Running Into You

Maggie went for a run the next day to try to clear her head before doing some lesson planning for the rest of the year. She had the last part of the school year set by 1:45 p.m.

She got up and stretched, quickly ate a sandwich, and then decided to go to the pool to read and relax before work at the club.

Thankfully, no one else was around by the pool. She rubbed on some sunscreen, put on her sunglasses, set a timer on her phone, and started reading, getting lost in the pages.

Liam worked all morning on Maggie’s case. He communicated with the credit card company and reviewed all the police reports. Her ex and friend managed to take $8,670 from her savings and checking accounts, plus the $15,000 on the card.

It was felony-level theft and fraud, and he wanted to make sure that they were caught.

There were pictures in the file Jennings gave him, and he had his in-house private investigators start looking into the last charges on the card and see if they could figure out where they went. Nick, who was a good friend as well as his IT wizard, asked why he was doing this.

“What do you mean?”

“This is the girl from yesterday with the phone, right?” Nick asked.

“Yes, and I think she deserves to have someone help her, Nick.”

“Oh, I understand, but I am just guessing that you aren’t charging her for your services either,” he asked with a smirk.

Liam looked at him and tried not to blush.

Nick shook his head. “Damn, Olsen, what does she look like?”

Liam cleared his throat and told him to get back to work.

Nick spun in his chair and went back to review some files, smiling to himself.

***

Maggie’s alarm pulled her from her book. She gathered her things and walked back to her apartment.

After a shower, she pulled her hair back in a messy bun and put on black dress pants and a low-cut black sleeveless button-down shirt to match.

Black flats completed her uniform for working at the club. She scratched Gus on her way out.

She thought about Brett Mitchell and how much she loved him as she drove. He had grown up with Maggie, Makayla, and Olivia just down the road and treated them like his little sisters.

He would mow all their yards, beat up any boys that teased them, laugh during the good times, and cry with them during the bad.

He held Maggie at her grandma’s funeral and was cheering her and Makayla on when they graduated from college. Even though he was four years older than the girls, they were still close.

They missed him so much when he went to Yale but were so proud of him for getting in. He always called and emailed them while he was up north.

When he came back, he immediately used his MBA to open a nightclub in Miami. It quickly became a haven for the rich because of the classy décor, tight security, good music, and high-class food.

Maggie worked there in the summers all through college and still took on some shifts when she needed extra money on top of her teaching salary.

Everything she made from the club got put away for her home-buying fund.

She parked at the back of the club and went through the door, waving to Jake and Mo, the bouncers. Brett was waiting in his office.

“Hi, Mags! How are you?”

“Hi, B, I’m okay.”

“Makayla told me about your day yesterday. I’m sorry, honey.”

“The lawyer that ran into me found my phone and said he was going to keep trying to find them. I just want this whole nightmare to be over and get on with my life.”

“And find a nice guy and maybe have a kid or four?” he said with a smile.

“You know me so well,” she said as she hugged him.

He told her she was taking the lead on the bar tonight and to have fun. She laughed and got to work, opening bottles and cutting some garnish. The party finally finished several hours later.

Maggie crawled into bed at about 1:30 a.m. with $330 in her pocket. There was a sweet older man that said she reminded him of his granddaughter who kept leaving her $20s all night.

Wednesday continued the same way, but Maggie only came home with $250.

She needed another thousand dollars to pay the rent and have some money for gas and food to get her through until payday. The weekend had better bring in some more cash.

Thursdays in the spring always made Maggie happy because it was adult league softball season. She was on the school’s team with Mike, Makayla’s husband, and several other teachers.

Brett always came to watch and cheer them on before heading to a local sports bar for greasy food and beer. It was so much fun, and she loved being in the thick of it on first base.

She put on her blue team shirt and black leggings that went to just below her knees, pulled her hair back into a ponytail, grabbed her bag, and went out.

They had an early game tonight against a team that was new to the league. She arrived and started warming up with Adam, the assistant principal.

Rumors had gone around hinting that Adam wanted to ask her out, but she made it clear she didn’t date co-workers. It was too awkward if something didn’t work out.

That didn’t stop Adam from flirting, but Maggie just rolled with it.

The other teachers were saying that the new team was made up of several law offices and their staff. Hopefully, they wouldn’t be all stuffy.

Maggie looked over some of the people warming up across the field laughing and joking around. That was a promising sign of a good match and hopefully a fun after-game bar outing.

Brett was sitting with Makayla in the stands as the team warmed up. Someone went over to them and was talking while Maggie was chasing after a ball that Adam overthrew.

He did that when he got distracted by her; sometimes it was endearing, and other times it was annoying.

The umpire called everyone together and started the game. The first inning was uneventful, both pitchers threw decent pitches and the inning ended quickly.

The second inning was more interesting when the first two people on Maggie’s team made it to base, and then Maggie came up to bat.

Their pitcher seemed to think she was not much of a threat and Maggie made them pay by hitting a bases-clearing double.

She stopped at second base amid the cheering from her team. She clapped her hands and pumped her arms over her head to Makayla and Brett.

She was so happy until she heard a voice behind her say, “Nice hit, Maggie!”

She turned and saw Liam standing next to her with a black baseball hat on. Her eyes grew wide.

“What are you doing here?”

“Aren’t you happy to see me? I missed you,” he said with a smirk.

“Shut up, Liam! Just play softball.”

He laughed at her and then whispered, “At least right here I can see that charming arse of yours in motion and up close!”

She hissed at him, and he chuckled as she advanced to third base four pitches later. The team went up four to zero when the top of the inning was over. Liam made it to first base during his time at bat, making comments to Maggie about kissing and going out on a date.

“Will you just shut up? God, you are so annoying!”

Liam was thrilled that he was getting under her skin. He wanted her to think about him. Eventually, he could escalate and turn on the charm.

It might take a little while, but he was going to get Maggie on a date and more. He had never been in such knots over a woman as he was with this feisty and beautiful ginger.

The game continued without event until the seventh inning when a high pop fly was dropped, and Maggie was running from first to third when she felt a hard slam and hit the ground. She instantly felt a sharp pain in her left wrist that took her breath away. She rolled over, grabbed her arm, and instinctively pulled it to her chest.

The pain was unlike anything she had felt before, and she couldn’t keep from crying.