The Ex by Margaret Ferguson

Author:Margaret Ferguson [Ferguson, Margaret]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Margaret Ferguson Books
Published: 2020-04-08T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

Damned hard-headed woman! I wanted to scream, but gritted my teeth instead, trying not to stare. The more frustrating she was, the more fascinating I found her.

AJ tapped me on the shoulder with his rifle and motioned it toward Mary Beth. I picked up the remaining towels, and moments later was at her side. I sensed her trying to get my attention, so when I finally looked up, her gaze was met with a scolding glare instead. However, when I peered deeply into those dark pools, somehow, I couldn’t stay angry at her. And, once again, I found myself questioning my motives for being here. Had I not been so intent on seeing Mary Beth, had I not accepted the invitation, then neither of us would have been in this stupid restaurant.

If it’s just a lunch—

“I know you’re mad at me,” she began softly, without looking up.

I opened the first-aid kit and handed her several alcohol wipes to clean the forehead of the young man at our knees, watching her hands as they carefully, gently tended and dressed his wound.

“I’m sorry, but I couldn’t leave.”

“Wouldn’t,” I corrected.

Mary Beth exhaled. “Couldn’t,” she rebutted. “I couldn’t just leave all these people.”

“Wouldn’t,” I repeated, refusing to look her in the eye.

Mary Beth growled. “You are relentless,” she suddenly, but quietly, snapped. Immediately, she slid around to tend to another injured soldier a foot away, one of two that Arnold had deliberately shot less than a half-hour ago.

“I’m relentless?” I retorted under my breath.

“You said yourself you didn’t know what to do.”

I scooted until I was beside her again. “I was trying to get them out of here,” I reasoned with my hands and my expressions. “So, I exaggerated the circumstances. So, what?”

“You mean, you lied.”

I looked at her, perplexed. “Hell yeah, I did!” I exclaimed a little too loudly. When we both glanced up, father and son were looking in our direction. We quickly looked down, busying ourselves with our patient. I pursed my lips, completely irritated. “And, I would lie again,” I stressed, lowering my voice. “And again,” I reaffirmed, sternly. “Whatever it takes to get these people the hell out of here, and to safety.”

Her hands carefully lifted and wrapped the man’s arm.

Her non-response was annoying. “Well, you staying just gave them one more bargaining chip,” I reprimanded.

“I thought,” Mary Beth breathed out resignedly, without facing me. “I thought if I stayed, I could help save lives,” she said softly, leaning over the bandaged patient.

“No talking!” AJ yelled.

“You’re impossible!” I growled through clenched teeth.

“Me?” Mary Beth retorted. Yet, when I turned, she wore no smile. “Are you the pot? Or the kettle?” She cut her eyes at me, just before picking up the emergency case and walking a few steps to a woman cowering under a booth, one arm dangling grotesquely at her side.

I dropped my head, shaking it. “Impossible,” I mumbled under my breath, fists clenched tightly as I tried not to laugh hysterically at my circumstances. “You don’t

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