Maggie's Turn

by Deanna Lynn Sletten

  “You don’t give a shit about anything!” she yelled at him, tears filling her eyes. “You don’t care that Mom’s gone, you don’t want to drive me to school, and all you do is argue with Kyle. And look . . .” Kaia pointed out the window at Bear. He had crossed the street and was doing his business in the neighbor’s yard. “You let Bear out again without putting him on his leash. A car could have hit him. You just don’t care about anything.”

  “I can’t do everything!” Andrew yelled.

  “Mom can. And you won’t even apologize to her so she’ll come home. All you do is fight with her. I heard you last night. You’re wrong. Mom isn’t like her mother. She didn’t leave us forever. She just needed to get away for a while.”

  Andrew’s tone grew quiet. “But she’s not here, is she? She did leave us.”

  Kaia’s face turned red. “I hate you. I thought you were changing, but you’re not. You’re mean to everyone. If anyone is like their mother, it’s you.” She turned and stormed up the stairs, slamming her bedroom door shut behind her.

  Andrew started to follow her up the stairs, and then thought better of it. He looked out the window and saw the neighbor yelling at Bear. With a defeated sigh, Andrew went outside to apologize—yet again—and collect the dog.

  Later, after feeding Bear and the cats and giving himself a chance to calm down, Andrew knocked on Kaia’s door. “Hey, can I come in?”

  “No. Go away,” Kaia said in a small voice.

  Andrew sighed. He could hear Kaia crying. He felt helpless. “I’m sorry I yelled at you, Kaia. I didn’t mean anything I said. I’m just frustrated. Why don’t I order a pizza, and we can talk while we eat.”

  “No. I don’t want pizza again. I’ll get something myself later. Just go away and leave me alone.”

  Andrew remained in the hallway, with the door between them, trying to decide what to do. What he really wanted was to open the door, walk in, and make Kaia talk to him. But he knew that would only make matters worse. He sighed and went across the hallway to his bedroom. He changed out of his work clothes into jeans and a sweatshirt, then headed downstairs and called to order a pizza. He hoped that the smell would entice Kaia to come downstairs so they could talk.

  The pizza came, but Kaia didn’t come down. Andrew put it away in the fridge and did a load of laundry.

  “If anyone is like their mother, it’s you.” Kaia’s words stuck in Andrew’s head all evening. His mother had never been close with the kids, and he couldn’t blame Kaia for thinking she was mean, but did Kaia really think he was as cold and heartless as his mother? He thought he’d been making progress with Kaia, but now, everything was unraveling.

  As Andrew sat in the living room, trying to forget all his problems and concentrate on a television show, his cell phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out, hoping it was Maggie. He knew he should apologize. He hadn’t meant what he’d said about her mother. But it wasn’t Maggie, it was Craig Henderson, one of the men he volunteered with on the new airport-planning committee.

  “Hi, Craig. What’s up?” Andrew asked.

  “You tell me, Andrew. Where are you? The meeting started ten minutes ago, and you’re still not here.”

  “Oh, crap.” Andrew thumped the palm of his hand on the side of his head. “I’m sorry, Craig. I forgot all about it. I won’t be able to come tonight.”

  “It’s not like you to forget about a meeting,” Craig said. “Is everything okay at home?”

  Craig worked at the bank with Charlie Larson and was also friends with Derrick Weis. Andrew was pretty sure he’d already heard there were problems at home. He wasn’t about to discuss them with Craig, though. “Everything’s fine,” he said tersely. “I’ve just been really busy. I promise I’ll make it to the next meeting.”

  “You know, Andrew, what we’re doing is very important. If I remember right, you asked to be on this committee. If you can’t fulfill your obligations, just say so, and we’ll ask someone else to join instead.”

  Andrew took a deep breath. He had to, or else he’d tell snooty Craig Henderson where he could put his committee. He spoke in a controlled voice. “I understand how serious this committee’s agenda is, Craig. I do want to be a part of redeveloping our town’s airport. But I just can’t make it tonight. I promise I’ll be at the next meeting.”

  “Fine. I’ll e-mail you the notes and the date of the next meeting. Just make sure you come, okay?”

  Andrew hung up after promising again not to miss the next meeting. He wanted to throw his phone across the room but refrained from doing so. His life was a mess. He was missing meetings, fighting with Maggie and the kids, and barely hanging on at work. He didn’t know who to be mad at—Maggie or himself. As he sat there, pondering how his life was going to hell, he heard Kyle come in the back door. Andrew stood and walked into the kitchen just as Kyle did.

  “Hey. I see you’re home a little earlier,” Andrew said, noting it was only eight o’clock. “There’s fresh pizza in the fridge, if you’re hungry.”

  Kyle stared warily at Andrew. “I already ate with Ashley. I’m going up to my room to finish my homework.”

  Andrew frowned. Why was he having so much trouble connecting with Kyle? When he reached out and touched Kyle’s sleeve to stop him from leaving the room, Kyle pulled away so quickly he dropped his backpack, and books spilled out on the floor.

  “Geez, Kyle, what’s going on? You won’t even give me a minute of your time. Why are you so angry with me?” Andrew asked, exasperated.

  Kyle knelt down and shoved his books back into his backpack. He stood and looked his dad straight in the eye. “You wanted me home earlier, so here I am. I did what you asked. Why can’t you just leave it at that?”

  “What’s going on with you?” Andrew asked. “Since your mother left, you’ve done everything you can to ignore me. What the hell did I do to make you so mad at me?”

  “I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” Kyle said, taking a step back toward the hallway.

  “Well, I do,” Andrew said. “I’m tired of everything that’s going on around here. If you have a beef with me, I want to know what it is. You want to be treated like a grown-up, so act like one. What the hell is going on?”

  Kyle dropped his backpack on the floor with a thump and took a step toward his dad. “You’re the problem. You ignore everything that’s going on here for years, and then all of a sudden, you think you’re in charge.”

  “I didn’t have a choice!” Andrew yelled. “Your mom ran off, leaving everything in my lap. I had to take charge.”

  “Mom didn’t just run off. You made her leave. It’s your fault she’s gone, but you’re trying to blame everyone else for it.”

  Andrew leveled his gaze on Kyle. “You don’t know anything about what happened between your mom and me. You have no right to blame me.”

  Kyle took another step toward his dad and pointed a finger at him. “You don’t even know what’s going on right in front of you. All you care about is your stupid job and all those committees you’re on to help improve this town. Yet you don’t even care what goes on in your own family.” Kyle stooped, picked up his backpack, and turned toward the stairs.

  Andrew grabbed Kyle’s arm and turned him back to face him. “That stupid job of mine is what pays for everything for this family. I support all of you. Don’t forget that. If you knew what it was really like to be responsible for other people, you wouldn’t be so quick to condemn me. Maybe you’d even appreciate what you have for a change.”

  “Like you appreciate what you have? Like you appreciate everything Mom does for you? Or how you appreciate your kids? You’re the one who doesn’t appreciate anything.”

  Kyle glared at his dad. For an instant, it looked like he was going to hit Andrew.

  Andrew didn’t budge, but the anger in Kyle’s eyes was so blatant, it sent chills up his spine.
<
br />   Finally, Kyle turned toward the back porch.

  “I’m out of here. I won’t bum off of you any longer,” Kyle said.

  Andrew snorted. “And where the hell do you think you’re going to stay? At Ashley’s? Are you going to mooch off her parents now?”

  “No, I’m going to Nick’s. I’ll come pack up my stuff when you’re not here.”

  “Fine. Go. Maybe if you have to pay rent and bills, you’ll finally see how hard it is to live without handouts from your parents!” Andrew yelled at Kyle’s retreating figure. The back door slammed shut, and Andrew heard Kyle’s truck roar to a start and squeal out of the neighborhood.

  Andrew turned and was surprised to see Kaia standing on the bottom step.

  “What have you done?” Kaia asked, her voice just above a whisper.

  As Andrew looked at Kaia’s distraught face, he wondered the same thing.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Maggie, Cassie, Matt, and Rob all sat on logs by the burning fire pit as nighttime settled over Puget Sound. Despite the fire, Maggie and Cassie were each wrapped in wool blankets to ward off the autumn-evening chill. The two kids, Jessie and Brandon, were just saying good night to the adults and heading up to their rooms for the night. The kids wanted to stay up longer, but they both had school the next day.

  Maggie stood and hugged each kid tightly before they left. “I’m so happy to see you both. I wish Kaia and Kyle were here. They’d love to see you, too.”

  Jessie hugged her aunt longer than her brother had. “You’ll still be here tomorrow after school, won’t you, Aunt Maggie?” Jessie was twelve years old and was already the spitting image of her mother, except her brown hair was long and straight. She reminded Maggie of Cassie as a child.

  “Of course. I may be here so long, you’ll get sick of me,” Maggie said, giving the girl a kiss on the cheek.

  “Don’t forget, you promised me a ride in your new car,” Brandon said. He tossed his head for the umpteenth time, flicking his longish brown hair out of his eyes. At fourteen years old, he was tall and gangly, but he was a good-looking boy.

  Maggie laughed. “I won’t forget.”

  Once the kids had left, Maggie settled back onto the log and pulled her blanket tightly around her. “I forgot how cold it gets by the water at night. Especially this time of year.”

  “This is nothing compared to that icebox you live in six months out of the year,” Cassie said.

  Rob sat on the other side of Maggie, holding his mug of coffee in his hands. Matt had loaned him a heavy coat, since all he had was his leather riding jacket. He smiled at Maggie. “What part of Minnesota do you live in?”

  “The northwestern section, about a hundred and fifty miles south of the Canadian border.”

  “What’s the coldest you’ve seen there?” Rob asked.

  Maggie glanced at Rob. She hadn’t had much of a chance to talk to him since they’d met earlier over pizza in the kitchen. He seemed like a nice man, though. At first, she was taken aback by how handsome he was. He had wavy, dark hair that was a little long but styled nicely, and a well-groomed beard and mustache. His deep-blue eyes twinkled when he smiled. He was tall, about as tall as Andrew, but huskier, yet definitely not fat. All he needed was a bandana and his riding leathers, and he’d look like he belonged on a Harley. He sort of reminded her of a younger Bob Seger. He had a quick smile and a good sense of humor.

  “Thirty below zero isn’t unheard of in December or January,” she told Rob.

  “Ah, but it isn’t the cold that gets to you. It’s the wind, right?” he said with a grin, and they both laughed.

  “Yeah, but thirty below is thirty below, wind or no wind. It’s a crazy place to live in the winter, but the summer and fall are beautiful,” Maggie said.

  “Give me good old Seattle anytime,” Cassie said. “I need to live by the ocean.”

  Maggie nodded. “I miss the ocean, that’s for sure. When I drove up the coast road yesterday, I just couldn’t get enough of it.”

  Matt had been sitting across the pit from them but now came over and sat close to Cassie. He refilled his coffee mug from the thermos they had brought down and offered some more to the others. Maggie had always liked Matt. He was easygoing and cute for a computer nerd. He also had longish brown hair like Rob, but Matt’s was shaggier. He was clean-shaven, and his brown eyes lit up when he smiled. Cassie and Matt were the perfect pair, with Cassie’s intense personality complementing Matt’s laid-back one.

  “Rob lives near the ocean. He owns an enormous house in the middle of a vineyard in Northern California,” Matt said. He placed his arm around Cassie, who snuggled in closer to him.

  Maggie turned to Rob. “You own a vineyard?”

  Rob laughed. “Yes, I own the land and house, but someone else grows the grapes and makes the wine. We share in the profits.”

  “You think our house is amazing, but you should see his,” Cassie said. “It looks like a Tuscan villa, sitting on top of a hill, overlooking the vineyard. It’s beautiful.”

  “Sounds lovely,” Maggie said.

  They sat there on the beach until the fire began to fade. Maggie enjoyed Rob’s company. He was intelligent but didn’t flaunt it, and he’d traveled extensively. She was surprised he was single. Women usually snapped up the good-looking rich men quickly.

  They all parted ways at the top of the stairs to go to their own rooms. Cassie gave Maggie a hug good night before following Matt into their bedroom at the end of the hall. Maggie went into her room and couldn’t wait to snuggle under the thick comforter. It had been a long day and she was beat. As soon as her head hit the pillows, she fell asleep.

  The next day, Maggie rose late in the morning after a restful night’s sleep. The long drive yesterday, along with the late night and fresh air, had worn her out. She felt good as she headed downstairs to the kitchen in search of breakfast. Rob was sitting at the island counter, drinking coffee and reading the paper, when Maggie entered.

  “Good morning. Did you sleep well?” he asked, his face crinkling into a smile.

  “Good morning,” Maggie replied. She pulled a mug out of the cupboard and poured herself some coffee. “I slept great. Where are Cassie and Matt?”

  “Cassie went for a run and Matt’s working in his den on a new video game.”

  “Oh.” Maggie dug in the refrigerator and pulled out a large bowl of cut-up fruit and a hard-boiled egg. “Have you eaten breakfast yet?”

  “Yep. You go ahead. I may steal some of that fruit, though,” Rob said.

  They sat quietly for a few minutes while Maggie ate and sipped her coffee, and Rob continued reading the paper. After he was done reading, he offered it to Maggie, who shook her head.

  “I have enough going on in my life right now. I don’t need to read bad news, too,” she said.

  Rob nodded. “Cassie said you and your husband were going through a rough patch. She didn’t elaborate, though.”

  Maggie nodded. She really didn’t want to talk about Andrew today. “Looks like a beautiful day outside. I should be out there instead of inside, I guess.”

  “I was thinking about driving into Seattle and going to Pike Place Market. I haven’t been there in a while,” Rob said.

  “Oh, that sounds like fun.”

  “Would you like to come? I’m going to pick up some fresh salmon for Matt to grill tonight.”

  Maggie considered Rob’s offer. It would be fun to go, and she could bring her camera along. “Sure. We can take my car, if you’d like.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” Rob stood and rinsed out his coffee mug. “I’ll go tell Matt we’re leaving, and we can get going.”

  Maggie ran upstairs and grabbed her camera, car keys, and a sweater, then met Rob in the entryway. She handed him the keys.

  “Are you sure you want me to drive?” he asked, surprised.

&n
bsp; “If you don’t mind. I’m kind of tired of driving.”

  “I don’t know,” he said as they walked out to her shiny red car. “It might be a hardship driving this car, but I guess I’ll manage.” He winked at Maggie and opened her door for her, then ran around to the other side and slipped in behind the wheel.

  Maggie smiled at the look of joy on Rob’s face. “How does it feel?”

  “Fits like a glove,” he said. He started it up, and they were off.

  With the top down, and the wind whistling between them, they didn’t need to fill the quiet with conversation as they sped along the highway into Seattle. Once there, they parked in a crowded lot near the market and made their way to the shops and vendors lining the street.

  The day was clear and sunny, perfect for taking pictures. Maggie snapped several photos of colorful buckets of flowers in front of a florist shop, and a few of a young child and his mother buying ice cream from a sidewalk vendor. She managed to snap the photo just as the child stood up on tiptoe, reaching for his freshly scooped cone. It was adorable.

  “Do you work as a professional photographer at home?” Rob asked after Maggie had taken dozens of photos.

  “No. I’ve always loved taking pictures, though. I majored in art in college, or at least for the two years I was there. Photography was my first love. After I married Andrew and moved to his hometown, my dreams of becoming a professional photographer slowly slipped away. I’ve always wanted to own an artists’ shop, where I could sell my photos and art by other local artists, too. That’s something I’d like to look into when I go home.”

  Rob nodded. “You certainly seem to have a knack for finding the perfect shots. Maybe you’ll get some good ones here at the fish market.”

  Maggie soon learned that was an understatement. As they entered Pike Place Fish Market, they both had to duck as a huge salmon flew across the aisle. People clapped and cheered as a guy caught it easily. Maggie readied her camera and snapped a picture of the next flying fish in midair, just as it was about to enter the arms of the man catching it. While Rob went up to the counter to buy fresh salmon for dinner, Maggie walked around and took photos of the bustling market. She snapped photos of a child staring into the unseeing eyes of a fish, his own eyes wide, and of the men who worked the counters as they nimbly wrapped up fish for customers. It was a carnival atmosphere, and a wonderful place to immortalize an iconic piece of Americana in photos.