Running Game(52)

People don’t go to the hospital for fun… I knew that all too well.

I’d just run out of ideas. Apologizing wasn’t something I did. Ever. And here I was, breaking another one of my self-imposed rules. I was blowing her phone up with apologies. Flowers and fucking I’m sorry emojis. It didn’t matter. It had done any good.

There was nothing left to do but leave her alone. I’d stopped calling. Stopped texting. Sure, it was fucking killing me, but I’d done it.

The one thing I hadn’t done was pull Maria off her trail.

She was my one link to Maisey and I wasn’t ready to give that up just yet.

I couldn’t wait for Helga to leave this morning, so I could call Maria for an update.

“How is she?” I asked, now that I finally had her on the phone.

“She looks sad, worried. She’s been back and forth to some doctor’s appointments, went out for groceries once, and that’s it. She takes the daughter every where she goes, and keeps her close by her side.”

“I guess she’s really sick, huh? That’s too bad,” I said.

“Yeah, I guess so. She’s really cute, though. Doesn’t look anything like her Mom, though, except for those curls. Her hair’s a shade darker than yours. Big, beautiful blue eyes.”

“And there’s no father in the picture?”

“Not that I can tell. She does have this big guy named Eddie that comes and goes, but he seems more like a friend.”

“I’ve heard about him. Think he’s the little girl’s father?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Okay, well, that doesn’t matter,” I said, dismissing the issue. The time Maisey had spent away from me was still a big fat mystery, but none of that mattered now. Maybe after some time alone, Maisey would come around and I’d get to know what happened to her a bit better.

I’d find a way to make her love me again…

I’d always used my charms to get between a woman’s legs. I’d never used it to get into her heart before.

Maisey had changed everything for me.

I wanted her.

And that’s the thing about me. Once I set my sights on something, I get it.

She might not know it yet, but I planned on making her mine and I wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

I’d spent the whole week without her, without seeing her smile, without hearing her laughter, without touching her - and it was entirely too long. I’d drifted off into daydreaming, and almost forgot I was on the phone with Maria until she spoke up again.

“Do you want me to keep following them? I’m pretty sure the girl noticed me at the grocery store the other day. She’s pretty sharp for a ten year old.”

“What did you say?” I asked, my brain snapping into high alert.

“She’s really smart. For a ten year old.”

“She’s ten?” I asked.

“Well, yeah, nine, ten, something like that. I thought I told you that.”

“I thought she was much younger,” my heart began racing in my chest. “Maria - when’s her birthday?”

“Let me look - I have it here in the background check I did. Let’s see…oh, it’s Valentine’s day actually. February 14th. I guess she’s still nine, sorry.”

The numbers flew around in my head, until they settled into one very unbelievable scenario.

I felt the blood drain from my face as I hung up the phone slowly. Maria was still talking, but I’d heard everything I needed to know, and it explained everything perfectly.





36





MAISEY





“Do we really have to watch Goonies again?” I asked. Maddy and Snowflake were curled up next to me and we were settling into the couch after dinner for a movie. “We’ve seen it a million times.”

“You know how much I love it, Mama,” she replied.

“And you know how it ends already. Don’t you want to watch something new? I here there’s this new show on…”

“Nope,” she said. “I want Goonies. It’s my favorite.”

I stared down into her eyes and sighed. How could I deny her anything? I couldn’t. And she knew it.

“Alright, alright,” I said.

“Yes!” she said, pressing play and snuggling back into my shoulder. I pulled the blanket over us and let my thoughts drift off as she watched Goonies for the millionth time. It had been a week since I’d talked to Jesse and it was getting harder every day. I’d vowed to give him back everything he’d given me, but that would have meant leaving Maddy alone, and I was terrified of letting her out of my sight.

She’d had another mild attack the night before last, but we’d managed to get it under control before we had to go to the hospital. But we’d spent the next day at her doctor’s office, and it was a lot easier driving myself there in the car Jesse had given me, instead of waiting for a taxi. And Maddy had grown quite fond of Snowflake…