Page 41 of The Me I Left Behind (Tuckaway Bay #4)

For a moment, her world was quiet. Still. Frozen in time.

“Mrs. Oliver?” the man on the phone queried.

Then abruptly, her world spun, and all the breath left her lungs, exited her body, squeezing her chest against her backbone.

Lights sparked behind her eyes. She looked at Chloe, still playing with water and sand.

Paying no attention to her. She glanced at the cottage and saw Carol step off the porch.

“Oh, God. No.” Maggie fell to her knees in the sand. Had she screamed the words? Or were they only in her head?

Jason ran to her. “Mom?”

Peripherally, she saw Chloe sitting there, watching, staring.

Sam rushed up, calling her name. “Maggie! What is it?” He crouched in front of her, examining her left palm. “You’re bleeding.”

Julia shouted. “What happened? Mags?”

“Shell,” she said. “I’m. Okay.”

“Mom!” Carol’s voice came from behind Sam. “What’s happening? Are you okay?”

“I… I…” She met Carol’s gaze. How could she tell her?

How could she tell any of them? That their father….

She searched for Jason’s eyes.

“Oh, God… I’m so…sorry.” She whispered the words, almost choking them out… Couldn’t hold back her tears any longer. She wasn’t crying for her. Or for Max. She was crying for them.

Carol sat beside her. “I’m here, Mom. What is it?”

She held out the phone. “Australia.”

The look on Carol’s face told her she understood that something was wrong. Carol took the phone and put it to her ear. “Hello? Is anyone there?”

Maggie watched her facial expression. Her girl remained surprisingly deadpan.

“Yes,” she said. “I understand. No, no. That was my mother. I’m Max Oliver’s daughter.” Carol held her gaze while she listened for another minute or so.

Maggie wasn’t sure anything could break that connection.

Carol lowered the phone and looked at Jason. “It was…about Dad.”

“Oh, God,” Julia uttered, and hugged Maggie.

“What’s happening?” Jason said. “Carol?”

Tears dripped over her lower lids. “He’s gone, Jason,” she whispered.

He moved closer. “What? Where?”

She tossed the phone and embraced him, throwing her arms around his neck. “He’s…gone. He…died.”

Maggie’s heart burned, ached.

Chloe’s little hand found hers.

The day Max told her they would have a one-sided, open marriage, meaning he was free to do as he wished but not her, was not the day worst day of Maggie’s life. She’d accepted that reality and had adapted.

Nor was it the day she’d learned he had a second family in Australia. That was difficult, but didn’t destroy her. By then, she was nearly oblivious to his indiscretions—although his having another child had proven somewhat challenging to accept.

The day she’d told her children their father had left them. That their lives were about to change forever. That day, her heart had shattered. For them. The kids. Not her. And she’d cursed every fiber of his cowardly ass for hurting them.

But just like Maggie, the children had coped and adjusted.

All of those days were not good days.

The day her kids learned their father had died, however—that he was truly never coming back—that was the day that burned a hole in her heart.

Her kids were confused. Conflicted. Wondering whether they should be sad, angry, or relieved.

They loved him, and they didn’t.

They needed him, and they didn’t.

They missed him. And they didn’t.

They didn’t want him to die…just maybe go away and leave them alone.

To be honest, that’s how Maggie felt, too. Should I be sad and upset? Or feel relieved and celebrate? What a terrible thought.

He didn’t have to die. She just wanted him to let her— let them —go.

“I didn’t expect something like this would affect me so,” she said later, the evening that they learned Max had died. Lia and Julia and Alice had been by her side—had been there for all of them—since they’d gotten the news.

The women claimed the front porch of the Gull Cottage.

She’d offered margaritas, but no one was interested.

Maybe she’d have a glass of wine later. To be honest, Maggie felt at loose ends, unsure which way to turn.

For a while, they sat in relative silence, while she simply let her mind waft over this sudden and new reality.

She was worried about the kids.

Logan drove in from Rocky Mount as soon as Carol called him.

Her oldest child was holding up extremely well, she thought, but Logan’s coming had done wonders to boost her spirits.

Ella came with Alice, too, which was also nice.

The older kids, including Jason, had taken up residence on the back deck of the cottage.

She was glad. Jason needed to spend more time with the older ones. Lia ordered pizza from The Sandcastle.

Chloe, who had been mostly silent, showed little visible response or emotion to the news. That worried Maggie. She was out for ice cream with Sam and Zach now, and no doubt they would spoil her. She wondered if she’d open up to either of them but doubted it.

I need to spend extra time with all three before bed.

Oddly, she couldn’t stop thinking about Lilly, Max’s mystery lover. Did she know what happened? Had the police contacted her? Did Max have her contact information on him, as well as hers? How very…cozy.

This Lilly… She could be just as innocent as she was years ago. Na?ve, gullible, needy, perhaps? Or, Maggie supposed, she could be just the opposite. Independent, self-assured, capable of supporting herself.

And if either were the case, then how was she dealing with Max’s death?

What did she know at this point? About the accident? About his family in the states. His wife and kids. Did she even know anything at all?

While her heart ached for her own children, and for herself—she had spent over twenty years with the man—but her heart also ached for Lilly, and her child.

“Maggie?” Lia asked. “Are you okay over there?”

She dragged her gaze away from the beach and slowly angled toward the other women. “Sure. I’m fine. Just thinking.”

“Definitely lost in thought, there.”

She was, but probably not about what they were thinking.

“I know.” She turned to Julia. “My brain can’t handle a lot of details today, but what does this mean for us now? The kids and me.”

“We need to see if he has a will and go from there.”

Alice shifted in her chair. “Oh, good grief. Surely, he had a will?”

“You never know,” Julia said. “Sometimes people get so busy with life, they don’t think about death. I’ll contact Max’s attorney tomorrow and see what I can find out.”

Maggie was a little concerned. Not once had Max mentioned a will. Then she realized. “I don’t have a will. I’m betting Max didn’t either.”

Julia blew out a breath. “Well, we need to fix that for you ASAP. In the meantime, I’ll dig into North Carolina law regarding the death of a spouse, and what all that entails, with or without a will. I also want to see how separation affects things.”

“Fuck. Is this going to be complicated?”

Julia leaned forward, reaching for Maggie’s hand. “Stop guessing about anything until we know more. Have some details. I promise you will be okay, no matter what.”

She believed her. Truly, she did. But still… “Obviously, I don’t need to worry about the kids or the house right now. Do I? Maybe money? Remember, I am not on his accounts.”

“The will, or lack of one, should make things clear.” She peered into her eyes. “Maggie, listen to me. Today is not the day to worry. Just absorb what has happened and let me be concerned with the details.”

“Tomorrow, or the next,” Maggie said. “No hurry, I guess.”

“Right.”

She wasn’t sure Julia was being straight with her. She stared off over the beach again. “How do I get him home?”

Julia stood. “You’re worrying about things that can wait.”

She could sense her frustration rising. “Look. If there is something I need to do, I need to take care of it. Stop coddling me. Okay? I should call that officer back.” She rose and turned toward the cottage door. She’d left her phone in the bedroom, she thought.

“Wait, Maggie. I already called.”

She glared at Julia. “What?”

“I borrowed your phone earlier and made a call back to the officer and got the details. It will be days before the officials can process the body and ready it to transport back to the states—seven to ten days, likely. We can coordinate all that with a funeral home in Rocky Mount.”

“Did you find out anything more about the accident?”

Julia nodded. “Yes, some things. It was a helicopter crash. Apparently, it went down in the Northern Territory of the Outback. Very remote. Took days to get to him and the pilot, who also died. Likely, Max didn’t pass away in the crash, but succumbed much later from his broken legs and loss of blood.

He lingered there a while, apparently, and was probably in a lot of pain. ”

“Shit,” Alice said.

“Oh, that’s terrible,” Lia echoed.

Maggie didn’t want to ponder that. She straightened her shoulders. “I should call his parents. My God, I didn’t even think to do that.”

Alice intervened. “Maggie, I’ll do that. Listen to Julia.”

“No. I have to.” She turned back to the house. “Good Lord, I haven’t spoken to them in years. I don’t think Max had either. I’m not fond of them, to be honest. Nor them of me.”

She caught Julia’s gaze as she stood facing her. Finally, Julia said, “Give me the name of the funeral home you want to use in Rocky Mount. I’ll call Max’s attorney, and he can share the details with them. You don’t need to put that on yourself right now.”

Maggie sat in the nearest empty chair. “Just pick one. I don’t care. I’m braindead.”

Lia hugged her shoulders. “Just let it all settle tonight, Maggie. Let Julia do her lawyer thing on your behalf, and you let things happen as they will. There’s really nothing more for you to do tonight but take care of yourself.”

Maybe. And maybe not. She felt like there were probably some things she should do . “I don’t know if I can.”

“Be here for the kids. That’s good for now.”

Yes, yes. I will do that, of course. But there is more. More that I have to do—not for the kids, but for myself. Things I need to know.

Julia leaned toward her. “I can see if Melinda, my therapist, can schedule a call with you.”

No. I don’t want therapy. I want answers. “Thanks, Julia, but no. Not now. Maybe later.”

Julia nodded. “Okay.”

“There’s something else I have to do first.”

Alice touched her hand. “What is it, Maggie?”

I think I need to go to Australia.

She thought about telling her—telling them all—but didn’t want them to talk her out of it. Besides, this was something she knew she had to do for herself. And probably by herself.

Unless she could talk Carol into going with her?

That thought warmed her heart somehow, even at the end of this horribly, tragic day.

Maggie clasped Alice’s hand. “Nothing for you to worry about, Alice. Just something I need to handle on my own.”