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“Marriage.”
“It’s fake?” Maggie’s eyes look like they are about to pop out of her head. “Their relationship is fake?”
Celeste shrugs. “I honestly have no idea.”
I rub the back of my neck. “It can’t be fake, right? I mean, you guys saw them at the cabin.”
Celeste leans her head back until it touches the wall behind her. “I don’t know, but something happened, and it isn’t good.”
Maggie shivers. I run my eyes up and down her – she looks exhausted.
“Why don’t I take you home?” I say.
She glances over at Celeste who nods. “Yeah. Go. There’s nothing you can do here. Elizabeth is going to be fine. Get some rest.”
Celeste’s phone buzzes. “Got to take this.”
She steps forward and kisses Maggie on the cheek. “Love you.”
As soon as she leaves, Maggie says, “I can’t go back to my house tonight.”
“You can stay with me.”
I take her to a hotel and help her undress. Her clothes are ruined. I run a bath and throw her clothes in the trash.
“It’s ready,” I nod toward the water and help lower her in, careful not to get the bandages on her arm wet.
She closes her eyes, and I pick up a washcloth and dip it in the water. I move it over her other arm, her neck, the sides of her face. After about ten minutes, she opens her eyes and says, “I’m done.”
I grab a towel and a robe.
“You hungry?” I ask as she slips into the robe.
She shakes her head. “I can’t eat.”
I pull her into an embrace, and she sighs and lets her body sag into mine. I hold the back of her neck and say, “It’s over now.”
“I’m tired,” she whispers. I grab a t-shirt from my carryon bag and toss it to her and then I strip down to my underwear. We crawl into bed together. She rests her face on my bare chest and starts to cry again. I stroke her hair as her tears fall onto my skin. I hold her like this until she falls asleep.
Maggie and Declan Text Thread
Declan: Everything okay today?
Maggie: You don’t have to text me that twice a day.
Declan: I do.
Maggie: Declan Sterling, are you worried about me? I didn’t think you were capable of worry.
Declan: Just need to know you aren’t being held at gunpoint again, that’s all.
Maggie: I’m fine. It’s a perfectly normal day. I’m in London for work, actually. It’s super hard to own a gun here. I’m extra safe.
Declan: Smart people. You’ll let me know if any men show up at your door with guns, knives, spears, swords, crossbows, etc.?
Maggie: You’ll be the first person I’ll call if someone comes to my door with a spear.
