When Tomorrow Ends (6 page)

“You know who. She spent a whole night with him and the other men on Dry Tortugas.”

Now Jon looked confused. “Wait. Jake. You don’t make sense. Why would Maggie spend the night with the Bad Boys of Boot Key Harbor?”

“It wasn’t on purpose. No. There was a storm they couldn’t out run. Then they had trouble with the engine and made it to Dry Tortugas.”

“I didn’t know man. I’m sorry. At least they made it through the storm. Those guys know what to do, no doubt.”

Jake nodded. “I’ll give them that much. I waited all night, bro. There was no way I could get to her. She was out there, alone with those men and I was on land, unable to help. Helpless, that’s how I felt, it tore my guts out.” Jake ordered another shot for them.

Jon draped an arm over his brother’s shoulder. “Sorry man. I can’t say I wouldn’t feel the same way if Abby were out there in a storm.”

Jake nodded. “At first light, I called in the chopper and we went to get her. When I saw her, do you know what she was doing?”

Jon shook his head. “What?”

“Snorkeling.”

“Yeah? Well, that’s not so bad, bro.”

“In a bikini with Ben’s arms wrapped around her waist. She was laughing as he swung her around and threw her in the water. He touched her like I should have been.”

“Yeah, that’s bad, bro.”

“I lost my mind.”

“What did you do?” Jon stared at him.

Jake closed his eyes. “I grabbed her and kissed her as if it were the last kiss we would ever have together.” He heard his brother groan. “I had to hold her up because her knees buckled from that one kiss. She melted in my arms, then I told her to let Ben make her feel that way. I got in the helicopter and left her there.”

Jon looked incredulous. “You left her there, with the Bad Boys? No way, bro? That’s not good. I mean, why didn’t you take her home with you? Then you could work it out.”

Jake groaned. “I know. I know. The more I think about the whole situation, my trust factor sucks. I know Maggie would never betray me. I know it in here.” He took his fist and punched his chest. “What’s wrong with me, bro? I walked away from the best woman I ever had.”

“Man, I told you to get help with the past. You can afford to.”

“I don’t need to be counselled by someone who doesn’t know me. No, I need Maggie and I blew her off like she was a girlfriend who cheated. I didn’t give her a chance to explain. She tried to tell me.” Jake raked his hand through his hair over and over.

“Dude, you need to call her.”

“Yeah, I know. Not sure if she’ll talk to me at this point.”

“I’m gonna call Abby to let her know I made it here. Chances are Abbs went over there to take Jax back. Let’s get out of here and we’ll make that call.”

Jake almost fell off his bar stool when he went to get up. He was stone cold drunk. It was something he didn’t do often but Jon wrapped his arm around his shoulder and the two left the bar and walked down to the water, where they sat on a bench. The moon shone across the water. It’s soothing ripples began to put Jake in a trance. He shook himself. “I want Maggie.”

Jon was on the phone with his love, Abby. He seemed hesitant to give Jake the phone. “Jon, get Maggie. I need her. I need to talk to her.”

Jon spoke in the phone again, this time it sounded like he argued with someone. “Jon, what the hell are you doing? Give me the phone.” He reached out and pulled it from his twin’s hand.

“Maggie, baby? Are you there?” He heard her tiny breaths through the cell. “I hear you baby. I know you are there. I love you. I’m man enough to say I’m sorry, I need you. I can’t spend another moment without you in my arms.”

He heard her gasp and cry out. Then there was a commotion and Abby’s voice came on the phone. “Jake? Listen up. I’m speaking for Maggie. She wants you to know she’s moving to the bungalow below until you do the right thing and make her your wife.”

“What? I plan to,” he slurred, as the alcohol hit him like a ton of bricks. “We were going to go get rings when all of this happened.”

He heard Abby shuffle the phone and her voice came back on. “Maggie knows, but she wants it all and until you do the right thing and get rid of all these demons and marry her, she’s not going to move back in. By the time you get home, her things will be down in the bungalow.”

“Abby, stay out of this,” Jake growled. “Unless I hear those words from Maggie, I don’t believe a word you say.”

The phone shuffled again. “Jake.”

“Maggie. Oh hell Maggie. Is this true, you want out?” His gut wrenched. She breathed deep, her tiny gasps filled his ear. He wanted to wrap her in his arms, his body ached for her. “I’m coming home, right now. I need you baby.”

“No Jake. No. You sound drunk. Stay with Jon.” Her voice. It sounded as if she would welcome him with open arms.

“Maggie, do you forgive me for being such a jerk?”

“I love you Jake. I do, but-”

“Then I’m going to sober up and ride back in to your arms because I want you right now so bad I can taste you.”

“Please! Abby, I can’t-”

The phone shuffled and Abby’s voice came back on. Jake didn’t want to talk to her. He wanted Maggie. “Jake Hatfield, stop it right now. You listen up! Maggie loves you but you need to understand she’s serious. She wants the whole thing, love, marriage, a baby-”

“A baby! What do you know?” Jake looked at his brother. “Jon, is Maggie pregnant? I thought we used protection. Oh hell! Abby, let me talk to her. She’d tell me if she were pregnant.” His head began to swim.

Abby laughed. “Jake, she isn’t preggo!” Jon grabbed the phone from his hand. He spoke to Abby and then hung up.

Jake reached up to pull it back out of his hand. “Oh hell, bro. Why’d you hang up? I need to find out if we’re having a girl or a boy.” He stared at his brother. “Can you believe this? We’re gonna have a baby? How’d that happen?”

“Hell Jake. You’re hammered. Come on, let’s get you back to the motel. It’s right across the street.” Jake didn’t argue. He stumbled over the macadam road with his arm slung around his brother and began to laugh. “I’m going to be a Dad.” All of a sudden he stopped dead in the middle of the street. “Who the hell got her pregnant? It wasn’t me! Was it that sonofabitch Ben? Ben!”

“Bro, quiet down. No one got Maggie pregnant. She’s not, trust me. Now let’s go, take a step up.”

Jake looked dumbfounded. “She’s not gonna have my baby?”

“Nope.”

“I need a drink.”

“No more drinks for you, bro.”

“If she wants a baby then we need to have a baby because I will do anything for her, give her whatever she wants.” He stumbled in the motel room. “Where is Maggie, bro?”

Jon closed the door.

<><>

“We drank too much,” Maggie groaned as she stumbled out of the bedroom. Abby spent the night with her, too drunk to go home. They drank both bottles of wine and then found some half opened bottles of something they couldn’t pronounce the name of.

“Coffee?” Abby offered.

Maggie moaned. “How do you do it, Abb? You look like you never drank a thing last night.” Abby looked fresh as a button, her bright red hair gathered up with a scrunchy.

She laughed. “I feel it, trust me. We better hurry if we want to move you downstairs before they get back. Jon said about an hour ago they’d be on the bikes within the hour.”

Maggie bit her bottom lip. She hadn’t been too drunk to remember her plans to move to the bungalow. “Oh Abbs, do you think maybe I should wait and talk to him first? I mean, you heard his words last night?” She remembered how he told her how much he wanted to be in her arms. How could she be away from him for any amount of time?

Her friend and soon to be sister-in-law walked over to her and grabbed her upper arms. “Look at me. Do not back down. Jake has promised you marriage since you got back from the road trip. Tell me what he’s done to make good on his proposal to you?”

Maggie groaned. “Work.”

Abby raised her brows. “That’s right. You know Jake, he will continue to work because he doesn’t know how to stop. You showed him how to have a good time away from work when you went on the road trip. The moment the two of you were back home, it was back to long work hours and empty promises.”

“He did say we were going for the ring before all this happened.”

Abby shook her head. “It doesn’t matter, it’s a ring. He needs to learn to let go of the past. He got so upset because he doesn't feel worthy. When you were out on the boat in the water, he wasn’t there to protect you. Jon told me. He thinks you’re pregnant you know.”

“What!” Maggie groaned. “This keeps getting worse by the minute.”

Chapter 6

“He thinks I’m pregnant? How did he ever get that idea? Oh Abby, what did you say?” She tried to remember every single word they spoke last night, but all she could hear in her head were his words to her of how he wanted to come right home because he wanted to hold her in his arms.

“I don’t know. When I told him you want it all, marriage, a baby-”

“You told him I want a baby! Oh Abbs, I do. But not like this. Not yet, I’m not ready for one yet.”

“He assumed you were preggo when I said those exact words. He was drunk, he won’t remember.”

Maggie began to pack some things. “Hurry Abby, I want to be out of here when he comes home. Maybe I’ll go take a bike ride.” She dropped her clothes on the bed. “I’m not sure I can do this.”

Abby threw more clothes in to the suitcase. “You can do this, you have to. Beside, you’ll be right below him. It’s not like you’re leaving him forever. But you have to get this point across. If you don’t, you’ll be getting married for the next three years or longer.”

“Maybe I don’t even care. Being with Jake is all I need, it’s all I ever needed.”

“Nonsense. You ache to be Mrs. Jake Hatfield.”

“Yes and I’m going to be.” Maggie sat on the bed. This wasn’t right. “I can’t do this. I can’t walk away from him. No, I can’t.”

Abby plopped down beside her. “Oh Maggie, are you sure? Because you’re the one who can help him. He needs to get over this nonsense. Jon told me the reason he got so angry wasn’t because he thought you were with Ben, but because Ben was there and he wasn’t. It could have been any man on the boat with you and he would’ve felt the same way.”

Maggie let a tear slip down her cheek. She looked at the leather piece of luggage opened on the bed with some of her clothes packed in it and shook her head. “Then I can’t walk away, not even to go down to the bungalow. I can’t. He needs me.”

Abby hugged her. “Oh Maggs.”

The sound of motorcycles made the girls jump up. Maggie paced back and forth in the bedroom, her knuckles white. She ran on to the balcony, then stopped. This was no good. Did she run in to his arms and forgive him for what happened? He was drunk last night. Would he remember how he told her he wanted her so bad? Was he still angry? Her hands clutched the thick rail.

Abby gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I’m out of here, you two have things to work out.”

Maggie stood at the rail and waited. Jake came through the gate and around the corner, his steps heavy, his clothes crumpled, his hair a mess. He looked up at her as she waited at the top of the steps. He ran his hand through his hair in typical Jake style and took one slow step at a time, as his eyes never left hers.

The intensity that was Jake, it was all in his eyes. Her hands fell away from the rail and she went to the top step and met him head on. He put his arms around her and pulled her close. His head swooped down as he pressed his mouth to hers but didn’t try to part her lips. He rested there, his eyes closed, their lips touching and yet she could feel the warmth of him penetrate every single fiber of her being. “Oh Jake,” she whispered against his mouth.

“I’m an ass,” he told her. His warm breath flowed in to hers.

She smiled. “Kiss me like you missed me.” His tongue parted her lips right before he delved in, crushing her to him as he picked her up at the same time. She wrapped her long legs around his waist. He walked her backwards, stumbled over the door step and backed her against the kitchen wall. “I want to take you right here, right now.”

“Do it, Jake.”

He growled in her mouth then brushed his lips over her skin as he began to place desperate kisses all over. “I missed your touch baby.”