Page 3 of The Me I Left Behind

She tapped on the call log. A missed international call from Australia.Puzzling.Max never called. All communication was through their attorneys.

The phone vibrated again in her hand.Australia.

“Hello?”

“G’day. Maggie Oliver?” The male voice spoke with a distinct Australian accent.

“Yes?”

“My name is Adam Barnett. I’m an officer with the Queensland Police Service. Your husband is Maxwell Oliver?”

What the hell kind of trouble is Max in now?

“Yes. That’s right.” Her heart rate kicked into overdrive. She would not bail him out of some stupid situation in fucking Australia. “Until the divorce is final.”

His voice lowered. “I see. I’m afraid I have unfortunate news. Your husband…well he was….”

He rambled on, the words dipping in and out of his Australian dialect.

Two

Six months earlier

“Please stay longer,Maggie. There is no need for you to go.”

Maggie plucked a pair of jeans from a clothes pile on her bed, loosely folding them. “You’re sweet, Lia, but we need to get out of your hair. Christmas is over and we all agreed to leave after a couple of days so you and Zach can have a quiet New Year’s holiday. Besides, he’s tolerated us long enough, and Sea Glass Inn is still in recovery mode after the Christmas storm and all the related chaos.”

“But you’re not a problem, Mags.”

Oh, but I am. I am always a problem.“Seriously? Drama follows me to every girlfriend getaway. You all don’t need the Maggie shit show now.”

Laughing, Lia stilled her hands. “Stop folding. Good gracious. Your family provided no more chaos than anyone else’s.”

“Oh? Whose daughter went off and told the world that Alice is gay? Who argued with Ella and made her run out into thestorm? She could have gotten hurt.” Pulling back, she reached for one of Jason’s T-shirts on the bed.

“And whose daughter had a baby on the prep island in the restaurant kitchen? Whose ex-husband showed up unexpectedly with his new wife and stepdaughter? And Zach’s not innocent in this, either. What about his fishing buddies crashing our holiday?”

Maggie met her gaze. “Exactly why the Oliver family needs to head home. Besides, I’m tired and sort of brain dead.”

Julia sat on the edge of the bed. “Maggie, look. You seem a little tense. Don’t let all the Carol stuff get to you. She’s going to grow out of this crap sooner or later.”

Staring at the pile of clothes on the bed, Maggie exhaled, then turned and sat beside Julia. “It’s not just Carol.” Pausing, she glanced at both girlfriends. “Well, she’s involved, but this time she wasn’t bringing the shit. It’s Max.”

“But he’s still in Australia. Right?” Lia touched her arm.

She nodded. “Yes, but apparently his reach is far.”

Shifting to face her, Julia asked, “What happened?”

Maggie pushed out another breath and briefly closed her eyes. She had to unload some of this, didn’t she? She’d not wanted to get into it on Christmas Day, and then the day after, with all the storm cleanup. No one wanted to deal with her family shit then.

Especially her.

But now? Maybe.

“Maggie?” Julia prodded.

“All right.” She stood quickly and paced a few steps. Abruptly, her insides felt like trembling jelly. “Let me just get it out, then we can talk.”