Authors: Lauren Dane
“I…”
don’t know how
. “I’ll do my best,” she said instead.
He pulled up in front of the house and helped Maggie inside. “Come on, baby. I’ll get you settled in the guest room. Which by the way, is my old room.” He raised his eyebrows suggestively and she allowed herself a laugh.
He put her overnight bag on the bed. “Why don’t you take a shower and get changed? Come down afterwards. There’ll be hot cocoa and there’s no saying no. My mother will only come and drag you down.” She nodded and walked into the bathroom at the end of the hall a dazed look on her face. He stayed there in the doorway until he heard the shower turn on.
“Did you tell her to come down for cocoa?” Polly asked as he entered the kitchen, throwing himself in a chair with a heavy sigh. He watched
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his mother rattling around starting to heat the milk and took comfort from it.
Kyle grinned at Matt and Marc, already sitting at the table. “Yes, Momma. She’s taking a shower first. I told her to come down and that you wouldn’t take no for an answer.” Standing quickly, he hugged her and kissed the top of her head. “Thanks for taking her in. She needed a momma tonight. I don’t think the one she has fits the bill.”
“Cecelia Wright is a cold fish to that girl. I never understood it,” Polly said with heat.
Shane walked in as Maggie came down the stairs wearing sweats and a tee shirt. Polly saw her bare feet. “Oh no! Honey, I forgot to get you some slippers. Matthew, go and get her a pair of socks to keep her feet warm.”
“It’s okay, I’m fine.” Maggie held out a hand to stay Matt.
Matt just laughed at her and jogged out of the room. He returned in less than two minutes. “Here, sugar, put ‘em on or she’ll do it for you.”
“Thanks.” Maggie looked up at Shane as she pulled the socks on.
“Well? Any news?”
“We’ve arrested Alex Parsons. He had a bucket of red paint sitting on his back steps. The fool still had it under his fingernails.” Nausea roiled through her and she felt lightheaded in disbelief of the situation. “Why? I only went out with him three times! We never got more serious than a kiss. I don’t understand why he hates me so much.”
“Well, I don’t think it’s hate. It gets worse.” Kyle moved his chair closer to Maggie’s, reaching out to grab her hand.
Maggie paled. “What?”
Shane sighed. “He had pictures of you.
Hundreds
of pictures of you.
Some of them were taken of you at the school, working in your yard, some were of you in the house. And there are ones he clearly used a telephoto lens with. You’re, um, naked in some.”
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She put her head down on the table, rage, shame, and mortification fought within her. She wasn’t sure she could even begin to process it all right then. “I’ve seen him in my neighborhood a lot. I just tried to ignore him.”
“He had some of your stuff too, Maggie. He must have broken into your house to get it.”
“Stuff? What stuff?” She looked up at him.
“Um.” He scratched the back of his neck. “Underwear, bras, nightgowns.”
She groaned. It just kept getting worse. “He snatched my panties?
Naked pictures of me? The whole town is going to hear about this. I’m going to have to move.”
“You’ll do no such thing! You have nothing to be ashamed of, Margaret!” Polly said sharply. “Honey, he’s the pervert. Why should you be embarrassed?”
“Are you kidding me? Jeez Louise! Not only does some freak totally violate me and my home but I’m going to look like a slut when this is all over. I’ll probably lose my job.”
“You look like no such thing, honey. How could you think so? He’s the one who fixated on you. People know you. No one who knows you could ever believe such a thing.”
Maggie scrubbed her hands over her face. “They’re going to see one guy that I dated taking pictures of me naked. And that I’ve dated two other men since, both brothers. You don’t think that makes me look a tad bit loose?” Just saying it made her want to dig a hole to crawl into.
“It makes you look like you have good taste! I’ll tell you one thing, Shane and Kyle are two of the five best looking men in this town. Why shouldn’t you have dated any of my boys?” Polly lowered her voice and pushed a curl out of Maggie’s face. “I’ve known you since kindergarten, Margaret Wright. You’re a good, honest, upstanding woman. There’s nothing loose about you.”
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Kyle smiled at his mother over Maggie’s head. She’d already taken Maggie into their family as one of their own. Whether Maggie liked it or not, Polly had extended her family’s protection to her. No one would be making any cracks about Maggie in the presence of any Chase.
“What’s going to happen to Alex?” Maggie asked Shane, still red-faced but looking slightly less mortified.
“He’s being booked for vandalism. The window people will be out at your place first thing and if the cost of replacing the windows is over five hundred dollars we’ll charge him second degree. After the underwear thing, we’ll charge theft as well. I can’t say that we’ll be able to charge breaking and entering, depends on whether or not he admits to getting into your house to grab your stuff.”
Edward Chase entered the room and patted Maggie’s shoulder. “Hey, sugar. I sure wish our first meeting could be under better circumstances.” He smiled gently before sitting down at the table. “I’ve heard most of the story. If you can believe it, Alex called and asked me to represent him! I declined of course, conflict of interest for me. Anyway, he’s got Larry Dickerson from Riverton coming out. Larry’s a decent sort.
I think you should go first thing and see Judge Benson and request a temporary order of protection against Alex. I’ll come with you. If you like, I can talk with the District Attorney and see if she’ll make an order of no contact part of any sentence Alex gets. It’s pretty standard in a case like this.”
“You’re all being so nice to me. I don’t know what to say, thank you doesn’t seem to be big enough.” Her face heated and tears threatened to return.
“Don’t say another word, Margaret. It’s what you do for the people you care about. Now, get that hot chocolate into you. Are you hungry? I can make you a sandwich.” Polly patted her shoulder.
“I’m hungry,” Matt said.
“Me too,” Marc echoed.
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“Yeah, I could use a ham sandwich. Do we have any of that ham from dinner the other night left over?” Kyle asked.
“If we do, can I have extra mustard on mine?” Shane grinned.
Edward smiled at his wife and looked back at the tiny woman his sons had made part of their family. “I’ll go out into the garage and grab some milk from the big fridge.”
“I’m not hungry. I think I need to lie down. I have to be at work at nine.”
“I think you should call the principal and let her know what’s going on. Take a personal day. You have a busy morning ahead of you. You’ll have to see the judge and make a statement and press charges down at the station.”
“Good idea, Shane. Why don’t you call now?” Kyle asked her.
She sighed. “I’ll call from upstairs. I need to call my homeowner’s insurance agent and make a claim too.”
“I’ll walk you up,” Kyle said.
Maggie stood up and put a staying hand on his shoulder. “That’s all right. I know the way.” She looked at him and the rest of the family.
“Thank you all so very much. Good night.” Kyle kissed her hand and looked up into her face. “Good night, sugar.
I’ll see you in the morning.”
She nodded and went up the stairs into the guest room and closed the door behind her.
She called Ellis Mason, the principal of Petal Senior High and told her what happened and that she’d be out for the rest of the week. Mason was shocked and sympathetic, urging Maggie to take all the time she needed to and to call if she needed any help.
She called her insurance company and put them in contact with the glass company and gave them the case number as well.
She dialed Liv’s number and dumped the whole story on her, sobbing.
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“That perverted bastard!” Liv fumed. “Don’t worry about the pictures, chances are this won’t even go to trial. I’ll even forgive you for not telling me—your best friend since the third day of kindergarten—that you were dating Kyle. Are you sure you don’t want to stay here?” Maggie laughed, wiping her face on the hem of her tee shirt. “Who knows if I’ll be dating him after this whole mess. Jeezalou, this says
issues
from about five miles away. I appreciate the offer of a place to stay but I’m fine. I’m going back home tomorrow after my windows get replaced. Will you call Dee for me? I’d hate for her to drive by and see the boards and not know what was happening.”
“You bet, dollface. Are you going to call your family?”
“No, what’s the point? Anyway, I’ll be hearing from my mother soon enough, I told Janie off tonight, or rather, Kyle did. She’ll run straight to my mother with it.”
“Okay, you must tell me the whole story very soon. I may be able to wait until our Pumphouse date but not a moment more. Now, go to sleep and call me if you need me.”
Maggie hung up and snuggled down into the bed. It was indeed Kyle’s old boyhood bedroom, the bed smelled of him. She drew it around her, letting herself be comforted by that.
Downstairs, Polly placed a platter of sandwiches on the table. “I can’t believe all that girl has gone through.”
“Well, I just hope Alex pleads out. A trial would suck for her. I’m not even sure the pictures would get out. They may not be admissible. But the scandal would hurt her. Doesn’t matter that Alex is the one who did wrong.” Shane spoke around his ham sandwich with extra mustard.
“Enough people saw the incident at The Pumphouse and I’m sure Liv would be happy to testify about his comments at the market, too. I’m betting that some of Maggie’s neighbors saw Alex lurking around the neighborhood as well. I’m hoping that the evidence is such that Larry
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just advises him to take a deal. He most likely won’t even do time, just a fine and anger management.” Edward sighed.
“He won’t even go to jail for that? After he terrorized her and broke her windows?” Marc said, outraged.
“I doubt it,” Shane said. “Even if they did have a trial and he was found guilty, he’d still probably only do two or three weeks. The court will see it as he didn’t hurt her physically. And of course he’ll promise to never do it again. He’s a librarian, they’ll want to go easy on him. They’ll see him as a positive influence in the community.”
“Does he have any priors?” Edward asked. “I find it hard to believe that he would suddenly obsess over one woman like this. This kind of stalking behavior is usually a long term thing. I’ll have one of the investigators I work with do a bit of checking with Alex’s old girlfriends.”
“Good idea, Dad. I know he doesn’t have any priors here in Petal. I ran his information myself when we booked him.”
“He went out of town to college. UGA if I recall,” Matt said.
Shane picked up his cell and dialed the station. He spoke to the officer on duty, telling him to check to see if Alex had a criminal record either at the University through a grievance system or in other cities.
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The next morning Maggie woke up, getting ready quickly. Her hair up in a triple twist at the nape of her neck made her feel sleek and classy and a bit untouchable. She silently thanked Polly for packing professional looking clothing when she unzipped the garment bag.
Choosing a black skirt and a cream colored blouse and some black pumps, she checked herself over in the mirror one last time before leaving the room. Chin up, she headed downstairs.
“Good morning, Red.” Kyle came out of the kitchen to greet her. He kissed her quickly and gently on the lips and then placed another kiss on her forehead. “You look nice. Momma’s got breakfast just about done.
Come on into the dining room.”
She walked into the dining room and saw that Edward was already there dressed in a suit and Matt was there too. “I thought you two lived on your own?” She asked Kyle.
Edward laughed and went back to his newspaper.
“We do. But I wanted to take the day off to help you, to be with you.
My loser brothers are here all the time to scrounge free food from Mom.” Touched, she reached out and squeezed his hand. “You took the day off for me? You didn’t have to do that.” He brought her hand to his lips. “I know I didn’t have to, I wanted to.
Now sit down. You want some coffee?”
“That would be nice, thank you.” She sat, looking to Edward. “Mr.
Chase, what time should I go to see the judge?”
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“Edward please, darlin’. And I’ll come with you. He does
ex parte
motions at ten thirty on Thursdays. I’ve had my assistant get the paperwork filled out—what parts you don’t have to do that is—and we’ll swing by my office to finish them first. We can leave here by nine thirty.
You can ride in with Kyle. I’ll need my car later.”
“Don’t I need to fill out a fee agreement or something?”
“Honey, this is not something I’d charge for. You’re like a part of our family! I wouldn’t dream of charging money for it.” She shook her head. “Edward, I can’t let you do that. You’re providing professional services and guidance to me. It wouldn’t be right to take advantage of that.”
Kyle narrowed his eyes at her as he put a mug of coffee in her hands.
Damn but she was independent. He wasn’t worried though, if Edward Chase could handle Polly, he could handle Red.
“I would be insulted if you pursued this any further.” Edward looked down at her face, putting on his uber father mask, throwing in a bit of lawyer for effect.
Maggie didn’t know what else to do or say. She didn’t want to insult the people who’d helped her so much. When she got home she planned to make a huge batch of her lemon almond scones and some blueberry muffins and deliver them to Edward’s office. She’d bring extras to the house as well. “Thank you for your kindness,” she finally said, admitting defeat.
“Any time, sugar.” Edward smiled and went back to reading the paper.
At the courthouse, the judge heard two minutes of her story before issuing the temporary order. It helped that one of the witnesses was the sheriff. “The papers will be served to Mr. Parsons at his home address. I understand he is currently out on bail.”
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“Thank you, Your Honor,” Maggie said and they walked out into the hallway. Once out of the judge’s hearing she turned to Edward. “He’s free? They let him go?”
“I hadn’t heard yet. Apparently so.”
Shane stepped forward then. “He made bail a few minutes ago. He’s home on his own recognizance. I’ll have the papers served immediately. I need you to come to the station now so we can take more of your statement.”
“How could they just let him out? He broke my windows! He wrote that stuff on my door. He has…pictures of me! The man is a panty thief!”
“I’m sorry, Maggie, it’s not up to me,” Shane said gently.
“Well this is just bullshit!” she hissed and the men around her were taken aback by her language but hid their amusement well.
“I’m sorry, sugar. This is the way of it, sometimes.” Edward patted her shoulder. “I’m going to leave you in Kyle’s able hands. I have a hearing to get to. I’m your attorney so if you need help, you call me right away, all right?”
“Thank you so much.” He probably couldn’t have any idea how much he’d helped her but she hoped she could make it up to him somehow.
Even if it took her ten years.
He kissed the top of her head and was off with a wave to his sons.
“Kyle, you don’t have to baby sit me. I know you have work to do.”
“That’s why it’s so cool to be the boss. I’m not only going to stay with you, but when I take you back home, I’m going to install some motion controlled lights for you.”
She thought about arguing but saw the set of his mouth and let the idea go. He was just as stubborn as she was. Instead she gave him her thanks and sent some silent thanks of her own out for having such good people in her life.
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Back at her house, Maggie cleaned up the inside while Kyle installed the motion detectors for the lights. From his vantage on the ladder, he saw a Lincoln pull up to the curb out front. A tall, blonde woman got out and stalked up the steps and into the house. An open window was right below where he was working and he heard the entire exchange.
“Margaret, where have you been?” the woman called out as she walked in through the door.
“Hello, Mother.”
“I tried calling you all last night but you didn’t answer. Nice girls don’t stay out night, you know. Think of how the town will talk. Were you with some man? Oh never mind, silly question. Anyway, I got a call from Jane Marie about the deplorable way you treated her last night. Your jealousy of your sister has made you mean spirited. She can’t help that she’s prettier than you are and has a handsome man. You had no right to take it out on her.”
“Oh, I see, so automatically, whatever Janie says is true? That’s right, why even bother asking for my side of the story.” Kyle heard the hurt in her words.
“You cannot be trusted over your sister.” Hearing all he could take, Kyle walked around and up the steps and into the house.
“For your information, Mrs. Wright, Maggie wasn’t home because her house was vandalized and windows were broken out. She stayed with my mother and father until the glass could be replaced.”
“Are you the contractor?” Cecelia looked at him haughtily until recognition lit her eyes and she sent him her thousand watt beauty queen smile. “Wait, you’re a Chase aren’t you?” Her eyelashes fluttered in the presence of such a handsome man and Maggie rolled her eyes.
“No, ma’am, not the contractor. I’m Maggie’s boyfriend, Kyle Chase.” He held his hand out to the vile woman.
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“Boyfriend?
You
?” Cecelia started laughing as it if were the funniest joke she’d ever heard.
Kyle cut off her laughter. “Moreover, and I don’t mean to tell tales out of school, but I think you should know that it was Jane Marie who was a very nasty woman last evening. Maggie and I were having dinner, minding our own business when she came over to our table and was deliberately hurtful to her sister. Maggie did nothing more than defend herself. I’m the one who asked Janie to leave us alone.” He put his arm around Maggie’s shoulders and wished he could toss Cecelia Wright right out of the house.
“Margaret has been jealous of her sister’s superior looks her whole life. Margaret never ran in the popular crowd or got elected homecoming queen and she couldn’t stand it that Jane Marie was. Jane Marie is simply superior and Margaret needs to accept that once and for all.” Fury and hurt coursed through Maggie. And then, clarity and calm.
She was done letting herself get treated that way. By anyone. “That’s a lie. I was happy for her. If she could actually stop being so nasty to me for a few days, she and I got on quite well. I’m still happy for her. I just no longer choose to be spoken to like I’m an ugly stepchild.”
“What are you talking about?” Cecelia looked shocked that Maggie would dare to defend herself.
“The way you’ve spoken to me my whole life, Mother. As if I could never quite make the grade because I didn’t look like you and Janie. It’s quite an achievement to win pageants and I’m happy and proud of both of you. But there’s more than one kind of achievement in life. I graduated second in my class at college and first in graduate school. I had full ride scholarships for all six years. I have a good job. I have nice friends, a good life. Mother, why can’t you just accept me for Margaret and not as someone who isn’t a carbon copy of you?”
“The boyfriend thing is new.” She eyed Kyle up and down.
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Leave it to Cecelia to focus on that instead of everything else. Maggie sighed. “First of all, I’ve dated since I came back to town to teach four years ago. If you had ever bothered to ask me about my life, you’d know that.”
“A bit of a make-over I see. Now if you’d just go blonde you could really look good. Although I must admit that even Jane Marie never landed a Chase brother.”
“Don’t talk about him like he’s a grade of meat.”
“Darling, he’s much better looking than you are. You must be doing something right. Maybe I underestimated you.” Kyle exhaled sharply. “Ma’am, I was raised by Polly Chase to never be rude to a woman but in the last day, between you and your oldest daughter, I’ve been put to the test something fierce. Maggie is beautiful.
She’s funny and smart as all get out. She’s compassionate, strong and generous. How dare you talk to her like she’s not?” Cecelia Wright’s eyes opened wide. “Margaret, are you going to let your young man speak to me like that?”
“Hell yes, Mother. Good bye. Oh and I do so appreciate you asking if I’m okay after my home was vandalized last night.” Cecelia Wright gasped and stormed out of the house.
“Oh my god, Kyle Chase.” Maggie turned to him, lips in a tight line, hands on her hips.
“I’m sorry, Red. I didn’t mean to be rude but I couldn’t believe how she was talking to you.”
Maggie threw her head back and laughed. She laughed and laughed until tears ran down her face and she had to sit down right in the middle of the floor. “Oh my lands! I’ve never seen her with that look on her face, I hope it freezes,” she gasped out her laughter.
A smile cracked Kyle’s worried face. He joined her on the floor and pulled her onto his lap. “Girl, you are something else,” he murmured into her hair.
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“Question is, what exactly is something else?” she asked, looking up into his face.
“Something special,” he said softly, leaning down to kiss her upturned lips. “Something sweet,” he added and nibbled on her chin.
“Something sexy.” She tipped her head back to give him access to her throat and he kissed down to the hollow there.
“Mmm. That’s nice.”
He looked down the line of her body, over the curve of her breasts, down her stomach, her small hands fisted in his shirt. “Yes, very nice.” God he wanted to see her naked. To feel her bare flesh against his own.
To taste her.
Maggie laughed then, a low, sexy sound. This woman was trouble.
She made him want to jump inside her skin. Wanted every day memories like going camping and working in the yard. Yearned to hear her voice, smell her skin. See if she had freckles anywhere else.
For years he’d avoided such trouble, liking the single life very much.
But Maggie Wright was the best kind of trouble he’d ever been in and he wanted to gorge himself with more.
Trailing the tips of his fingers down her belly he traced circles around her navel, slightly easing the hem of her blouse up. She shifted then and ran her fingers through his hair, dragging her fingernails lightly across his scalp. “Oh god, please touch me. I need your hands on me,” she whispered.
“Hey, girl! You in there?” They both jumped at the sound and Kyle reluctantly sat Maggie up, smoothing her shirt down.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered and he laughed and shrugged. “In here, Liv,” Maggie called out, having to clear her voice.
Liv walked into the living room and saw them both getting up off the floor. “Whoops! Sorry. I can come back later.”
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“No, I need to finish installing those motion lights, anyway.” He turned and kissed Maggie’s nose and whispered, “I’ll get back to where I was later on.”
“You’d better.” She smiled at him and watched him walk out of the room.
“Well,” Liv said with a grin on her face.
“Yeah, turns out I had the wrong Chase brother to start with but now that I’ve corrected my mistake things are much better.” She snorted, starting to laugh.
Liv tossed her bag into a chair and crossed her arms, looking at her friend. “So what happened with Alex? By the way, I’m parched. Can I get some tea?”
“Yeah, come on through.” Maggie motioned her into the kitchen, giving her the basics on the way. “They let him out on bail today. He’s home! I can’t believe that. Oh, and they’re charging him with possession of stolen property for having ten pairs of my underwear, three bras and a teddy, a bustier and a silk robe. It was my favorite robe, too! I thought it was at the dry cleaners. It’s not like I can wear any of that stuff again, god only knows what he did with it all.” Both women shuddered in disgust. “Eww. What about the pictures?”
“What about them? Apparently he didn’t do anything illegal. Any pervert can set up and using a telephoto lens, shoot you taking a shower.
Ridiculous. You can bet I’ll keep my curtains closed up tight. Hell, I even safety pinned them closed because a few of the pictures were shot between the gap where the two panels didn’t quite meet. Though they do go toward making him look like the perverted stalker he is so we can use that in the protection order hearing.”
“I feel guilty, he seemed so nice.”
“Don’t feel bad, Liv. How could you have known? He was a nice guy for a while.”
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“So tell me about the fracas with Janie last night.” Liv’s eyes lit up as she drank her tea.
Maggie spilled the entire story to Liv.
After first being shocked, Liv started laughing at Kyle’s response. “I knew that boy was a keeper! Has hurricane Cece been here?”