She dropped her forehead against the steering wheel and finally, finally let herself exhale. It came out ragged, almost a sob, though she forced it down before it could become one. She gripped the wheel until her knuckles whitened, then reached instinctively for the watch. She twisted it on her wrist, thumb pressing into the bezel, grounding herself in the weight of it. Maggie’s gift. Maggie’s taste. Maggie’s reminder.
Her best friend, her anchor, the person she’d lost thread by thread.
She should call her. God, she wanted to call her.
The thought came like a flood: Maggie’s voice in her ear,Maggie teasing her for being dramatic, Maggie softening once she realized Gwen was serious.
Her thumb hovered over Maggie’s name in her contacts, screen glowing in the dim light of the car. Just one more push and she’d hear her voice. Just one more push and maybe everything wouldn’t feel like it was unraveling.
But then her stomach knotted, panic rising. What if Maggie didn’t pick up? Worse — what if she did, and sounded tired, or polite, or worse still… indifferent? What if the only thing Maggie heard in Gwen’s voice was desperation?
She swiped the screen off, tossing the phone onto the passenger seat like it had burned her.
Her breaths came shallow, tight. She pressed the heel of her hand to her eyes. She couldn’t afford to want so much. Not when she was the one who had made herself a stranger in her own marriage.
Her phone buzzed against the seat. She startled, fumbling to grab it, answering without even checking the ID. “Maggie?”
But it was Izzy’s voice, low and urgent. “Uh, no. Sorry. It’s, uh, it’s Izzy.”
Gwen didn’t like the tone in Izzy’s voice. Her heart stuttered. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m at the hospital,” Izzy said quickly. “With Maggie.”
Gwen’s grip on the phone tightened until the edges cut into her palm. “Hospital? What happened?”
“Well, it’s kind of a long story. She fell down off the dock. Danica was freaked it was broken. They’re doing X-rays.” Izzy’s voice wavered, like she was trying to keep it breezy but couldn’t. “She’s fine, mostly. But I thought you should know.”
Gwen’s mind filled in too many details at once: Maggie laughing on the dock, Maggie’s ankle folding, Maggie in pain, Maggie scared. Maggie without her.
“Is she—” Gwen swallowed hard. “Is she asking for me?”
“Not exactly,” Izzy admitted softly. “She doesn’t know I called. I’m out in the hallway. She’d kill me if she knew. But, Gwen—” Izzy hesitated. “She’s stubborn. She’s downplaying it. But she’s in a lot of pain and…”
The silence stretched. Gwen’s breath came shallow, panic clawing again.
She could stay. She could sit in this car and tell herself Maggie didn’t want her there. That Izzy’s call was meddling, that Maggie would be furious, that showing up would only make things worse. She could play it safe, respect the boundary Maggie had tried to draw.
Or—
She could go.
She could choose, for once, the opposite of what had wrecked them: showing up. Not with a blueprint or a plan or a neat solution. Just her, messy and present.
The thought terrified her. Because if she went and Maggie turned her away? That would be the final break. No ambiguity left. No thread to hold on to.
But if she didn’t? If she stayed here, caged in her car, watching her life shrink down to an empty apartment and a title she no longer wanted? That was its own kind of death.
Her thumb rubbed the edge of the watch, the gift Maggie had given her when time had still been on their side.
She exhaled, steadying her voice. “I’ll be on the next flight out.”
Izzy was quiet for a moment, then whispered, “Good. That’s what I was hoping you’d say.”
They hung up with Gwen promising to send through details as soon as she had them.
Gwen sat in her car, phone still pressed to her ear, heart hammering. Then she lowered it, started the engine, and pulled out of the garage.
For once, she wasn’t thinking about the cost. She wasthinking about Maggie. And she wasn’t going to be too late this time.
