Be With Me (12 page)

“What? Yeah
okay.”

The officer took me over
to his car, and I had the sinking fear that I would be cuffed and
thrown in the slammer for what I’d done to my father. My emotions
once again bombarded me and I broke out into a horrible sob. Tyler
was still on the porch giving his account of what took place and
every so often he would glance my way, almost letting me know that
everything would be fine. Somehow with him around I knew I would be
just that.

After talking to the
officer for about an hour, he asked if I needed medical attention.
I told him no, and he thanked me, letting me go to
Tyler.

“Tyler, I’m sorry I
dragged you into this mess, I had no intention of doing
so.”

“I’m just glad I came back
when I did.”

“Why did you come
back?”

“Let’s not worry about
that right now.” He sighed.

I wondered what had been
so damn important that he would come back. I was so glad he did,
but my mind was racing with possibilities.

I knew that I couldn’t
stay in this place a minute longer, but my flight wasn’t scheduled
to depart until the next morning. The police told me I was free to
go, and so I decided to drive into Dallas and stay at a hotel near
the airport.

“Maggie, you can stay at
Jake and Emily’s tonight, you don’t have to get a hotel
room.”

“No, I really need to be
alone. Its better this way.”

I kissed him lightly on
his whisker roughened cheek, and told him goodbye. I didn’t look
him in the eyes because I knew that if I did, I would crumble and
not be able to part with him. I slid into the seat of my rental
car, closed the door and started the engine. I was running
again.

The entire drive to my
hotel was filled with reflection of the events of the day, and all
I wanted to do was continue to weep. I had to be stronger than
that, I needed to pull my boot straps up and go on with the life
I’d been given. I wouldn’t mourn the loss of my father, after all
he was no father to me, only a nightmare that I was finally rid of.
I would no longer wake in a sweat at night with the visions of him
over me. I would no longer let him dictate what I did and how I did
it. I was finally free.

Twenty-Five

Seven a.m. came early the
next morning, my luggage was packed and ready, and my rental car
was turned in. All there was left to do was board the plane that
would take me back to Chicago. I was relieved and sad all at the
same time. I pushed back the thoughts of Tyler, and boarded the
plane. I wouldn’t come back to this place, the place of my fears
ever again. My old life was waiting for me in the windy city and I
was happy to be going back.

When the plane landed at
O’Hare in Chicago, I got off the aircraft and headed to baggage
claim. I heard a familiar squeaky voice calling my name.

“Mags!”

I turned to see Hayley
running toward me with her arms open wide. She crashed into me
almost taking me to the ground, and wrapped her arms around my
body.

“Oh my God, I missed you
so much Mags!”

“I missed you too.” I
laughed.

“Come on I’m parked in the
fire lane, we have to hurry before my car is towed.” She grabbed my
bags and pulled me toward the exit doors.

We settled into her car
and pulled away from the airport. I was happy to have my best
friend with me again, and couldn’t wait to tell her about
everything that transpired in Texas.

“You look lost Mags,
what’s wrong?” She prodded.

“Nothing, I’m just happy
to be home that’s all.” I smiled.

We rode in relative
silence back to my condo on Lakeshore Drive. Hayley must have
sensed that I wished to be alone, she didn’t offer to come up like
she always had before. When she drove away, I went into my building
and rode the elevator to the floor where my condo was. I slipped my
key into the lock and pushed the door open. It was so lonely
stepping into my empty place, and it was funny that I’d never
noticed it before. I wondered what it would be like to have Tyler
here. He would make my place so much more warm and inviting. I
couldn’t think like that though, he had a life in Texas with his
family there would have been no way he could survive here without
them.

I would just try and slip
back into my life like nothing out of the ordinary ever happened. I
would go to work, come home, and do what I normally did. But my
life was anything but normal now.

Twenty-Six

“Dude, stop fucking
pouting.” Jake teased.

“I’m not pouting, it’s
called brooding, and I wish to do it alone so fuck off.” Tyler bit
back.

“You really miss her don’t
you?”

“Is it that
obvious?”

“It’s written all over
your face brother. So what are you going to do about
it?”

“There’s nothing to do,
she left, end of story. I’m not gonna go chasing after someone who
doesn’t want to be with me.”

“I guess you’re right, no
need in wasting your time.”

“Exactly.”

Tyler knew it was
pointless to run after Maggie, she made her choice, and that choice
was to return to Chicago where her life was. He could sulk about it
or he could move on, and as hard as moving on seemed to be, it was
time to pull his head out of his ass and do it.

“Jake, your mom is on the
phone, she sounds really upset.” Emily called from the front
door.

Tyler saw the look on her
face and knew something terrible had happened. He watched Jake grab
the phone from Emily’s hand and lift it to his ear. Jakes face
paled, and he looked visibly ill. When he ended the call Tyler’s
nerves were on edge.

“What’s going on?” Tyler
nervously asked.

“It’s dad, he’s had a
heart attack. They took him to Dallas.”

“What the fuck are we
standing around here for? Let’s go.” Tyler headed for his
truck.

The ride to Dallas was
filled with thoughts and worry for his dad. He hadn’t spent much
time with his parents since he'd come home, and now he regretted
that fact. He only hoped that his dad would pull through so he
could show him that he loved him.

When they arrived at the
hospital, they strode through the doors and the smell of sterile
environment hit Tyler in the face like a sack of bricks. He flashed
back to when he was in Germany, injured and not knowing where his
life would lead him from that point on. His stomach began doing
flips, and he wanted to run as fast as he could away from this
place. But he couldn’t, his dad needed him.

Tyler and Jake found the
waiting area where his mom was, and quickly threw their arms around
her in a show of support.

“Where is he?” Jake
asked.

“They have him in surgery;
he’s been back there for a while now. I’m so scared.” His mother
cried.

“Mom, it’s alright, we’re
here now.” Tyler soothed.

The fact of the matter was
that he didn’t know if things would be alright. He wanted it to be,
but Tyler knew life held no guarantees. As they stood there trying
to calm his mom down, the surgeon entered the room with a somber
look on his face. Tyler knew it was bad, and his heart felt like it
was falling from his chest like a star from the night
sky.

“Mrs. Bradford…I’m sorry.”
The surgeon said.

The world stopped spinning
in that moment. All Tyler could hear was the sobbing sounds that
filled the room, his mom crying over the loss of their dad. He
wanted to put his fist through something, and make the pain go
away. It cut him deep.

“Mom, what do we need to
do?” Jake asked.

“I…I don’t know boys.” His
mom wept.

“Whatever you need, we are
here mom.” Tyler added.

“I love you two, and I’m
sorry.”

“You have nothing to be
sorry for mom, this wasn’t your fault.” Tyler soothed.

His mom ran her hand
across his jaw, and Tyler felt tears well up in his eyes. When he
looked at his brother, Jake had tears streaming down his face, and
Tyler let go. This wasn’t the time to try and be a tough guy; he’d
just lost his father for God’s sake. He let the emotions go, and
held onto his mom and brother for support. This was the only family
he had left, and he would stand by them through this time of loss,
no matter what.

Twenty-Seven

Once I regained somewhat
of a normal life back home I began to feel like a human being
again. There were times throughout my days I would think of what
I’d done, and had to continue to reassure myself that what I did
was for the best. I finally let the guilt go, and realized that it
wasn’t my fault what happened to me. Of course there were many
appointments to my shrink, and hours of me crying over the past,
but I came to a place where I knew it would all be okay.

When I finally felt like
returning to work, everything was just the same as I’d left it. My
desk and office were still neatly organized, and my co-workers were
more than understanding of my absence. I felt at ease with it all,
and jumped back in with both feet.

There were tons of
projects waiting for me, and so I sat down and buried myself in
them. I was so focused that when my office phone rang I damn near
jumped from my chair.

“Margaret Wells.” I
answered.

“Hi Maggie, this is Emily
Bradford, Tyler’s sister in law…”

Thoughts streamed through
my head at why she would be calling me, did something happen to
Tyler? “Hello Emily is everything okay?” I said
nervously.

“No, Jake and Tyler’s dad
died of a massive heart attack yesterday. The funeral is this
Sunday; I just thought Tyler might like the support of you being
there.”

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry
to hear that! Of course, let me make some arrangements to be
there.” I gave her my email, and personal phone number to send the
details of where the memorial would be held.

“Um I didn’t tell Tyler
that I was letting you know about this, so if you could keep it all
on the down low I’d appreciate it.”

“Sure no problem. How is
he?” I asked.

“Not good. Ever since you
left he’s been down in the dumps, Jake has tried to talk to him but
Tyler is hard headed.”

“I understand. Well let me
get off here and I will see you on Sunday.”

When I hung up the phone I
was saddened by what they were all going through. To lose someone
you loved was devastating. Or at least I’d been told.

I pecked around on my
computer and found a flight that would get me to Texas in time for
the memorial, and then I called a local florist close to the church
to secure an arrangement to be sent over. I took the rest of the
day off to go home and pack a bag for the trip. When I arrived home
I noticed that my door was already unlocked. Surely I didn’t forget
to lock up when I left that morning…

“Hey Maggie.” I looked up
and Richard was sitting on the sofa waiting for me.

“Richard, what are you
doing here?” I huffed.

“I wanted to stop by and
see how you were; I heard what happened in Texas…”

“That’s old news, and I’m
perfectly fine. Now what do you
really
want?”

He let out a sigh and
began. “I’m sorry for what I did to you, I fucked up and I regret
it.”

“I forgave you Richard,
end of story.”

“No it’s not the end of
the story Maggie, I still love you. I think we can make this
work.”

“Ha! Really? How am I
supposed to work around your pregnant girlfriend?”

“The baby is not mine. She
admitted that she had a relationship with someone else at the
office, and the timing was off for me to be the father. I still
want to marry you Maggie; I think we could have a great future
together.”

“I’m not sure I can do
that. Things have…changed.”

“Then tell me what I can
do to make you happy? I will do anything.” He sighed.

Was it crazy that I was
actually considering his proposal? That I might let this man back
into my life after what he did? I just wasn’t sure.

“Look, I’m leaving for a
few days Richard; I can’t make a decision right now.”

“I understand, but please
consider it.”

“Okay, I’ll think on
it.”

Richard stood to leave and
turned to face me when he reached the door. “You’ve changed
Maggie…and for the better I have to say.”

He was right I had
changed, I finally let go of the things that were ruining me, and
was learning to be happy with myself.

Twenty-Eight

As Tyler entered the
church that housed his father’s body, he couldn’t help but tense
up. He hated death, maybe more than the usual person. He witnessed
mass death and destruction when he was deployed, and despised what
it did to families. Yes this was different, but it hurt just the
same deep down in his heart.

His mom and brother walked
to the front of the sanctuary and slipped into a pew reserved for
immediate family. Emily sat in the seat behind them, holding tight
to Maisy. When he looked forward to see his dad laid out in a
cherry wood casket, he again lost control of his emotions. Jake
began to pat him on the back to calm him down, and his mom wrapped
her arms around him in a show of love and protection. It was all
too much.