Nodding, she stood still while he gently put the blanket around her and picked her up. He held her against his body and carried her the mile back to where the cars were.
Her eyes were closed but she heard Kyle say “thank you, God” and come moving toward her.
“Thank you for saving me,” she said softly to Shane and he nodded and handed her over to Kyle.
“We need to get her to a hospital. Kyle, you ride in the back with her. Dad, you all follow us.”
Maggie opened her eyes but one of them was pretty near swollen shut and she had to close that one. “Kyle, he...oh God,” she whispered and began to cry.
“I’m here, Red. Always here. God, I love you so much. Hell, I’m so damned thankful you’re okay. We’ll get through this, baby.” He stroked gentle fingers over her hair.
They checked her into the hospital. She had a concussion and they wanted to monitor her at least for the next twenty-four hours.
* * *
Alex had been transported to jail and awaited arraignment on kidnapping, false imprisonment, attempted rape and assault charges in addition to violating the two orders of no-contact.
Maggie slept but they woke her up every hour to check on the concussion. She was feeling loopy from the lack of REM sleep and the rush of adrenaline her body had produced over the last day.
Kyle never left her side and he looked almost as bad as she did. The whole Chase clan was splayed across every available surface in the waiting room as were Maggie’s father and her friends. Maggie’s father had called her mother to tell her what had happened but she’d expressed disinterest in the whole situation.
Finally, after twenty-four hours, the hospital discharged Maggie and Kyle carefully loaded her into Matt’s Bronco and they drove back home.
She stared out the window and he looked at his father with a worried expression. When they neared Petal, Matt asked, “Where to, sweetheart? Momma wanted me to tell you that you’re welcome to stay with her and Daddy until you felt better. I figure you and Kyle might like some time alone. I can take you to your house, too. Just tell me where and I’ll go.”
“Not my house, not ever,” she said, panic at the edges of her voice. “Take me to the condo please, Matt. If that’s okay with you, Kyle.”
“Of course it is, Red. Whatever you want, baby.” Kyle looked back at Edward and his father’s eyes softened at the sound of anguish in Maggie’s voice.
All three men helped her into the house, even though she was perfectly capable of walking. She let them fuss over her a bit and thanked Matt and Edward for their help. She turned to Edward as he was leaving. “They won’t let him go will they?”
“Honey, I want you to know I am on the prosecutor’s ass about this. He was denied bail at his arraignment. I don’t foresee that changing. Alex will do time. They’ll charge him with everything they can, I promise you. Oh baby, I’m sorry,” he said and swept her into an embrace.
She nodded up at him and blinked back tears. “Thanks, Dad,” she whispered and his heart nearly broke in half.
She looked at Kyle and kissed the hand holding hers. “I’m going to take a shower and change. I’ll be down in a few minutes.”
“Hey, Red, afterward we’ll get tucked up on the couch. I’ll order in Chinese and we’ll get pay-per-view. Holler if you need me all right?” Kyle asked gently and she nodded and walked up the stairs.
“Daddy, I know Momma wants to come over but can we hold off for at least a day? I can’t see that she’s got much reserve left to go on right now.”
“Yes, I’ll talk to her. You take care of my future daughter-in-law you hear? And yourself, too. You look like hell. I love you, son.” Edward hugged Kyle tightly.
“I want to kill him, Daddy. She has a bruise in the shape of his hand on her breast. He gave her a concussion. He tried to rape her. Damn it, I want his blood!”
Matt grabbed his brother’s arm. “She needs you, Kyle. I know you’re angry. We all are. But you have to deal with this so you can help her through. We’ll do all we can to be sure he does time but you can’t go off half-cocked because she needs you. Now, do you have to work tomorrow? Marc, Shane and I will do shifts here with her around your schedule if you need us.”
“No, I don’t have anything until next week. She’s due back in class on the third, we’ll see how it goes. I want to wait to talk with her until she’s had a chance to settle in. Thank you, though.”
“We’ll go and leave you two be.”
Kyle watched them drive away and then called and ordered dinner, built a fire and went to change his own clothes. Worried that she still wasn’t out of the bathroom, he went and knocked softly on the door. “Honey? Can I help you with anything?”
“No.” She sniffed and pulled herself together. She’d scrubbed her skin for the last fifteen minutes and she still couldn’t get the feeling of his hands off her skin.
“Maggie, I’m going to come in now,” Kyle said seriously and slowly opened the door to see her sitting in the shower, the water still on. “Honey, let’s get you out of there,” he said gently and turned the water off. He hadn’t seen her naked and the sight of all of the bruises she bore made his stomach tighten with rage. He dried her carefully and helped her get her clothes on and led her downstairs.
They ate from the cartons and watched a comedy and he massaged her temples as she lay tucked into his body. She looked at her ring, back safely on her finger. “You know, you don’t have to marry me if you don’t want to.”
He moved so that she was facing him. “What? Why on earth wouldn’t I want to marry you?”
“Well, I mean, I’m trouble. I can sense that you feel differently about my body. You’re angry with me. I swear that I didn’t do anything to lead him on.”
“Oh my God, Maggie, how could you think that I’d ever imagine that what happened to you was your fault? Of course you didn’t do a damned thing to deserve what he did to you! No woman who’s been raped ever does. And I don’t feel differently about you or your body. I just want to kill him when I see what he’s done to you. I love you—God, I love you so much. I thought I’d die when I saw the bloody handprint that you left on your front door. I failed you. Maybe you don’t want me because I didn’t protect you. I should have gone with you to your house that night. I could have protected you.” He started crying.
“I want to kill him, too,” she whispered and kissed his tears away. “You didn’t fail me. You didn’t give up. You saved me. I love you, too.”
He led her upstairs and sheltered her with his body as they got into bed. For the first time in several days she felt safe enough to sleep.
Chapter Eleven
Maggie walked into the conference room at city hall and total silence fell. “Hi, everyone. I brought the spreadsheets from last year’s auction, I thought they might be helpful,” she said, trying to keep a professional tone in her voice.
Kyle took a seat away from the table and pulled out a book. He attempted to pretend he didn’t want to run interference for her with the Historical Society members seated around the table. All of whom looked at her with shock and pity.
“I’m glad you’re here, honey,” Maude Sheckley said and got up to hug her. “I’m glad you’re all right.”
“Thank you, Maude. I am too,” Maggie said softly.
In the following moments, every member of the Society got up and gave Maggie a hug and the tension was broken. People were laughing and joking around when the click-clack of high heels on the wood hallway greeted their ears. Suddenly, the talking stopped. Polly swept into the room, gave Maggie a quick kiss and went to her seat at the head of the table, gave her hair a fluff and threw her massive purse down.
“Evenin’, all. Did Maggie tell you that she’s now engaged to my son, Kyle?”
The room once again erupted in chatter and Maggie smiled as she showed off the ring. Kyle
gave them all a wave and went back to his book.
They discussed the auction and other Society business and finally adjourned at eight. Kyle accepted hugs and congratulations from everyone and finally reached Maggie and his mother. “You ladies hungry? I’d love to take my two best girls to dinner.”
Maggie froze up. She hadn’t been out of the condo much in the last two weeks. She worried about facing the townspeople.
“Honey, this is your home. People here love you. I’m starving, let’s go to The Sands and get some food,” Polly said gently.
“All right,” Maggie said taking a bracing breath.
It was late enough that the place wasn’t full to the seams with patrons but still had plenty of folks inside. Ronnie Sands, the owner, got them into a booth and squeezed Maggie’s hand. “Hi, honey, good to see you.” She looked down and saw the ring. “Oh my! Is this what I think it is?”
“Ronnie, this lovely woman has agreed to marry me. Am I lucky or what?”
“Isn’t that wonderful! Congratulations, you two. When’s the day?”
“He only asked me on Christmas and then...well, anyway. We haven’t even discussed it yet,” Maggie said and Ronnie’s face softened.
“I was hoping that we could do it in late spring,” Kyle said.
“Ooh! Good idea, the weather will be so pretty.” Ronnie grinned and looked to Maggie. “Shall I get you all the usual?”
“Sounds good. Make my fries extra crispy, please.”
“Of course, girl. I’ve been serving you fries for a long time. Be back in a bit with your food and teas.” She winked and headed back to the kitchen.
“Where should we have the ceremony?” Kyle asked.
Maggie narrowed her eyes at Kyle. She did not want to do this with an audience. But he was just so damned excited about it, she couldn’t really be mad at him. “If we do it in late spring, say after Mother’s Day, we could easily do it outside.” Maggie hoped Polly would rein in her impulse to take over.
“Hmm, yes that could be nice. We could do tents for the reception. Where though? We could use the park I suppose.” He had the sense to look a bit chastened as he saw her narrowed eyes.
Oh well, in for a penny, may as well be in for a pound. Maggie took a deep breath. “Or your parents’ backyard. It’s over an acre.” She looked to Polly. “That is, if it would be all right with them.”
“Honey, you’re too good to be true!” Polly exclaimed, clapping her hands.
“But, Momma, remember that this is our wedding, yeah? So we’d love your help and appreciate your advice but Maggie and I need to make a lot of decisions for ourselves.” Kyle squeezed Maggie’s hand beneath the table.
Polly snorted. “Of course! I won’t try and take over.”
It was Maggie’s turn to snort and she tried to pretend she didn’t and Polly just laughed. “Okay, so you know me well, dear heart, but I promise, I do know what it is like to be a bride and I’d never want to take that joy from you. But I do want to tell you that I consider you a daughter. And well, I know that your own momma is a fool so please come to me whenever you need a hand all right?”
“Thanks, Mom, I appreciate that so much.”
“So the Saturday after Mother’s Day at Mom and Dad’s house. We have a date and a place,” Kyle said.
“I’d like to get my dress made, which doesn’t leave much time seeing as how it’s already January. Dee’s mom just finished making her dress and it’s amazing. I wonder if she’d make mine? I’ll have to talk to her about it. We need to talk guest lists and color schemes and flowers and food. We need to deal with the invitations and the rentals for the tents as well. Oh my, so much to do.” Maggie broke out a pad and a pen and Kyle watched smiling as she and his mother started talking all of the details over.
* * *
Kyle and his brothers moved all of Maggie’s belongings out of her house and she put it on the market. In the meantime, he and Maggie looked for a place of their own and soon found a four-bedroom near the river that they fell in love with.
Maggie went to counseling both alone and with Kyle for a while to deal with what happened with Alex. It helped a great deal.
The invitations went out in March and Alex’s trial approached. Maggie prepared her students for finals and decided on a caterer, she had dress fittings and chose flowers. Kyle converted the first-floor bedroom into an office space for both of them. He chose tuxedos with his brothers and asked Shane to be his best man. Maggie asked Edward to walk her down the aisle with her own father. She wanted them both to give her away. Cecelia and Janie were not invited.
The trial happened to fall on the week of spring break so Maggie planned to be there every day. Kyle also took time off and the entire Chase clan and Tom Wright were there to support her although Maggie couldn’t attend until after she testified, the same with the others.
Testifying was awful. It was fine when the prosecution was examining her but when Alex’s attorney got up it was just horrible. He tried to twist her words, to make it seem like she’d led Alex on and that she’d run away with him on her own instead of being kidnapped. He also tried to make it seem like the bruises were due to rough sex and not assault. Thank goodness Edward and Peter had helped her by doing a little role play and showing her what it would be like before the trial. She managed to keep on task and to not let herself get too riled up. The other women that Alex had stalked when he was a student at the University of Georgia testified to his behavior.
Alex did not testify in his own defense as Edward told her he probably wouldn’t. The defense case was relatively short and was essentially an argument that everything that happened was consensual. Which—in light of the testimony from the women who’d been stalked by Alex, her own testimony, the pictures and medical testimony of her injuries, signs of struggle at her home, and the testimony of the police who came to the cabin and saw her screaming and trying to fight him off—seemed ridiculous.
It only took the jury forty-five minutes to come back with a guilty verdict and Maggie sobbed in relief. Liv and Dee and a great many other people from Petal had come out to the trial and they all burst into applause and the judge had to pound his gavel to shut them all up.
The sentencing phase would be decided by the judge and he scheduled a hearing the following week to hand down his decision. When they returned, Alex was sentenced to seven years in prison. Edward explained that was pretty good considering but Maggie snorted, wishing he’d be in prison for life.
Chapter Twelve
The morning of May twenty-third arrived and Maggie awoke smiling. It was her wedding day. She spent the night at Liv’s place and Kyle was at his parents’. Dee came over first thing and brought breakfast while Liv did their hair.
“Phone for you, hon, it’s your husband-to-be.” Liv handed the phone to her and she went back to artfully pinning up her curls and lacing flowers and ribbon through it all.
“Hi, honey! Not having second thoughts are you?” she asked with a laugh.
“Hey, Red, no way. Although I just want to say, yet again, how stupid I think it was to make me sleep alone last night. I haven’t slept alone since November. I don’t like it.”
“Stop whining. It’s the last time you’ll have to. I didn’t want you to see my dress until the ceremony. I want it to be a surprise.”
“Okay, I’m sure it’ll be worth it. I sure do love you, Red.”
“Me too, baby. I have to go. Liv’s doing my hair and the phone is in the way. I’ll see you in an hour.”
“Can’t wait.”
Maggie hung up and sighed. “He’s so wonderful.”
“Oh lawd! I thought the weekly Arthur-is-wonderful updates were bad!” Liv joked.
“Are you talking about my boy?” Polly flounced into the room.
“Hey, Mom. Of course we were talking about Kyle. My, don’t you look pretty!”
> “Thanks, doll. What can I do?”
“I’m done here. Let’s help her get into the dress.”
Maggie’s dress was antique white silk and satin. Sleeveless, with tiny embroidered French-blue flowers along the neckline. The back had a small V in it with the same embroidered flowers. It gathered into a pleat at the small of her back and the material flowed down and made a modest pool of silk as a train. She opted against a veil and chose to wind flowers and ribbon in her hair. Her bouquet was of silver roses and white magnolias. As a present for Kyle later, she had on a gorgeous cream-colored bustier-and-garter set underneath with pale silk stockings.
Dee and Liv wore French-blue dresses of mid-calf length and the groom was wearing a dove-gray morning coat with his tuxedo.
“Look at you, girl,” Liv whispered as they got her all fastened inside of the dress and she stood before the mirror.
Maggie smiled as she looked at them all. “We sure do clean up nice.”
“I almost forgot. Here.” Polly handed a velvet jeweler’s box to Maggie. “This is from Kyle.”
She opened the box and softly gasped when she saw the pair of sapphire-and-diamond earrings inside. The note said, something blue and something new. She put them on and they sparkled in her ears.
“Now for something borrowed,” Polly said, “as well as old.” She handed her a velvet pouch and Maggie opened it and a diamond bracelet came out. “My mother let me borrow this on my wedding day and then she gave it to me when I had Shane. So today, you’ll borrow it from me. And when you and Kyle have your first child, it’ll be yours.”
Maggie fanned her face. “Oh lord, you’re going to make me cry and ruin Liv’s makeup job! Thank you so much!”
Edward and Tom waited on the front porch as Liv, Dee, Polly and Maggie arrived.
“You look beautiful, hon,” her father said.
Edward kissed her cheek and winked at Polly. “You sure do. Kyle is a lucky boy.” He called for Matt and Marc who were going to walk with Dee and Liv. She’d asked Polly to be her matron of honor and Shane came to escort her. All three Chase brothers looked at her and cracked grins.