Maggie wasn’t sure what was worse, that Cody had been so blatantly unrepentant and disrespectful seconds ago or that he’d only apologized because Mike had caught him acting out.“Let’s all get into the car, shall we?”
Cody was in the car before she could say another word.
“Mike,” Maggie said as she placed a hand on his arm.“He’s a kid.We’re the grown-ups.It’s up to us to model behavior.”
He ran a hand over his face.“Mags, come on.He’s being a little—”
“Boy?A little boy that’s working through his frustration with his mom.”She squeezed his arm.
“That makes it okay for him to walk all over you?”He shook his head.“I get that you’re worried about making things worse between you, but you’re his mother—he should treat you with respect.”He stepped closer and lowered his voice.“I don’t know what’s going on with him but I can talk to him if you want?”
“It’s okay, Mike.I’ll talk to him.Pretty sure it has something to do with me going back to work.”
“Mags.Not yet.Doc hasn’t given you a thumbs-up, yet, right?”Mike held his hand up, his expression shuttering.“I’m not ready to have that conversation yet.Let’s go home.”
Maggie stared after him, more exhausted than she’d been in a while.For the first time, her whole family seemed dead set against her returning to her job.Opal, her longtime supervisor, called to check on her every week or so.Every time she mentioned those calls or her job, they’d bring up how she needed more time to heal and rest.Consideringhow tired she felt at this moment, maybe they were right.But a memory of Angelique’s face popped up—how she’d clung to Maggie’s hand until the end.
The drive to Cooper Ranch was absolutely silent.By the time they’d parked alongside the main house, her nerves were strung so tight, she had a white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel.This wasn’t the way she’d wanted this afternoon to go.
Cody hurried inside before she could say a word.
“I’m gonna head home and cool off.”Mike barely looked as he slid out of her SUV and climbed into his truck to make the short drive to his house on the other side of Cooper Ranch.“He can’t treat you like that Mags.It’s not right.”
Her phone started ringing as soon as she stepped inside.She hung her purse on one of the hooks by the back door, saw that Cody was doing his chores without being reminded, and checked to see who was calling.
Braden.
Seeing his name triggered instant tingles.She took a deep breath and answered the call.“Hello?”
“Hey, Maggie.It’s Braden.”He had such a deep and lovely voice.
Yes, I know.I have tingles.“Hi, Braden.”She ran a hand over her hair.From the feel of it, her curls were in full rebellion mode.“How are you?”
“Good.I wanted to say that Delilah and I had a good time Saturday.”There was a smile in his words—she could hear it.
“It was fun.Cody’s been telling everyone about what he found.”She glanced at her son—who’d stopped putting away dishes to listen in on the conversation.
“Delilah’s got show-and-tell on Friday, and she can’t waitto take in Cody’s discovery.Is he still willing to come to her class and help out?Him being a dinosaur expert and all.”
“Hold on just a second.”She covered the phone and turned to Cody.“I’m going to my room for a minute.Finish up here and then we’ll figure out a snack.”
“Yes, ma’am.”There was no sign of the sass or attitude he’d displayed before Mike intervened.
“Thank you.”She smiled at him—but he was still avoiding eye contact with her.With the phone cradled against her chest, she stepped out of the kitchen and hurried down the hall to her room.“Sorry about that.”She closed her bedroom door behind her.
There was a pause before he asked, “Everything okay?”
She swallowed, surprised by the sudden sting in her eyes.“Yes.”But she didn’t sound okay.She cleared her throat.“Sort of.Okay.Not really.It’s been a day.”She leaned against her bedroom door.
“You want to talk about it?”
“No, it’s fine.You know, just parenting stuff.”She tried to laugh.
“You don’t sound fine, Maggie.I’d like to help if I can.I may not be the best with words but my ears work well enough.”
She should laugh off his offer or redirect or something.“You’ve probably picked up on the tension between Cody and me.Some days it’s not so bad, other days it is.Today was abadday.”She took a deep breath.“I’m trying my hardest to put his best interests first.My mom, my dad and my brother all have their opinions on how I should parent—and they have no problem telling me those opinions.And I appreciate them, I do.After what happened…” She stopped short, refusing to unload everything onto Braden’s broad shoulders.“I am so sorry, Braden.Wow.”
“Don’t apologize.As far as families go, you pretty much described mine.”He chuckled.“You know what’s causing the tension between the two of you?”
