The Competition

by Riley Rollins

  12

  Maggie

  If I had learned anything in college, it was this: If a girl offered herself up for sex, she usually got it.

  Whether or not the guy actually loved her. And regardless if he ever would. She might hope… and sometimes it all worked out. Usually not. But she still got herself laid…

  I pulled Joe’s shirt closer around me, burrowing my nose into the soft cotton cloth. Joe and I already had the love. I’d felt it my whole life… But instead of bringing us together, it was the very reason he’d turned his back on me tonight and just walked away…

  Sure, my snarky conscience piped up. That, and the fact that you just announced you’re still a virgin. Way to make him see you as all grown up, Maggie…

  I balled up his shirt and threw it into the short hallway. Right where he would have dropped it, on the way to the bedroom… if you’d been woman enough to get him there...

  “Oh, shut the fuck up,” I grumbled in irritation. Even naked, I still felt prickly from the overbearing heat. I grabbed another ice pop from the freezer and rummaged in my bag for my phone. There was only one solution for the fix I was in, and it had been too goddamned long since we’d spoken.

  “Jackie? It’s me…”

  “Hey, Maggie! I thought maybe you’d lost your damned phone. Emails don’t cut it, honey. I can see the foundation’s doing great. But how’s home? How is Joe?”

  For a second, I just let myself relax into the familiar sound of Jackie’s cheerful, no-nonsense voice. It was deep for a woman, and suited her shapely little body. We’d met three years ago, and she had been the first to sign on with RemedAid. She was forcefully optimistic, and had a maternal instinct a mile wide.

  “God, Jackie…,” I stopped, too many emotions surfacing all at once. “I… we’re… Joe’s just fine,” I managed to stammer out. “I don’t have any right to complain about anything… but… but…”

  “He’s not seeing someone else, is he?” Her voice had dropped another whole octave.

  “No,” I said as a reflex. “Well, I don’t think so, anyway.” I sighed through my nose. “It’s not like it would matter, anyway. All I know for sure is that he’s got no interest in me. Certainly not after tonight…”

  “Hmph,” she snorted. “Then he’s a damned fool and you deserve better. If he can’t see that, then he can’t see you, Maggie. You’re young and beautiful, smart as a whip and courageous as hell. How many women have achieved what you have, at the tender age of twenty-two?”

  It was my turn to snort. “I think that’s the problem, Jackie. No matter what I do, Joe’s always gonna see me as Dean’s kid sister.” I bit into lime-flavored ice and braced as the cold shot through my teeth. “He loves the little girl he remembers, but not who I am now. Not the way I want him to…” I finished and chewed thoughtfully on the wooden stick, my thoughts grinding.

  “Well, I’ve lived a damned lot longer than you, Maggie, and if there’s one thing I know I know about men… Sometimes, the hardest thing for them to see is what’s right in front of their eyes. And their brains and their dicks often don’t share clear lines of communication.” She paused.

  “But he loves you… and that’s good. Let him.”

  “And in the meantime, you and I have work to do. Don’t let yourself forget that Joe’s not the only passion in your life. You’ve helped a hell of a lot of people already, and this is only the beginning. The tornados this year…”

  “I know. There’ve already been more than a hundred in Oklahoma alone. And they’re not slowing down. Storm prediction is saying the worst of it may hit in June this year.”

  “Well, the moving van is packed and I’ll be in Dallas by Sunday night. Give me a few days to get settled in and I’m all yours, Maggie.”

  “I love you, you know that right?” I wiped the tears away with the back of my hand.

  “Of course you do,” she replied, and I could hear the smile in her voice. “Take a deep breath, Maggie. And keep on moving forward. There’s no better salve for a wounded heart than damned hard work. That, I promise you.”

  We said our goodbyes and I shut off the phone for the night. For the first time since I’d gotten home, I turned the thermostat all the way down. Screw the electric bill… For one night I needed relief. From the heat, from the heaviness of the air pressing down on me… From thinking about Joe, and from the need that was thrumming in the very deepest parts of me. I’d been naked and willing in his arms, and I’d seen the long, hard proof that he hadn’t been completely indifferent…

  I turned out the lights and settled in under the fast cooling sheets. Jackie had been right, as always. There was more than enough work to do, and plenty of people waiting for the services I could provide. I had over a thousand disaster kits packed and ready for transport. Jackie would be here in a few days and was in charge of teaching our basic first aid classes. In a week, we could start packing the trucks and head for some of the poorest and hardest hit areas of Oklahoma. There had already been several devastating storms, and the worst was yet to come. Work was exactly what I needed… and exactly where I was going to focus. Joe had neither the desire, nor the power, to stop me. As always, we lived in two very different worlds…

  But in spite of my resolve, and the bliss of air conditioning, it was hours before I fell asleep.

  And even then, it was only after I’d climbed out of bed and gathered up the shirt I’d left tossed on the floor. I spread it over my pillow and hugged it close, breathing in the complex and comforting scent…

  13

  Joe

  “This one’s an F-3, Joe. Fuck, look at that. That car is in the goddamned middle of the living room!”

  Ryan sat next to me as we went over the footage. “It touched the ground three times, all within a half mile. And there were half a dozen more, before the day was out. Almost as powerful, and clustered… here… and here…”

  He gestured to an area in southern Oklahoma. “Choctaw County’s getting hit hard, way harder than usual this year. It’s only a moderate risk area, and yet…”

  I looked over dozens of still shots of the damage. “The storms seem to be focusing here,” Ryan went on. “They haven’t had an F-5 since the eighties, but Sheila’s saying this could be the year. She’s predicting at least one storm over an F-3, and right around here…”

  “Sheila’s a hell of a meteorologist, Ryan. I hired her because she’s good… it’s almost like she’s got a sixth sense,” I said. ”But the prediction center isn’t overly concerned. And these goddamned funnels,” I shook my head, trying to shake a growing sense of unease. “These things are so unpredictable, even in the best of circumstances…”

  “Thirteen minutes, from the warning ‘till it hits,” Ryan said, taking a sip of coffee. “It’s never enough time, no matter how close to shelter these people are. I remember my first time. It sounded like a train heading straight for us.” I nodded, unable to take my eyes off the footage. I remembered, too.

  I’d been fourteen, and Ryan had only been six. Maggie’s family hadn’t moved into the guest house yet, and Mom and Dad were still alive. The warning had come over the television and we’d been in the basement within minutes. I remembered the sound, too. It isn’t something anybody ever forgets. But we’d been lucky. The storm had skipped right over the house, destroying half a block south of us and reducing it to rubble. I flipped past a few images, and stopped at a photograph of a small girl with dark eyes, clutching a man’s hand…

  I thought about the team Maggie was putting together, and her heartfelt drive to help people just like that nameless child. While I was damned proud of TexStar and its reputation in the news world, it was crises like this one that made me itch to get out of the fucking office and back into the gritty reality of being at ground zero. I had been there, years ago before Dad had died. I’d been in the center of floods and wildfires. I’d taken video and stills of some of the worst disasters the South had suffered. And I also knew how it felt to put the camera do
wn and reach out to help someone who had just lost everything and everyone they loved.

  “I want to talk to you, Joe… about Maggie…”

  I blinked, suddenly aware of Ryan’s eyes on me. “What about Maggie?” I asked sharply. “She’s home, and she and Dean seem to be working on their relationship.” I realized how little I’d seen of Dean since she’d come back. He’d called me a number of times to get together for lunch, but I’d let the calls go to voicemail, or put him off with an excuse about work. It had simply been easier to avoid him. The way I’d tried to avoid Maggie.

  “They are,” Ryan said. “I’ve never seen Dean acting so much like a big brother before. We all had dinner a few nights ago, and he was giving her a hard time about the guys she dated at school. I guess she never figured he was interested enough to tell, until now.”

  “She talked about boyfriends?” I asked, not daring to look up from the computer screen. I had firsthand knowledge that she was a virgin, but that didn’t mean she was innocent. The thought made my guts tighten, and I pressed my lips into a thin, hard line.

  “Nobody special,” Ryan said casually. “She dated a lot, but it didn’t sound like she’d ever met Mr. Right.” He glanced at me, but I didn’t meet his look.

  “I wanted to talk to you about her assistance foundation, Joe. She’s got a good group of people together and more joining every day. I believe in what she’s doing, and I’d like to be a part of it.” He cleared his throat. “I’m asking for a leave of absence. There’s something about the kind of fire inside her that’s inspiring, somehow. I want to be part of the solution. It isn’t enough anymore, just to report on what’s happening out there. I want to be part of it, Joe.”

  I looked at the earnest expression on his young face and smiled. I knew exactly how he was feeling. Maggie’s passion had struck me just as hard. And maybe it would be good for her to have Ryan working alongside her. They were so close.

  “She gets under your skin, doesn’t she?” I asked softly, more to myself than to my brother. “I’ve already arranged for her to receive an anonymous donation that will far exceed RemedAid’s financial goals. I had to do something, too…”

  “Why not come with us?” Ryan asked. “You haven’t taken a day off since Dad died. Two years is a long damned time to lock yourself in an office with nothing but responsibility to keep you company. Why not get out there again? You were one of the best damned photojournalists in the country before you had to take over running this place. And there’s no telling how much it could benefit Maggie’s work. More news attention means more volunteers. More money means more full-time positions. Maggie’s goals are big, Joe…”

  “That’s one girl who just doesn’t know the meaning of the word limit.”

  14

  Maggie

  I took my time with the finishing touches, even if it was just a casual dinner with Ryan and my brother. It had been a long time since I’d put on a little makeup and taken some time with my clothes. I flicked on an extra bit of mascara and smoothed my hair one last time. In spite of the humidity, I’d finally gotten it to fall in a long, silky curtain of coppery gold. I smiled into the mirror, pleased with the confident young woman staring back at me.

  “You ready?” Dean called out as the screen door banged shut behind him. “We’re meeting at La Casita, and we’re already running late.”

  I slipped my feet into strappy heels and pulled at the hem of my skirt. It was shorter than I was usually comfortable with, but I hadn’t done laundry in a week. It was either this, or old denim jeans with the knees torn out. I had settled for too-short.

  “I’m starving,” I replied, as I grabbed up my bag and keys. “I haven’t had Casita’s tacos in a hundred years. Let’s get a move on.”

  Dean opened the door for me and closed it again, before heading around to the driver’s side. He put the car into drive and we headed out. He’d changed a lot physically in the last four years, just as I had. The boyish hands I remembered from childhood were calloused and thickly veined now. They were the hands of a man.

  “You look great, sis,” he said, as he merged into the freeway traffic. He looked over and gave me a warm smile. “Smart, pretty, ambitious as hell,” he shook his head and smiled out over the road. “You make me proud, Maggie. You really do.”

  I grinned, dipping my head to hide how foolish I must have looked. But it felt good, so damned good to hear those words.

  “I’m proud of you, too, Dean,” I said honestly. “Neither one of us had it easy after Dad died. And just think, next time this year you’ll be a nurse. I know how hard you’ve worked. And I respect what you’ve accomplished.”

  His smile widened, too, and we drove on in silence for a few moments.

  “I’ve wanted to tell you this for a long time now,” he began. “How sorry I am that I wasn’t really there for you, when we were kids.” He cleared his throat and stared at the road ahead. “It was rough between me and Dad back then. And I never really saw how hard it must have been for you, too. You were so little… and somehow I just convinced myself that Dad’s problems, and mine, didn’t really affect you.” He glanced over at me and I saw the depth of his emotion in his eyes. “I was a kid, too, really. All caught up in myself and my own feelings. I wasn’t the kind of brother you deserved, and I’ve wanted to tell you how sorry I am. That I wasn’t there for you.”

  I put my hand on his shoulder. “You’re here now, Dean. We may not be kids anymore, but I’ll always need my big brother.”

  “And I’ll always be here for you, Maggie. I want us to make up for lost time. Even though I’m still in school, I want to do whatever I can to help with your foundation. Volunteer, load trucks, wipe noses, or hand out bandages… I want to support you any way that I can. I want to prove that I’ve finally grown up, and that I’ve got my kid sister’s back.”

  I caught back a choking mix of laughter and tearful sobs. He gave my fingers a squeeze and patted the back of my hand so comfortingly that the tears eventually won out. He handed me a tissue and patted my back with one hand as he drove, as I wiped away the streaks of my carefully applied makeup…

  “Thank God, Joe was there,” he said as he pulled into the restaurant parking lot and shut off the engine. “He wasn’t just Ryan’s brother, or my best friend. He was a big brother to all of us, back then. Hell, he kind of still is. I’m glad he was there to take care of you, when I wasn’t. When Dad wasn’t. But you’ve got me now, Maggie. And I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Well, you’re late. Typical.” Ryan was already seated, a sweaty pitcher of iced tea forming a puddle on the tabletop.

  Dean pulled out my chair, and I blinked, hesitating only a second before sitting down. La Casita wasn’t fancy, not by the plainest of standards, but they had the best Tex-Mex for at least a hundred miles and a house salsa that people crossed state lines for. Across from me was an empty seat, a half-full glass sat on the damp, wrinkling paper placemat.

  “Sorry, Rye,” I said, leaning over the table to drop a light kiss on his lips. “My fault. Did you bring someone?” I asked hopefully. I knew only too well how Ryan’s tastes ran, but he had always kept his private life very private, in spite of my encouragements.

  “Hello, Maggie.”

  Joe’s voice came from behind me, and I felt the tiny hairs at the back of my neck rise, like the prickly sensation before lightning strikes…

  He was close enough I could feel the heat of his body, but he never touched me. He stepped around, and sat across from me, looking deeply… disquietingly, into my eyes. I felt a flush of heat rising to my cheeks, and I looked away.

  “I talked Joe into joining us, Maggie,” Ryan offered. “We got to talking about your work over at the Star, and it sounds like the two of you might have some business to discuss.”

  “Business?” I shot a look across the table. Joe’s blue eyes were watching me steadily. “What business?”

  The waitress came over with her pad and pencil in her hand and a greedy
smile on her face. Her gaze blew right over me, wandered over Dean and Ryan appreciatively before settling on Joe. His white shirt was immaculate even in the unbearable heat, and it was stretched tight by the heavy cords of muscle underneath. I couldn’t blame her for looking. So was I. So was every woman in the room over fifteen. Didn’t mean I had to like it.

  “Hey, sweetie,” she said to Joe, in a voice that set my teeth on edge. “I haven’t seen you in here for ages. Hey, Ryan. Is this your baby sister?”

  I dug my fingernails into the palm of my hand and smiled up at her. “Maggie,” I said, with a curt nod. “I’m Dean’s sister…”

  She gave him a sweet smile, too, and wrote down our orders. Joe, it seemed, hadn’t even noticed her. He’d never taken his eyes off my face.

  “I want to help out with the foundation,” he said, once the waitress had gone. “Do a few stories, get attention where it’s needed. I want to show the world what one girl with vision can accomplish.” He lowered his eyes ever so slightly. “I find y…”

  “I find it inspiring,” he finished.

  “Then have a reporter ready to head out with us,” I said, watching the waitress’s exaggerated hip swing as she walked by. “We’re loading up the trucks and heading for Osage on Friday.” I turned to Dean and Ryan. “Jackie will be here by Sunday. It’ll give us most of the week to pack up the supplies, the emergency kits we’re passing out. This’ll be our first major aid dispersal, and we’ll be getting there before the worst of the storms. I don’t intend for this to be aftercare. We’re shooting for advance care.” The words came out pricklier than I intended. Joe’s use of the word girl had hit a fucking nerve.

  “Consider it done,” he said, as the waitress headed back over with our plates. She served Joe first, leaning in to display more ample bosom than was strictly necessary. I put my head down and let the delicious scent of carne asada tacos waft up. Delicious distraction.