Free Maggie's Five ...the first in a LOVE story by Sandra Fitzgerald Page B

with promises to keep
in touch, even though we won’t.
    Luke’s mobile
phone’s ringing again. It rings a lot at the best of times, but
it’s been going crazy today. He answers it quietly from in the
kitchen, so I can’t hear what he’s saying, just the hum of his
voice filling the void.
    I’m grateful for
him. I’m thankful to the powers in play for bringing him to me. I
honestly don’t know where I’d be or what I would do without him
anymore. That thought alone petrifies me and has me spitting in
jealousy, because he can leave. It would be so easy for him. He can
walk up the very stairs I’m glaring at from my position on the
couch and pack his bag. Toss out the things he no longer wants and
go. Disappear.
    I hate him for
that.
    I really do. But
I love that’s he here more.
    Luke spoke to
Jon yesterday and again this morning. Luke speaks to him more than
I do these days. They had one of their cryptic conversations about
me. I really wish people would stop thinking I’m too stupid and not
understand what is going on around me.
    I’m not, you
know. Widow is not a synonym for dense.
    Luke’s raised
voice snaps me out of my darkening thoughts, my ears pricking to
attention as he speaks. “No, I told you that would be impossible at
the moment.”
    There’s silence,
the scraping of a chair over the timber floor.
    “ I
can’t,” he growls, his tone piking my curiosity. I don’t think he’s
talking to anyone I know.
    “ Fine,” he barks, then is quiet for a moment. “I said it’s
fine, give me a couple days to get organised.”
    I’m standing
now, making my way to him. I know it’s wrong but he sounds so
distressed I can’t help it. I stop short of the entrance to the
kitchen and watch him pace, running his free hand through his
shaggy blonde hair that could use a trim, the other hand clutching
the phone still pressed to his ear.
    “ I’m
pretty fucking sure I pay someone way too much to take care of this
shit, Alec,” he grounds out through clenched teeth before noticing
me.
    His shoulders
drop, and he runs a frustrated hand through the back of his hair
rigorously, causing it to stick out in different directions. Then
he wipes it firmly over his face, walks to me and wraps me up in
his large frame. He stopped listening to whatever Alec is saying on
the other end of the line.
    “ I
have to go,” Luke says without apology and hangs up, wraps his
other arm around me and buriers his face into my hair. I shuffle
closer when he doesn’t move and hold him back, waiting for him the
same way he has waited patiently for me. After the longest time, I
feel Luke’s shoulders soften and then the muscles in his back
relax. Lastly his tightly clenched jaw slackens, and his arms hold
steadfast.
    I slide my hands
into his back pockets. “What’s wrong?”
    I love, no, hate
how much I like the way he holds me. There’s no pretence, no
expectation, only friendship and comfort. Normally it’s Luke
comforting me - this time however, I’m not so sure.
    “ I
have to go,” he murmurs so, so quietly against my skin and tightens
his embrace.
    He’s leaving me?
But he can’t. Jon is.
    “ Where?” I probe, even though it’s not my place to ask; he’s
not mine to question. My heartrate picks up anyway, and my arms
drop listlessly, suddenly too heavy.
    He’s leaving
me.
    “ They
need me back at the office.” Luke breathes noisily through his nose
and presses his forehead into the nook between my shoulder and my
neck, “I don’t want to go, Maggie Mae,” he whispers, then turns to
press a soft kiss to my jaw. “I don’t want to leave.”
    I’m not sure -
it could be from the summer heat and our bodies being pressed
tightly together, but the skin under his face feels
damp.
    “ Where?” It’s all I seem to be able to manage. I hold my
breath, because I know what’s coming. I know where Luke’s office is
based. He’s leaving me, and not to go around the corner.
    “ New
York.”
    My eyes
instantly fill