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Was nothing he said getting through to her? “Maggie, this thing you think is going to happen between us, won’t.” Blake said it gently, but he needed her to know he was serious.
She leaned back in her seat and looked like she wanted to respond, but the waitress took that moment to bring their drinks. Once she left, the silence filled the space between them. Maggie’s stare was trained on him and calculating.
“So, you must not care about all the work we have accomplished or the grant money that helps us achieve that.” Maggie showed no emotion and brought her coffee cup to her lips.
“You know I care about the work we do here, but blackmailing me for something you thought you saw is immoral.” A hint of emotion played across her face. Her jaw tightened just a fraction, and the corner of her eye twitched.
“What IthinkI saw? You had her on your lap and were doing inappropriate things in the office. How is that proper?”
Is she fucking kidding?
“Really, Maggie? How proper is telling me that if I’m not available when you need me, then you’re going to the head of the department and telling him what I did on company time?” Still, she didn’t crack that damn façade she held so close. “I’ve known you for years, worked beside you tirelessly, but the woman I see right now is not the Maggie I know. You are calling me constantly, taking me away from important things to come here and talk about nothing at all. You tell me you need help after hours in organizing and filing the specimens, yet all you do is grill me on my relationship with Poppy.”
“Please, Blake, don’t say stuff like that. I’m still the Maggie you know.” Her eyes were big, pleading, but he had seen too many shifts in her emotions to know what was real and what wasn’t.
When he didn’t respond, she narrowed her eyes and thinned her lips.
“You think what you have with her is a relationship?” She started to laugh, but it held a strange note to it and sounded humorless. “Sleeping with a woman who’s only been here for what, a month, six weeks, is far from what I would consider a relationship.” She leaned forward and instantly looked so earnest. “I’ve been by your side for years, Blake,years. We share something special. Don’t you see?”
He shook his head. This conversation had already veered way off course. “Poppy isn’t up for discussion.”
“No? It seems likesheis the reason we’re even having this discussion.” Maggie’s voice dropped lower. “Seems she is the reason we are even in this situation to begin with.” Blake noticed how her eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared. This anger and sudden hostility he saw in Maggie were new to him. The years he spent with her prior to Poppy coming to Blithe had been anything but memorable. She was quiet and reserved and certainly didn’t show any kind of anger. The woman in front of him was like a stranger.
“I want to know why you’re willing to give up everything for this woman.” The switch in her flipped again, and she was once again calm and seemingly unaffected.
Blake sure as hell wasn’t going to talk about Poppy. “Listen, I guess I just need you to know that this is over. I’m all about keeping our work relationship professional, but what youthinkis going on here won’t happen.” He dug out a few bills and tossed them to the table. Blake stood and said, “You do whatever you have to do. If that means telling the department about what you saw Poppy and me doing, then so be it.” He knew it was so much more than what Maggie saw. She looked for any excuse to bridge the gap between coworkers and lovers.
He turned to leave, but her hand shot out and gripped his forearm. “What about us, Blake?”
He gripped her hand and pried it off his arm. “There is no us, Maggie. I’m sorry.” He turned to leave, knowing there was only one place he’d rather be, one person he’d rather see. Poppy’s face flashed through his mind, and he let the image and thought of her soothe him.
When he got in the Yukon, he pulled out his cell and dialed her number. It was late, but he wanted to hear her voice. It rang and rang, and when he thought she wouldn’t answer, her sleepy voice filled the line.
“Poppy, love, I’m sorry to wake you.” Shuffling sounded on the other end.
“Blake? Where are you?” He had left her a note, but clearly she hadn’t woken up and found it since he left. He didn’t want to go through all of this over the phone. He had so much to explain to her, and he needed to do that in person.
“I’m sorry I’m not there, sweetheart. I had to meet up with Maggie.”
“Maggie?” She sounded confused but awake.
“Yeah, but I’ll explain everything once I’m home.” Letting his head fall back against the headrest, Blake closed his eyes and exhaled. “I’ve caused a big mess, baby.” The sound of her breathing calmed him further, and he knew there was no other woman for him, no other person who could heal his broken heart and bring his life meaning like she could.
A beat of silence passed, and she said, “Okay, but please be careful driving.” Blake looked out his window, watched the steady fall of snow around the vehicle, and smiled.
“Always, sweetheart. I have something very important waiting at home for me.” There was more shuffling on the other end, and he pictured her naked in the bed. “I love you, sweetheart, and I’ll be home soon.”
“I love you too, Blake, so much.”
And with those words, he knew that no matter what happened in his life, everything would be okay as long as Poppy was by his side.
He cranked the engine and pulled out of the parking lot.
The sound of the windshield wipers swishing back and forth filled the interior. The snow started to come down harder and cover the road, but he was used to the inclement weather. Bright lights flashed in his rearview mirror, and he adjusted it to lessen the glare.
Swish, swish, swish. The sound of the wipers moving back and forth had an almost lulling quality. The car behind him got closer, and closer, and he looked in the mirror. The roads were far too slick and dangerous for someone to be driving so close to him, but he refused to speed up and put some distance between them.
It wasn’t lost on him that the car made the same turns as he did and made sure to keep up with him. This far into town meant the roads were dead, especially when he turned onto the back road that would lead him closer to his house. That road had practically no traffic during the day, and zero this late at night.
