestly, not really.” Maggie knew Melanie wasn’t thrilled at all about starting school in Birch Valley, she knew her daughter would much rather be at home, at her old school.

Liam looked back at her, concern sitting in his eyes. “You know, we just need to give her a little time.”

Rachel patted Liam’s arm. “I think she will love going to the same school her uncle teaches at.”

“She’s pretty fond of you too, Rachel,” Liam said as he looked lovingly at Rachel.

Maggie watched the interaction between the two. She was happy for Liam, and truly hoped this new relationship turned into a marriage. Not that she could talk, as her marriage was in complete shambles.

When she looked at a thin silver watch on her wrist, Maggie saw that she needed to get Melanie ready for bed. “I better go tuck in Mel. Good night you guys,” Maggie said.

They smiled at her and in unison said, “We’ll see you at school tomorrow.” Maggie could hear them giggle as she left the room.

Chapter Six

“I don’t want to go,” Melanie stomped her foot hard against the concrete sidewalk just outside the elementary school.

“Melanie, please don’t act like this. Uncle Liam and Rachel are here, and they’re very excited about you going to school here.” Maggie was frustrated, the entire morning had been one battle after another with Melanie. First, breakfast, her daughter didn’t want the oatmeal her grandmother made her, then, when it came time to get washed up and dressed, she flat out refused to cooperate. Maggie was at her wits end with this child.

“I don’t care, I want to go home.”

“Look, Mel, we came to Birch Valley to see how living here might be. Think of this as a science experiment. Remember how much you love science?” Maggie was trying desperately to coax her daughter into the school as she heard a loud bell ring in the distance. Students rushed past them, hurrying inside. “Come on, sweetie, let’s give this a try.” Maggie offered her hand to Melanie.

Melanie pouted her lip, accepted Maggie’s hand, and they entered the school.

***

“Well, if it isn’t Maggie O’Brien, oh wait, it’s…” Karen, the school secretary, said as she made her way towards them.

“Trembley now,” Maggie answered as she was hugged.

Karen crouched down to Melanie’s level, smiling. “This must be Melanie. Your uncle told me that you might be coming in today.”

Melanie nodded. “He’s a teacher.”

“I know, and a very good one,” Karen responded, then continued, “Did you know I worked here when your uncle and mom were kids?”

Melanie smiled. “That’s neat.”

“Well, I think it’s pretty neat that you are going to start school here too.” Karen started to lead Melanie to a counter that was just across the foyer. Maggie trailed after them, watching Karen quickly earning Melanie’s trust.

Maggie took a moment to absorb her surroundings. Little had changed since she was girl here. On the large wall was the same Lewis and Clark expedition mural, the framed pictures of the staff proudly mounted on another wall, and the polished concrete floor that reflected the overhead lights, which seemed to sparkle. The building smelled exactly the same as she remembered, an ancient wood smell mixed with food being cooked in the cafeteria that was directly to the left of the foyer. It did feel strange being back, let alone having her child start attending class here. Who knew, maybe the child inside her would also be a student here?

Karen’s sweet voice broke Maggie away from her nostalgic thoughts. “Now, Maggie, if I could have you start filling out some of these forms, I’m going to take Melanie on a mini tour of our school.” She grabbed Melanie’s little hand in hers and started to lead her toward the cafeteria.

Maggie went to work on filling out the paperwork that Karen had left for her. She couldn’t help but notice how permanent this seemed. She was partially through the first form when she saw that Rachel was headed in her direction.

“Maggie, how’s it going?” Rachel flashed a smile of stark white, perfect teeth.

“Just filling out these forms that Karen gave me.”

“Good. Where is your little cutie pie?” Rachel asked as she scanned the area for Melanie.

“Off on a tour of the school. You wouldn’t believe how much trouble she gave me this morning.”

“Really? I’m sorry. I was hoping she’d be a little more excited.” Rachel frowned, her blue eyes sympathetic.

“It’ll be okay,” Maggie said, changing gears. “So I have been wanting to ask, how are things going with you and Liam?”

Rachel rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. “You know, it’s hard. We are trying to find the balance between work and play, if that makes sense. I don’t feel comfortable acting like we are a couple at work, your brother feels differently.”

“Well, lucky for you, you live here now and folks don’t really worry about stuff like that,” Maggie said, trying to convince her.

“I don’t know, I still feel uncomfortable. We are just trying to take things slow and sort of see how it all plays out.”

Maggie nodded. “Understandable.”

“So how are you holding up?”

“It changes by the minute.” Maggie let out an awkward, uncomfortable laugh.

Rachel rubbed Maggie’s arm tenderly. “It has to be rough. I’m hoping things work out.”

“Me too.”

Another bell sounded, and Rachel glanced at the thin, silver watch on her delicate wrist. “Crud, I’ve got to get going. I have a meeting with the district later.” Rachel started to turn back down the hallway where her office was located, but then she turned back around. “Maggie, I’m really glad you’re here now. Let’s make sure we get together this week for dinner.”

“You bet, that would be great.”

***

Maggie waited patiently for school to let out. She stood outside the large glass double doors along with a string of parents that had lined up to pick up their children. The day almost felt normal, except it was anything but. She had signed up Melanie for school, which went surprisingly well, and she had Karen to thank for charming her little daughter into falling in love with the school. She really owed that woman. Leaving Melanie at the school and coming to pick her up felt normal, but after getting into another argument over the phone with Michael it reminded her that things were not the norm. She wasn’t in Seattle, she wasn’t home, no, she was staying at her parents’ house. She was married, yet her husband wasn’t with her, and after their argument she wasn’t sure if she saw herself being married for much longer.

The loud shrill of the school bell tore Maggie’s thoughts away. She searched for Melanie as students started to emerge from the large brick building. A feeling of dread started to form in her stomach as the number of students leaving the building became more of a trickle. Where was Melanie?
As Maggie was about to go inside the building, Melanie appeared, holding hands with her uncle. Liam towered over his niece, his long legs having to take half steps so that the girl could keep up with his stride. As she eyed her daughter coming in her direction, she could tell Melanie looked happy. Maybe things would work out and be okay.

“Hi, sweetie, how was school?” Maggie asked in an upbeat tone.

“It was good.” Melanie looked up at Liam, who stood happily next to her.

“She did good, recess rumor is that she made a lot of friends,” Liam said, causing Melanie to giggle.

“That’s great, honey. Why don’t you go to the car? I wanted to chat with Uncle Liam for a minute.” There were only a couple of cars in the parking lot, mainly belonging to staff. All the buses had already left for the day. It amazed Maggie how quickly the school became eerily quiet, almost like a ghost town.

Melanie looked both ways before stepping off the curb toward their car, which was parked only about twenty feet away.

Maggie turned to Liam and asked, “So how did she do?”

“Good. She seems to really like her teacher. The kids were working on St. Patrick’s Day decorations for the town celebration, and her teacher said Melanie dove right in,” Liam answered.

“I have been so worried about her all day. She was in quite the mood this morning, and then I had it out with Michael today.”

“Yeah, she’s going to be okay. I showed her my classroom, she says it isn’t nearly as pretty as her teacher’s room.”

Maggie laughed. “Oh, really?”

“All in all a good day, I promise you. It will get better, Mags. You’ve got to have faith, especially if you felt that moving back was the right call,” Liam said, trying to reassure her.

Maggie turned to check on Melanie, and she saw that her daughter was buckled in and reading a book. She turned back to Liam and said, “I saw Rachel today.”

“I see her almost everyday,” Liam teased.

“I know you do, but it was nice for me to see her, Liam.”

“It’s nice for me too.”

Maggie lightly slugged her brother in the arm.“Stop being a brat.” She smiled as Liam rubbed his arm, feigning injury. She continued, “As I was trying to say, I really like her. Rachel and I are going to try and have dinner this week.”

“Can I tag along?” His eyes were hopeful.

“Nope. You see her every day, remember?”

“Yeah, but it’s way more fun to see her away from this place.” He gestured toward the school.

“The answer is still no. Well, I’d better get Melanie home. Thanks for letting me know how she did.” Maggie hugged him and then walked to her car.

***

Melanie and Maggie survived the rest of the week. Melanie was beginning to make friends at school, and had even been invited to a play date that weekend. Things were finally beginning to look up. Maggie did find herself a little restless; there was only so much she could do at her mother’s house. If staying here was going to become permanent, she needed to come up with a game plan and figure out a way to support herself and her children.

Maggie pulled up next to her parents’ home when she saw her brothers out in the driveway. They were standing around and talking, grins plastered on their faces. She had just finished with Melanie’s play date at the park and had done a little grocery shopping on the way home.

“Hey, guys.” Maggie waved and started to open the trunk of her car, and her brothers all jogged toward her to help. Melanie got out of the car quickly and ran to give each of them a hug before scurrying off toward the house.

Each man grabbed a couple of bags and followed Maggie into the home. They deposited the groceries in the kitchen, and Maggie worked on putting them away. Her brothers plopped down around the dining table.

“So, how was the play date?” Patrick asked.

“I think she had a good time.” Maggie folded a paper sack in half and started a pile as she emptied each bag of its contents.

“That’s good. Finn and Connor love having her around too,” Patrick said.

Liam cleared his throat and cautiously asked, “Mags, any word from Michael?”

Maggie rolled her eyes. She hadn’t talked to him all week, and when he had called she’d given the phone over to Melanie. Maggie didn’t have a whole lot to say to him, but she didn’t want to deny Michael or Melanie their time. Michael had made himself quite clear that he was unhappy that Maggie had already enrolled their daughter in school. He was more than a little upset, to say the least.

“I haven’t really talked to him, why?”

“I don’t know, we were just curious how things were going,” Liam continued. “I know Mel is settling in nicely at school, and we were sort of curious about what your plans were.”

“My plans?”

Daniel chimed in, “Yeah, like do you think you might need a job?”

“Well, eventually, I suppose. I don’t really know what’s going to happen.” Her voice was turning shaky. Earlier, her mind had been working out the details of her new life, but she knew at some point decisions were going to have to be made.

Patrick spoke next. “Maggie, we wanted to see if you would be interested in possibly coming to work down at the shop.”

“What happened to your receptionist?” They had her attention now. At first she thought her brothers were just meddling, but they were actually trying to throw her a lifeline.

“She’s moving to Spokane, I guess she met some guy out there or something,” Daniel answered. “What’s for dinner by the way? I’m starved. Did Mom say when she was going to be back?”

“No, she didn’t say, she’s with her book club ladies. I was thinking of making spaghetti. You good with that?” Maggie offered as she started to set out the fixings for dinner.

Daniel nodded in agreement. “Yeah, that sounds great.”

“So do you think you might be interested?” Patrick asked.

“Maybe, I mean I can work up until the baby is born for sure. I’d be happy to help you out. At the least until you find a replacement.”

“Great, we would appreciate the help for sure. I remember when you used to help out down there when we were teenagers, so it’ll be a piece of cake.” Patrick seemed happy that Maggie was agreeing to work there.

“I actually appreciate you guys offering the position to me, I have been kind of going a little nuts here. There isn’t a whole lot for me to do while Mel is at school.”

“Well, that’s perfect, we’re helping you, and you’re helping us. Everyone wins,” Daniel said as he stretched and rose from his chair.

Maggie started dinner as Daniel and Patrick got up to leave. “I’ll let you guys know when it’s ready. Patrick, are you sticking around for dinner?”

“Yeah, the boys love spaghetti.” Patrick smiled as he followed Daniel.

Liam remained at the table. “Do you need any help with dinner?”

“Um, you can help with the salad I guess, and maybe open these dang jars of sauce.” Maggie was straining as tried to twist the lid off. She smacked the bottom of the jar, but to no avail. Liam got up and took the jar from her, and her gentle giant of a brother took the lid off with ease. “Thanks.”