He told us about how she basically waved off the engagement, saying her ex had given her a birthday gift, and she had no idea why he’d posted it to look like an engagement ring. But she assured him it wasn’t. “She was more into talking about the bigger issue on her mind. Even got emotional about it because she’s really starting to believe it.”
Instinct had me reaching for my phone, but I stopped short of calling her. I needed more than just a hunch. The fact that Maggie had gotten emotional about this was enough to make the idea a bit more credible. The two of us couldn’t be that screwed up, could we? And now Nolan standing here talking about this so anxiously, like maybe he believed it too, at least gave me hope that Maggie and I weren’t just losing our minds.
My other two brothers hadn’t said a word, but their silence spoke volumes. Their heads, too, were likely spinning, trying to make sense of this. But someone had to be reasonable here. This just wasn’t possible.
“She’s been through a lot, Nolan. This weekend took a lot from both of us—”
“She had a dream,” he said with conviction.
“Dreams,” I retorted right back. “More than one. She told me about them.”
“No.” He waved his finger at me adamantly. “She told me about those too. She didn’t understand those. This one’s different. She said she dreamed of the night you two met. The night she—Madeline—asked you to talk to me about not embarrassing her sister Maggie. She knew the whole thing about how she said your junk kept getting bigger. That wasn’t a dream, Nico. It was a fucking memory.”
Quino and Xavier laughed, and I was sure they remembered me telling them the story on more than one occasion and knew perfectly well she hadn’t been talking about my junk. But I was too concerned with something else now to clear that up.
“When’s the last time you talked to her?” I asked, bringing the phone to my ear after calling Maggie’s number.
“Over an hour ago.”
I hung up when my call went to voicemail and thought about texting her but had to think of what to say—ask.
“That post, Nico. The Facebook engagement she said she didn’t know anything about. I’ve been following it, and even her friends have commented. Just before I left to come here, someone asked if they’d set a date, and he keeps answering like this is absolutely happening.”
“They set a date?” I tried her number again then grabbed my wallet as Nolan explained that they hadn’t.
“He’s the only one responding to the comments. Not her, but he said he’d keep everyone updated. Who does that? Who posts something that huge if it’s not true.”
I frowned when Maggie didn’t answer again. “Fuck, she’s not answering.”
“I have her address,” Nolan said, scrolling through his phone. “A few weeks ago, I remembered I still had a couple of Maggie’s things I’d kept all this time. I offered to ship them to her, so she gave it to me.”
Staring at the phone screen he held out for me, I read the address in the text message from Maggie to him. “Denton?” I asked, racking my brain. “That’s almost two hours away.”
“Maybe if you haven’t heard from her by tomorrow—”
“I did something,” Nolan interrupted Xavier before he could finish.
We all stared at him in question. “Did what?’ I asked.
“I’ve been following the engagement post,” he began.
Speaking almost as fast as when he first burst into the shop, he explained about Maggie sounding annoyed by Ryan’s post. How according to her it was bullshit, and yet the guy continued to answer everyone’s questions as if it were absolutely true. So after she didn’t respond to Nolan’s texts and calls where he’d warned her he could get petty, he did.
He tapped at his screen as I waited anxiously to see what his dumb ass had done. The pain in my chest was almost unbearable when he turned the screen so I could see a photo of Maddie and me sitting on my bike, taken just weeks before she was killed. It was one of the last I’d posted on my social media before the accident. In it, she sat backwards so we were facing each other. She looked as beautiful as ever. We were staring at each other with the same almost disgustingly adoring gazes on our faces. I was still completely sucked in by the photo when he went on.
“I posted on my wall but tagged the douche,” he said as my eyes went wide. “And look at the caption.”
I glanced back at it. Xavier, who was leaning in to read it too, read it out loud. “Is this engagement with Ryan some kind of joke? Does he know you spent this past weekend with the guy you really belong to?”
Xavier chuckled as Quino leaned in and squeezed in between Xavier and me to check it out. “Oh fuck, Nolan. You better hope this insanity is true, or you just got her in deep shit.”
“She’s not with him anymore,” Nolan protested.
“Scroll down,” Xavier said. “I wanna see what he responded.”
“He didn’t. That’s a screenshot,” Nolan explained. “I just wanted him to see it. Only after too many of his friends and family members started commenting on it and getting all belligerent, I deleted it. But it was up for a while. I almost reposted it when the fucker sent me a private message calling me a punk ass.”
He had our attention now, and none of us were chuckling. Nolan shook his head. “Either he was drunk or can’t spell for shit. His message was all over the place like the ramblings of an enraged drunk. I’m telling you—”
“Text me that address,” I said, grabbing my keys, already headed to the door. “I’m not waiting until tomorrow to talk to her.”
I didn’t even bother telling them to stay put. I could already hear them scrambling to grab their shit and come after me, but they weren’t stopping me. At least they had the sense not to try. “The address, Nolan,” I barked as I jumped on my bike outside the shop, and Xavier and Quino worked fast to lock the shop up.
He was already racing toward his bike as he scrolled through his phone. In the next second, the envelope with the forwarded text popped up on my screen. I tapped it into the navigation app on my phone and squeezed it into my handlebar phone mount as my brothers articulated their loving words of wisdom and heeded warnings.
“Calm your ass.”
“Don’t drive like an idiot.”
“Remember we’re all following you,” Xavier cautioned, knowing full well this one would likely be the only warning I’d be taking seriously. “We’ll be right behind you. So whatever stupid maneuvers you make, we’ll be making them with you.”
Fuck me.
As if I didn’t have enough to worry about, I’d for sure have to slow my shit down and be careful. No surprise, even with me exceeding the speed limit more than a few times, the almost two-hour ride felt like it took an eternity. Every moment that passed and we got closer to Denton, my heart felt that much closer to exploding.
Could this really be happening or was I setting myself up for a devastating disappointment? If this was all crazy talk, what the fuck was I going to do about my feelings for Maggie? Because there was no denying it now. I was definitely feeling more for her than just confusion and misguided longing. I exited the highway where the navigation said I should and knew I was just blocks away from her now. I was literally doing maternity breathing now.
My insides felt like I was about to jump out of a plane. I felt ready to lose my mind. It didn’t even matter if she was Madeline or Maggie now. I’d be a million times happier—a man who’d never complain for the rest of his life—if she was Madeline. But the closer I got, I knew, even if she really was just Maggie, my new struggle from this day forward would be staying away.
I turned the corner as the voice on the navigation app informed me that in one quarter of a mile I’d reach my destination. Halfway down the block, I could see two people standing just at the bottom of the doorstep of one of the homes. As I got closer, I could see it was a guy and a girl who appeared to be arguing.
As the app announced I’d reached my destination on my right, I saw it was Ma
ggie with some dude holding onto her arm as she struggled to break free, and then Loretta walked out of the front door, wielding a bat and demanding he let Maggie go.
I rode right up the driveway and onto the lawn. I didn’t even remember turning off my bike or jumping off it. All I remembered was the startled look on the asshole’s face when I walked up and landed the most satisfying punch I’d ever dropped on anyone.
Next thing I knew, he was sprawled out cold on her lawn and I was surrounded by my brothers asking what happened. Apparently, they’d been about a block behind me and missed my grand entrance. So I explained it as simply as I could. “I clocked him.”
That’s when another dude arrived to help the guy up and apologized profusely for the drunk guy’s ass. It wasn’t until I heard Maggie tell the guy helping drunk ass out that he’d attacked her that I broke out of my trance of staring at her so I could lunge at drunk’s ass again.
My brothers were quick to jump in front of me while the guy dragged the drunk away. “Not worth it,” Quino said, holding on to the front of my shirt with one hand and my arm with the other.
With my two other brothers manning my other arm and forcing me back, there was no way I’d be getting even a step closer to the asshole. Still, the adrenaline pumping through my veins was a living thing, and I continued to fight to free myself . “He attacked you?” I asked Maggie.
Maggie shook her head and spoke quickly. “That’s Ryan and that’s his brother. She motioned to the guy I’d knocked out first then the guy who approached. “I’ll explain later.” She turned to Ryan’s brother again, handing him a small gift bag. “Make sure he gets this. I don’t want him to have any reason to come here ever again.”
She turned to me with the strangest twinkle in her eyes, despite her still anxious demeanor, and nodded. “Yes, my ex.”
Even hearing her call him that didn’t calm my still too pumped adrenaline. “The one who posted that you two are engaged?”
This time she nodded, but before my heart could crumble, she added, “We’re not.”
“His post said you said yes, Maggie. And you accepted his ring.”
She shook her head, but that twinkle in her eyes was clouded by her flooding eyes, and she did that thing I’d seen Madeline do on several occasions when she’d become overcome with emotion. Her sweet little brows pinched together as she squeaked out words I couldn’t even begin to understand. “I’m not Maggie.”
Already, I could barely breathe, but I couldn’t get ahead of myself here. I had to think straight. One of us had to. Inevitably, my eyes fell to her neck because as much as I’d give anything for this to be true, it just couldn’t be, and I shook my head. “Nolan told me it’s what you were thinking, but the birthmark—”
“I had the birthmark removed a few years ago, Nico,” she said as the emotion gave way and she cried into her hand before saying the next part. “Maggie died in the accident, not me.”
Chapter 26: Our Insane New Normal
None of the random lies Madeline’s mother had fed her over the years made any sense, but she said her mother lying about how her grandmother had actually died finally did. “A few years ago, my doctor suggested I have the birthmark on my neck checked. It turned out to be fine.” Maggie turned to mom with a raised brow. “But because of my grandmother’s supposed death from melanoma cancer, I elected to have it removed anyway.”
I still couldn’t grasp it; though my heart was already leaping to accept it. Afraid to speak for fear of my voice betraying me, I managed one word. “How?”
That did it. Instantly, my eyes blurred, and I felt my throat constrict until something else hit me. All these years I’d suffered an anguish I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy, and Madeline had been dealing with thinking she was going mad. All because of her mother.
The overpowering emotion I’d begun to feel was clouded momentarily as my insides were suddenly on fire, and I turned to Loretta. “Why?”
Maggie . . . or Maddie—fuck this was crazy—and her mom exchanged glances. Several of their neighbors had walked out of their homes to take in the commotion. While some had gone back in after Ryan and his brother drove away, there were others that lingered still across the street.
“I’ll explain inside,” Maddie said, holding out her hand to me then glanced at my brothers, “to all of you. Let’s go inside where we can have more privacy.”
Loretta opened the door, welcoming my brothers in first but smiled at me. I still couldn’t bring myself to smile. I was too damn stunned. I glanced down at Madeline’s hand, a bit hesitant even as my brothers marched right past and toward the front door of their home.
Finally giving into what I yearned for so badly, I took her hand but pulled her to me first because, while I knew I was risking getting decked, I had to ask.”You’re not fucking with me, are you?”
There it was. That Hellman spark in her eyes. Even in the midst of all the emotion I could see her holding back, she was clearly pissed. “How the hell can you and Nolan think I could be so cruel? Of course I’m not. Why would I do something like that?”
I searched those beautiful eyes, but I already knew. Not just my gut but my heart and soul were screaming this was really Madeline. But I knew all too well about the power of thought and how easy it’d be for me to just believe there was no other explanation for this. So I had to ask. “And you’re sure this isn’t a mistake?”
I cradled her face before she could answer, and just like that, like all the times in our past where she may’ve started to lose her temper or patience with me, one touch and she smiled. Even through the tears, I could see how happy this really made her. “It’s not,” she whispered, and I could see she, too, was trying to hold it together. “I’ve suspected for a while, but even more so after spending the weekend with you. I just didn’t understand how or why it could’ve happened. Mama never told me because she couldn’t.”
“She knew?” My emotions were all over the place. One moment I was submerged in utter bliss over something I still couldn’t believe, but the next I felt ready to rip someone apart. “She fucking knew?”
I turned toward the house as she shushed me, feeling like I could just barge through that door and tell that bitch off for taking all these years from us until Madeline spoke again. “She had good reason, baby. I was mad too, but once she explained, I understood why she had to cover up the truth.”
Certain I was going to go into shock or something, I was at it again. Just hearing her call me baby sounded so natural I knew it had to be her. “So, I really have my peanut back?”
My voice gave, and I was done talking. I pulled her to me, hugging her so hard she gasped but chuckled. Then I had another thought and pulled away to look at her. Look at my Madeline as I hadn’t in over seven years. “This better not be a fucking dream.”
“It’s not, Nico.” She smiled. “It’s real.”
As horrifying as the thought of this being a dream was, it was still easier to believe than this. My eyes fell to her lips, and I kissed them softly. I felt like I had to be careful and not get carried away because that’s usually when you wake up. Just when shit’s getting good. So I took it slow, falling into the blissful abyss of what it was like to get lost in kissing Madeline’s lips. I panicked when something did begin to interrupt us but was beyond relieved to see it wasn’t someone waking me up but her mother calling us. “You two need to get inside before Mrs. Conroy’s eyes pop out of that Jack O’Lantern head of hers.”
My head was still in a daze as I glanced at who she was talking about. Then we walked inside; though I had the presence of mind to keep Madeline close to me, as if she might disappear from my life again.
Never again.
If this was really true, if, in fact, I hadn’t completely lost my mind and all this wasn’t just playing out in my head while I sat in a padded room in some nuthouse locked away—I’d never let her out of my sight again.
Loretta motioned for us to have a seat, and though I would’ve never done a
nything that might be interpreted as disrespectful to her mother, I just didn’t care anymore. I sat down on one of the ottomans, but before Madeline could take a seat next to me, I pulled her down onto my lap.
I pecked her again as she gladly made herself comfortable on my lap. If there was any doubt still that this might not be Madeline, she ended it right there. Without a care in the world that all eyes were on us including her mother, Madeline took my face in her hands and kissed me deeply, profoundly, as if trying to make up for lost time already.
“Well, I had my doubts,” Xavier said with a chuckle. “But this sure ain’t Maggie.”
I groaned loudly, wrapping my arms around her again as I stared at her through my once again blurred vision. “There is a God,” I whispered.
“Yes, there is,” she whispered back.
My impatient brothers demanded to know how the hell this happened and Loretta began. “All this time Madeline knew I’d been one of the first at that horrific scene. What she didn’t know is I wasn’t one of them; I was the first.”
She reminded me of how she’d called me that day and already had a bad feeling. “Call it mother’s intuition, but I knew something was wrong. When I called you, I was already out there driving around looking for them. They’d mentioned the general area they were going to, so I headed there.” She shook her head and paused as she brought her hand to her chest. “I thought they were all dead,” she whispered, making me feel a little bad for being so ready to bite her head off. “I called 911 immediately and ran around praying they were still breathing. I realized almost immediately that Maggie and Shelby, who were closer in distance to one another, were gone. I swear . . .” She pressed her lips together when they began to quiver but then went on. “I thought for sure the paramedics would arrive to find four dead bodies because I felt ready to kill myself, until I realized Madeline was still alive. As delighted as I was and even more anxious that the medics would arrive and hopefully save at least one of my babies, I panicked when I saw the drug paraphernalia: a pipe and a joint scattered about. Something came over me.”