Chapter 6
“Magnolia Reed!” Her father’s voice boomed from beside her.
Startling awake, she shot straight up in bed. “Wha—? I’m awake.”
“You sure?”
She tipped back against the pillow and pulled the heavy comforter over her head once more. “No.”
“Now, Maggie. I know you’re goin’ through a rough patch, but you can’t do this all day, every day.” As he pulled the comforter from her face, she cracked open her eyes to see him standing over her with his hands on his hips.
“I’m not staying in bed every day. Yesterday, I put on a different nightgown.” Yesterday she had stumbled from her bed and finally took off the black turtleneck and replaced it with a white cotton night dress that came just above her knees and cut off at the arms. Across the top was a light blue bow that threaded through the material. It had reminded her of when she was younger and everything was right with the world.
“Four days. You’ve been lying here for four days, Magnolia. And I’m here for ya, but woman, there comes a time when ya gotta pull yourself up by the boot straps.”
It had been four days. Each night, Hayden crawled into bed beside her, and each morning, she got him ready and sent him out with her father or uncle. The men hadn’t seen him in ages, and Hayden was more than happy to be with them. But when they left to go about their days, she crawled right back into bed, needing the oblivion that came from sleep.
“Oh, Daddy, just let me lie here a while longer.” She groaned and rolled into her blankets.
“No, ma’am.” He wrapped his hand in the comforter and yanked it back, tossing the whole thing to the floor. “Ya got a youngin’ who needs his momma’s attention.”
When Magnolia stood to retrieve the blanket from the floor, she glowered at him. “Hayden is just fine with y’all for a day or two while I take a moment.”
“Four days is not a moment, and I raised you stronger than this.” Before she could slip back onto the bed, he bent over, tucked his shoulder into her waist, and hoisted her up on his shoulder.
“Daddy! Stop it!” She smacked her hands on his butt. “You’re gonna hurt yourself.”
“You forget I wrestle with cows for a livin’.” He stomped down the stairs then turned to walk toward the back of the house. “You are like lifting a bird compared to them.”
“Where are you taking me?” All she wanted was a little peace and quiet, to let the world go by. Her old life was dead and gone. The least she could do was mourn it on her own terms.
“To have a bath. You stink.” He carried her down the long hall, through the living room, past the office, through the kitchen and straight out the back door.
Cold air stung her naked legs. Magnolia put her hand across her backside, holding down the nighty so her white cotton panties wouldn’t show. Fall had come upon them and even the sunny sky was dotted with gray clouds. Her skin prickled. Her temper began to rise. “The bathrooms are inside.” She kicked her legs, trying to squirm from her father’s grip. For a man in his late sixties, he was still built like a farm hand.
Masculine voices rose in the distance, and she squirmed even harder. “Don’t do this in front of your employees.”
“Sometimes, ya kids need a bit of tough love. Especially when they ain’t seein’ things straight.”
One second, she was over his shoulder; the next, she was tossed backward, landing in some kind of shallow pool. Her head seeped under. Freezing cold water blurred her vision and she fought to right herself. When she sat up, a chorus of laughter surrounded her. Grabbing onto the sides of the the metal tub, she looked around. “A trough? You dropped me in a trough?!”
Her father crossed his arms over his chest and smiled. “Damn right.”
The water overflowed and sloshed about as she wiggled to move around. “This isn’t funny! This is my life.”
“That’s right, darlin’. This is your life, and you need to face it. Lying in bed all day long ain’t goin’ to work for ya.”
Just as she was about to stand, a pig wandered by. Magnolia watched as three men she’d never seen before leaned up against the fence like this was the best show they’d ever witnessed. When she turned around, she spotted a wide-eyed Dax standing only a few feet away with a giggling Hayden at his side, clapping. “Mommy all wet.”
She pushed back the sopping hair from her face. “How do you know what’s workin’ for me?”
“Because you’re my daughter, and most of all, you’re a Reed. Now get your ass up. It’s time. We’ve all been through break-ups and divorce and all kinds of other shit. What makes you strong is not how you let it consume ya. It’s how you deal with it.”
“None of this is fair.”
He threw up his arms. “Well, darlin’, it’s not a fair world. Life isn’t about fairness. It’s about playing the cards you’re dealt.”
“Ugh, I don’t even know what that means,” she moaned.
“It means sometimes life deals you a shit hand. But if you play it the right way, you could end up winning and even happier than before.” Then, just like that, he turned and walked away, leaving her in the freezing water.
A cold shiver overtook her body and her teeth began to chatter. Maybe her father was right? Placing her hands on the sides of the trough, she hauled herself up, then notched her chin at the three stable hands who were still watching. “What? I don’t recall sellin’ tickets to see a show,” she barked. They turned around, scurrying in the other direction.
Then she turned her gaze on Dax. “What are you lookin’ at?”
She almost wanted him to start a fight with her so she’d have someone to take out her anger on. He cleared his throat. “Ah, Maggie. Um, yeah.” He nodded toward her chest then averted his gaze.
When she looked down at herself, she quickly grabbed the material of her nightdress and pulled it away from her body. “Son of a bitch.” The white cotton had soaked clear through, and the cold was doing nothing to hide any part of her body. “Ugh, wet t-shirt contest is not my thing.”
With a chuckle, Dax pulled the jacket from his shoulders and walked over to her. Without looking down, he handed it over. “Here.”
She had no other choice but to grab the jacket and wrap it around herself. His woodsy scent clung to the still-warm fabric. It was a denim jacket lined with thick white fuzz that came down past her knees and swallowed her arms completely. When he offered her his hand she took it, fearing she’d fall getting out of the water. The warmth of his skin seeped into her freezing palm. As her bare feet met the ground, mud squished between her toes. “Thank you.”
“No problem.” He put his hands on his hips and held his breath as though he meant to say something but didn’t.
“You keep standin’ there holding your breath, you’re gonna pass out.” She dared him to say something. Anything. “If you have something to say, spit it out.”
He sighed then looked her in the eye. “Everything will be okay.”
“How? How do you know it’ll be okay? You don’t know what it’s like, to feel like your whole world and everything you planned for is just gone in a heartbeat. It’s all over.” The cool seeped into feet making her toes prickle, yet she stood facing off against him.
That muscle in his jaw ticked, and he shifted from one foot to the other. “Oh, I know exactly what that’s like, don’t I?” He looked at her accusingly then continued before she could answer. “The Maggie I know wouldn’t just roll over when things got too difficult.”
“Yeah, well, the Maggie you know is dead.” Water ran down her legs in streams. Soon she’d catch cold, yet she wanted to stand here and fight with him. She wanted to feel that spark of fire she thought extinguished within herself so long ago.
He took a step back, his eyes going from liquid maple to hard oak in just a second. “Well, that’s a damn shame. Because that girl…” he paused, shaking his head, “that girl was fearless.”
Turning away from her, he called out to Hayden. “Come on, little man. Let’s go play with the cows.” And as he strutted away in those low-slung jeans, her son ran up and grabbed his hand. Wasn’t that a slap in the face? Hayden had never grabbed on to anyone else but her, not even Eric. And now his tiny hand was wrapped around one of Dax’s fingers.
“Hey, where are you takin’ him?” She took a step forward then slipped before catching herself.
Over his shoulder, he called, “You go on back to bed. Me and the little man have been just fine… without you.”
And just like that, the fire Maggie Reed had thought extinguished long ago exploded within her. She marched back to the house to get cleaned up and start picking up the pieces of her life.