Page 36 of Protecting Maggie
“Honestly? I’m not sure how to feel,” Maggie said.
“If it’s any consolation, it gets easier. Not your man willingly going into danger when everyone else is running away from it, but him leaving. And I’m not really one to talk, as my husband was a commander and by the time we got together, he was thinking about retiring, but that’s what Caroline, Fiona, and the others say. Wait, we should call them. No! I know! Let’s have a sleepover!”
Maggie blinked at the other woman. “A sleepover?” she asked incredulously.
“Yeah! They’re really fun. Caroline usually has them at her place. She has a basement that’s pretty big and lots of comfy furniture we can crash on. We can invite Remi, Josie, and Wren too. I’ll call her now!”
Maggie wanted to protest. Tell her that at thirty-five, she was way too old for sleepovers, but the other women had to be at least ten years older than she was. And the more she thought about it, the more the idea of hangingwith the women she’d met at Aces in a more intimate setting sounded fun.
When was the last time she’d reallyhadfun? Probably a week ago, when she’d met all Shawn’s friends at the bar.
To her amazement, the sleepover was planned before the end of the day. The group text Maggie was in had been active with Wren and the others asking a million questions, and she’d even heard from Caroline about how excited she was to host the get-together.
It was planned for the following weekend, and Maggie was looking forward to the outing with more enthusiasm than she’d had in a very long time.
A week later, Maggie found herself sitting cross-legged on a queen-size bed in Caroline Steel’s basement, surrounded by ten other women. For dinner, Caroline had made four huge charcuterie boards and everyone was stuffing their faces with finger foods.
Maggie had needed this. She’d started falling back on old habits during the last week…sticking to herself and getting too deep into her own head. The texts from her new girlfriends and the occasional phone calls from Remi, Wren, or Josie had kept her from going out of her mind. And her job at the clothing store at least got her out of the apartment.
Shawn being gone made her realize how much she needed human interaction. The two years behind bars hadalmost broken her. Yes, there were plenty of chances to interact with others, but most of her fellow inmates weren’t trustworthy. And that made all the difference in the world. Maggie realized that she could trust not only Shawn, but his friends as well.
And these women? Maggie had never known the value of true friendship until meeting them. How having someone to talk to could make the difference between having a shitty day, and one that was merely annoying.
She chuckled to herself. She was becoming quite the philosopher. It was ridiculous.
“What’s so funny?” Cheyenne asked.
“Nothing. I was just thinking about how different my life is now than even a few months ago.”
“Girl, that part of your life is done. Gone. You aren’t going back,” Wren said firmly.
Everyone else agreed immediately.
Maggie loved them for it…but that wasn’t quite true. She was one mistake away from standing before a judge and possibly being sent right back to prison. But she wasn’t going to get into how all it would take was for Roman to decide he wanted to follow through with his threats and she’d be incarcerated again. “Thanks, guys.”
“Can I ask a question?” Remi asked.
“I think you just did,” Summer said with a giggle.
“I mean another one,” Remi said with a roll of her eyes.
That set everyone off, and it took a moment for the room to quiet enough for Remi to actually ask her question.
Maggie braced, figuring she was going to ask her something about prison. No one had really come out and asked about all the things most people took for granted. Like using the bathroom, showering, how meals worked, and what shedidall day.
But instead of turning to Maggie, Remi looked at the older women, the SEAL wives who’d been involved with the Navy for years. “Does it get easier? The deployments?”
“I got this,” Caroline told the other women, before meeting Remi’s gaze. “I would love to sit here and say that yes, it does. But at least in my case, the opposite was true. Each time Matthew left, I found it harder and harder. Maybe because I had a better idea than most of the situations he and his teammates were heading into. Maybe because I loved him harder and deeper with every day that we were together. Maybe I was just sick of him leaving me alone. I don’t know. But no, they don’t get easier. That’s not to say that I wasn’t more proud of him every time he left. And grateful that he and the others were out there doing what needed to be done. If not him, then who?”
“I was thinking about this the other day, when I saw that three hostages in the South Pacific—I forget which island—were rescued. They’d been taken from the hotel where they were staying and held for ransom. What would happen if men like ours weren’t willing to do what needed to be done? To put their lives on the line to help others?” Cheyenne said.
“What wouldIhave done?” Josie asked. “No one was looking for me. And Nate could’ve escaped, but instead hewent through more torture because he wouldn’t leave without me. I’m in awe of him and his friends.”
“I think the question is…canyouhandle what Kevlar does?” Jessyka asked Remi gently. “Because sometimes, being a SEAL wife or girlfriend sucks. But most of the time it’s like any other relationship. You have fights, you’re glad to see each other after a long day’s work, you worry about money, and you love each other for who you are.”
“I just…this latest mission…it feels…weird,” Remi said.
“I agree,” Wren said. “I mean, I haven’t been with Bo for very long, but in the past when they got a mission, they usually had longer to plan. It makes me worry that they went into a situation they weren’t ready for.”
