My Ex-Boyfriend’s Brothers (Ex Marks the Spot)

39. Luke

39

***Luke***

“ Y ou can open your eyes now, Maggie.” I’d taken her blindfold off a full two minutes ago and she was still sitting with her eyes squeezed shut.

“No, thank you.” She had a deathgrip on her seat and looked as tense as I’d ever seen her. “I don’t think I like the vibe of our environment currently.”

Jackson grinned at me. “Told you she wasn’t going to like this.”

“She’s going to be fine.” I squatted in the small space in front of her and gripped her knees. “Look at me, baby.”

It took her a few seconds but she finally opened her eyes. She glanced around at the interior of the helicopter we were in and when she looked at me, her eyes were wide. “We’re in a helicopter.”

I nodded. “We are.”

“Why are we in a helicopter?”

“Because we’re taking a trip.”

She glanced over at Ryan and Jackson. “Do you two know where we’re going?”

Ryan nodded. “Yep.”

“Where are we going?”

I kissed her and then sat back in my seat and buckled in. “It’s a surprise.”

I watched her during the flight and saw her go from terrified to so excited she could barely sit still. When we landed and she saw where we were, she immediately started crying. We’d landed in a back parking lot at Waverly Place. Her mom had been moved late the night before and I wanted to give Maggie a chance to help her mom get settled in.

Throwing her arms around me, Maggie held me tight. “You brought me to see Mom?”

I stroked her hair and grinned at Jackson over the top of her head. “It was a joint idea.”

She launched herself at Ryan and Jackson, too, and then practically broke out into a sprint across the parking lot. We had to jog to keep up with her. She looked back over her shoulder at us as she ran, her dress blowing in the wind, her smile wide. “Come on!”

She was out of breath by the time we got to the front desk and we had to take over asking which room her mom was in. A nurse tried to show us the way but Maggie couldn’t wait. She was vibrating with excitement.

Watching the moment she burst into her mom’s room and the two women laid eyes on each other was enough to make the backs of my eyes burn with emotion. Her mom let out an excited cry and Maggie collapsed into her mom’s arms. Their broken words were muffled by tears but they easily understood each other. They spoke back and forth to each other in a language all their own, each of them so wrapped up in each other that her mom hadn’t even noticed us.

When she did, though, her eyes went wide and I was taken aback by just how similar she looked to Maggie. She held out her arm for us to come closer and then hugged each of our necks. Her grip was noticeably weak but her energy was electric.

“Look at you three! Oh, my goodness.” She patted Maggie’s hand. “You did good, honey.”

“Mom…” Maggie looked up at us and I forgot how to breathe as I saw the emotion shining up at me. Her face was so open and she was so honest that it was easy to see her heart. She was on her way to loving us, if she wasn’t already there.

I stroked my knuckles down her cheek and felt my own heart speed up. I wanted desperately for it to be true, for her to love us.

“Look at this! Oh, my goodness. This is the best surprise ever.” Her mom motioned to the small couch on the other side of the room. “Sit, sit! Make yourself at home.”

“Thanks, Ms. Lately.” Jackson moved over to the couch and let out a small groan as he sat.

“First of all, you three can call me Beth. Or Mom. No pressure.” She ignored Maggie’s quiet complaints. “Second of all, what happened to you, handsome? Who dared to hit you?”

Jackson smirked and nodded at Maggie. “Your daughter has a mean right hook.”

“Jackson! I didn’t hit you! Not really. It was an accident.” Maggie frowned at him. “It wasn’t my fault.”

“Since it was my Maggie, I didn’t hear a thing. She’s an angel and she’s never raised a mean finger to anyone in her life.” Beth tapped a button on her bed to sit up higher and I watched Maggie go into nurse mode.

She stood up and fluffed her mom’s pillows before tucking her blanket around her tighter. Without needing to ask she brought a cup of ice water to her mom’s lips and let her drink from it. “Are you cold? I can turn on the heat. Did you already eat?”

“Go sit with your boyfriends and stop worrying about me. This place has been better to me in twelve hours than that other place was in two years. They brought me breakfast this morning and it was amazing. Quiche! With fresh fruit.”

I watched Maggie’s reaction to her mom calling us her boyfriend and smiled when she blushed. “Yeah, Maggie. Come sit with your boyfriends.”

“Shut up.” Instead of sitting, she floated around the room, making sure everything was just right.

I enjoyed getting to know Beth but my favorite thing was watching Maggie. Her care for her mom was so evident. She made sure to meet and chat with every nurse who came into the room. She charmed everyone instantly with her warm smiles and genuine interest in them.

Towards the end of our visit Beth nodded at me and motioned me over to her bedside. She patted her bed and waited for me to sit next to her before she spoke. “Are you serious about my baby?”

I smiled. “Yes, ma’am.”

“That’s all I need to know. Take care of her.” She took my hand in hers and let out a deep sigh. “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. She needs someone to do for her what she does for everyone else.”

“That’ll be us.”

“It shouldn’t surprise me that my baby needs three men to match her. She’s amazing.”

Maggie noticed our private moment and moved around the bed to lean against me. “Sharing secrets?”

“Of course, we are. Luke and I are already on our way to being the best of friends. Isn’t that right, Luke?”

I gently squeezed her hand. “You’re right. I can’t wait for you to get out of here so I can take you and Maggie on all the vacations you’ve been missing.”

“You know… I went to Paris when I was eighteen all by myself. It might be nice to go back with a few good people.”

“Paris it is.” I wrapped my arm around Maggie. “Start planning where you both want to go. I’ll make it happen.”