Maggie eased open the side door that led into the small courtroom off the judge’s chambers and pressed her eye to the tiny crack she had created. Penny was sitting on the first-row bench with Riley and Derek. Her eyes scanned to the back of the room, but the only other person invited was not there. She hoped Travis would show, but if he didn’t, he’d soon hear all about it.
It might even make the front page of the newspaper.
Carly slipped into the judge’s chambers from the hallway. “Mom,” she whispered, “what are you doing?”
“Just making sure everyone is here.”
“It’s twelve-thirty-five. Are you doing this thing or not?”
“Give it a couple more minutes. I just want to be sure.”
Turning back to her secret surveillance spot, she sucked in a quick breath when Travis walked in. He wore a slim-fitting gray suit and black tie—the man cleaned up nice—and his hair was combed back in soft waves. His lower leg was encased in a black, padded boot.
She silently closed the door and smoothed her hands over her hips. She had chosen to wear a comfortable sundress rather than the strapless, white wedding gown.
The judge came into his chambers wearing a gray suit instead of his long, black robe—a request by Maggie to keep it simple.
“Are you ready, Maggie? I believe Buddy is in the courtroom.”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” She squeezed Carly’s cold, damp hands, and held back a giggle. Her daughter was nervous, but oddly Maggie had never felt so calm and sure. This day had been a long time coming. In the last week, she’d found a strength and confidence that she’d rarely felt and knew that what she was about to do was best for her.
Still holding Carly’s hand, she pulled her through the door and into the courtroom. Buddy stood in front of the judge’s raised bench, twisting his hands and bouncing his knee. He was nervous. Not as nervous as he was about to be. Before Maggie crossed the room, she wrapped her arm around Carly’s shoulder and kissed her cheek.
“Thanks for being here for me, Car.”
“I’ll always be here for you, Mom.” The worry in her daughter’s eyes made her falter a second, but with one glance at the judge standing beside Buddy, she had a burst of renewed determination.
“Let’s go,” she whispered to Carly. There was no turning back now.
Maggie walked toward the bench with Carly following behind. She glanced over at Travis sitting beside Derek, and her heart nearly leapt from her chest. She smiled at him—the father of her child, the best man she’d ever known—and took a deep breath, ready for whatever came next.
Reaching the bench, she nodded to the judge and turned to face her groom. Buddy gripped her fingers in his wet, clammy palms and flashed a shaky grin at her. Sweat shimmered on his forehead, and he was breathing heavy. The man looked like he was about to pass out. Smelling salts might come in handy today.
“Friends, we are gathered here today to celebrate one of life’s greatest moments, to acknowledge the worth and beauty of committed marital love, and to add our best wishes to the words which will unite Margaret May Timbrook and Frederick Eugene Garrett. If there is anyone present who has reason to believe these two should not be married, speak now or forever hold your peace.”
The blood drained from Buddy’s face and his mouth fell open. He squeezed her hands until they were numb. His eyes shifted back and forth, as if he expected someone to speak out. Maggie had asked the judge to throw in that antiquated question just to see her groom’s reaction. It was better than she had thought. She tipped her chin down and hid her smile as the judge continued.
“Do you, Frederick Eugene, take Margaret May to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold from this day forward? For better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish until death do you part?”
Color had returned to Buddy’s cheeks as he cracked a smile. “I do.”
“And do you Margaret May take Frederick Eugene—”
“Hang on, Judge.” She jerked her hands from Buddy’s slimy grip and wiped them on her backside. “Can we go back a little ways?”
“I’m, um—”
“Maggie, what are you doing?” Buddy whispered through gritted teeth. His thick, dark brows folded in, and a large drop of sweat rolled down his cheek.
“I want to go back to that part about if anyone should have anything to say.” She turned toward the judge and pointed at the book in his hand. “Read that part again will you?”
“I, well, sure, if you want.”
“Maggie!” Buddy grumbled as he glanced out at the nearly empty courtroom. She was embarrassing him, poor soul.
“Go ahead, Judge.”
“If there is anyone present who, um, has reason to believe these two should not be married, speak now or forever hold your peace.”
“Bingo.” Maggie perched her hands on her hips and glanced toward the back of the courtroom, rocking back and forth on her tippy-toes until she saw the double doors open. Chief Kirk and Officer Pete walked in. They stood in front of the doors at ease.
“Oh, shit,” Buddy moaned, tucking his head between his hands.
“Come on now, Buddy,” Maggie said, turning him around to face the officers. “Is there something you’d like to tell them? Something about a convenience store holdup, by chance?”
Buddy wrenched loose of Maggie’s grip and made a dash for the side door of the courtroom. The judge reached out and caught the shoulder of his suit jacket, but Buddy jerked free. He took off toward the door to the judge’s chambers as the officers ran up the aisle. Travis dodged across the courtroom and blocked Buddy’s path, grabbing his arm and twisting it behind his back until he folded in half.
“I believe these officers may have a few things to say to you,” Travis growled at Buddy, who was whimpering and struggling to get loose.
“After I have my say.” Maggie lifted her chin high and walked toward Buddy. He was bent over and had sweat dripping from his nose. “Let him loose, Travis.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“He won’t get away,” Chief Kirk said.
Travis released his hold on Buddy and took a step back, still blocking the door to the judge’s chambers. Travis folded his arms over his chest and nodded to Maggie.
She stood in front of Buddy, her eyes trailing from his balding head to his stubby feet and back again. What had she been thinking when she agreed to marry him? She shook her head and poked him in the chest.
“How long do you think it would’ve taken me to figure out that you are a no-good, lying, criminal?”
“Wha—Maggie,” he whined. “I don’t know what you mean, darlin’.”
“You’re up to your chubby chin in debt.”
“What the hell?” he moaned, wiping his jacket sleeve across his mouth. “Who told you that?”
“One of your ex-wives.”
“Maggie, listen to me.” He reached out a sweaty palm, but she didn’t take it. She stood tall and strong and sure of herself.
“With the help of a friend . . .” Maggie glanced behind Buddy and gave Travis a wink. “. . . I found out you’ve been married and have a couple of kids. Don’t you think you should’ve told me that?”
“It’s not what you think.”
“You’ve had some trouble paying child support in the past.”
“I can explain.”
“Of course, your second wife, Tiffany, told me that you’d recently paid up on your child support to the tune of five hundred dollars. The same amount of money I lent you. It’s also nearly the same amount of money that had gone missing at the Brass Rail.”
Penny shouted. “I knew it. You son of a—”
“Easy, sister.” Maggie glanced over her shoulder at Penny, who was on her feet, pointing at Buddy with one hand while her other arm was wrapped around Carly’s shoulder.
“I didn’t steal that money,” he protested.
“Maybe not.” Maggie turned her attention back to the small, sniveling man that somehow had tricked her into believing he was a good person and truly loved her. “It’s possible you could be telling the truth about the missing money from our bar, but I doubt it.”
“I swear, honey.” He grabbed her hand, but she jumped back as if she’d been bitten by a snake. “I never stole money from you and your sister.”
“What about a case of tequila?”
“Maggie, you know I don’t drink. Why would I do that?”
“Okay, you might be right. But what about the money you stole from the Stop and Go Convenience store?”
“What? What are you talking about?”
She stepped around Buddy, knocking her shoulder into his as she glanced toward the back of the courtroom. “Mr. McIlheny? Are you here?”
A tall, white-haired man stepped through the open double doors and made his way down the aisle. Buddy muttered under his breath as he watched the man come forward. Maggie laid her hand on his shoulder once he reached her side.
“You know this man, don’t you, Buddy?”
“Maggie, what have you done?” Buddy laced his hands on top of his head and groaned.
“Long time no see, Fred,” Mr. McIlheny said.
“Shit.”
“Yep, you’re in deep shit, my friend.”
Maggie shuffled past Buddy and his old friend to stand in front of the railing.
“Let me bring everyone up to speed. Have a seat, take a seat.” Once Penny, Carly, Riley, and Derek were settled, she continued while Travis and McIlheny surrounded Buddy. Chief Kirk and Officer Pete stood silently beside the judge. “You see, my dear Buddy is a con artist. He’s got warrants out for his arrest for passing bad checks and larceny. He goes by several names—Buddy, Fred, Gene, and Martin. I have no idea where he got the name Martin.” She threw her hands in the air.
“Anyway, I learned he wasn’t quite the stellar guy I thought he was, so I decided to dig a little deeper. I went to visit both of his ex-wives and met his three children. Through those conversations, I learned that he owes several people quite a lot of money. I guess he figured by marrying me he’d have access to ample cash at the Brass Rail. Thought I’d be too stupid to know what he was up to.” Maggie glared at Buddy as he shook his head in denial.
“His exes told me about his best friend, Mr. McIlheny, and where I could find him. I called Chief Kirk, who notified the state police.
“Buddy has a gambling problem. You might have seen the surveillance photo in the news about the hold up at the Stop and Go. That’s Buddy in the long wig and moustache holding up the cashier. His friend here, Mr. McIlheny, knows all about Buddy’s antics. He was there the night he robbed the store and plans to testify against him for a reduced sentence of his own.”
“That’s a lie,” Buddy snarled.
“Settle down, or I’ll put you in a choke hold,” Travis threatened, taking a menacing step. Buddy bumped against Mr. McIlheny.
“How about we let the police decide if you’re lying or not.” Maggie stepped in front of Chief Kirk and Officer Pete. “Thanks, guys, for letting me tell the story.” She should be angry or hurt but felt weightless and relieved. Thankful she had learned the truth about Buddy before it was too late.
“Are you finished, Maggie?”
“Sure, Pete. He’s all yours now.”
“Maggie, how can you do this to me?” Buddy screamed.
She glided across the room and stepped in front of him, looking him straight in the eyes. “It’s been surprisingly easy, Buddy.”
“But I love you.”
“If I had a dollar for every time some low-down, lying piece of crap like you had said that to me . . .” She twisted the engagement ring off her finger. “You can have this back. It’s cubic zirconia, but you knew that.”
“I didn’t rob that store, I swear. None of this is true.”
“Save it for your lawyer because you’re sure going to need one.”
She stood aside as Officer Pete snapped handcuffs around Buddy’s wrists. The lying weasel had somehow conjured up some tears as he was hauled out of the courtroom, but he’d get not an ounce of sympathy from her. She felt liberated and proud she had stood up to the third—and last—man who would ever hurt and humiliate her. Her heart was racing, but it was the best feeling in the world. It may have been a bit dramatic the way she did it, but she’d needed to stand up to him in front of her friends—witnesses—to prove to them and herself that she would never get walked on again.
As soon as the police officers were gone, with Buddy in tow, Maggie turned toward her friends and family, all waiting in shock and silence. Travis took a few uneven steps toward her, but she held up her hand. Any other time, she would’ve run into his arms but not now. She planned and executed this trap on her own and she wanted to celebrate alone.
“Penny was the only one who knew what I had planned. I’m sorry if you thought you were coming to a wedding instead of an arrest, but I . . .” She let her eyes glance over her daughter and her dearest friends who were obviously shocked at what had just happened. “. . . it was something I needed to do.”
“But why, Mom?” Carly stood alone with her arms wrapped around her middle, shaken and confused. “Why didn’t you just call the police?”
“I guess I . . .”
“Buddy is a terrible man, but why go to all this trouble?”
Maggie suddenly felt foolish. Her heart dropped to her feet when she saw her daughter’s disappointment. She rushed across the room and gathered Carly’s shoulders in her hands.
“Carly, I just needed to—”
“You humiliated him.”
“Honey, it’s hard to explain. I’ve been hurt and humiliated so many times myself. I guess I—”
“Wanted him to know how it feels?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “I wanted to show everyone I could be strong.”
“You’ve always been strong, Mom.”
Maggie shook her head, her eyes welling with tears. The last thing she wanted to do was disappoint her daughter. She thought by pulling this stunt in front of Carly and her friends that they’d be proud of her. Now she just felt stupid.
“You’re the strongest person I know.” Carly wrapped her arms around Maggie, kissed her cheek, and whispered in her ear. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, baby.”
Carly held her at arm’s length and smiled—the same playful smile as her dad’s. “He got what he deserved.”
They fell into a tight hug and laughed. Soon, they were surrounded by their friends murmuring encouraging words, “It’s okay, Maggie” and “We’re here for you” and “So proud of you.” These friends had been with her through the highs and lows of her life, and they understood. For that, she’d always be grateful. She hugged Riley and Derek and Penny, shook the judge’s hand, and rushed up the aisle. She turned to wave to Carly. “I’ll be back next week, Car. I love you.”
“I love you too, Mom.”
Maggie ran out the double doors. A black stretch limousine waited at the base of the courthouse stairs with its engine running. Her suitcase was already stowed in the trunk. The driver came around the back of the car and opened her door. As she was about to step in, Travis called out to her.
“Maggie, wait.” It saddened her to see him hobble down the steps to catch her. She planned to be whisked away quickly but she owed him at least a proper good-bye.
She walked away from the limo and met Travis at the bottom of the stairs.
“What the hell?” He huffed and puffed as he came off the last step. “Where are you going?”
“Jamaica, remember? And Grand Cayman and—”
“Alone?”
“The honeymoon’s paid for, by Buddy as a matter of fact, so why not go?”
“But—”
She took a step closer, laying her hand on his warm cheek. “I’m glad you were here today, and that you stopped Buddy from escaping.”
“Maggie, we—”
She placed her finger against his lips to stop him from saying anything else.
“Thank you for everything, Trav. I know you want to help me right now, but I’ve got this. I don’t need you this time.”
Turning back toward the limo, she gripped the door and climbed inside.