Maisie
MONDAY MORNING, HATCH left long enough to pick up breakfast and arrived with both food and his nephew, Devon. Introductions were made and I thought Poppy’s head might explode. My confident (with kids her own age), chatty, beautiful young daughter suddenly went all giggly and tongue tied around the boy. Granted, he looked like Zac Ephron’s younger brother, but still, Poppy wasn’t typically the boy-crazy type. My stomach churned. This was her growing up even faster. Gah!
"Cade’s on a job," Hatch explained as he made a cup of coffee and cheesed up a bagel. "So, I’ll drop Poppy at school, take Dev to his appointnt, then to school, and grab lunch. Does that work?"
"Yes, that’s fine, love," I said, and sat at my kitchen island. "But I could have figured sothing else out for Poppy this morning. You don’t need to stretch yourself so thin."
Hatch stood in front of and kissed gently. "It’s all good, Sunshine."
"I have sothing for you."
"Yeah?" His face showed excitent.
"Nothing fun, I’m afraid. Just practical."
"Practical’s good."
I nodded toward the small desk by the window. "There’s a spare set of keys and I got you a code to the garage, so that you have your own entry. You can park in my space until I get a new car and then you can park in my guest space. You also don’t have to check in at the front desk anymore."
"You sure about this?"
I smiled. "Very sure. I trust you."
He stroked my cheek and nodded. "Okay, baby."
"Okay."
He grinned, leaning down to kiss again. "Now, eat your breakfast. I’ll text you when I drop Dev off... decide what you want for lunch."
"Thanks, darling."
"Like that, Maisie."
"I’ll keep that in mind, Connor."
He kissed once more, then gathered up the kids and headed out. I finished my breakfast and took pain ds before settling in for a quiet morning of catching up on a few business emails.
An hour into my uneventful work ti, my doorbell rang. Since the doorman hadn’t called up, I assud Hatch had forgotten he had a key and pulled open the door. Ryan stood in the doorway, looking haggard. He had bags under his eyes and a few days’ stubble over his cheeks.
I pulled him in for a hug, holding him tight. "How are you?"
"Not good."
"How’s Alison?"
"She’s really bad, Maisie. Doctors aren’t hopeful. I’ll give you the full rundown on what they’ve said, but can we go sowhere? Grab a coffee, maybe? I feel like I’m running on fus."
My heart went out to him, but his request made a little sick to my stomach. "Ryan, I’m sorry, but Hatch is going to freak out if I go sowhere with you, and he really doesn’t want you here with alone."
His eyes narrowed with hurt. "Alone with ? Maisie, you’ve been alone with a million tis and I’ve never—"
"Neither did Alison," I pointed out.
His jaw snapped shut. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I get it. I thought after all we’ve been through... after how much we helped you after you lost Niall..." He stepped back into the hall, shaking his head. "You know what, never mind."
I felt like crap. He was right. He and Alison had done so much for , and it wasn’t like Ryan had a drinking problem. After everything he’d learned over the past couple of days, he had to be devastated. And I couldn’t even offer him a shoulder to cry on. "Ryan, wait. I’m sorry."
"It’s fine, Maisie. I’ll call you in a few days."
He took off and I watched him leave, replaying the conversation in my head and wondering how I could have handled it differently. Ryan was my friend, too, and I should be there for him. But I felt so betrayed and leery after Alison’s attack, I knew Hatch was right and I couldn’t trust either of them.
Ryan disappeared around the corner and I closed the door and secured the deadbolts. It took several tries because I was shaking so bad, and my left hand kept slipping off the locks. My phone buzzed on the coffee table, but I didn’t get to it in ti. Picking it up, I saw a missed call from Hatch, but I needed a minute to calm down, so I waited to call him back. Unfortunately, he called again... this ti I ignored it. We played the ga again, and I answered figuring he wasn’t going to stop.
"What’s wrong?" he growled.
"Ryan was here."
"Don’t move."
He hung up and I dropped my phone on the sofa. I was still shaking, but I couldn’t seem to make myself move from my spot on the area rug. The locks turned and Hatch walked inside and pulled gently into his arms. "Tell everything."
I filled him in and he nodded, but didn’t say anything as he walked to Niall’s chair, guiding into it. I pulled my knees up to my chin and sighed. "He’s hurting, love."
"I don’t give one fuck, Maisie." Hatch shook his head. "He doesn’t co here guilt tripping you like that. You didn’t do anything wrong. His wife tried to kill you! How does he expect you to react?"
"I hear you, but it wasn’t Ryan who tried to kill ," I countered. "They were there for when I needed them. I feel like I should be doing sothing for them."
Hatch scowled. "I know you think you know Ryan, Maisie, but I’ve seen n do a lot of stupid shit for their won. This one has a badge and you don’t know what he’s capable of."
"Hatch—"
"Stop fuckin’ minimizin’ this!" he bellowed.
"Stop yelling at !" I returned.
He dragged his hands down his face and studied for a few tense seconds. "I’m gonna make so calls, Sunshine. You need anything?"
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