Magnolia and Moonlight

by Iris Abbott

  NINE

  Maggie swayed to the music playing in her head. “What a great gig! We never got to play on the beach when we lived in Atlanta!” The weekly live music featuring local musicians was sponsored by a well-known resort with marina and beach access.

  “We spend most of our time in bars and clubs. Got to talk to Violet about getting us more outdoor gigs,” Lily insisted.

  “Especially on or near the beach!” Maggie happily exclaimed.

  Holly wasn’t convinced. “It’s all fun and games until lightning strikes, or the rain drowns us. Though maybe the rain would get rid of some of these dreadful bugs.” She slapped her arm and swatted the air around her face. “See what I mean!”

  “I’m just glad we have some room to breathe when it comes to gigs,” Rose declared.

  All four ladies agreed. The publicity the band got because of Rose’s stalker resulted in local airtime in Atlanta and Charleston for a couple of their songs. The attention also resulted in a surge of downloads. They were making two hundred percent more in royalties than they made at the same time the year before. The difference was a nice financial boon for all of them.

  “I miss Daisy,” Holly suddenly announced. No one had mentioned the former band member in a while.

  Maggie was close enough to feel Rose stiffen and stumble. She reached out to steady her friend. Graceful as ever, the lead singer righted herself without falling. Maggie gave Rose’s arm a comforting squeeze.

  “We all miss her. Anyone heard from her lately?” Rose wanted to know.

  “Nope,” Maggie quickly answered. “Still giving all of us the cold shoulder.”

  “Guess she needs more time,” Lily replied in a wobbly voice. “The new guy’s not so bad. He takes care of all the sound equipment and does the heavy lifting for us when Jeremy and Marcus aren’t around.”

  “Yeah, where are they anyway? Figured Marcus at least would be here since he’s been glued to Maggie’s side lately,” Holly teased. “Not that I’m complaining, y’all are adorable together, and you’ve been the happiest I’ve ever seen you the last few weeks.”

  Maggie’s heart warmed. “I am happy!” She danced a circle around her friends. “Marcus is with his buddies.”

  “Ben got released from the hospital this afternoon. They spent the day getting his place in shape, moving things around, stocking the fridge and pantry, that sort of thing. The core group of guys from Barrett Security stayed over for a barbeque,” Rose answered.

  “I got a message from Marcus right before we started our set,” Maggie added. “He said that physically Ben is improving nicely, but he’s still down in the dumps and feeling sorry for himself. It’s gonna be a long road.”

  “Well, I don’t know him as well as you and Rose,” Lily chimed into the conversation. “But if he’s anything like Jeremy and Marcus, sitting on the sidelines at a desk job probably feels like the kiss of death,” she theorized.

  “It’d be like one of us breaking an arm and not being able to make music, or Rose getting laryngitis and not being able to sing,” Holly interjected.

  “Yeah, it sucks,” Maggie agreed. “A broken arm heals. Laryngitis goes away. It’s all temporary. Ben’s limp, though, might not be.”

  “It’s too early to tell,” Rose quickly added. “It might take a while and lots of physical therapy, but he could be good as new.”

  Maggie did not think Rose looked convinced. However, she kept the negative thought to herself. She was about to change the subject when the sounds of a scuffle reached her ears.

  “Leave me alone, James!”

  The woman’s desperate screech put Maggie on high alert. She turned her head in the direction of the commotion. A tall, slightly overweight man pulled on the arm of a much smaller woman, dragging her toward a parked car.

  “We broke up two weeks ago, asshole,” the woman yelled at the man. “I’m not going anywhere with you. Let go!”

  “We aren’t done until I say we’re done,” the man yelled back.

  “Damn, looks like trouble,” Rose mumbled.

  Maggie’s pulse sped up until her heart hammered against her chest. Her muscles quivered with rage. She watched the man drag the woman a step closer to the vehicle. Even though the lady appeared to have dug in her heels, she was no match for the man’s size and strength.

  “We have to do something,” Maggie insisted.

  “The resort has security, and we can call the police,” Lily suggested.

  Maggie did not want to wait. She sprang into action. “Hey, you!” she screamed at the top of her lungs to distract the bully. She sprinted toward the battling couple as fast as she could, screaming the whole way there.

  “Shit,” Holly exclaimed before she took off after Maggie. “This is about to get ugly, call 9-1-1!” Maggie heard her friend call out to the others. Footsteps pounded behind her, and she knew Holly followed her.

  James, as the other woman had called him, glanced up. His eyes widened a second before he puffed out his chest and glared at Maggie. She did not slow her approach until she was about five feet from the couple.

  “Mind your own business, bitch.”

  Maggie noted that the man no longer yanked on the woman, but he still had a hold of her arm. Though she bristled at the insult, she did not verbally acknowledge the aggressor. She was careful, however, not to turn her back on him or let him out of her sight.

  “Do you want to go with this man?” she asked the lady.

  The woman visibly trembled. She emphatically shook her head from side to side. “No!” she firmly answered.

  Maggie squared off with the bully who still grasped the woman’s skinny arm in his meaty fist. “Let! Her! Go!” She emphasized every word, hoping the power in her voice would be strong enough to make the man back down.

  She felt her friends at her back. The bully might be stronger, but he was outnumbered five to one. Those were not the best of odds for anyone, so she would take her chances.

  He sent a hateful glare Maggie’s way, but he let go of the woman. She backed away from her tormentor, but before she could get out of his reach, he shoved. The woman flailed her hands in the air a second before she toppled backward, hitting the asphalt.

  The women gasped in unison.

  Maggie rushed toward the downed woman. “You all right?” she asked as she leaned down to help the victim to her feet.

  “Maggie! Watch out!” She heard Rose’s warning but could not heed it fast enough. A tug registered a second before the stinging bite in her scalp. Her neck was wrenched to the side from the vicious yank of her hair. Maggie squealed in pain.

  Flashes of the attack by her ex jolted through her mind. Her stomach hardened. Her chest tightened. She could cower down and be another victim or take a stand and fight.

  Maggie screamed as loud as she could. At the same time, she fisted her hands together and swung her arms outward, hoping to make contact with her attacker. A satisfied oomph told Maggie she hit her target.

  The tight hold on her hair loosened. Maggie sidestepped, trying to get away from her attacker. The man recovered faster than she moved. One final yank and a giant shove sent her careening into the car. The side of her head slammed against the car door.

  “Hey! Asshole!” Maggie heard Rose exclaim. “Leave my friend alone!”

  A large rock flew by her. Maggie instinctively closed her eyes. A thud followed by several curse words reverberated through her mind. A loud slam and roar of an engine thundered in her ears. Soft hands reached for Maggie and pulled her out of the way just as the driver burned rubber and shot out of the parking lot.

  Maggie gingerly rubbed the side of her head but immediately dropped her hand. “Oww!”

  Rose wrapped a supporting arm around Maggie’s waist. “Are you all right?”

  “Gonna have one hell of a headache, but pretty sure I’m gonna live,” Maggie answered.

  Lily and Holly crowded around them.

  “Y’all are brave, crazy, or both,” Holly informed them.


  “Yeah, Maggie charged in like an avenging angel, and Rose nailed that sucker right in the stomach. Hope it hurts like a bitch!” Lily exclaimed.

  “Definitely got what he deserved,” Holly said, “but I’ve haven’t been so scared since we dodged bullets at that Savannah gig.”

  “Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry,” an unfamiliar voice pushed into the conversation. “I knew James’s behavior was out of control, it’s why I broke up with him, but I didn’t think he was crazy enough to try and kidnap me or assault another woman!” She wrung her hands together. “There’s no telling what might have happened to me if I’d gotten in that car,” she confessed in a halting voice.

  She stared at Maggie with wide eyes that glistened with unshed tears. “Thank you. You probably saved my life,” the woman acknowledged. She wrapped her arms around her middle and sniffed.

  “You’re welcome,” Maggie croaked in a hoarse voice.

  A group of onlookers gathered around them.

  The wail of a siren pierced the night air. “I called 9-1-1,” Lily explained.

  The police cruiser flew into the parking lot and came to a halt several feet from them. Two officers stepped out of the vehicle and worked to disperse the crowd.

  Lily raised her arms and waved them in the air. “Over here, I’m the one who called in to report the assaults. The guy left, but I got his plate number and vehicle description. Also, one of the victims knows him, so she can give you a name,” Lily informed the two men who intently listened to her.

  A dull ache began in the temple near where she hit her head. Maggie pressed and rubbed the area. She was going to have a killer headache to match the growing bump.

  The officers divided and conquered, splitting up the group to question them. The stranger introduced herself as Donna Ward and proceeded to tell the first officer what happened.

  She gave her name and contact information to the second officer and answered his questions. Maggie gave a detailed account of what she witnessed before she intervened, followed by the assault against her. “And before you ask, yes, I’m pressing charges!”

  “Me too!” Donna said. “I probably owe these women my life. Thank God, they didn’t look the other way and mind their own business like so many others would have.”

  Maggie’s head throbbed. “I could use a pain killer and some sleep.” She squeezed her eyes shut, but the ache did not diminish.

  The officers left, promising to keep Maggie and Donna informed on the progress in the case.

  Donna exchanged numbers with Holly and Lily and promised to be in touch as well. Maggie thought she and the other woman might have a lot to talk about, but Maggie certainly was not fit for a heart-wrenching conversation right then.

  Maggie took a step toward Lily’s car and groaned. The jolt of her movement was akin to a hammer slamming into the side of her head.

  “We’re going to the hospital,” Lily insisted.

  “Not necessary,” Maggie whispered.

  “You could have a concussion,” Holly added. “So, yeah, it’s necessary.”

  They helped Maggie into the front passenger seat of Lily’s car.

  “I’ll be right behind you,” Rose promised before she slipped into her vehicle parked one space over.

  ****

  The double doors swished open. Marcus skidded through the entrance and came to an abrupt stop a few feet into the emergency room of the local hospital. Slowing his pace did nothing to decrease the rapid beat of his heart. The organ pounded almost double time since Jeremy told him Rose called to say Maggie was assaulted and on her way to the emergency room.

  He looked all around, even behind him. Uncomfortable, plastic chairs held people with various injuries and illnesses. What he did not see was anyone familiar.

  Marcus tuned out the low murmur of several private conversations. He disregarded the whimper of pain to his right. He ignored the siren that signaled the arrival of an ambulance.

  He really hated hospitals. His nose twitched from the combined sting of cleaning products, antiseptic, and filtered air imbued with the unpleasant stench of vomit and body odor. Marcus walked with jerky movements to the information desk. He was almost there when he heard someone call his name. He spun to the side and saw Rose wildly wave both of her hands at him.

  Marcus changed direction and stalked toward his friend. “How is Maggie?” he demanded to know when he was close enough to be heard without yelling. “Where is she? What happened?” He fired off the questions without pause.

  Rose touched his arm. “Well, hello to you,” she greeted in a teasing manner. Marcus did not return the greeting or the gesture. He crossed his arms over his chest and raised his brows. He needed answers.

  She shook her head, and her smile widened. “Jeremy’s right, you do have it bad.”

  He narrowed his eyes to slits but did not verbally respond to the taunt.

  “Relax, Marcus. The doctor finished his exam, and Maggie’s about to be released. She’s got a mild concussion with headache and some nausea. Otherwise, she’s fine.”

  Most of the tension left his body, and Marcus slumped against the nearby wall.

  “She needs to be under observation for the next couple of days to make sure she doesn’t have any dizzy spells or increased head pain,” Rose continued. “Luckily, Maggie has a hard head.” Rose grinned, probably in an ill-fated attempt to lighten the mood. It did not work.

  Marcus gritted his teeth. He really hated to repeat himself, especially when the answer was important. The call Rose made to Jeremy was short on details, and Marcus imagined all types of worst-case scenarios on his drive to the hospital. “Rose,” he snapped to get her attention. “What the hell happened?”

  “Sorry, guess I should have started there, but it’s been a long night.” She rubbed both hands over her face. “We finished the gig, which was spectacular, by the way, and were on our way to the parking lot when all hell broke loose.” She told him about the attempted kidnapping, how Maggie rushed in to help the other woman, and the attack that caused Maggie to hit her head.

  His jaws clenched. His lips pinched tighter with every word Rose uttered. “No wonder she didn’t call me herself,” he muttered.

  Maggie and her two roommates joined them. She wobbled between the other two women as they walked. “Hey,” she greeted him. “Guess you heard about the accident, huh?”

  His eyes narrowed to the point where he could barely see. “Accident?” Marcus put his hands on his hips. “I’d hardly call rushing into danger head-first an accident,” he told her. “The self-defense class was supposed to teach you how to defend yourself if you’re attacked, not turn you into a vigilante looking for trouble and taking unnecessary risks.”

  A flush crept across Maggie’s cheeks. She cringed and slanted her body away from him. “We weren’t looking for trouble,” she insisted.

  “Yet you found it anyway,” he pointed out.

  “Maggie was brave,” Holly proudly informed him.

  Marcus grunted. “She ended up in the emergency room. I wouldn’t call that brave. I’d call it stupid.”

  All four women gasped.

  Maggie looked at him with wounded eyes. The look said a thousand words without her uttering a syllable.

  His belly knotted. An imaginary heaviness settled on his shoulders. He regretted the words almost immediately, but he didn’t get a chance to do damage control.

  “You of all people should know why I wasn’t going to stand by and let a man hurt a woman.” Maggie gently massaged her temples. “My head hurts. I’ve got bruises forming as we speak. Can we not do this right now?”

  A weary sigh slipped past her lips. Marcus reached out to touch her, but she shied away from his hand. Marcus swallowed hard.

  “I really want to go home, climb into bed, and forget tonight ever happened.”

  “Come home with me, I’ll take care of you,” he offered.

  “Not tonight,” she told him in a wobbly voice that made his heart hurt.
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br />   Her friends closed ranks around her and walked away from him. Marcus watched them go with what felt like the weight of the world resting on his shoulders. He messed up big time, and he knew it.

  TEN

  Maggie studied the large rack of nail polishes displayed on the wall. Instead of choosing a blue-green, beige, or pale pink color that reminded her of the ocean, she picked out a more somber blue-gray shade. It was reminiscent of a stormy afternoon and certainly fit her mood. She grabbed the bottle and returned to the comfortable seats where Rose, Holly, and Lily waited for her. She slipped out of her flipflops and put her feet in the bath.

  Lily sighed. “This is heaven. Glad we could fit in some girl time.”

  “Yeah, well,” Rose said as she shook the bottle of her signature rose-red polish, “one of us needed it more than the rest of us.” She pointedly stared at Maggie.

  “Not to be nosey or anything, but what’s up with you and Marcus, anyway?” Holly wanted to know

  Maggie felt the weight of her friends’ stares land on her. She glanced around the room at the stakes of towels, rows of polish remover, lotion, cotton balls, and clippers, anywhere but at her buddies. She rubbed her damp palms down the front of her shorts. “Don’t really know,” she admitted.

  “That sucks. He hasn’t called or anything?” Lily wanted to know. “I thought he was really into you.”

  Maggie swiftly glanced at her friends from beneath lowered lashes. The three other band members looked at her with slack mouths and wide eyes. No one said anything for several long seconds. The low and soothing sounds of chimes and running water suddenly seemed a lot louder.

  She breathed deep. The musky incense and soothing scents of grapefruit, lavender, and lemongrass calmed her frazzled nerves. Maggie cleared her throat. “Umm, he called a couple of times, but I didn’t answer,” she admitted. “He also sent a few messages asking how I’m doing. I replied, letting him know I was fine, and that was that.”

  She rubbed her hands together as if washing away something. If only it were that easy to rid yourself of confusion and insecurities.