Wake My Heart (Jasper Falls 1)

He watched her jog away in her tight leggings and open back shirt. Swallowing, he turned and found Maggie watching him, her expression blank.

He tossed his plate on the table. This was nuts. If he wanted to talk to her, he shouldn’t have to pretend he needed any reason other than he missed her. But when he walked to the end of the table where she’d been standing, she was gone and a woman with jet black hair had taken her place.

“Plates are on the other end. First, get your food, then I’ll ring you out.”

“Do you know what happened to the woman who was just here?”

“Maggie?” She turned and yelled, “Did anyone see where Maggie went? She’s got someone here to see her.”

The firefighters looked around, but no one answered.

“Could someone look inside?”

She glanced at the line. “Sorry, we’re slammed. She’ll probably be back in a few minutes if you want to wait over there.”

He stepped out of the way of the crowd and waited on the grass where the woman directed. His stare kept scanning the swarm of people and looking up at the station windows. But Maggie didn’t show. After thirty minutes, he gave up.

When he got home that evening, her bike was leaning against the shed. He got out of his truck and hopped the fence. He was done playing hide-and-seek.

Chapter 22

Maggie jumped from her place on the couch as a fist pounded on her back door. She crept down the hall, recognizing Ryan’s tall shadow in the window. Biting her nail, she hesitated, not wanting to answer.

“Maggie, I know you’re in there. Open the door.”

She pressed her back to the wall, hiding behind the molding of the kitchen breezeway.

“I need to talk to you.” He pounded again. “Why did you run away today?”

She hadn’t run away. She saw him and finally decided this distance between them was stupid, and she should say something to him. But then that beautiful blonde came running up to him and handed him her number. He clearly knew who she was, since he took the number. That was the kind of woman Ryan deserved to be with, confident, striking, tall… Perfect.

“Goddamn it, Maggie, please open the door.”

Her shoulders rounded as she backed further into the shadows. If she opened that door, he’d wear her down. They’d end up right back where they were, until she had her next breakdown and they broke up again. He was better off finding someone else.

His head thunked against the door and his voice lowered. “I wanted to talk to you today.”

Her back slid down the wall until she sat on the floor.

“Please open the door.” He paused, but when she didn’t move, he said, “I wanted to tell you that I miss you, and I can’t stop thinking about you.”

She looked at the carpet, remembering his smile when he waved at her.

“I know you said you can’t do this, but I don’t know how to shut off the way I feel about you. And I don’t believe that you can shut it off either.”

Sorrow unfurled in her chest as a tear rolled down her cheek.

“I can’t seem to get over you. You’re different. You make me feel different.” The doorknob jiggled and her breath caught, but she relaxed when she remembered locking the deadbolt. “You never lock your door.”

His shadow shifted and her phone pinged. She pulled it out of her pocket.

Please let me in.

She wavered, debating if she should just let him in. Keeping him out of her life hurt more than she expected, and maybe if she opened the door, he could take the pain away. He had a way of doing that, of making her feel safe even from herself.

Her phone beeped again.

You’re breaking my heart.

She dropped the phone and shut her eyes, giving in to her tears. It was too much. He was too much. She didn’t want to feel the things he made her feel. She couldn’t handle her own heart, and she had no business being responsible for someone else’s.

“Maggie… Please.”

Her chest was splitting open, pieces of her falling out. She reached for the phone and wiped her nose. Her fingers trembled as she typed out a reply.

I don’t want to see you anymore. Please go away.

She heard the notification hit his phone and felt his frustration through the wall. Then his shadow disappeared, and she was alone in the dark, a place she knew too well.

Chapter 23

The following morning Maggie’s chain popped on the way to the cemetery. By the time she had it fixed, she was late for work and had no time to visit Nash’s grave. When she got to work, it popped again. Jim tried to fix the chain, but it was shot.

“It’s too rusted to use. You need a new one.”

She ordered a new chain online, but it wouldn’t be there until the middle of the week. When her shift was over, she walked her bike out of the warehouse and through the parking lot. The wind whipped at her clothes.