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Tequila, Tears & Threats
Thedoorbellrangand Maggie went to answer it in a fog. She had spent the day curled up in her bed, alternately crying or staring at the ceiling going over the horrible mistake she had made and how, or if, she could fix it. At this point, she didn’t know if it was even fair to subject Zane to her obvious craziness.
She opened the door to Dani on the doorstep with a large canvas shopping bag. “You look like shit,” her friend told her in greeting. Maggie was too worn down to even chastise her for her language. Dani pushed her way into the house and Maggie trailed her to the kitchen. “I wasn’t sure exactly what level of crisis this was as JT said you wouldn’t talk to him about the details,” Dani continued, unpacking the bag onto the kitchen counter. “So, I brought supplies for all three – ice cream, wine, and tequila.”
Instead of laughing as she would have expected, Dani saw Maggie’s head drop. The smile left her face. “Tequila it is. I’ll get the mixer, you grab the blender.”
Five minutes later, they sat curled on the couch, margarita glasses in hand. “So, spill. Last I saw you, you were Cinderella getting in a Town Car and I didn’t expect your chariot to turn into a pumpkin before this evening. What happened?”
Maggie let the entire story gush from her mouth like a waterfall. The beautiful event, her anxiety about being on the dais, Zane’s inspirational speech, and the hateful women in the bathroom. “It was all I could do to not burst into tears in the stall!” Maggie wiped a stray tear and took another sip of her drink. “Then, when I came out, I saw Shawna hanging all over Zane, and he was just standing there. I kinda lost it. I was suddenly so mad I’m sure steam was coming out of my ears.”
“That fucking Shawna!” She threw up a preemptive hand to ward off Maggie’s expected comment about her language. “She deserves it. I told Zane he should have taken out a restraining order on her last year! You know she slashed all his tires when he broke up with her, right?”
Maggie gasped. “No, he hadn’t told me. That’s awful!”
“Yeah, she’s all kinda crazy, like bunny in the stew pot, Fatal Attraction kind of nutballs, but he said he would handle it.” She shook her head. “I thought he was right, until she popped up again that day in her office. Now she’s getting herself invited to functions again.” Dani refocused on her friend. “Anyway, what happened next?”
“I marched to the door and was on my phone to call an Uber when Zane caught up with me,” Maggie continued, “We had a big fight about it. Oh, Dani! I was so horrible to him! I didn’t even recognize myself.”
She grabbed a tissue from a box on the coffee table and dabbed at her eyes and Dani rubbed her knee in support. “Did you talk about it once you’d calmed down?”
“No, that’s probably the worst part,” Maggie confessed. “The whole ride to his place and up to his floor was completely silent. By then, I’d calmed down and knew I had acted horribly but I couldn’t seem to figure out what to say to make it better.” She gave a strangled laugh. “And, to add insult to injury, this song came on the radio when we were on the way back to Gladewater about trusting your partner and being there for them. It’s like the universe wanted to rub it in just in case I wasn’t getting the message.”
She took a sip of her drink and sniffed. “I’d believe he’d never be able to forgive me but the oddest thing happened when I was changing.” She looked over Dani’s shoulder as if she was watching a movie of her memory. “I had to ask him to help me with my dress. I couldn’t manage the zipper – you remember how tiny that thing is! Anyway, I had to ask him to unzip it for me. He did but then he didn’t move. I thought maybe it had gotten stuck halfway down or something, you know? But then he put his hand on my waist and kissed me...right here.” A tremulous finger touched the nape of her neck. “For just a second, I thought maybe he had forgiven me and it was all going to be ok.” Her eyes met Dani’s again. “But then he left the room.” She shrugged. “I feel asleep on the way home and the next thing I knew, we were at my front door and he was telling me to take some time to think.”
Dani drew her over and Maggie rested her head on her shoulder like a child. “Aww, Mags. Did you talk at all after that? I’ve never known him to hold onto a mad for long."
Maggie’s eyes reconnected with her friends, tears threatening to spill over again. To her surprise, Dani gave her a reassuring smile. “Aww, Maggie! He’s still crazy about you, I’m sure. He’s just hurt. Trust is a big deal to him. You know how his dad was with his mom.”
“And I know that!” Maggie cried. “And I still assumed the worst. What’s wrong with me, Dani? Why can’t I get past all this insecurity?”
Dani paused and sipped her drink, not sure how brusque to be with Maggie at this point. “I’ve been fighting this battle with you for years, Mags,” she started. “You know what I think so I’m not going to go over it all yet again but, I can tell you this, if you don’t figure out how to work through it, trust him and let him in soon, you’re going to lose him. Remember what you told me about Levi when I didn’t know if I could trust him again?”
Maggie nodded grimly. “Follow your heart. It won’t steer you wrong.”
“Exactly! And you were right. I had to let go of all the past hurts and focus on his actions now. Because of you kicking my ass, we’re getting married in a couple of months. Take your own advice Mags. What is your heart telling you?”
Maggie’s lips quirked up in a tremulous smile. “It’s telling me not to let him go.”
Zane sat brooding over his quickly cooling hospital coffee, an uneaten sandwich on the plate in front of him. He’d had to take a break from his rounds and refocus. His mind kept wandering back to Maggie and the fight they’d had Saturday night. The evening had been going so well, until it blew up. Fucking Shawna! He was regretting not listening to Dani years ago when she had implored him to go to the police about his tires and her stalking, but he’d talked himself out of it. He couldn’t prove she had slashed his tires and what kind of man went to the police over a woman following him? His ego had gotten in the way of making her pay for her actions, and now he might have lost the woman he was falling in love with over it. It had been two days and he hadn’t heard from her. He was trying to give her some space to work out whatever the insecurities she had in that brilliant but maddening head of hers, but it was getting harder and harder not to reach out to her. He was also halfway regretting stopping after that one intoxicating kiss to the nape of her neck in his apartment. If he had just kept going...
“Fancy meeting you here, Dr. Savage.” Zane’s shoulders hunched as the grating, sickeningly sweet voice that came to his ears and abruptly ended his fantasy. He glared up to find Shawna standing over his table. He couldn’t believe the nerve of this woman. Didn’t she ever take a hint?
“Go away, Shawna, before I call security,” Zane growled. He’d prefer to just pick her up and toss her over the balcony of the cafeteria, but he supposed that would be frowned upon.
“Aww, don’t be that way, baby,” Shawna purred, cocking a hip, her hand reaching out to caress his shoulder, her tight miniskirt hiking up even farther. “You know how good we were together. Seeing you again is giving me tingles in all kinds of naughty places. Want me to tell you about them?”
Zane bolted out of his booth, shoving his face close to hers so she was the only one who could hear him. “Not even a little bit. And, you listen, and listen good, you crazy bitch,” he snarled in a ragged whisper. “You come near me or Maggie again and I’m not going to be held responsible for what I do to you.” He met her rounded eyes and saw the shock under all the makeup. Good, I hope she’s scared enough to back the fuck off.
He didn’t give her a chance to respond but stalked out of the cafeteria leaving her teetering on her heels. Once over the initial shock of his harsh tone, Shawna adjusted her skirt and smiled lasciviously. “Oh, I do want to know, Zane,” she mumbled to herself. “I remember what you can do, and your little country mouse can’t handle it. We’ll just see...”
