Maggie pulled away, looked sadly at Justin and said, “I love you too, Justin. But I can’t.”
She buttoned her pants, got up off the couch and retreated into the kitchen. She picked up the phone off the hook and called Zak. He answered after the fifth ring. She said, “It’s me. Justin has had too much to drink and can’t drive us home. He wants to stay over with Spencer. Zak, I want to come home, can you please come and get me?”
“Maggie, it’s kind of late. Why don’t you just stay over at Spencer’s and come home in the morning?”
Maggie was quiet for a moment and then she said, “I think you know why.”
“Oh,” Zak replied. “O.k., I can come get you but it will take half an hour.”
“Thanks, Zak. I appreciate it.”
“No problem, sweetheart. I’ll see you soon.”
Maggie hung up the phone and went into the living room. Justin was awake and obviously had heard her making the call.
“Maggie, I probably could have driven you home.”
“No, that’s o.k. Zak is going to come and get me. You just go to sleep. We’ll see you tomorrow.”
Justin closed his eyes and was asleep in a minute or two. Maggie went into the kitchen and made some tea and waited for her ex-husband to rescue her.
.
Chapter 6
Half an hour later, Maggie saw some headlights through the back window and she heard Zak park the van in the gravel driveway. She turned on the back light and he walked up the steps and helped her down to the car. Maggie had an especially hard time seeing at night.
“Thanks Zak for coming to get me.”
“No problem Maggie, but what’s going on?”
“Oh god, I don’t really know. Justin and I are still attracted to each other, but I don’t want to do anything to hurt Tucker. He’s been so good to me and the kids.”
Zak sensed that Maggie was holding back something.
“Anything else going on?” he asked.
“Yes,” she admitted, “but I can’t talk about it yet.”
“O.k. Maggie,” and Zak didn’t press her any further.
They were quiet on the rest of the ride home. They pulled up in front of their house and Zak went inside to get Tucker whom he had recruited to babysit the kids while he went to get Maggie. Tucker emerged from the house looking a little groggy, he told them he had fallen asleep on the couch. Zak drove Tucker and Maggie down to Justin’s house and dropped them off. Fortunately, Tucker had left some lights on so they didn’t have any problems seeing to walk inside the house. Tucker and Maggie immediately went to bed without too much talk and quickly fell asleep.
The next morning, Maggie woke up in Tucker’s arms. She lay there quietly for a few minutes thinking about how safe and secure she felt when she was with him. She felt embraced in his love and knew that he would always protect and take care of her. After her visual cortex was damaged when she was hit by lightning at the bluegrass festival, she often felt incredibly vulnerable. She had trouble doing a lot of things that most people take for granted, like getting dressed for the day or seeing well enough so she could get around by herself. Since she wasn’t visibly impaired, most people didn’t realize that she couldn’t see and needed help. She joked that she should wear a sign saying “I am visually impaired, please help me,” but the reality was that this wasn’t too far from the truth. Tucker made it his mission to run interference for her and help her in every way he possibly could. The only problem was that this made her feel uncomfortably dependent sometimes, she wanted to do things for herself even while she was frustrated by the struggle. Zak had coddled her a lot less and expected her to try to function on her own. While she hadn’t always been successful at this endeavor, it had helped her maintain some independence. The more dependent she had become, the more she felt like she was truly disabled.
Tucker slowly opened his eyes and looked over at Maggie.
“Mornin’ darlin’,” he said. “How did it go? Did you have fun playing with your friends?”
“Yes, it was great to get together with Little Maggie again. We rehearsed some of the old songs and I gave them tapes of the new ones that we recorded in Nashville. They’re going to learn them, and then we’ll work out some arrangements. We’re going to rehearse again tomorrow,” Maggie said.
“What happened with Justin last night?”
“He and Spencer were partying a little too hard and he didn’t feel comfortable driving Zak’s Porsche home.”
“Why didn’t you just stay at Spencer’s?”
“Because I wanted to come back and be with you,” Maggie said and smiled at him. “I missed you, you know.”
“Well, I missed you darlin’ and I’m glad you’re here now.”
Tucker leaned over and kissed Maggie for a few minutes. Then they got up and got dressed and walked over to Zak’s house where everyone was sitting around having breakfast. Maggie and Tucker helped themselves to some cereal and coffee while the children made plans about what they wanted to do for the day. They had just decided on a trip to the zoo, when the Porsche roared down the driveway and parked in front of the house. Justin got out, and walked slowly into the house.
“Is there any coffee left?” he asked.
“Yes, and there’s orange juice in the refrigerator. Do you want some cereal?” Maggie said.
“No, I’m feeling a little under the weather. Coffee will be fine.”
He poured himself a mug of coffee and sat down at the table next to Maggie.
“I’m sorry, Maggie and Zak. I shouldn’t have had so much to drink last night since I was the one driving. It’s just that Spencer and I hadn’t seen each other in so long and we were partying a little too much.”
“No problem,” said Zak. “There were more than a few times when I was in no shape to drive and you helped me out.”
“Well don’t worry, it won’t happen again. I’ll be on my best behavior.” Justin gave Maggie a quick look so she knew that remark was aimed at her.
“The kids want us to take them to the zoo today. Do you want to go with us, Justin?” Maggie asked.
“I think I’ll stay behind and catch up on my sleep.”
Just then the phone in the kitchen rang and Zak answered it.
“It’s for you, Maggie. It’s the doctor’s office.”
Maggie felt butterflies in her stomach as she took the phone. She was quiet for a minute and then said, “O.k., ten o’clock tomorrow is fine.”
She hung up the phone and explained that the doctor wanted her to bring Jake back in because he needed to have his eyes checked. She gave Justin a long look and asked him if he could give them a ride over to the doctor’s office.
“Sure, Maggie. No problem,” he said looking extremely serious. “Do you want to go with us, Tucker?”
“If you want, I’m not doing anything else,” Tucker answered casually, but Zak knew that there was some sort of undercurrent going on.
The children ran into the kitchen.
“Can we go to the zoo now, Mama?” Belle asked.
“Yes, just give us a minute or two and we’ll be ready.”
Tucker and Maggie brought their plates to the sink and washed them quickly while Zak packed a bag with some snacks and drinks for the kids. Zak handed Tucker the keys to the van.
“Have fun,” Zak said. “See you in a couple hours.”
Tucker and Maggie and the three children went out to the van and left on their expedition. Zak and Justin talked for a few minutes and then Justin said he had some things to do, and he went back to his house.
.
Chapter 7
The next day, Tucker and Maggie were up by eight. Justin knocked on their door and came in for some coffee before they went to the hospital with Jake. You could tell that Maggie and Justin were nervous by their serious demeanors. A few minutes later, Zak showed up at the door with Jake.
“Just drop him off with me when you get back, Maggie. I’m going to take him over later to his friend B
en’s house.”
Maggie got into the front of the van and sat in the passenger seat next to Justin. Tucker sat in the back with Jake. Justin drove out of the driveway, looking over at Maggie. He could see that her hands were trembling, so he reached over and briefly took her hand in his.
“It will be o.k., Maggie. Don’t worry,” Justin said.
Maggie didn’t respond. Tucker brought out one of Jake’s favorite books and read to him while they drove to Lafayette. When they got to the hospital, they parked the car and went up to the doctor’s office. The doctor suggested that Tucker take Jake over to the cafeteria for a few minutes while he had a talk with Maggie and Justin. After they left, the doctor pulled out a folder and took out a sheet of paper with some lab results on it. He read it for a minute and then took off his reading glasses to look at Maggie and Justin.
“The test results show that your suspicions were correct. Jake is Mr. Boudreau’s son.” He paused for a moment to let his words sink in. Maggie turned pale and looked like she might faint.
“Can I get you some water, Miss Williams?” the doctor asked.
“Yes, please.” Maggie was having trouble catching her breath.
The doctor got some water out of a cooler in the corner of his office and handed her the paper cup. Justin reached over and took Maggie’s free hand and held it.
Maggie started to cry. “How am I going to tell Zak? How am I going to tell the children?”
“Maggie, I’ll help you tell Zak,” Justin said quietly.
“He’s going to be so disappointed that Jake isn’t his son. He loves him so much.”
Justin sat closer to Maggie and put his arms around her, she started to cry uncontrollably.
“Why don’t I leave you alone for a while so you can process this,” the doctor said. “You’ll probably want to amend Jake’s birth certificate at some point. We can give you some documents that prove Jake’s paternity.”
The doctor shook hands with Justin and Maggie and then left them alone. The minute he left, Maggie started to cry even harder. Justin stroked her hair until she started to get her feelings under control.
“Maggie, I know this is a tough situation. I’m so sorry. I feel like I’ve totally disrupted everyone’s lives. I just had to know whether Jake was my son.”
They heard a knock on the door and when it opened, they saw Tucker and Jake standing outside. Jake ran inside and threw his arms around his mother.
“Mama, what’s wrong? Did you have a shot too?”
“No, Jake,” Maggie said and held him close to her. After a minute, she asked Justin if he would take Jake out to the car so that she could talk to Tucker. After they closed the door on the way out, Maggie started to cry again. Tucker took her hand and started to pat it.
“I’m guessing that I don’t need to ask what the results were. Justin must be Jake’s father.”
“I can’t believe this is happening,” Maggie said. “Why didn’t Justin tell me earlier? Zak is going to be incredibly hurt when he finds out that he isn’t Jake’s father and I have no idea how we are going to tell the kids.”
“It’s going to be difficult Maggie, but things will work out. It’s a lot better that everyone knows the truth.”
“Does this change how you feel about me, Tucker?”
“God, no. I still love you. My private life certainly hasn’t been above reproach and you’ve put up with that.”
“Yes, but I knew about all that before we got together. There weren’t any surprises.”
“Maggie, I’ve always known how you felt about Justin, so I’m not that surprised by this news. The main thing is that your relationship with Justin is in the past. I’m not worried about it.”
Maggie and Tucker walked out of the hospital and over to the car in the parking lot. Justin and Jake were nearby, playing catch with a ball that had been in the car. Jake got in the back of the van with Tucker and Maggie sat next to Justin in the front. Justin gave Maggie a long look, and then started the car for the drive home. When they got back to the house, Tucker took Jake inside so that Justin and Maggie could have a chance to talk privately for a minute.
“What are we going to do, Justin?”
“Maybe Tucker could take the kids out to lunch somewhere, so we could have a chance to sit down with Zak.”
“He’s going to be devastated,” Maggie said.
“Well, if you remember, we went through this once before with Gabriel.”
“And weren’t you devastated to find out that Gabriel wasn’t your son?”
“Yes, you know that I was, Maggie. I think it was the hardest thing I’ve ever been through. That’s why I didn’t want to go through it again. But this time, we know that Jake is my son. We’re going to have to figure out how to deal with this situation.”
“Why are our lives so complicated, Justin?”
“I don’t know, Maggie. I guess everyone’s lives get complicated sometimes.”
He kissed her on the cheek and they went into the house. When they got inside, Zak was getting Jake ready to go over to his friend’s house.
“What are we going to do this afternoon, Mom?” Gabe asked.
“Justin and I were thinking of working on some new songs,” she said. “Maybe Tucker would be willing to take you and Belle into town for some lunch and ice cream. What do you think Tucker?”
“I think that would be fun,” he said. “And maybe we could go over to the bookstore, I finished the book that I brought with me.”
“Sounds like a good plan,” said Zak. “I’ll go drop Jake off at his friend’s house and then join you guys in the studio for an hour or two.”
Maggie and Justin walked down to the studio while Zak and Tucker left in their cars with the kids.
“God, I’m really nervous about telling Zak,” Maggie said.
“Me too,” said Justin.
“Let’s practice the new Little Maggie songs to take our minds off of things,” Maggie suggested.
Justin picked up an acoustic guitar and Maggie grabbed the Harmony mandolin. They played the songs that Maggie had written with such concentration that they were startled when Zak opened the door to the studio.
“Are those the new songs, Maggie? I like them, they must sound great with a full bluegrass band.”
“I think they’ll sound good with some more work,” Maggie replied.
Justin looked at Maggie very seriously for a moment and then turned towards Zak.
“Zak, Maggie and I have something to discuss with you. I think you might want to sit down for this.”
“Does this have something to do with the practice at Spencer’s?” Zak asked. “Maggie told me that she’s attracted to you.”
Justin looked at Maggie for a moment.
“No, and she didn’t tell me that. It’s something else, Zak.”
Zak waited patiently, but the longer it took for Justin to tell him what was going on, the more nervous he became.
“This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to tell you,” Justin began.
“Well, we’ve been through a lot together, so it must be something.”
“Zak, do you remember when Maggie was staying with Tucker in Nashville when you were going through rehab? She was planning on asking you for a divorce and then changed her mind when you successfully completed treatment.”
“Justin, weren’t you also staying at Tucker’s?” Zak asked.
“Yes,” Justin answered and then paused for a moment.
“I told Maggie then that I was in love with her. We ended up making love the night before we came to get you in rehab.”
“I told the rehab counselor that I thought there was something going on between the two of you. He told me that I was being paranoid because of the detox from the drugs,” Zak said slowly.
“I’m sorry, Zak. I’ve been in love with Maggie since we first met her in New Orleans. I didn’t want to say anything to anyone because I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“It’s o.k., Justin. I’ve
sort of known all along. Does Tucker know about this?”
“Actually, I think he does, but that isn’t what we want to talk to you about.”
Justin was having a hard time breaking the news to his friend, so Maggie decided to help him out.
“Zak, I told Justin at Tucker’s that I was going back to you and he wanted to make love one last time so that he would always have something to remember. Apparently there was some sort of problem with the condom.” Maggie decided to tell a white lie.
“I was suspicious that Jake might be my son,” Justin said. “So Maggie and I took him over to the hospital in Lafayette and we did a paternity test.” Justin thought he should be the one to break the news. “The tests proved that I’m Jake’s father,” he finished.
Justin and Maggie were glad that they had asked Zak to sit down. The color drained out of his face and he looked like he had turned to stone. He didn’t say anything for a couple of minutes as he tried to comprehend what they had just said.
“Are you sure about this,” he said quietly.
“Unfortunately, yes,” Justin answered.
Zak was silent for a few minutes and then he said in a low voice, “Maggie, I can’t believe that you cheated on me with my best friend, and Justin, I can’t believe that you fucked my wife and got her pregnant.” Zak stood up abruptly and walked out of the studio and down the driveway to his Porsche. He got in the car and revved the engine and screeched out of the driveway.
Maggie and Justin looked at each other, shocked by Zak’s reaction.
“That went well,” Justin said grimly as Maggie started to cry. “He certainly didn’t react like that the last time that we told him that I might be Gabriel’s father.”
“Probably because that was partly his fault. We wouldn’t have slept together then if he hadn’t slept with Jacqueline. Zak has thought of Jake as being his son for the last five years. You can’t blame him for being upset,” said Maggie.
“No, I guess not. Maybe I should never have said anything,” said Justin.
“I think you had to say something, Justin. It’s important that Jake knows who his father is, there could be medical reasons that it’s important to know that.”
The Sweetest Gift (The Gift) Page 4
