PREVIEW OF MISSING MAVERICK

 

Hours later, I had to make a trip into town, and on the way back, I stopped at the Pickled Pig to grab a bite to eat for lunch. I jumped down from my truck, starved since I’d skipped breakfast. I hadn’t a clue what I was going to fix my girls for supper, but I figured I’d grab something while I was at the Pig and put it in the fridge until later.

It wasn’t abnormal for the parking lot to be full during lunchtime, but there were more cars than usual that day, and I wondered what Ed was cookin’ up that had everyone there. I pushed the door open and walked in, and the entire diner went still. Eerily still. Everyone stopped what they were doing when they were halfway through doing it; cups tilted, burgers held midair, conversations forgotten. Their eyes fixed on me, and the only sound was that of a sizzling grill from the kitchen.

I looked in that direction to see Ed working away, and just then, Ms. Lorna came around from the back and shuddered in her steps when she saw me. The water in her pitcher sloshed out and splashed onto the tile floor. “Maverick,” she whispered.

“Uh, hi.” I took my hat off, and my eyebrows drew down. “What’s goin’ on?”

She cleared her throat and shook her head frantically, waving around the room for everyone to resume their activity. “Nothing. Nothing’s going on. Come have a seat.” She ushered me over to an empty table, and I sat, setting my hat on my knee. “What can I get you?”

The chatter had slowly returned, but I noticed everyone was still looking at me with… dare I say sympathy. “Ms. Lorna, what’s goin’ on? Did something happen?”

“Well, no… but yes. I was hoping that—” Her words were cut off by an achingly familiar voice that immediately caused my spine to straighten and my throat to dry.

“Sally, your to-go’s ready! I made sure to put extra mayo in the bag since…” That voice trailed off, and I stood so fast the chair flew to the ground, my eyes going over Ms. Lorna’s head to land on her.

Cricket.

Fucking fuck me. Cricket was back. She was still unbelievably gorgeous. Red hair, shorter now, freckles across her button nose, pale skin, except her cheeks. Those were pink. And I knew if I looked away from her emerald green eyes, her neck would be flushed, too. That was what happened when Cricket was flustered. Or turned on. I knew everything about the way that woman’s body worked, how she felt, what she tasted like. How easily she lied.

I couldn’t look away. Not yet. And she didn’t either. Her eyes held mine, and she stared right back at me. I wasn’t sure what she was trying to communicate with her gaze, but I sure as fuck hoped she could read me telling her how much I fucking hated her. How much I wished I wasn’t looking at her. How much I wished she wasn’t here.

And much like when I first walked in, the diner again went silent. Except this time, I could hear the roaring of my blood in my veins, her broken promises rang through my head, her lies slapped me across the face. And I just reacted. I had no time to prepare for anything other than sheer anger. “What is she doing here?”

Lorna cleared her throat. “She came back to help out. You know Ed can’t do it by himself anymore, and she promised—”

“Yeah, she promised a lot of things, didn’t she? Glad she was able to keep at least one of them.” I grunted and grabbed my hat. “Best of luck to you and Ed, Ms. Lorna, but you won’t be seeing me around here anymore.”

“Maverick, please just—”

I turned my back and stormed outside, then got in my truck and peeled away. And when I glanced in my rearview mirror, Cricket was there, waving me down as she watched me go. I didn’t hesitate to push the gas pedal so hard my truck spat out a puff of black smoke, completely blocking any view I had left of her, just like it did the last time I saw her.

 

I had a long day. A tough one. Not only did we lose a calf, but I’d sliced my arm on a piece of barbed wire and had to get Doc to come stitch it up. And because it had been a while, I got a tetanus shot as well, so both of my arms were sore as shit.

Hell… the past couple of months had been shit ever since my mom up and left her family for no other reason than she was sick of being a wife and a mother. I hated being home because it just reminded me that she wasn’t there, so as soon as I was done working, I went to Cricket’s apartment and stayed as long as I could before I needed to go back home and help out my family, which wasn’t long at all.

My brothers were trying to step up, but I was the eldest, so I had no choice. Our baby sister, Molly, was taking it the worst, and even though I wanted nothing more than to disappear, I wasn’t able to.

What I could do was lose myself in Cricket for a couple of hours every day, and that was what kept me sane. Looking forward to seeing her pretty face, feeling her soft skin, kissing her plump lips. I craved touching her, loving her, and I didn’t know how I’d manage if she wasn’t around.

Parking my truck in the back, I jogged up the back steps to her apartment above the diner. “Hey, baby.” I opened the door, and everything in me froze when I saw her sitting on the end of her bed with a suitcase at her feet. She’d just returned from visiting a sick relative with her dad, so I was worried something happened to him. “What’s going on? Is your uncle not doing well or something?”

“Uh, no. He’s fine.”

“Then why do you have a suitcase packed?” I noticed a paper on the kitchen island, and I squinted to see it clearer but wished I hadn’t. “And why is there a plane ticket with your name on it?”

“I’m leaving.”

Surely, I didn’t hear her correctly. “You’re what?”

She wouldn’t look at me and kept her head down, staring at her hands in her lap. The longer she avoided me, the worse my gut ached and the more hollow my soul became. “I just need some space for a little while, Maverick.”

My stomach lurched, and my heart iced over as I replayed her words in my head, and suddenly, the pain in my arms was nothing compared to the throbbing in my chest. “Look at me.” She slowly lifted her head, and her tear-filled eyes found mine. “Did something happen? Did someone hurt you?” She shook her head. “That’s it? Your mind’s just made up, and you’re leaving me like this without talking to me first?” Her lips rolled, and that was it. That was my answer.

“I need to figure some things out about me and who I am outside of here.” She swallowed. “And us.”

“And where are you going to go to do that?”

“New York.”

My knees actually buckled. “You’re going to New York to find out who you are?”

“Yes.”

“Even if I ask you right now to stay? If I tell you I don’t want you to go, you’re still going to leave me?”

I think her contemplating it was just to placate me because she already knew her answer. “Yes.”

“You’re joking.” I laughed. “This is a prank, right?”

She shook her head. “It’s not. Maverick, I’m sorry.”

“You don’t think this is something you should have talked to me about earlier?”

“I knew what you’d say, and I didn’t want to give you the chance to convince me to stay when I know I need to do this. I’m not saying it’s forever. I’m just—”

“Too good for here.”

Her eyebrows scrunched together. “No, it’s not that at all.”

“You always hinted at life in a big city, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.” I laughed humorlessly. “It’s just that you said you wanted to be with me forever, so that’s my fault for misunderstanding.”

“Maverick…”

I wasn’t going to try to convince her to stay, to force her to be with me if she didn’t want to be. My mother had taught me that lesson just months ago, and the last thing I wanted was to make a family with Cricket and then have her regret it years down the road and abandon her kids. “Good luck, babe.” I backed away and blindly reached for the door. “I hope you find whatever you’re looking for. I’m just sorry it’s not me.”

Turning around, I walked down the steps. I heard her running after me, but I ignored her pleas as I slammed the door to my truck. I took one last look at her from my rearview mirror and peeled out, not knowing that would be the last time I saw her for over a decade.

Get Missing Maverick here!