Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 93387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
“You’ll hurt Darryl’s feelings when I tell him that.” I rubbed my eyes. “Only you would want to take public transportation instead of a comfortable town car to prove a point.”
“What point would that be?”
“That you’re independent and can handle the world on your own. I know you can, Maggie darling. But you don’t have to,” I added softly, unable to be angry with her.
“Until you stop caring,” she replied, so quiet I almost missed it.
I was shocked into silence. That was what she thought?
“Magnolia—”
“I have to go. I’ll see you later.”
She hung up, but I heard the tears in her voice. I stared at the phone, then called Darryl and told him she had taken the bus. He laughed, not at all put out.
“Stubborn,” he said. “I’ll wait a bit and take her some food.”
“Thanks.”
I returned to my computer, determined to finish the concept I was working on. But all I could see, all I could think about, was Magnolia. The pain she was hiding. It was more than losing her father. But what it was, I didn’t know. I had tried to corner her doctor at her father’s get-together, but she told me nothing except to look after Magnolia.
And I was trying, but it felt as if she was pushing me away to prove a point. And the only point I could come up with was to prove she didn’t need me.
I gave up and shut off my computer, determined to go and see her and hash this out once and for all. I reached for my phone then recalled Darryl was going to take her food, so I decided to grab a cab. Outside, I walked to the curb, about to raise my arm, when I heard my name being called.
I turned to see Sam heading my way. He took one look at me and grabbed my arm. “Come with me, Bane. You look like you need a drink and an ear. Luckily, both are available.”
Sam stared at me after I finished talking. Blathering was more like it. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. Magnolia, my worries, my fears, everything came out. Her father’s death, the sadness and worry in her eyes, the way I felt she was pulling away from me. Her anemia and how pale she was.
“Who is her doctor?”
“Wilson. Hannah Wilson.”
He nodded. “Good physician. She’s in capable hands.” He took a sip of his beer. “You know, Bane, grief is a funny thing. Everyone reacts differently to it. You’ve never experienced it in your adult life or been around it. It could just be that.”
“It’s more,” I insisted.
He leaned back, draping his arm along the top of the booth. “And you care?”
“Of course I do.”
“Why?”
I stared at him.
“Could it be because you love her?”
His words hit me like a ton of bricks.
I blinked as I repeated the words in my head.
Love her.
Love Magnolia.
I loved Magnolia Myers.
Holy shit.
All of the worry, the questions, the wonder, the joy—all of it made sense.
I fucking loved her.
Sam chuckled. “That was quite the epiphany.” He took another sip. “Perhaps you need to tell the lady.”
I sat back, still in shock. “I know.”
The thought of saying those words made me anxious. Of what they meant to my life, of the power they could give a person.
Except it was Magnolia I would say them to. My Maggie darling.
Suddenly, I wasn’t anxious because of the words. I was anxious to say them. To see the wonder on her face. To know I could make her feel the way I did when she said them to me.
Incredible. Invincible. Alive.
“As for the anemia, I’m sure Dr. Wilson has it in hand. Magnolia needs to watch her diet, take her supplements, and get lots of rest.”
“I make sure she takes her pills every day. I bought her a dispenser. In fact—” I paused as I dug in my pocket for my phone “—I took a picture of the bottles so I could pick up more to make sure she doesn’t run out. I haven’t had a chance to look at it,” I snorted. “She doesn’t even like me to see them, so she keeps them in her drawer.” I showed the picture to Sam, who studied it, looked at me, then back at the picture.
“You said she is sleeping a lot?”
“Yes.”
“Emotional.”
“Yes.”
“Has she been ill?”
“Her appetite is off.” I frowned. “Why?”
“And Dr. Wilson gave her these?”
“Yes. What is it?”
He shook his head in amusement. “Buddy, I have no idea how to tell you this… She may be anemic, but your girl is also pregnant.”
I gaped at him. “Impossible. She’s on birth control pills.”
“Which is not one hundred percent effective. Even if you wear a condom, plus the pills, she could still get pregnant.”
“What?”
He grinned. “The only sure way not to get pregnant is to practice abstinence. Which I know you haven’t been doing.” He tapped the picture, enlarging it. He showed me the labels. “Along with her other supplements, these are prenatal vitamins. Dr. Wilson would only give them to her if she was pregnant.”