Page 31 of The Maverick’s Forever Home (Montana Mavericks: Behind Closed Doors #2)

“Leave,” he yelled. There was so much frustration on his face—so much sadness. But his voice was loud and clear. “I want you to. Get on an airplane, like you always do. Go away. Leave.” His words were like buckshot, a hundred tiny bullets peppering her all over.

“Okay.” She hurried from the room, wincing when he slammed the door at her back. She pressed her hands to her chest. It hurt so badly.

“Mags.” Mike stood in the hallway, anguish etched into every feature of his face.

“Not right now, Mike.” She brushed past him and to her room.

It was only there, with her door closed and her face buried in her pillow, that she gave in to her tears.

Once they started, she couldn’t stop. Each sob was rawer and more broken that the last. She’d hurt her son.

She’d made him doubt her love for him. He’d lashed out in anger, but his words were no less cutting.

Did he really want her to leave—to go far away and not come back?

That thought unleashed a hurt she wasn’t prepared for, shattering her heart and bringing her whole world crashing down around her.

* * *

Braden struggled to stay calm on the drive to Maggie’s. He didn’t know what he was walking into, only that they needed him. As much as he hated leaving Delilah two nights in a row, there’d been something about Maggie’s tone that panicked him.

Renee didn’t have any clients for her mobile-grooming business so she’d offered to watch Delilah.

She hadn’t asked many questions but promised that, with the help of his parents, she’d take good care of her.

Which meant he didn’t need to worry about anything other than Cody and Maggie.

He parked and hurried to the front door, slapping at the dust coating his jeans.

He was a mess, but he got the feeling time was of the essence.

He was ready to knock when the door opened.

“Mike.” He could feel the tension rolling off the other man.

“Braden.” Mike waved him inside. “Cody’s in his room.”

“And Maggie?”

“She’s in her room.” Mike ran a hand along the back of his neck. “It was bound to come to a head sooner or later but…” He swallowed hard. “Cody was real hard on her.”

Braden hesitated. “Which way to his room?” He followed Mike, nodded his thanks and knocked on the boy’s bedroom door. “Cody? It’s Braden.”

“Come in.”

Braden walked in to find Cody sitting on the floor in the corner of his room.

The boy’s face was red, his eyes were puffy and he kept wiping his nose on his sleeve.

Maggie was right—Cody was not okay. He sat on the floor beside the boy but stayed quiet.

This was all new to him. Maggie wanted him here.

Cody wanted him here. So he was here. What he was supposed to do now that he was here, he didn’t know.

But he figured it was better to let Cody talk when he was ready to—even if that meant they would sit there for a while.

Cody sniffed and took a shuddering breath.

Braden looked at him. The boy was hurting—he saw it and felt it. And, dammit all, Braden couldn’t take it. He reached out and patted the boy on the back. It wasn’t much but it was some form of comfort. The boy needed comforting.

“Braden.” His voice wavered. “I was real mean to my mom.” He sniffed, swiping away the tears on his cheek. “Real mean.”

“She will forgive you.” Braden kept on patting Cody’s back. “Don’t you worry about that.”

“I d-don’t understand why grown-ups do stuff.” He rested his chin on his knees. “Ma says stuff but it doesn’t make sense. I g-get s-so angry.”

Braden rested his hand on the boy’s back. “Getting angry is normal. I got angry a lot when I was growing up.”

Cody looked up at him. “Did your mom leave you lots, too?”

Braden felt that blow, hard and fast, right in the gut. “No.” He swallowed.

“You still have your dad?” He sniffed, watching as Braden nodded. “My dad left my mom cuz he wasn’t ready to be a dad. It’s okay, I guess. I never met him so I can’t miss him.”

Well, hell . He was way out of his element. At this rate, he was going to be crying, too. This little boy was hurting something fierce. “Do you want to meet him?”

“Nah. I don’t like him much for leaving Ma that way.

Grampa says a real man takes care of his responsibilities.

But he didn’t take care of me or Ma so he’s not a real man.

” Cody glanced at him. “I do want a dad, though. I was hopin’ it’d be you.

Ma said she wants to marry someone who will love me and put us first, forever.

” His face was going red again. “Can’t you do that?

If you marry her, I bet she’ll stay here.

And I’m good, mostly. Ask Uncle Mike or Grampa. ”

That was a whole lot of information and all of it put a pain in his heart. “Cody, I know you’re a good boy. And you have a big heart—just like your mom.”

“I’m not like her.” Cody buried his face against his knees. “If I ever have a kid, I’m not gonna go off and leave them. I’d never do that. Moms and dads shouldn’t leave their kids.”

Braden stayed quiet so Cody would keep talking.

“I know Mom’s job is important but… Why does she have to do it?” His voice was muffled. “She never gets sick. Never. But she was really sick. And, this morning, on my way to the kitchen, I heard Gramma tell Uncle Mike she could have died.”

Well, hell . Cody was nine. After hearing something like that, of course he wouldn’t want Maggie going back to that job. He wouldn’t want her to go anywhere. He’d want his mom to stay here, safe and sound. “I bet that was real scary.”

“Can’t you marry her, Braden? Make her stay?” He started crying again. “Gramma and Grampa and Uncle Mike say she’s doin’ good stuff and I should be proud of her. But I don’t care about that. I want her to stay here and be my mom and love me.”

Braden pulled the boy close and wrapped his arms around him. He couldn’t stand this. He couldn’t let this boy think his mother didn’t love him. “Hey, now. Look at me for a minute.” Braden waited for the boy to look at him. “Your mom loves you so much, Cody. Don’t ever doubt that.”

Cody’s brow furrowed, but he stayed propped against Braden’s chest. “But she could get sick if she leaves again. Even worse this time.” He sniffed. “Delilah’s mom d-died but she has you. I d-don’t have a dad. I’d be alone.”

Braden swallowed against the lump in his throat. He took a minute before he spoke, searching for the right words.

“How do I explain this… Your mom…it’s like she has a mission to take care of people, Cody. Her heart is so full of love. She needs to take care of the women and children she visits because they need help. But she loves you the most.”

Cody shook his head. “I need a mom. I need her, too.”

“Of course you do.”

Cody sat up, staring at him. “Will you help me get her to stay? Please?”

“Even if I want her to stay, I want her happiness more. If this job is what makes her happy, then I want her to have it.”

Cody’s eyes were welling up with tears. “Why can’t I make her happy? Why can’t I make her want to stay?”

Braden didn’t know how to answer that. He knew there she’d made a promise that had bound her to her job but even he didn’t fully understand why Maggie was so single-minded when it came to her work.

“You should talk to her, Cody. She told me there’s no secrets between you.

” He ran a hand over the boy’s curls—just as soft as Maggie’s.

“Your mom wants to know what’s going on with you.

She wants to make it better. She worried about you like you worry about her. ”

“’Kay.” Tears were slipping down his cheeks again. “I was real mean to her, Braden.” And he was sobbing.

Braden wrapped his arms around the boy and rocked him. “She understands, Cody. I promise. You take some time and talk to her. It will be okay.”

“’Kay.” Cody drew in a wavering breath, then went back to sobbing.

He didn’t know how long they sat there, only that Cody cried himself out.

Braden kept rocking him, but at some point, Cody started to droop against him—sound asleep.

He scooped up Cody, put him on his bed and pulled the quilt at the foot of the bed up and over him.

He ran his fingers through the boy’s hair, realizing the need to protect and love this child.

No matter what happened with Maggie, Cody would have a piece of his heart.

He slipped out of Cody’s room and paused. He couldn’t leave until he’d talked to Maggie and admitted what he’d done.

The only closed door was at the other end of the hall, so that’s where he went. He peered inside. It was dark, the fading sunlight from the window casting long shadows. Even so, he could make out Maggie on the bed. He took a deep breath, sat on the side of the bed and put his hand on her hip.

“Braden?” She rolled over. “Is he okay?”

“He will be.” He lay down beside her and pulled her close. He didn’t see an easy fix for this. Cody wanted her to stay, Maggie wanted to go—at least he thought she did. And it scared the hell out of him to think he could lose her.

She turned into his chest. “I’m sorry to drag you into this. This is my mess, my problem. He told me to leave… and not come back.”

“He didn’t mean it.” But Braden could only imagine how hard that was for her to hear.

“Maybe. Maybe not. I don’t know how to fix this, Braden. I’m scared.”

He closed his eyes, running his hand up and down her back.

“We had a talk.” He cleared his throat. “He’s hurting something fierce.

He heard something your mom and Mike talking about how you almost died.

He said that Delilah’s mom died and she had me but, if you died, he’d be alone.

” He kept rubbing her back. “It scared him. That’s what this is about, Maggie. He’s scared.”

“Oh, Cody…” Her voice broke.

“He doesn’t want you to leave—to go back to work.” He cleared his throat. “He’s afraid you’ll get sick again. And that, this time, you won’t recover. He asked me to help him get you to stay.”

“What did you say to that?”

“If you wanted to go, I’d let you go because I want you to be happy. Even if I want you to stay.” He smoothed her hair back. “I’m not claiming to know what’s best here but he’s really struggling with the idea of you leaving again.”

She pushed, gently, from his arms. “He is? Or you are?”

“Honestly? Both.” Seconds later, the bedside light came on and he was blinking against the bright light.

“I’m sorry about this.” She stood beside the bed, hugging herself. “About all of this.”

He sat up. “There’s nothing to be sorry for, Maggie. Watching him hurt…” He broke off, his throat going tight. “I wanted to comfort him—be there for him.”

“But that’s not your job, Braden. He is my son. I should never have pulled you into this.” She patted her chest. “It’s not fair to you or me or Cody. Yes, we’ve spent some time together. We’ve become…friends. But I should never have let things get so…complicated.”

Braden stood, her words a slap to the face. “Now we’re just friends again, Maggie?” He drew in a deep breath. “What’s between us is more than friendship. You know that. And you know I love Cody or you wouldn’t have called me today.”

“It was a mistake.” She wouldn’t look at him.

“What was a mistake?” All he could do was stare at her. What was she saying?

“Today. Last night. All of this.” She hugged herself tighter. “Let’s stop…for a while. I need to get my head straight. You have Delilah to worry about. I need to focus on Cody.”

He couldn’t stop shaking his head.

“Braden, we started this to help each other out. You’re fine now. Delilah is fine.” She stumbled over his daughter’s name. “If we keep doing this, they’re only going to get more hurt in the end. They’ve both had more than enough hurt in their little lives, don’t you think?”

“And ending it now won’t hurt them?” He stepped closer to her. “It will. And it’ll damn near tear my heart out. I love—”

“No.” She held up her hands. “Don’t say anything else. I—I can’t do this.”

He took her hands and placed them on his chest, one right over his heart.

“You can do this, Maggie. You can love me. You can trust me. Whatever comes at us, we can work through it together. We can work through this, Maggie. Let me in.” There was no warmth in her gaze.

No light. It was getting harder to fight against the panic crushing in on him.

“And my job?” The defiant thrust of her chin was so like Cody.

“I’d never ask you to quit. Or compromise who you are.

But don’t pretend you’re not torn in two every time you leave.

Does it have to be so black-and-white? Life isn’t black-and-white, Maggie.

You know that. There has to be a way for you to do the work you love and be with your son, with me and Delilah.

” He took a deep breath, unable to tell if his words were reaching her or not.

“Maggie… You put everyone else first but it’s okay to want something for yourself.

What do you want? Have you asked yourself that?

Do you know?” He squeezed her hands. “I do. There is nothing I want more than the family we’re becoming.

I give you my word, I will try my best, every day, to give you and Cody the love you deserve. ”

She pulled her hand away. “I…can’t.”

Seeing tears sparkling in her eyes only made it that much worse.

His heart felt like it’d been sliced open. “I’ll give you some time and space, Maggie. But, please, don’t write us off. We have a good thing here. Just know… I love you, and Cody. I want to protect you and I want to share your stresses—not add to them.”

“Braden…” She pulled her hands from his hold. “Don’t make this harder than it needs to be. There’s nothing left to say.”

There were a million things to say, she just didn’t want to hear them.

She’d rather push him away and pull back into her shell than give them a chance.

“Pretty sure it couldn’t get much harder.

” He felt like his heart was being cut from his chest. “Maybe, someday, you’ll find room in your heart for me.

” There was a tremor in his voice. “My heart is already yours. I love you, Maggie. That’s all I know.

Nothing will change that. So, if you change your mind about us, I’ll be waiting. ”

It took every ounce of his willpower to walk out.

Each step was like lead. He passed Mike on his way out, but he couldn’t get any words out.

What was there to say? For the first time in his life, he’d fallen in love.

Now that he’d lost Maggie, how was he supposed to put the pieces of his heart back together?