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Spending the Christmas holiday alone had sucked, but it hadn’t been the first time. With a family like hers—mean, selfish, and all about appearances—all holidays were beauty pageants. The only thing that changed was the theme. He dad couldn’t have paid her enough to come—not that he even spoke to her anymore. It didn’t hurt as much as it used to, at least.
Now, another excruciating day at work complete. Another eight hours of watching AJ, longing for AJ, and knowing she would never have him. That hurt far more than anything her dad had ever said or done. Before, when she was the pining nobody, there was still that daydream fantasy of AJ noticing her, falling for her, and them living happily ever after. Once she’d become Swan, that daydream had turned into a full on romantic movie playing in her head and heart. AJ was falling for her, even though he didn’t know her from Eve. He liked her, had begged to meet her, had admitted wanting more with her. A fat girl’s dream come true.
Now, though, it was all shit.
Denise had swooped in, stolen AJ, and demolished Maeve’s hopes and dreams with a single conversation. And there was nothing Maeve could do about it. She was trapped. Between choosing the possibility of love for herself and the happiness and safety of her friends, there was no real choice at all.
But the knowledge that her sacrifice provided safety to her friends didn’t lessen the devastation.
So, she went to work, hid her agony behind a plaster smile, and tried not to give in to the urge to scream.
Thankfully, the week Denise was in Jackson Key, AJ spent most of his time out of the office. That meant Maeve hadn’t had to witness him and Denise together. On the flip side, it meant that AJ was spending time with Denise outside of the office. That meant alone time. Time for more kissing…and sex.
Her heart tripped, the ache spreading into her guts, twisting them up like a hot pretzel.
No. She couldn’t think about the fact that AJ had probably made love to Denise thinking she was his Swan. Not only did it make her sick, it made her angry! AJ was fucking an imposter. A facsimile of the one he really wanted to be with. He was sharing an intimate part of himself with someone who was using him for his money! And she couldn’t say a goddamn thing!
Tossing her keys and purse on her kitchen counter, she watched as the contents of her purse spilled over the surface.
“Ugh. Just great.” Lacking the energy to clean up the mess of receipts, candy wrappers, and tubes of Chapstick, she heaved a sigh. When the phone in her hand chimed, she nearly threw it against the wall. Luckily, she didn’t.
Callie: That room still available?
Maeve grinned, her spirit stirring within her for the first time in over a week. Callie Williams, her best friend of best friends, was moving to Jackson Key from Nashville. She was hoping that the small town would be a better fit for her and her nine-year-old daughter, Alexstrasza. An avid World of Warcraft player in high school, Callie had been adamant about naming her only child after a character from the game. Thankfully, she allowed the nickname Lexi to be used in place of the longer, quirkier name. Which made sense, since Callie’s full name was Calliope.
Callie’s brother’s name was Agamemnon. They called him Aggie.
Maeve: You know it is. I even bought a twin-sized air mattress for lexi to use until you can get her a bed. Its small but there’s room in there for two twin beds and your clothes and things. We’ll have to share the bathroom.
Callie: You are a lifesaver.
Maeve: You’d do the same for me if i needed it.
And she would. Maeve had met Callie when she was in community college in Ocala, earning her business administration degree. The met in class one day, hitting if off like fire and kindling, and since then, they’d been more like sisters than friends. After graduation, Maeve had applied for a job at White and got it. For her, the rest was history. For Callie, however, being a single mom made things more difficult. It took her a year longer than Maeve to graduate, and after she moved to Nashville to be closer to her brother, she could only find part-time work because she had to take care of Lexi, too. Unfortunately, the job she had was downsized, and she was scrambling to find something that would pay what she needed to take care of her child.
When she’d heard Callie needed help, Maeve offered what she could: a place to stay. A place where Callie and Lexi could start over.
Maeve: When should i roll out the red carpet?
Callie: Ha. Ha. We should be there thursday night, if we can get the rest of this place packed up in time. Do you still have that place for storage?
Maeve had asked Blaze if Callie could store her storage pod in the Harris Construction parking lot, and he’d said yes. The backmost part of the lot was just dirt, and no one parked there. The pod was roughly the size of a Dodge van, so it wouldn’t take up too much space, and Callie could get to it easily if she needed to. And it only needed to be there until Callie could afford a place of her own.
Maeve: Yup. Everything is all set.
Callie: You don’t know how much this means to us, mae. Love you!
Maeve: Can’t wait to see you and the munchkin. Love you, too!
With a real smile on her face for the first time since Denise the Destroyer strutted into town, Maeve changed into comfy clothes and threw a Marie Callender’s meal in the microwave. It was a chicken, beans, and rice kind of night. Too bad she was out of tequila. She’d have to have Sally over next week, then she’d have enough booze to last her the next two months.
Meal in hand, Maeve plopped down onto her couch, grabbed the Roku remote from the coffee table, and turn on the TV. Perhaps she’d rewatch Grimm again. God, she loved her some Detective Nick Burkhardt. And that blutbad wasn’t too bad on the eyes, either.
A knock at the door made Maeve tense. It was seven o’clock on a Friday night. Most people she knew were out having fun, or staying in with their significant others. Suddenly wary, Maeve dropped the TV remote and headed to the door. The peephole revealed something she wasn’t expecting in a hundred years.
Sliding the chain lock off, she opened the door just enough to peer at the man standing in the hallway of her apartment building.
“AJ? What are you doing here?” Dear Lord, was that her breathy, squeaky voice? She sounded like Gadget from Chip & Dale: Rescue Rangers!
