Baltimore 03 - Did You Miss Me?

suitcase.
    ‘Home.’
    Joseph frowned. ‘Maggie, the farm’s a crime scene. You can’t stay there.’
    ‘Not Daphne’s farm. My farm. I’m going home.’
    ‘To Riverdale?’ Simone’s face fell. ‘No. You can’t.’
    ‘I can and I should and I’m long overdue. I meant to stay with you two for eight weeks and it turned into eight years. I miss my own place.’ She drew her shoulders back. ‘It’s time I went home. I’ve already talked to Scott. He’ll take care of the horses until you find another hired hand.’
    Simone’s mouth fell open. ‘You’re . . . you’re not a hired hand. Maggie . . .’
    Maggie looked down, then back up again. ‘That’s not what you said last night.’
    Joseph couldn’t control a wince. Ouch .
    Simone let out a ragged breath. ‘Maggie, I’m sorry. I said a lot of things I shouldn’t have. I was wrong. Please don’t go.’
    ‘No, you were right. I kept important information from you. You had every right to be angry. Maybe not to express it like you did, but that is what it is. I left my farm eight years ago because Daphne needed me. She doesn’t need me anymore. She’s got you and Ford. Grayson and Paige and Clay. And now Joseph.’ She extended the hand that held the music box. ‘The desk downstairs had some superglue. It’s not exactly like it was before, but it was the best I could do.’
    ‘Maggie . . . I know I said some terrible things and I can’t take them back. But we’ve got twenty-seven years of friendship.’ She swallowed hard. ‘We’ve seen each other through a lot, good times and bad. And we . . . we raised an amazing woman together, Maggie. You and I. And she does still need you. She’s going to need both of us because this nightmare is far from over for her. Please stay, for just a little longer.’
    Maggie hesitated. ‘I don’t know.’
    Simone took a few tentative steps toward her. ‘You gave my daughter back her voice and for that I owe you a debt of gratitude. But you gave me friendship when I was all alone.’ Sadly she took the music box from Maggie’s hand. ‘Daphne gave this to me for Mother’s Day, the first one after Michael left us. You’d taken her to one of those pottery places where she got to paint it, and they glazed and fired it.’
    ‘I remember.’
    ‘It plays “Edelweiss”.’
    ‘From the movie. The Sound of Music .’ Maggie glanced at Joseph. ‘Her favorite.’
    Simone shook her head. ‘She doesn’t love the song because of the movie. She loves the movie because of the song. Her father used to sing it to us, on the front porch at night when it was time for her to go to sleep. It was her lullaby.’
    ‘I never knew that,’ Maggie said quietly.
    ‘I know. It hurt too much to say out loud. The day she gave it to me, it was hard to not break down in tears, right in front of her. She looked so hopeful that I’d like it, then so disappointed when I didn’t. But I couldn’t play it, not for weeks after. One day I came into my bedroom to find her sitting on my bed, the music box to her ear. She shut it off quickly, like she knew it hurt me.’ Simone sighed. ‘And she spoke her first words in eight months. “It wasn’t Daddy.” Then she ran to the barn. I had no idea that she blamed herself for Michael’s leaving because I was too busy blaming myself.’
    Maggie’s eyes filled. ‘Oh, Simone.’
    ‘After that I made it a point to play it every night. Because I wanted her to know I didn’t blame her. That I was all right. Now I can’t go to sleep without it.’
    ‘It still plays,’ Maggie said hoarsely. ‘The box is cracked, but it plays.’
    ‘Last night I thought it was a goner.’ Simone wound it up, smiling sadly as the tune tinkled out. ‘Amazing what a little superglue can do.’ She met Maggie’s eyes. ‘I know I said some terrible things to you and although I would do anything to take them back, you can’t unring a bell. I just hope I haven’t broken us beyond repair.’
    Maggie shook her head. ‘No. You haven’t.’
    Joseph found his eyes stinging as Maggie dropped her suitcase and the two women embraced. And then his eyes focused on the music box. The broken pieces had been lined up precisely, the cracks barely visible.
    Amazing what a little superglue can do . He frowned, then went still. Superglue .
    ‘ Oh my God,’ he breathed. He laughed aloud. ‘Oh fucking hell.’
    The women turned to stare at him, faces puzzled and mildly disapproving, but he barely