Page 46 of Panther's Magpie
“Actually, I’m not much of a baker. Never had anyone to teach me.”
My heart hurts for her as there is pain laced in her tone.
Lisa hears it too and doesn’t miss a beat. “Well then, I will have to teach you. Trust me, the best way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Especially this young man behind you. He will eat you out of house and home if you let him.”
I groan. “I was eighteen and had never had consistent meals. You can’t keep holding that over my head.”
Maggie looks up at me with a question in her eyes.
“When we joined, Lisa and Cloak took me into their home and let me live with them while I prospected. I stayed here a lot too, but Lisa thought the parties were a bit much for a boy of my age, so she made me and Eagle stay with her in the evenings while the guys partied.”
“Caught you sneaking out more than once to join them too.” She gives me a stern look.
“We wanted to be one of the brothers,” I tell her honestly.
“You always were. You just had some growing up to do. Now get on out of here. I still need this beauty for a bit. I’ll send her on to you when I’m done,” Lisa promises.
I don’t miss the insinuation. Lisa thinks we are a thing. That I like her.
Looking down, I find my hands caressing her hair.
Fuck, maybe the woman knows more than I do.
CHAPTER
TWELVE
MAGGIE
The rocking chair sways underneath me as I stare out into the yard blankly. The sun has set, but it’s not quite dark yet. The air is cool, but it doesn’t bother me. For the first time in a while, I’m alone.
Completely alone.
The guys and Rain invited me to go into town to the bar to hang out with them, but I turned them down. As much as I love all of them, I couldn’t paste on a smile, not today.
It’s my birthday.
My twenty-second birthday.
The first birthday in a decade that I haven’t spent with Aspen. She never called. She never forced her way into my room or jumped on me while I slept, waking me up with her horrible off-key birthday song. She didn’t buy me a gift that I would find embarrassing but would ultimately make her laugh. Instead it’s been nothing but radio silence, and it makes my heart ache and tears gather in my eyes.
God, I miss her.
Logically, I knew there would come a time when one of us would celebrate a birthday without the other, but I always thought it would be when we were older and one of us had passed away. For some reason it hurts so much more knowing that she’s alive but just unable to reach out.
A headlight shines in the distance, coming closer and closer. I sit up and wipe the tears from my cheeks.
Thank God it’s dark. Whoever’s here won’t notice that I’ve been crying. Or I hope they won’t be able to.
The bike shuts off, and I watch as Panther gets off of it and starts walking my way.
“What are you doing out here all by yourself?” he asks.
“I just wanted some alone time. Shouldn’t you be at the bar?”
He shrugs as he comes to sit next to me. “We were slow, so I thought I’d come back and hang out here with you.”
“Slow? A bar on a Friday night, slow?” I ask, fighting back a smile.
