I only resist calling her a good girl because I need to earn the right to call her that again, but it’s a near thing. “Come here.” Iguide her to the table, pulling a chair close so I can sit right in front of her, her dainty hands in mine. “Look at me?”
She does, eyes watery but hopeful, and I’ve never seen anything more perfect.
“I’m sorry.” My voice is rough with emotion, but I won’t let a single word go unsaid. “For speaking to you like that this morning, for blowing up instead of talking to you, for leaving you behind. I’m sorry for not telling you how much you meant to me from the start. I was a coward, and I’ve never regretted anything more. We were both scared.”
She nods pitifully, her eyes full of apologies. I reach up to wipe the tears off her cheek, cupping her face when she tips her head into the gesture. “I forgive you. I’ll always forgive you.”
Maybe I don’t deserve it, but the softness in her voice makes my heart swell in my chest.
“I don’t assume your parents know you’re here?”
She freezes, eyes wide with guilt, but I just laugh and stroke my thumb over her cheekbone. Impulsiveness isn’t exactly out of the question when it comes to her.
“I didn’t want them to try to stop me,” she says with a guilty look.
“We should call them. I know, I know,” I say soothingly when she stills. “But we’ve both been a little dumb about this, yeah? We should get everyone here before we go making any big decisions. Everyone will feel better that way.”
It’s less for my sake and more for hers, really. After the way I’ve treated her, I don’t want her to think I’m just saying whatever she wants to hear. I was to be responsible about this, build something that lasts. Especially with a baby on the way.
God, that’s a hell of a thought.
“Can you call your parents? Ask them to come here?” She hesitates, and I squeeze her hand tightly. “I’ll be right here.”
She nods slowly, taking a deep breath before pulling her phone out of her pocket.
Both of us tense as the dial tone echoes in the kitchen. I squeeze Maggie’s hand in mine, a silent reassurance that’s as much for me as it is for her. Her pretty blue eyes are still bloodshot, but they’re less frantic than they were.
It’s enough to prevent me from flinching when David picks up and screams so loud I can hear him.
“Magnolia! Where the hell are you?”
Chapter Twenty-One
BENNETT
The phone calllast night went as well as we expected it would, which means fucking awful.
We barely even got the announcement out before David blew up on us. Thank God Hailey was there to talk him off the ledge. The palpable fury in his voice scared me shitless, even if I’ll never admit it out loud.
They caught a redeye to Lubbock, and Maggie and I spent the night curled up in bed together, trying to pretend we weren’t terrified.
It was nice to just hold her, after so long apart. I didn’t realize how much I wanted it until she laid her dainty hand over my chest and told me that listening to my heartbeat was the only thing keeping her calm. I slept better than I expected to, but both of us are so keyed up and anxious that we may as well have not slept at all.
The kitchen is usually a lively space, Ma singing while she makes food and Pa cracking awful jokes as he cleans up behind her. This morning, it’s as quiet as a cemetery.
We told Pa last night after we got off the phone with Maggie’s parents, and he took it better than I expected, but he hasn’t said a word to either of us since.
It’s been rough.
It’s only going to get rougher.
“They’re here,” Pa says at the sound of tires on gravel.
He leaves without another word, Maggie and I on one side of the table and Ma leaning against the counter with her coffee in hand. She looks as cool as a cucumber, but she pretty much always does.
“It’ll be fine, you two,” she says reassuringly. “Deep breaths, don’t lose your cool. Your fathers will do plenty of yelling for all of us.”
Both Maggie and I snort at that, a little of the tension dissolving. I scoot my chair closer to hers and intertwine our fingers beneath the table. She clutches onto my hand like a lifeline immediately, gripping so tight that her nails slice into my skin.
