Deep in the Heart (12 page)

But Peter was going nowhere. Quickly Maggie latched Isabella in and then took hold of Peter’s hand. Around the back of the pickup she strode, purposefully raking the hair out of her face. On his side, Keith stood solidly by his door, waiting for Peter; however, Maggie never gave him the chance to so much as touch the child. “I’ll get it.”

He backed into the space of his door, but only that. She didn’t care. Anger snapped through the hurt, and at the moment that was a far better choice. At least that way she didn’t have to worry about crying in front of him and completely humiliating herself.

When Peter was latched, she reached up and ruffled his hair. “Good boy.” Then she stepped back and slammed the door. “What’re you standing around for? You want Patty Ann to fire me?”

Keith seemed not to have a good answer for that as he stared at her in concerned incredulousness. “No. Why would I want that?”

Maggie swallowed every word she wanted to yell at him. Instead she stomped around the front of the truck and got in on her side. On his, Keith got in too. He started the pickup and backed out.

All the way home, she felt his gaze chance on her every so often, but she kept hers planted outside the side window. If she just kept her distance, tomorrow would be here in no time, and by tomorrow, she was sure she would never have to worry about getting too close to him again. Once he told them everything he knew, she would never again be welcome at the Ayer mansion. Of that much, she was one-hundred percent positive.

She was mad. Furious. Livid. That much Keith was absolutely sure. Why, he was having trouble getting his brain to figure out. Okay, so he’d lost his temper at the stables, surely she wasn’t so naïve as to think you could never get angry. After all, he did run a multi-million dollar operation. That meant he had to make some decisions and that sometimes things needed a serious adjusting. Like Hodges and his manipulations. That was one that needed rectified in a flat hurry.

When they pulled up to the house, Keith barely had a chance to get Peter out of the back before she was around the pickup to get him. Whatever had happened to their nice day together had been soul-splittingly triumphant in ruining everything. Maggie wouldn’t even look at him.

Everything in him wanted to make her look at him like she didn’t want to jump off the side of the earth to get away from him. “I’ll be back for dinner.”

“
Whatever.”

It was all he would get as she turned and stomped up the steps. Consternation such that he had never felt crashed around him. She acted like she hated him, but only an hour before, they were under the tree watching the kids sleep. The aggravating issue stayed with him the rest of the afternoon and through dinner, during which she hardly said two words and never so much as looked at him, and right through her taking the kids upstairs.

He had never felt so panicked in his life. Whatever it was, it was major, and the question of why she had done such a drastic 180 kept drifting through him. At first he wrote it off to mood swings, but when he was in his room later, his thoughts fought to put the whole puzzle together, and no matter how hard he tried, it just didn’t fit. Finally, although it was taking his life in his hands, he knew he had to go ask. His heart slammed into his chest, warning him that this might make it worse, but in truth, he couldn’t see how it could get any worse. Quietly he left his side of the mansion and made his way to hers.

The soft light of the hallway nightlight guided his steps until he was standing at Peter’s door. Keith pushed it in slightly, not wanting to disturb their already-in-progress ritual.

“
And please help us have a good day tomorrow,” Maggie prayed, her head down, bending over Peter’s bed. Keith heard the struggle in her voice, and he knew without a doubt that she was worried about the coming morning. He wasn’t looking forward to it either. If things could just stay like this, he would be perfectly content to live here forever.

“
Guide us, protect us, keep us, help us, and love us. Amen.”

There was a soft rustle of blankets.

“
I love you, Maggie.” The words drifted to Keith, and he peered in. Peter was in her arms, hugging her like he never wanted to let her go.

“
I love you, too, little one.” The hug lasted a few more moments, and then she pulled him away. “Now you get some sleep.” She pushed to her feet and stopped. Softly she kissed her two fingers and then pressed them to his forehead. “Good night, little prince. Sleep well.” Even after she was finished, she didn’t move for a long moment, and out of respect for her privacy, Keith backed out into the hallway to wait for her.

When she came out, he heard the sniffle and felt the anguish pouring from her even though he couldn’t clearly see her face. In the soft light she shut the door before wiping her eyes and letting out a long, slow breath.

“
Maggie,” he said softly, and she jumped a foot and spun to face him.

Her face fell into a glowering distrust even though he was leaning against the wall, not exactly poised to pounce on her. Bitterness scrawled across her face as she turned slightly away from him. “What do you want?”

“
Can we talk?”

Head down, she headed across the hall to her door. “We don’t have anything to talk about.”

He pushed away from the wall and stepped over to her door. There, he again leaned against the wall and lowered his head so he could look at her. “I think we do.”

She shook her head and reached for her doorknob. “It’s late. I need to get to bed.”

Gently he reached out and touched her wrist, praying she wouldn’t leave. “Maggie, please. I know you’re mad. I want to know why.”

“
I’m not mad.” She shook her hair back defiantly and looked at him. Chin up, that unmistakable air of determination flowing through every fiber of her. “Why would I be mad?”

The middle of him ached with the hate in her eyes. “I don’t know. Why are you?”

Her gaze broke from his and darted across the hall. “Look, I get it. Okay? I know the score. It took me awhile, but you don’t have to worry. I get it now.”

Concerned incomprehension traced through him. “Maggie, you’re not making any sense. What are you talking about?”

When she smiled at him, there was nothing in him that liked it. She looked cold and hateful and detached. “You’re the prince of Conrad Ayer Industries. My bad. I thought you were just a nice guy who cared.”

The words hit him like punches, and he dropped his hand from her wrist. “You… you didn’t know.”

With her jaw set, she shook her head. “No, and you didn’t bother to tell me that little detail either.”

His head dropped as understanding poured through him. No wonder she’d seemed so unnaturally normal around him. That explained a lot. Too much really. He sighed that understanding into his heart. “I’m sorry. Really I am. I just… I assumed you knew.”

“
No. I didn’t know.” Abhorrence and hurt dripped from the statement. Her gaze dropped from him to the carpet. “Well, you got what you wanted. Congratulations. Mission accomplished.”

Panic plowed into him. “What does that mean?”

“
Oh, come on, Keith. I’m not stupid. I know a spy when I see one.”

That punch just about leveled him. “What…? A spy? I wasn’t spying on you.”

She laced her arms over themselves. “Oh, yeah? Then why’ve you been hanging around all week? Why’ve you been asking me about my past? Why’ve you watched my every move with the kids—even coming up here at night to check on us?” She put air quote marks around the last three words with her fingers. “I’m not completely stupid, you know.”

Hurt and hate bled through her gaze. “I just hope you can explain it to Pete and Izzy when I’m gone tomorrow because they’re going to be crushed thanks to you—not that you ever really cared anyway.”

That one brought his defenses up. “Okay, now that’s not fair. You know I love those two.”

“
Yeah. So you say. But how do I know that’s the truth? How do I know anything you say is the truth?”

With determination he turned full on her. “Okay. That’s it. Look at me.” When she didn’t, he put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. “I said, look at me, Maggie.” Her gaze met his, but there wasn’t an ounce of trust anywhere in them. “I love those two kids like they were my own. I don’t like what’s been happening to them any more than you do, and despite what you think about me, I do not want you to leave. I have not been spying. Watching, yes. Spying, no. Now, you can hate me forever, that’s fine, but don’t you dare use that as an excuse to leave them because they need you… more than you can know.”

“
Oh, yeah? Well, what about your dad and Mrs. Ayer? They’ll be back tomorrow, and I’m pretty sure Patty Ann and Inez will have plenty of stories to relate when they get back.” She set her mouth. “Let’s face it. Like it or not, I’ll be out tomorrow.”

His hands dropped from her shoulders, and he leaned back against the wall. “You don’t know that.”

“
Yes, I do, and so do you.” Her head fell to the side. “I may be what the kids need, but I’m sure not what the parents want. I knew that the first day. It’s only a matter of time now… even if they don’t fire me outright tomorrow.”

The thought of her leaving, driving away, never coming back stabbed through him like a twin-edged sword. “I’m sorry. I really am.”

“
Yeah, well. It was an impressive show while it lasted. That whole working out at the stables thing. You sure had me fooled.”

He felt like he’d gone sixteen rounds with the heavy weight champion of the world. Even his breath was gone. “That wasn’t a show. I really do work out there.”

“
Yeah. I’m sure. And it’s such hard work, too.”

Her sarcasm bit through him, taking his knees out from under him. He slid down the wall, hearing in her voice exactly what every other person he’d ever met believed about him.

She stood there, over him, arms intertwined, ready to kick him once more with her words if she hadn’t finished him off already. He could feel her gaze, but the numbness of hurt gripping him wouldn’t let him look at her. She hated him, and he didn’t blame her.

“
I really do work,” he said softly to the air in front of him. “I know. That’s hard to believe.” He shook his head and let it fall back onto the wall so he was looking at the top corner of the opposite side of the hall. “I don’t know. Maybe that’s not even really true. You’re probably right. I’m just a spoiled little rich kid who wouldn’t know what hard work was if it bit him in the butt.” The inescapable truth of his lousy excuse for an existence cracked over him, and his spirit plummeted.

He’d tried so hard to prove to everyone that he wasn’t just Daddy’s little puppet, that he was his own man, that he could make it on his own. What a joke. She saw through that sham as surely as everyone else did. The feelings of worthlessness clogged the top of his chest, and for the first time in his life, he let them come. She hated him almost as much as he hated himself, and that was saying something.

Then, slowly, gently, he felt her not leave but bend down next to him, and this time her gaze was soft. “I’m sorry. That really was uncalled for. I shouldn’t have said that.”

A smile of sad acceptance slipped through him. “No, you just said what everyone else is thinking… except they don’t have the guts to say it to my face.”

Her gaze surveyed him as she searched for some way to take back her words and ease the hurt she’d caused.

He let his head fall to the side so he could look at her. It was over. He might as well finish it off. “I’m engaged.”

“
En…?” The word snaked through her face slowly, and her hand dropped from his shoulder. “What?”

Their friendship was completely trashed now. There was no reason not to burn it all the way to the ground. Besides, Keith knew it would be better to kill whatever was left of them now, get it over with in one, gut-crashing whack than to drag it out. That was cruel and would hurt her more in the end anyway. This way she didn’t have the stupid idea that he was worth getting to know. She would see what a jerk he was and get out while the getting was good.

He twisted his lips into a half-smile, half-frown, fighting not to let the words dig into him. His gaze fell to his knuckles, which were sliding back and forth through his palm. “Yeah. June third.” He nodded without feeling it. “Dallas Henderson, Lowell Henderson’s daughter.”

Her eyes widened. “Lowell Henderson—the senator?”

“
That’s the one.” Keith exhaled hard. “She’ll be here Saturday. Big, huge bash to celebrate the engagement. All the most powerful people in Texas, that kind of thing. It’s the wedding of the decade or so I’m told.”

Carefully Maggie let herself down onto the carpet next to him and leaned her back on her bedroom door. It took more than a minute for her to respond. “And this is a good thing, right?” As strange as that sounded, she actually sounded concerned, as if she cared one way or the other.

“
Of course it’s a good thing.” The words came with firmness, and he was glad for that. “It’s just… I should’ve told you… sooner.”

Her gaze did a little circle dance until she let her head crack back on the door. “Well, I wish you would have, but I understand why you didn’t.” She didn’t say anything for a long moment, and then she let her gaze fall over to his. “Is she nice?”

He nodded slowly but never looked at her.