Page 101 of The Locksmith's Promise

The bottle stopped midway to his mouth. He grinned. “Maggie?”

I grimaced. “She didn’t take too kindly to me yelling at her son.”

“Maxine constantly gives me shit for coming down hard on Mickey.” Miller chuckled and took a healthy swallow. “Mothers and sons, man. You know how it is.”

I didn’t. I had no idea. Not from my own mother and not from being around Maggie.

His face flushed as he realized what he said. “Fuck, sorry.”

I shook my head. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Now that I’ve put my foot in it, there’s something else I need to talk to you about.”

I braced myself. “What’s that?”

He winced and scrubbed a hand over his hair. “Jenny really needs to talk to you.”

I narrowed my eyes and stared at him. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

He held up his palms. “She doesn’t want to interfere; she just wants you to know the whole story.”

My lip curled. “Do you know what she’s talking about?”

He winced. “Unfortunately.”

My stomach dropped, but if I had to hear it from anybody, I wanted it to be Miller. “So fucking tell me,” I demanded.

He shook his head, his face going blank. “It’s not my story to tell, Bax. I know you have no time for Jenny, and nobody blames you, but she’s still one of my friends.”

He raised his eyes to meet mine. “And I won’t betray her like that.”

I plunged my hands into my hair and leaned back in my chair. Staring up at the roof of the tent like it contained the secrets of the universe, I murmured, “I just want the past to stay in the fucking past. Is that too much to ask?”

“Talk to her, Bax,” he insisted.

I growled and dropped my hands.

He chuckled. “Growl all you want but talk to her.” He leaned toward me. “If you don’t want to do it for yourself, fine. Even though I think it would be good for you. But at least do it for Maggie.”

My eyebrows shot up. “For Maggie.”

He dipped his chin abruptly. “For you, first, but do it for Maggie, too.”

Weighed down by the past, I pushed myself to my feet. “I’m going to head out,” I said gruffly.

“Okay, man,” he sighed. “We okay?”

I nodded. “We’re good.”

With the sun beginning to dip in the sky, I left him to take a walk before finding out if Maggie and I were the same.

24

Respect

Baxter

I took a walk around town to settle my nerves before heading back to the festival where the bonfire blazed high in the middle of a circle of mismatched chairs, rough-hewn benches, and tree stumps.

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