by B. N. Toler
After our walk, I spent an hour trying to teach Waverly how to drive a motorcycle. It was awful and hilarious all at once. Simply spit-balling with my estimate, she must’ve stalled out at least a thousand times and spewed a variety of curse words that would make even the grittiest of bikers blush. My Grams would have called her a pistol. Afterward, when she was pissed, she claimed it was from hunger—apparently, she was hypoglycemic, self-diagnosed—but I knew better than that. She didn’t like that she hadn’t mastered shifting on the bike. We found a restaurant on the water with cold beer and burgers and after a good meal and a few adult beverages, she was herself again.
Pulling into a spot in the apartment parking garage, I’d just cut the bike off when Max’s cell rang in my pocket. Pulling it out, Helen’s name lit up on the screen. After Waverly climbed off, I followed and answered.
“Hey, Hel. We just—”
“Where are you?” she interrupted, her voice riddled with panic.
“We just parked. What’s wrong?” Waverly’s head snapped with my words, her brows raised in concern.
“Just get up here, now,” she snapped before hanging up.
“Shit,” I huffed as I darted toward the entrance, my mind racing. I had no idea what was going on, but I knew my sister would never snap at me like that unless it was something bad. My stomach knotted as I feared the worst. Was Pimberly okay? Had that douchebag work associate of Max’s shown back up?
“What’s going on?” Waverly yelled as she jogged behind me, trying to keep up.
“I don’t know.”
Rushing through the lobby, from my peripherals, I saw Braxton watch us as we bolted by him toward the elevator. Too impatient to wait, I veered to the stairwell. When we finally made it to my floor, the door to the apartment was open, and a man was shouting from inside.
I flew in, prepared to attack if need be, until I lurched to a stop after I realized who it was that was shouting.
“Give her to me now,” Matt demanded.
“I don’t know you, and you’re not taking her. I don’t care who you say you are,” she seethed calmly as she held a crying Pimberly.
“Matt?” Waverly huffed, the shock evident in her voice. She was still out of breath from our ascent up several flights of stairs.
Turning, his body seemed to deflate a bit as he took in the sight of his sister. In two strides, he’d reached her and was hugging her. She blinked a few times, working hard to absorb what was happening before she raised her hands and patted his back a few times.
“What are you doing here?”
Pulling away from her, he scowled. “What am I doing here? You called and left me a message that you needed my help, then you cut your phone off. I called the house, no answer. I emailed you, no answer. I called Ms. Patty, and she said Pim hadn’t been there in days, and the last time she’d seen you, you were on crutches. I’ve been out of my mind worried about you.”
Waverly closed her eyes and exhaled loudly. “I’m so sorry, Matt. I didn’t mean to worry you, and now I’ve ruined your trip.”
Matt didn’t acknowledge Waverly’s apology or anything she said for that matter, as he continued. “Then I come here and find Pim with this lady who won’t let me see her. What in the hell is going on, Waverly?”
Waverly covered her face with her hands as she realized what a big mess that one phone call had created. Dropping them, she raised one hand and motioned to Helen. “Matt, this is my friend Helen. Helen, this is my brother, Matt.”
Helen and Matt glowered at each other, neither of them offering a polite greeting to the other. Apparently, it had been quite the stand-off before we got there.
“Can I hold my niece now?” Matt grunted.
Helen glanced at Waverly who nodded yes.
Matt immediately scooped Pim into his arms and squeezed her to him, bouncing to calm her down. Pim’s wailing began to quiet immediately as Matt kissed her head a few times, whispering to her.
Finally, Pim quieted down.
The room was silent; calm.
Until it wasn’t.
Matt’s gaze darted up and fixed on me. “What’s going on here, Waverly?”
Casting an apologetic look my way before returning her focus back to Matt, she shrugged. “Nothing. I . . . I was drunk when I called you,” she fibbed. What else could she tell him? That she’d thought I was suffering from multiple personality disorder but didn’t think that now because she believed I’d swapped bodies with her ex? I had a feeling out of all the people in the world that might have believed my situation, Matt would be the last.
He stopped bouncing and stared at her, unblinking. “You drunk dialed me?”
The room was silent as he waited for her to answer.
“I left my fiancée in Europe, spent a fortune on a plane ride to rush back home to you because I thought you were in danger, and you’re telling me you drunk dialed me?”
When he put it like that, it did sound shitty. Then her head popped up, her eyes wide. “You and Alice got engaged?” Waverly squealed as she ran to him and wrapped her arms around him and Pim. “That’s so great, Matt!”
Taking a step back from her, he leered at her like she was nuts. “What in the hell is going on, Waverly?” Then he darted his eyes to me. “What did you do this time, asshole?”
“Okay, I think we need to all sit down and ta—”
“I don’t need to sit down,” Matt snapped, interrupting me. “Why the hell are you even here?” He turned to Waverly.
“Matt, please calm down,” Waverly requested timidly as Pim began to whine, sensing Matt’s anger. When he slanted his eyes at her, and his mouth flattened, I knew he was doing anything but calming down.
Waverly summarized as best she could about how she hurt her ankle and didn’t have anyone to help. When she was done, Matt looked her up and down, shaking his head in clear disappointment.
“Well your ankle looks better now,” he noted, his tone lower and calmer. “Why are you still here?”
Her head dropped. She didn’t know how to answer that.
When she didn’t answer right away, Matt snorted to himself. He thought she’d just run back to Max, the guy who had treated her like shit, and from where he stood, that’s exactly what it looked like.
“I gotta get home,” he finally muttered. “I need some sleep, but I’d like to come back tomorrow and get Pim.”
“Of course,” Waverly squeaked as he handed Pimberly to her.
“Just maybe after ten,” I blurted, immediately regretting it when Matt turned his lethal glare at me. I shouldn’t have said anything. I wasn’t thinking, really, but I knew the following day could very likely be my last day, and I wanted time with Pimberly.
“Excuse me?” His brows were drawn together as he crossed his arms. “Since when do you decide Pim’s schedule?”
I opened my mouth to explain . . . entirely unsure of how to do that when Waverly intervened.
“Helen, will you please take Pim into the bedroom?” Waverly requested calmly as she kept her eyes fixed on Matt. Helen didn’t hesitate—she simply scooped Pim in her arms and disappeared into the bedroom, shutting the door behind her.
“So what is it, Max?” Matt continued, taking a step toward me, his shoulders drawn back. “Have you changed your mind?” he asked. “Have you all of a sudden decided you actually want to be a father?”
“Matt.” Waverly grabbed his arm, trying to draw his attention back to her, but Matt jerked it away and took another step toward me. Keeping my hands at my sides, I widened my stance slightly, preparing for Matt to swing at me. If anyone deserved a punch in the face, Max Porter certainly did. I couldn’t blame Matt for his anger. He’d just ruined his trip to come home and find his sister with the man that abandoned her.
When Matt was a few inches from me, his glare intense with every bit of disdain he felt for Max, he gritted, “Do you know what you did to her when you threw her aside like she was nothing?”
“Matt,” Waverly pleaded.
“She couldn’t get out of bed. She had to drop out of school and move in with me. It took me two months to get her to leave the house she was so fucking depressed.” I pressed my lips together as sadness hit me, hard. I knew Max had done a number on Waverly, but hearing it from her brother’s perspective was brutal.
“Stop, Matt. Please,” she begged, her eyes tearing up as she grabbed his arm again. Matt took her hand and pulled it off. Not even bothering to look at her.
“She was pregnant with your baby,” he growled through gritted teeth as he delivered a hard jab to my chest, “and you acted like she didn’t even exist. She had to see a therapist twice a week for over a year because of the mind fuck you did to her.”
“That’s enough Matt,” Waverly stated loudly on a hitched breath as her body wracked gently. My chest tightened when I looked at her, tears streaming down her face. I wanted nothing more at that moment than to take her in my arms and hold her; let her feel my love, my understanding.
“No, it’s not enough!” Matt boomed as he snapped his attention to her. His face red with anger, as he pointed at me. “Do you remember what this asshole did to you? And you’re just coming back to him like some pathetic, desperate woman.”
The words were like a bullet, hitting her in the most vulnerable of places. The hurt she felt was palpable as her body seemed to cave, her shoulders slouching. Anger stirred inside of me, and before I could stop myself, I grabbed him and pushed him away from her. “That’s enough, damn it!” I boomed.
It was no surprise when Matt swung, my jaw cracking when his fist made contact just right. I grunted, but recovered quickly as I grabbed him by the shirt and pushed him. Losing his balance, he stumbled back, and we both fell to the floor with a hard thud where we proceeded to struggle with each other.
“You motherfucker,” he grunted as we battled.
“Matt,” Waverly cried as she moved around us.
My reason was lost as we wrestled, our bodies twisted as we tried to overpower the other. I knew somewhere in the back of my mind where common sense and logic existed, his anger was directed at Max, not me. Physically fighting him was wrong, but seeing him hurt Waverly . . . I couldn’t take it, no matter how justified his feelings about the situation were. Some protective and primal instinct took over, and I reacted.
I managed to roll Matt on his back, so I was sitting on top, pinning him to the floor. He had one hand grasping my throat as he thrashed trying to throw me off of him, but I was seated solidly. Pulling my fist back, I fully intended to hit him, until I was yanked off Matt and tossed back on my ass. Squabbling to get back to my feet, I prepared to attack whoever it was until I was pushed back again.
“That’s enough, Mr. Porter,” Braxton shouted at me before he turned his attention to Matt and pushed him back as he made a lunge for me. “Enough,” he roared at Matt. Standing sideways between us, he held his hands up, acting as a blockade. “Do I need to call the police?”
We were both panting, glaring at each other, neither of us bothering to speak. Then I noticed Waverly, her hands were pressed against her face as she wept. Squeezing my eyes shut, I let out a long breath as the guilt and regret hit me.
“Shit,” I huffed. That shouldn’t have happened no matter how big of a dick Matt was being. Braxton turned to Matt when he realized we weren’t going to attack one another and suggested, “I think it’s time for you to go, sir.”
Matt cut his angry gaze to Waverly as his chest rose and fell with each breath. “Waverly?” he grumbled. I wasn’t sure if he wanted her to leave with him, or if he only wanted her to defend him. Lifting her eyes to his, she frowned.
“We have plans in the morning,” she sniffled, turning her head from him, “but we should be done by ten. You can come get Pim then.”
Matt glanced around the room, his scornful gaze fixing on me one last time, before he stomped out.
Braxton’s mouth was pressed into a hard line, as he flicked his stare at me. “Neighbors were complaining,” he explained. “Please make sure that doesn’t happen again, or I’ll have to report you.”
I nodded once as I held my throbbing jaw. “I’m sorry,” I murmured. Pulling a handkerchief from his pocket, he held it out for Waverly.
“It’s clean, and you can keep it,” he told her, his voice soft.
Taking it, she dabbed at her face. “Thank you.”
We watched him exit, both of us rooted to the floor for several minutes, before I finally made it to the door and closed it. When I turned back, she was in the kitchen pulling out a bag of frozen peas. My stomach knotted when she faced me again, letting me see up close just how hurt she was feeling as she gently placed the bag against my face. Her eyes were still red and puffy from crying and she couldn’t stop sniffling.
“He broke a kid’s jaw once when he was in high school,” she said, as she stared up at me. “You’re lucky.”
“Waverly, I’m sor—”
“Don’t,” she cut me off. “I hate that . . . that happened, but it was my fault. I should have called him back. I’m the one in the wrong.”
“I just got her down,” Helen murmured as she entered the kitchen. “Poor baby cried herself to sleep.”
I grimaced as I took the frozen vegetables from Waverly and backed away. The day had started out so perfectly but in a matter of minutes had turned to shit.
“I’m going to go peek in on her,” Waverly informed us which I took for she needed a moment to herself. She drifted out of the kitchen without another word.
“You think she’s okay?” Helen asked as she wiped at an invisible crumb on the counter.
Letting out a growl I tossed the peas in the sink. “I’ve fucked up everything for her,” I muttered. “I should have just signed the damned papers and she wouldn’t be in this mess.”
Helen put her hand on my shoulder. “This isn’t your fault Liam,” she tried to assure me. “This is all just—”
“Bullshit,” I interrupted.
“Unfortunate circumstances,” she finished.
We were both quiet for a moment, before Helen spoke again. “We need to be at the hospital by noon.” She cleared her throat before wiping at her face.
Swinging one arm out, I hugged her to me. “Tomorrow, okay? I can’t do our goodbyes tonight.” Saying goodbye to Helen, in the likely event Max and I switched back and I died, would be hard. Hell, hard doesn’t even come close to what it would be.
She nodded a few times in agreement, her face twisted in pain as she fought the tears. “I’m going to head out,” she managed. “David is meeting me at the hospital to say his goodbyes to you,” she choked out.
I frowned as I thought about my nephew. I wished I could talk to him, but this situation was so fucked it was too much to involve him in it. “Just keep telling him how much I loved him,” I asked of her. “And tell him how proud I was of him.”
She nodded again, her words lodged in her throat. With a quick peck on the cheek, she hurried into the living room and grabbed her purse before she left.
Letting out a loud exhale, attempting to reset myself, I opened the freezer and grabbed the bottle of whiskey Helen had brought over when she brought the groceries a few days before. Grabbing a small glass, I filled it halfway and chugged it down. Then I did it again.
Walking into the living room, I stared at the bedroom door wondering if I should go in. I knew Waverly was upset, and I wanted to comfort her; be there for her, but I also wanted to give her space if that’s what she needed. My jaw was throbbing—Matt had a good right hook—and I was amped. I needed to calm down. A shower would help me relax and maybe by then she’d be ready to talk. Even if she wasn’t ready; even if she didn’t speak one word I was going to hold her.
After Matt left, I checked on Pim who was sound asleep. I hated she had experienced something so scary and confusing. After splashing some water on my face, I cleaned myself up. Matt’s words had been brutal; a reminder of a shameful and humiliating time in my life. Everything he said h
ad been true and to return to Max would have been insane, but there was no way to explain to Matt what was actually happening. Instead, I had to stand there, frozen, and let him take me down like a duck in water. Then I watched as my brother, the pillar in my life, got into a physical fight with Liam who he thought was Max, then walked out hurt. The feeling was so awful it was choking me.
When I’d calmed down, I stared at myself in the bathroom mirror. Matt’s words had been like a punch to the gut, the blow riddled with reminders of a time when I had been at my lowest. When I funneled down after Max cut me off, I knew I’d hit a bad point; I knew I looked like I had fallen into the deepest realm of depression, and how pathetic I must have appeared, but I’d never heard Matt describe it.
His words had been hard to hear, but as I stared at my reflection, I realized I wasn’t the woman Matt had described anymore. I was no longer pathetic or ridiculous. I had hit bottom and clawed my way back up. After Max left I spent so much time thinking about what was wrong with me—what had made me so easy to leave? I tortured myself with ideas that maybe if I’d been smarter, wealthier, had a degree, or even prettier that maybe Max wouldn’t have disowned us. Those were all ridiculous thoughts, but when someone you love flips the switch—just decides they are done with you—your mind can come up with all kinds of ways to justify it and mine turned to self-loathing. Max had turned me into a weak woman, but I wasn’t weak any more. I was strong, and I was a good mother, and never thought of myself as vain or shallow, but yeah, I looked fucking good for a lady who’d had a baby. I was better now and knew my worth. I realized, however cruel this situation seemed, I had a chance to feel love from a man I respected. This might be my one and only opportunity to be with Liam, and no matter what happened the following day, I didn’t want to miss that opportunity. There was a good chance Liam would die the following day, and the thought was enough to cause me to double over if I let it. But the thought of never feeling him in that way, the way a man and a woman connect on the deepest of levels, was just as debilitating of a thought. On some level, I struggled with the decision; was it right considering all the unknowns? Would doing this only hurt me in the end? I also pondered whether Liam would be open to it. I didn’t doubt that he wanted me, I just doubted if he could make love to me in Max’s body.
