“I know that, Hugh, but she’s my daughter, and if I didn’t have a little hesitation, then I wouldn’t be a good mom.”
She makes a point.
“Maggie?” Hugh asks. “Call is yours.”
I mean, of course I want to be around Star all the time, and I want to keep my job. That means going back and forth. I’m assuming Delilah will get her own place and I’ll be living there half the time, that means continuing to attend the country club, seeing those other nannies, and being in a world where I really don’t fit in.
“I know you’re worried about the way you were getting treated,” Delilah says, as if reading my mind. “But I assure you, Maggie, nobody will treat you like that again. I’ll make sure of it. You have my word.”
I swallow and look to Hugh.
“A quick word, Maggie?” Hugh says.
I nod and follow him into the kitchen where he leans in close. “Don’t know that you’re entirely safe without one of us bein’ there with you when you’re with Delilah.”
“Because of those two men I overheard?”
He nods.
“Is there an option that might keep me safe?”
“In a public setting, like the country club, as long as you’re around people the entire time you’ll be okay, no going off to toilets alone or walking down halls alone, but as for when you’re at Delilah’s house alone, while she’s at work, I’m not convinced you’ll be safe.”
“I can’t live my life in total fear, Hugh. I have to be able to move on eventually.”
“Until we know if they’re lookin’ for you, we can’t let you do that.”
“Then we’ll have to come up with an option, because what Delilah is presenting is a great idea and I fear if you don’t take it now, it’ll go away. You need to sign this before she changes her mind.”
He grunts, but nods.
We go back to Delilah.
“Okay,” I say. “I’ll agree to working for you provided those papers get signed today and you promise that I won’t be treated the way I was before. If I am, I’ll leave right away.”
Delilah nods. “Yes, of course.”
“Then, it’s a deal.”
Holy shit.
This is happening.
16
“I’m not going to lie,” I tell Eve and Ramona at Wildflowers a few weeks later, “her house is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I thought the house Hugh got for them was something, this place is twice the size. She has servants. Servants!”
“Wow,” Eve says. “I wonder what it would be like to have so much money.”
“Miserable,” Doris pipes up, turning in her chair. “Just imagine, you have everything, what have you got to dream for? Look forward to? You don’t feel the pressure of the world, which makes you appreciate what you have, you just go about your life never feeling anything at all. I’d rather struggle for what I have than have it handed to me.”
“Well, Doris,” I say. “I think that’s the best thing you’ve ever said.”
Doris scoffs. “I’ve said plenty of great things, dear.”
I laugh.
“Is Hugh keeping that giant house then?” Ramona asks.
I shake my head. “Nope. He hates it. He wants to move closer to the club in a modest house, so he has applied for a few and hopefully within a few weeks, we’ll be back to normal.”
“That’ll be a relief for you.” Eve laughs. “No more fancy life.”
“Well, half a fancy life. I still have to go to Delilah’s half the time and living there is ... strange.”
“You can always quit,” Doris tells me. “You don’t have to be there.”
I shake my head with a smile. “I don’t mind, and she lets me bring Star to Hugh’s on a Thursday night because she works so late. So, really, I am not doing it too bad. Plus, I’m saving heaps.”
“You still don’t want to stay here?” Ramona asks.
I shrug. “I do, I mean, Hugh ... Star ... I just ... I still feel this emptiness, like I need something in my life to strive toward, and I’m not finding it here.”
I hate admitting that, because I adore Star and Hugh being in my life is the best thing ever, but I still feel like I’m lost, like I’m seeking something that I’m not getting here, only I don’t know what it is. I thought when things got serious with Hugh that feeling would go away and I’d settle, but so far, I haven’t. I still dream of living somewhere else, starting a new life, fulfilling dreams I don’t see me having here.
The guilt over those thoughts is quite intense.
“Maybe you should talk to Hugh,” Eve suggests. “He might be able to help you figure out what it is you want, something that’ll work for you both. You are so loved here, Maggie, I wouldn’t want to see that disappear.”
I give her a smile. “I know that, and I love being here.”
I’m just missing something.
“On a different note, have you guys seen Rhett’s place lately?” Ramona asks. “Gabby took me out there, holy crap.”
“I didn’t know you knew Rhett,” I say to Ramona.
“Only through Gabby, she brought him and the guys over one day to break the ice with the club, because there were a few issues there. My word, have you seen the other guys that work for him? When that place opens, I’m going there just to be pampered by a bunch of cowboys.”
I laugh. “I’m not entirely sure they’re the pampering type.”
But oh boy, they are certainly gorgeous.
I slept with Rhett a couple of times, and I won’t lie, it was incredible, but the feelings were never there and I think we both kind of knew it. While the sex was out of this world, without that spark of growing love, there is something missing in the act. I only realized that when I met Hugh. Adding emotion in creates a whole new level of wow.
“Still, that place is going to be something else,” Ramona nods.
“What are they doing with it, dear?” Doris asks.
“They’re creating like a sort of camp slash getaway slash retreat for people. You can book it out in groups, adults only. It doesn’t matter what group you are, but it is aimed to help your mental health. While you’re there you’ll do all this awesome stuff like help run the ranch, ride horses, do watersports in the lake, fish, hike, and it’s meant to reset your soul. It’s a great idea.”
“I wish I was younger; I’d have all the mental health issues in the world so I could go to that.” Doris sighs.
I laugh. “Not quite sure that’s how it works, but great ideas you’ve got running, Doris.”
She grins.
“It’s so super weird to see guys that look like that, who everyone knows have illegal dealings, are opening something so incredible,” Eve murmurs.
“I know what you’re saying.” I nod in agreeance. “But I do know Rhett and all of those guys have lived really hard lives, and I think it’s great they’re opening that huge place up to something that’ll change lives. There is so much space there. Rhett was left with a gold mine, basically, and he’s using it for the right thing. That’s really incredible.”