“I know.” Maggie squeezed gently. “But you did the hardest part already. You left. That’s the bravest thing you could’ve done.”
“I don’t feel brave. Will you stay with me?” Sarah asked, her voice small. “Just for a little while?”
“Of course.”
Hours passed. Sarah drifted in and out of fitful sleep, startling awake at every creak of the old house. Maggie stayed, telling stories about renovations gone wrong, about the time she accidentally knocked out a load-bearing wall, about the family of raccoons she’d discovered living in an attic she was converting, and how cute the babies were.
When Sarah finally fell into a deeper sleep, she slipped out into the hallway and found Hollis waiting.
“Thank you,” Hollis said quietly. “I think it would’ve been a much harder transition for her if you hadn’t been here when she arrived. She felt like she knew you from your show, and that put her at ease.”
“I guess celebrity has some uses.” She looked back at the closed door. “I’m glad I could help, but I wish I could do more. She reminds me of myself. If I hadn’t gotten out when I did...”
God. She could have been Sarah. Landry had been on the exact same violent path when she ended their relationship and partnership. The only difference between them is that she got out in time.
Because of Anson’s letters.
“Maggie?” Hollis touched her arm gently. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” She blinked, forcing back the burn of tears.
“Guess I should’ve realized sooner why you were so invested in teaching here,” Hollis said with a sad, soft smile. “I knew Nessie’s story and why she wanted to volunteer her time, but you’ve also been where these women are, haven’t you? Is that why Bear McKenna is sitting outside?”
“Yes, but it’s just a precaution. It never escalated to…” She motioned to Sarah’s room. “To that level of violence. I was lucky. I got out because I had someone showing me what I deserved.”
Hollis nodded. “That’s what we do here. Show women what they deserve. What’s possible.”
“And I’m very glad I can be part of it.”
“Oh, good.” Hollis exhaled in a rush as if in relief. “So you’ll come back and try the carpentry class again? The girls were so excited for it.”
“Absolutely,” Maggie replied without hesitation. “Sarah’s arrival just confirmed how much these women need practical skills. Not only for employment, but for independence.”
Hollis fanned her face like she was trying not to cry. “Oh, can I hug you?”
She laughed and opened her arms. Hollis embraced her tightly, her arms strong despite her slender frame. When they stepped apart, Hollis’s eyes were shining despite her efforts to keep the tears at bay.
“You have no idea how much this means. Knox has been trying to get a workshop program going for years, but he’s?—”
“Too male?” Maggie supplied with a small smile.
“Exactly. Some of these women can’t even look a man in the eye yet, let alone take instruction from one.” She glanced at her watch and winced. “It’s late. You should really go home now and get some sleep.”
“Yeah.” Maggie looked back toward Sarah’s room. “Will she be okay?”
“She will be. Eventually.” Hollis looped an arm through hers and steered her toward the stairs. “Come on. Bear’s probably wondering if we locked you in here.”
Bear was exactly where she’d left him, overflowing one of the porch rockers, a paperback novel open in his hands. He didn’t look cold at all, even though it was snowing again, but she supposed all the muscle must make for good insulation.
Maggie didn’t have that luxury and shivered as she stepped out onto the porch. She tugged Anson’s flannel tighter around her and nodded toward the book. “Is that Anson’s?”
He glanced down at the battered paperback of Lonesome Dove in his hand. “No, I got it from the library. He doesn’t lend out his copy. But he’s been on me to read it for years. Since I’mon bodyguard duty this week, figured might as well see what it’s all about.”
She let out a huff of laughter that clouded in the air. “Oh, so I’m not the only one he’s bullied into reading it? He talked about it so much in his letters that I finally took it with me on vacation earlier this year. And it’s good, but you know he’s read itseventimes?”
Bear’s eyes widened. “That’s… dedication.”
“I know, right? In one of my letters, I told him he’s basically in a committed relationship with it now.”
