Finding the perfect woman would just have to wait.
* * *
BY THE TIME Maggie pulled into Tracy’s driveway, she was drained and weary.
The afternoon’s emotional roller coaster had left her as wrung out as a damp dishcloth. The throb over her left eye warned of a looming tension headache. She rested her head on the steering wheel, trying to summon up the energy to get out of the car and go into the house.
If she’d needed any more reasons for why Jake Badoletti was wrong for her, the incident at Mimi’s office had provided plenty.
She wasn’t a fool. She knew Jake wasn’t Lee. There was something about him, his character and his values, that set him apart from her ex. She’d barely known him a week, had hardly scratched the surface of who he was, yet the differences were clearly visible.
Sadly, the similarities were clearly visible, too. His quick temper when things didn’t go his way, the sudden switches from charming to furious to cold indifference and back again.
Patterns of behavior that, this time, she wouldn’t...couldn’t ignore.
Tap, tap.
She jerked upright. Emily stood next to the car.
Maggie opened the car door and gave her daughter a tired smile.
“You’re too old to have a nap, Mummy.” As usual, Emily looked like she’d been through the wars. A bandage on one knee and mud stains on her shorts.
“You’re never too old to need a nap.” Maggie plucked a leaf out of one loose braid. “When you get to be as old as me, you’ll look forward to an afternoon snooze.”
“I don’t want to be that old, ever.” Emily grinned. “I want to show you the fort Amy and me made.”
Maggie allowed her daughter to pull her out of the car. If only they could bottle Emily’s energy—her ancient body could use the boost. She massaged her aching temple, then plastered a cheery expression on her face.
Emily wasn’t fooled. “Are you all right, Mummy?” Her wide-eyed gaze swept Maggie from head to toe. “Did that Mr. Bad Boy hurt you?”
Her shaky words drove a dagger into Maggie’s heart. “No one hurt me. I had a busy afternoon and probably did too much in this horrid heat.”
Concern furrowed Emily’s brow, making her look older than her years.
Maggie damned herself for not having had the courage to leave her marriage sooner. For not realizing the emotional damage Lee had done to their daughter. Though he hadn’t laid a hand on his daughter until that final night, she’d borne witness to too much. Maggie would never let that kind of ugliness touch Emily’s life again.
That’s why a relationship with Jake wasn’t worth it. Ensuring her daughter was happy, healthy and safe was far more important than whatever fun she could have with him.
She hugged Emily. “I’m okay.” She tried to sound normal, but her voice came out reedy.
Emily’s arms tightened around her. “Don’t worry, Mummy.” She looked up, her expression fierce. “I’ll take care of you. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
Maggie’s eyes burned. “I won’t let anyone hurt you, either.”
For several moments, they stood there silently. Maggie drew comfort from her daughter’s warm, slight frame and her strength and courage. Emily was coping with this mess far better than she was.
That had to change. Starting now.
Pulling herself together, Maggie straightened. “Let’s see your wonderful fort.”
Emily shook her head. “Later. Right now, you need chocolate.”
“You’re right. Chocolate will make me feel good as new.”
Holding hands, they skipped to the house. They burst into the kitchen, laughing.
“We need chocolate, Auntie Tracy.” Emily dashed to the fridge, delved beneath the lettuce in the salad drawer and brandished a half bar in its distinctive purple wrapper.
Tracy looked up from her laptop, as Maggie sank into a chair opposite her at the kitchen table. “Why do you need some of my chocolate?”
“Mummy had a tiring day.” Emily lowered her voice conspiratorially as she doled out the Cadbury bar. “I think Mr. Bad Boy wasn’t very nice to her.”
Tracy’s eyes narrowed. “Really?”
“Emily’s exaggerating.”
“I bet Mummy sorted him out.”
“I hope so.”
Emily read the tension humming in the air and sighed. “Can I go back to Amy’s?”
Before Maggie had finished nodding, Emily had raced out the door. She was probably as keen to miss the rest of the conversation as her mother.
Maggie tried to preempt the storm brewing in her sister’s expression. “Jake didn’t do anything to me. He was cross about something. I misunderstood and overreacted.”