Her throat tightened; tears welled. She’d never forget the moment of panic when Emily had charged at Lee, trying to protect her mother. Raw fear had torn through Maggie when Lee had turned, fury raging, fist raised to strike their small daughter. “It shouldn’t have taken him almost hitting Emily to open my eyes. To act.”
“You got in Lee’s way, prevented him hurting her and ended up in hospital with a broken arm, two broken ribs and a cracked cheekbone.” Tracy came and sat beside Maggie, putting her arm around her. “You’ve come a long way since that night. Don’t revert to being Margaret at the slightest setback.”
Pride sparked back to life. Maggie would not let herself regress.
The past year had shown she wasn’t incapable or stupid. She’d made small, but significant steps toward becoming the kind of woman she wanted to be. She’d survived the media onslaught of her divorce with dignity, moved to the United States and built a life for herself and Emily and taken on an important role in Tracy’s business. Slowly but surely, she was becoming the kind of woman her daughter would be proud of.
Someone she could be proud of.
Yet she was still letting Lee’s opinions and actions have power over her and hold her back. That had to stop. It was time to take bigger steps.
Her mind whirred as she thought about how she could do that. She should take a more proactive role in Making Your Move; Tracy wanted her to be a partner. Start living the way she wanted, dressing the way she wanted. Take her hemlines up and let her hair down. She giggled at the old-fashioned phrase.
“You look pleased with yourself.” Her sister smiled.
“I am pleased and I want to keep feeling that way.”
“That’s more like it. Now, what will you do about Bad Boy?”
Her heart hitched. “Nothing.”
“You say he’s not what you want or need, but he’s sparked more of a reaction from you than any other man, Lee included.”
“Irritation is hardly the basis for a relationship.”
“A passionate response is better than a lukewarm one.”
Whatever was between her and Jake definitely couldn’t be described as lukewarm.
“There’s no doubt Bad Boy is interested in you—he made that pretty clear this afternoon.” Tracy grinned. “I suspect he’ll pursue you as determinedly as he plays hockey. I’ve told you before, you deserve to be happy. Imagine the fun you’ll have if you let him catch you.”
Maggie tamped down the thrill that skipped through her. “Given the way we left things, I doubt he’s still interested in me.”
Tracy laughed. “That little disagreement? Trust me...he won’t give up on you that easily.”
Her sister was probably right. Maggie had experienced enough of Jake’s stubborn determination during their hunt for a house. Perhaps it was time for a little leap of faith. What harm could one date do?
“Okay. If you’re right and if he apologizes properly, I’ll give him a chance.”
“Great. I can’t wait to see how the revitalized Maggie deals with Bad Boy.”
Maggie had to admit, she was looking forward to seeing that herself.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“WHAT THE hell happened with Maggie yesterday?”
Tru’s comment winded Jake as much as the ten minutes of sprints up and down the ice they’d just completed.
He’d hoped to hold off any discussion of the fight with Maggie until after their private practice session at the local rink. They’d planned to grab dinner together at the local diner. He should have known Tru and Ike wouldn’t let him get away with that.
“What happened to your legendary charm?” Ike pushed up his mask. “Are you losing your touch?”
Jake ignored the goaltender. He drank water while he tried to figure out what to say, then leaned on his stick. “We had a disagreement.”
His words echoed in the nearly empty rink. Even he could hear how unconvincing they sounded. He explained what they’d argued about. “I made a dumb mistake.”
“Emily’s her kid.” Ike shrugged. “It’s up to her.”
“Couldn’t she at least have considered the idea before shooting me down?”
“I bet you pushed too hard. Didn’t give her a chance to think about it.” Ike wiped his face with a towel.
Tru nodded. “If you’d back off a little, folks might come round to your way of thinking.”
Jake didn’t want to admit they might be right. “Doesn’t matter. I’m moving into the house in a few days. Her job is done. No reason to see each other, even if she wanted to, and she made it pretty freaking clear she doesn’t.”