Lost and Found (15 page)

His answer was another wall of silence.

“I’m calling a cab
,
and I’m leaving
,
and you can’t stop me. I’ll walk if I have to.”

He must have sensed her unbending resolve. “No, you’re not taking a cab. I’ll drive you.”

She always loved Richard’s truck
and
nestled
in the soft leather seats while the whisper of jazz hummed from the
CD
player. Richard
has
stashed her overnight bag behind his seat. He convinced her only to pack essentials. With his sunglasses hiding his eyes, she was unable to read
him
through his stony silence.
H
e had a way of blanking out what he was thinking
.
He’d
always been a mystery, one of
the
many things
attracting
her to him.

Richard cleared his throat before pulling into the parking lot of an
ocean side
restaurant specializing in chowder. “
Humor
me
,
Maggie. I’m hungry
,
and you need to eat.”

She
shook her head and gazed out her window. This was so like him
,
deciding everything all the time. “This needs to stop Richard. I have a mind of my own. I realize over the last little bit I was in trouble
,
and you helped. But you can’t make decisions for me.”

“Please Maggie
,
it
’
s just lunch.”

Maggie wanted to bang her head against the glass to knock some sense into herself because
,
against her better
judgment
, she opened her door and stepped down. She needed space and distance from Richard. She hid for so long behind a chemical haze that numbed everything so she didn’t have to face up or deal with anything.

Richard stopped in front of his truck, and took of
f
his shades
,
tucking them in his front coat pocket.

Maggie hesitated a minute. “Just lunch
,
and then you promise to take me to a hotel?”

“Lunch and hear me out,
and
then I promise
,
if you still want to go, I’ll take you to a hotel for tonight.” She wanted to reach up and touch the faint lines on his face that made him so damn good looking. He must have seen it
because
something softened in his rock solid features. Vulnerability? Maybe.

“Fair enough.”
She
walked ahead of Richard, but he was so close
,
in her
personal
space
,
she could feel his heat. There was a time this was all she wanted.

She
chose a seat away from other customers at a small window table for two. A skinny young waitress brought them menus and promised to return in a moment to take their order.
She
stared at the menu
,
determined to stand her ground with Richard because she knew all too well his powers of persuasion. They didn’t speak. The waitress returned, took their orders and menus and promptly returned with coffee for
her
and a beer for Richard.
She
tapped her fingers on the table, gazed at the ocean
and
then lifted her cup and sipped.

“I don’t want you to leave.”

She
set her cup down. “Ah Richard
,
look I told you…”

He reached out and touched her hand
,
the one
resting
on the table.

“Maggie please
,
just hear me out.” His voice softened as he squeezed her hand tenderly. “Please.”

Maggie finally looked up at him
,
and what she saw melted a bit of her resolve.

“I’m trying to protect you. I feel like I let you down. Because I never knew you got hooked on some pills
,
and after that last week watching you through that sick and hurt
,
getting that crap out of you, I swore I wouldn’t turn my back on you again. I love you
,
Maggie.” He pulled her hand closer and linked his fingers with hers.

“I love you too. But this isn’t why I’m leaving
,
and you know it.”
She
pulled her hand away.

“We’re barely holding it together to create a sense of balance for Ryley. What do you think this will do to him? You taking off? You may have an issue with me and my need to protect you, but you mark my words. You scared the hell out of Ryley. He knew you were taking pills. He told me he found them in the bathroom. We talked about it last night. I told him you were off them and home for good. His heart was broken from what happened to Lily and then being ripped away from his home. His family torn apart. If you leave
,
you’re not taking Ryley. I won’t let you
,
and he won’t go with you now. You two are on shaky ground. Your focus needs to be repairing the relationship with Ryley. You two used to be close
;
he was a mama’s boy. But you terrified him. He couldn’t reach you.” Richard tapped his index finger
on
his head. “Did you know during one of his night terrors
,
he tried to wake you when you were living in that
God
awful rental in town
?
He couldn’t. And I have no idea how long ago it was. He never told me. Not until last night.”

She
shut her eyes and squeezed her fists. This was not what she wanted to hear.

“Maggie
,
open your eyes. I’m not saying this to hurt you. You need to understand what Ryley saw. You just did things. He’d ask you something
,
and you wouldn’t respond. How many times did you forget to pick him up at school so he walked home? Do you understand what I’m saying? Your anger at me is going to hurt Ryley.”

She
shivered as if ice water flowed through her veins. Her determination to stand up to Richard evaporated. Because he was right. She’d not begun to repair the bond with Ryley, and leaving wasn’t the answer—even for one night.

“I need to think Richard…alone
,
without you around.”

The waitress delivered their sandwiches
,
and they ate in silence
.
After
a few bites
,
she pushed her plate away. “I need to take a walk on the beach. Can you let me be for a bit?”

“I’ll wait for you.”

She slid out her chair and started to leave. But stopped and looked down at him
,
and
when
he reached for her hand
, i
t felt different,
more caring instead of his usual
possessive
manner
.

“Maggie
,
I didn’t say this about Ryley to confuse or trick you. I don’t want to involve you in my crap
,
and I’m asking you to let me handle it. Ryley and you are the most important things in my life. He needs us both. I’m asking you to stop running and help me…focus on Ryley. He’s not okay
,
and I think you know that. Don’t make me go home without you, not again. Don’t do that to Ryley.”

She
pulled her hand away, and slipped out the door.

She wandered the gravel beach in front of the restaurant
and
gazed out over the waves rippling and splashing against the shoreline. The tide had changed and was higher today.
She
shoved her hands in her wool coat pocket
s
as the wind whipped her dark hair all around. Richard was hiding something. But to force her point and leave would hurt Ryley. He needed his mother. She’d only made baby steps in reconnecting with him. Damn Richard, he was right. But she still needed to know what shady scheme Dan dragged Richard into
this time
.
She
turned away from shore
,
picked her way cautiously over the big rocks, and paused when she spied Richard standing on the bank watching her.

Richard popped on his shades as she climbed back up the narrow path, and held out his hand as she stepped up beside him on the grassy hillside. “What have you decided?”

“Let’s go get Ryley.”

He smiled and appeared to relax as he let
out
a heavy sigh. But that wasn’t all she’d decided. After they were home
,
she was going to make some calls and find out what mess Richard had gotten himself into.

Diane tossed a ball for Daisy across the grass. Daisy raced for the ball
,
picked it up in her mouth
,
sauntered back tail wagging
,
and dropped it at Diane’s feet. Richard parked the truck beside her SUV, and glanced at Maggie, before hopping out. “Diane
,
what are you doing here?”

Diane raised the brim of her dark ball cap and lifted her sunglasses peering first at Richard
and
then Maggie.

“I called Diane.”

Daisy barked and yipped with
her
tail wagging
and
trotted toward Maggie, bumping
her
leg and hand
,
demanding her attention.

She
bent down and scratched behind her ears, smoothing her hand over her thick coat and hugged her around her neck as she covered
her
face with doggie kisses. She didn’t realize how much she missed her dog. “Thanks for bringing Daisy back.”

Ryley had been so quiet in the back of the truck she never heard him approach. But Daisy did. She pushed past Maggie
,
making a beeline straight for Ryley, greeting him as if he was long lost kin. And when Ryley bent down to the dog
,
something in his face lightened.

“Ryley
,
can you grab Daisy’s dry food
from
Diane’s car and take it inside
,
and while you’re there
,
fill a bowl of water.” Ryley didn’t move. He looked to his
dad
as if he needed his okay. The air twisted inside her stomach as a cloud of defeat threatened to close in.
She
felt helpless, so she glanced away
,
struggling to hold it together.

“Ryley
,
your mom asked you do something, and I don’t see you moving.”
She
turned back at the sharpness in Richard’s tone.

“I wasn’t sure if you wanted the dog
,
Dad. I know you don’t like the mess.”

“Daisy’s my dog Ryley
,
and she’s staying. Your
dad
understands that. Don’t you
,
Richard?” He looked away with a hint of a smile flick
er
ing at the corner of his mouth.

“The dog stays
.
Ryley
,
now go do what your mom asked.”

Diane opened the back door of her blue SUV. She lugged out the bag of dry dog food and placed the bundle in Ryley’s arms. “Can you handle the bag or do you want me to take it in for you?”

“No I got it. Come on
,
Daisy.” The dog appeared unsure when she focused on Maggie as if to ask,
Another new home
?

Ryley called her again
,
but Daisy waited for Maggie’s okay. “Go on Daisy, go with Ryley.” The dog hesitated for a moment until
she
clapped her hands
,
and
then Daisy limped up the steps following Ryley inside.

“So we have a dog now? Diane
,
are you sure you can’t keep the dog?”

“She’s my dog
,
Richard
,
and she stays with me. Get used to it.”
She
was still irritated Ryley wouldn’t listen and needed Richard’s intervention.

Diane crossed her arms and leaned against her SUV. She remained quiet as she appeared to study both of them. “What’s going on
,
Maggie? Your message sounded urgent when you called earlier. I phoned, but there was no answer.”