Finding Forever: Treading Water Series, Book 5

by Force, Marie

  “What? No, you don’t.”

  “Yes, I do,” she said with a low chuckle. “So far you’ve seen me appearing to nap at work, caught me staring at you and made me cry by being nice to me.”

  “Don’t forget the talking to yourself.”

  Maggie covered her face with her hands.

  Laughing, he nudged her shoulder. “None of those things are fatal flaws in a boss. Trust me, I’ve had much worse.”

  She dropped her hands and glanced at him. “Sorry to hear that.”

  He shrugged. “Sometimes people suck.”

  “Yes, they do.” Maggie knew she absolutely should not confide in this perfect stranger who now worked for her, but there was something about him that had her wanting to tell him. Perhaps it was the same something that made horses trust him so implicitly. “There was a guy in New York, a lawyer I knew through work. I was a court interpreter for the hearing impaired.”

  “Wow, that’s a cool job.”

  “My brother Eric is hearing impaired. I learned so I could communicate with him and turned it into a career after grad school when I couldn’t find a job in family counseling.” She pulled at some grass to have something to do with her hands. “The guy, Ethan, he always made a point of finding me, flirting with me and asking me out. I had him pegged as a hopeless flirt and a player, so I resisted for months before I finally agreed to dinner the week before Christmas. We had a nice time, and I was surprised that I actually liked him more than I thought I would. After dinner, he insisted on seeing me home. I thought he was being a gentleman, but…”

  Brayden’s hand covered hers, giving a reassuring squeeze that reminded her that he was right there, which helped her to find the words to finish the story.

  “When I opened my apartment door, he pushed me in ahead of him, closed the door and locked it. It happened so fast, I didn’t even realize what was happening until he was on me. In the struggle, I dropped my keys—and my pepper spray was on the keyring—my phone, everything I had that could help me.”

  A sob erupted from her throat, the horror of it washing over her with new revulsion, as if it had happened yesterday rather than months ago.

  Brayden sat up, put his arm around her, silently encouraging her to lean on him. “Is this okay?”

  She nodded. The relief of telling someone was so profound that Maggie forgot about him being her employee and took the comfort he offered so willingly.

  “I fought him. I’d had self-defense training in a previous job, and I knew where to hit.”

  “Good,” Brayden said, running his hand over her back in soothing circles.

  “I got him in the groin with my knee, pushed him off me and ran from my apartment. I didn’t have anything with me, not my phone or purse or a coat. I just walked for hours before I could bring myself to go home to see if he was still there. I know I should’ve called the cops, but I was afraid it would be his word against mine and that he’d have the advantage because he was a well-known defense attorney.”

  “I can see why you’d think that.”

  “With hindsight, I can see I wasn’t thinking straight. I never should’ve gone back there alone, but without my phone, I had no way to get in touch with anyone, and besides, I didn’t want anyone to know what’d happened.”

  “I’m terrified thinking about you going back there alone after what he’d done.”

  “I barely remember doing it, but I do remember being so scared. The door was ajar, the lights were on, but thank God, he was gone. I found my keys and the pepper spray my dad had given me when I moved to the city, even though it’s illegal there, and I kept it in my hand as I went through every inch of the apartment while keeping the door open, just in case.

  “That must’ve been so scary.”

  “I was shaking the whole time.”

  “Of course you were.”

  “When I realized he was truly gone, I closed and locked the door and then sank to the floor and sobbed for hours. I couldn’t move.”

  “I’m so, so sorry that happened to you, Maggie.”

  She wiped tears from her face. “Thanks for listening.”

  “Did you report him?”

  “No, and I hate myself for that, but I was convinced he’d find a way to turn it all around on me. The next morning, I called my boss and quit my job so I’d never have to see him again. When I came here for Christmas a couple of days after this happened, I heard what Reid and Kate had planned for Matthews House and jumped at the chance to be their director, even though I’m probably not the best person for the job.”

  “Why would you say that? It’s obvious you care so much about the clients and the program.”

  “I do care, but I’m figuring it out as I go. Sometimes I think they might’ve been better served by someone who’s more experienced.”

  “I think they’re being very well served by you, and the rest of your staff thinks so, too.”

  That was news to her. “How do you know that?”

  “I did my due diligence before taking the job. I talked to people when I came for the interview, before you got back from the hospital the first day I was here. I wanted to make sure it would be a good fit for me before I agreed to it.”

  “Oh.”

  “You’re doing great, Maggie. The residents know how much you care, and that’s the first key to success in this field.” He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. “You couldn’t tell your sisters what happened?”

  She shook her head. “I just couldn’t bring myself to ruin Kate’s wedding last Christmas, then Jill and Ashton got engaged, and everyone was having such a good time being together. It was the first time our entire family was together for Christmas in years.”

  “I’m sure they would’ve wanted to know you were suffering.”

  “They would have, but I didn’t want to revisit the whole thing. I still don’t.”

  “Could I say one more thing?”

  She grunted out a laugh. “Since I’ve spilled my guts all over you, you can say whatever you want.”

  “You really ought to tell someone.”

  Maggie raised her head from his chest and looked up at him. “I just did.”

  Maggie’s story left Brayden feeling deeply unsettled for the rest of the day. After returning to the stables, he’d offered to care for both horses since he could tell she was wrung out after their conversation. She’d gratefully accepted and had headed inside to get some much-needed rest.

  Then he’d taken care of feeding the rest of the horses and cleaned the stalls he hadn’t gotten to earlier since Derek was still not feeling well. Maggie had said she hadn’t gotten a chance to check on the older man.

  “I did,” Brayden had told her. “He’s okay. He ate some soup that Mitch sent over and is feeling better.”

  “That’s good,” she’d said.

  He’d sensed she hadn’t had the bandwidth for anything but good news about Derek.

  Hours later, he was alone in his apartment, trying to watch a movie, but all he could think about was her being attacked by that guy in New York and how the asshole had gotten away with it. Combating injustice was a central theme of his life. It had caused him trouble more than once, and if he wasn’t careful, it could cause him trouble again.

  Maggie’s situation was none of his business beyond what she’d already shared with him. He needed to remember that and be thankful she’d chosen to share it with him, because keeping something like that to herself for all this time hadn’t been healthy for her.

  When he’d said she ought to tell someone, he’d meant the police. Telling him was an important step in her recovery, but he wanted her to have justice, too, although he understood her reluctance to report it.

  “Not your business, man,” he muttered as he stared at the TV with eyes that saw nothing but sweet, lovely Maggie being attacked by a man who’d gotten away with it.

  Brayden picked up his phone and opened the message screen. He looked at it for a long time before he entered Maggie’s name i
nto the address line.

  Just checking to see if you’re okay. This is Brayden BTW.

  He read and reread the text several times before he hit Send. And then he put his phone aside and told himself to butt out of her life and her business. She’d shared with him in a weak moment brought on by unexpected contact from the douchebag who’d attacked her. Otherwise, she probably never would’ve told him.

  An hour after he sent the text, he was still telling himself he needed to respect her privacy and give her some space. But he wanted to go over there, knock on her door, make sure she was all right and hadn’t been retraumatized by talking about it.

  “Fuck,” he said on a low growl as he ran his hands through his hair with rough impatience. He had no idea what he should do.

  No, wait, that wasn’t true. He knew exactly what he should do, and fuck all the reasons why it might not be wise.

  He pulled on boots, tucked his phone into his back pocket and went across the yard to the kitchen entrance.

  Inside, Mitch was standing guard over something on the stove. The guy was scary intense and an excellent cook, from what Brayden had experienced thus far.

  “What’s up?” Mitch asked.

  “Is Maggie around?”

  “I haven’t seen her. She probably crashed after the sleepless night.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure. Would it be okay if I knocked on her door? I need to ask her something.”

  Mitch directed a steely stare in his direction, but Brayden refused to blink. He was determined to check on her, even if it started tongues wagging in the house. Brayden was more concerned about her than he was about idle gossip.

  “Sure,” Mitch finally said. “Third door on the left.”

  “Thank you.” Feeling the heat of Mitch’s stare on his back, Brayden stepped into the hallway and went to the third door on the left. He hesitated for a moment before raising his hand to knock.

  No response.

  He knocked again, louder this time.

  The door flew open, revealing a sleepy-eyed Maggie, her long dark hair a wild nest around her head. “What?”

  “Sorry to disturb you. I wanted to check on you to make sure you’re, you know, all right after we talked earlier.”

  “I’m all right.”

  “Okay. Sorry again to wake you.”

  “It’s all right. I had to get up anyway.”

  “I’ll, um, I’ll go, then.” He started to walk away.

  “Brayden.”

  Turning back, he raised a brow.

  “Do you want to meet my niece?”

  The question stunned him, so much so, he waited too long to reply.

  She cringed. “Never mind. That’s weird. I know. I’m weird sometimes. And I’ll just shut up now.”

  Ridiculously charmed, Brayden smiled. “I’d love to meet your niece.”

  Chapter 9

  Maggie drove them to Kate’s, all the while wondering what the hell she’d been thinking when she’d invited Brayden to go with her. Kate probably wouldn’t want a stranger in her house the night she brought her baby home, but the words had been out of Maggie’s mouth before she’d fully thought them through.

  Her emotions were a jumbled-up mess after the roller-coaster ride of the last twenty-four hours. She knew she ought to regret the way she’d unloaded on Brayden earlier, but she didn’t. Not at all. Rather, she felt relieved. She’d told someone. Finally. And he’d provided the perfect amount of support and outrage.

  She took a tentative glance at him in the passenger seat. “I want to thank you for listening before.”

  “I’d say it was a pleasure, but I hate what happened to you.”

  “Obviously, I need you to keep it to yourself.”

  “Of course. I’d never repeat something like that.”

  “Thanks.”

  “How do you feel after talking about it?”

  “I was just thinking that I expected to feel regret, but relief is the prevailing emotion. I feel bad that I dumped my shit on you when you work with me—”

  “Can we just get past that? You’re in charge around the house. No question. But I run my own program, so technically, you’re not really my boss. You’re letting me run my program in conjunction with yours.”

  Maggie chuckled at his logic. “That’s very clever thinking.”

  “If it makes it possible for us to be friends, then let’s run with it.”

  “You want to be friends?”

  “I sort of thought that’s what happened out there today. Two people who didn’t know each other a few weeks ago got to know each other, shared some personal shit and offered support to each other.”

  “The support was kind of one-sided.”

  “Not entirely. I haven’t told too many people about what happened to my mom. I appreciated being able to tell you that. And I suspect you don’t invite just anyone to come with you to your famous sister’s house.”

  “I’ve never brought anyone with me.”

  “See? We’re already friends. So quit acting like you’re the boss of me.”

  Maggie laughed. “Insubordinate already. I see how this is gonna go.”

  “You found me out.”

  Maggie continued to question the wisdom of inviting Brayden to come with her. Would Kate be pissed that she’d brought a stranger to her home on this of all nights? Ugh, probably… Shit. Well, too late to back out now.

  And why had she invited him anyway? He’d been so sweet to come check on her, and the invitation had popped out before she’d taken even a second to ask whether it was appropriate. Hopefully, Kate would forgive her.

  The trip from Matthews House in Brentwood to Kate’s place in Hendersonville was about thirty minutes, most of it on I-440. As Maggie took a right onto the dirt road that led to Kate’s estate, she glanced over at Brayden. “I don’t need to worry about you becoming a crazy stalker or anything, do I?”

  His low chuckle made her smile. “As I’ve mentioned, I’m a huge fan of your sister’s music.”

  “Are you going to be able to hold it together?”

  “Doubtful. I’m probably gonna fangirl all over her.”

  Maggie groaned dramatically. “You’ll have to stay in the car, then. She just had a baby. She’s not open for fangirling tonight.”

  “I’ll see if I can control myself.”

  And he was funny. “You do that.”

  Maggie wasn’t surprised to see Jill’s Mercedes parked outside, but she hadn’t been expecting Buddy and Taylor’s Range Rover.

  Uh-oh.

  “This house is incredible. Is it a log cabin?”

  “Yep, and an A-frame. When everyone came for Christmas last year, Reid built a mini version of the house that they call the bunkhouse. Wait till you see it all in the daylight. It’s awesome.” And Maggie realized she’d just inferred that he’d be coming with her again sometime. Great. “Um, how do you feel about Buddy Longstreet and Taylor Jones?”

  “Is that a rhetorical question?”

  “Unfortunately, no.”

  “I’m going to lose my shit.”

  “Brayden! Come on! You have to hold it together. Act like you’ve been there.”

  “I’ve never been anywhere with Kate Harrington, Buddy Longstreet or Taylor Jones except for a massive stadium with fifty thousand other people.”

  “Do I need to have you wait in the car?”

  His low laughter pleased her. She liked making him laugh. “Nah, I’ll behave.”

  “Promise?”

  “I promise.”

  Maggie sent him a wary look, trying to decide if she could trust him.

  He laughed again. “Swear to God on a stack of Bibles. I’ll keep it cool, even if I’m freaking out on the inside.”

  “All right, then.” Maggie got out of the car and waited for him to follow her into the mudroom. “Hang here for one second. Let me scope it out.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Don’t call me ma’am.”

  “Sorry, ma’am.”
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  Maggie bit her lip to keep from laughing and tried to glare at him, but apparently, that fell flat, because he laughed.

  “Go on. I’ll stay here until you tell me the coast is clear. But hurry up. Buddy, Taylor and Kate are in there.” He shivered dramatically.

  “I’m going to kill you.” Maggie realized she’d never been this comfortable with any guy so soon after meeting him. She took that startling discovery with her into the kitchen, where Reid, Ashton and Buddy were gathered, beers in hand.

  “Hey, Maggie.” Reid came over to kiss her cheek. “Now the gang’s all here.”

  “How’re they doing?”

  If it was possible for a man to glow with happiness, Reid was incandescent, even if dark circles smudged the skin under his eyes. “Absolutely fantastic. Kate’s a trouper. You’d never know she just had a baby. And little Poppy is delightful.”

  “I’m going to go in and say hello.”

  “Please do. They’re in the great room.”

  “I, ah, I brought Brayden, our new equine therapy guy. I left him in the mudroom until I made sure that Kate doesn’t mind.”

  “She won’t mind,” Reid said, laughing. “Release the guy from time-out.”

  Maggie returned to the mudroom and gestured for Brayden to follow her into the kitchen. “Brayden Thomas, this is my brother-in-law, Reid Matthews, my future brother-in-law, Ashton Matthews, and our friend Buddy Longstreet.”

  To his credit, Brayden kept his shit together as he shook hands with each of the men and congratulated Reid on his new baby. To Buddy, he said, “I’m a huge fan.”

  “Thanks so much,” Buddy said. “You from around here?”

  “I am,” Brayden said. “Grew up outside of Nashville.”

  Maggie released a deep breath when she saw that Brayden was going to keep his promise to behave in front of the celebrities and went into the great room to find Kate on the sofa, surrounded by Jill, Taylor and Taylor’s daughter, Georgia, who was holding Poppy.

  “Welcome home, Kate and Poppy.” Maggie looked over Georgia’s shoulder at Poppy, who was sleeping. “God, she’s a cutie.”

  “Isn’t she?” Like her husband, Kate glowed with happiness even if she, too, looked exhausted.