Staying Grounded (A Rocky Harbor Novel Book 1) Read online

  The Rileys brought out the sensitive side in her. Normally Maggie didn’t make physical contact with her patients, but she couldn’t help her legs from moving her body over to Rachael’s side. Putting her arm around her shoulder, she let Rachael’s head fall into her lap, stroking the poor woman’s hair.

  They stayed like that for a while, until Rachael’s shakes and labored breathing regulated. Slowly, Rachael sat up and shoved the pile of wet tissues into her purse. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

  “Rachael, there’s nothing to apologize for. You needed a good cry. It’s healthy.” Maggie glanced at the clock. She didn’t want her time with Graham’s sister to end, but had a full schedule ahead of her. “From what I’ve heard from your brother, you’re not a disappointment. Your family is worried for you, yes, angry with you, no. No one deserves to be treated the way you were.” Her buzzer went off on her desk, reminding her their time was up. “I’m glad you came in and would like you to come back as often as you’d like.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I took up all your time. You have other patients. I’ll go.” She reached for her purse and quickly stood.

  “Rachael, it’s okay. Maybe next time we can schedule you at the end of the day. That way, if we go over, it won’t interfere with another appointment.”

  “Okay. Thank you, Dr. O’Fallon.”

  Maggie walked her out to Tiffany’s desk and opened up her week’s schedule. “How about Friday at five? Will that work for you?”

  “My social calendar isn’t exactly booked these days.”

  A little sarcasm was good. Maggie asked Tiffany to make the appointment, shook Rachael’s hand, and noticed a change in body language as she left.

  ***

  The following weeks flew by, as did her sessions with Rachael, and still there were no calls or texts from Graham. Not a single one since she left him at the airport.

  Rachael had made good progress, actually rambling about her childhood with the Rileys since she didn’t remember much before her adoption. The classic story of a prostitute mother who had no idea who the birth father was, and the state intervening, taking her away. Thankfully she didn’t have to hop from foster home to foster home much. When the Rileys took her in, Luke was ten and Graham was twelve. It was only natural that the three of them would be the closest.

  “I guess our time is up again.” Rachael eyed the clock and sighed. “It’s funny that I talk so much with you. I’m pretty closed up at home and feel terrible about it. My mom is the best, most caring and understanding person in the world, yet I can’t talk to her the way I can with you.”

  “Sometimes it’s easier to talk to someone not involved.”

  “Are you though? With Graham? Will he be coming home again soon?”

  Maggie blushed and scribbled down a few notes on her pad, ignoring Rachael’s questions. “I’m giving you a homework assignment this weekend.”

  “Sure. I guess.” Rachael smoothed her long skirt and crossed her ankles. The woman dressed like she was going to church. Pretty, plain, and conservative. Maggie wondered if she dressed this way because her ex made her, or if this was the opposite of what he’d made her look like.

  “I’d like you to go out somewhere for coffee, or tea. Maybe a quick bite to eat. Do you think you can handle that?”

  Rachael shifted, uncrossed, then crossed her ankles again. “Maybe. When I leave your office I feel pretty good, and then once I’m home and have time for my mind to wander… I don’t think I can do this alone.”

  “How about your mother? I’m sure she’d love to go with you.”

  “I can’t. I…” Rachael’s shoulders slumped. “I don’t want to drag her into my mess. Right now she thinks I’m being shy or depressed. She doesn’t know about my fears. About what Dylan did to me.”

  Maggie really liked the woman. Maybe it was her connection to Graham, but she liked to think there was more to it. Putting her career on the line seemed to be a habit of hers when it came to the Rileys. However, the woman needed more friends. Both of them did.

  “I’ve never done this before with one of my patients.” Maggie tapped her pen against her pad of paper and looked up into those innocent, turbulent eyes that held so much emotion. “What are you doing for dinner tonight?”

  “Let’s see. There’s dinner with my mom in the kitchen. Or we can eat outside. Or sometimes, we eat on the couch in front of a movie. I haven’t decided which to do yet.”

  Maggie laughed. “Sound like my options, only I have Sweetie Pie as company. My dog.”

  “I love dogs. I haven’t had one since I moved away. Dog died four years ago so Mom is alone as well.”

  “Dog?”

  “Yeah. Graham named him.” The light returned once again in Rachael’s eyes.

  Maggie laughed again. “Do you mind if we let my dog out and then we can go somewhere?”

  “Sure. I like talking with you, Dr. O’Fallon.”

  “Let me make this clear. When we step out of the office I’m Maggie. And you’re Rachael. And we’re friends. Okay?”

  Tears pooled in her eyes and Rachael nodded. “Thank you,” she whispered.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Graham

  “We have a major problem.” Jeffrey Pope rested his elbows on the long conference table.

  When Jeffrey, the president of Global Air, requested Graham’s presence, along with his lawyer’s, Graham knew this meeting wasn’t going to be a good one. “At least we’re in Dallas, not Houston.” Graham’s attempt to lighten the tone of the meeting didn’t go over with the suits.

  Paul Esmer, the lawyer representing Graham, eyed him questioningly before replying. “My client has done nothing wrong.” The lawyer didn’t look anything like the childhood one he’d spent so much time with over the years, but he still didn’t have much liking for them. If lawyers were involved, chances were something was going to turn ugly. And Graham didn’t do ugly. When women were involved he turned to flirting to avoid a serious conversation. With men, he tried his hand at humor. Maybe he was losing his touch.

  The situation pissed him off. Not so much that he’d turn angry or violent. It was all an incredible inconvenience in his life. His work schedule had to be adjusted to fit in constant meetings with union reps and lawyers and the PR people. All he wanted to do was fly his planes and spend time with Maggie. And not necessarily in that order. He hadn’t called her since they left Hawaii a few weeks ago. What would he say?

  Want to hook up the next time I can get a day off? She made it clear she didn’t want to be…what did she call it? His Maine booty call. Sure, he could call her and they could have brief conversations in between his flights. What would they talk about? The weather? He hated talking on the phone and would rather wait until he saw Maggie in person. Conversation was easy to start when he could see her, touch her.

  He’d done his best to stay out of the political and media firestorm, letting the lawyers and airline handle it all, but now the attack had turned more personal, and Dennis Stockton filed a civil lawsuit against Graham. Which brought him back to another corporate meeting with a room full of suits.

  Graham didn’t like being referred to in the third person, but he kept his mouth shut and let the professionals dicker around while he stared out the window wishing he was anywhere but here. No, he only wanted to be in one place and he’d bet his wings she wanted nothing to do with him. Who could blame her? His life was a mess and he had nothing to offer her except a good time when he was in town.

  “Global Air cleared my client of any wrongdoing, and putting him on another administrative leave because Mr. Stockton’s lawyers are after media attention will only cause Mr. Riley’s professional and personal reputation to be smirched. If you are truly standing behind Mr. Riley, who has an impeccable record not only with Global Air, but in his community as well, with not even a single traffic violation on record, then I suggest you show your support by keeping Mr. Riley in the air.”

  “I appreciate your conce
rn, Mr. Esmer, but I have a company to run.”

  “Mr. Pope needs to do what is best for the entire corporation, including the passengers,” Ian Waters, Global Air’s attorney, chimed in.

  Graham stared out the window and watched the traffic sit at traffic lights on the busy streets of Dallas. People crossed at intersections and cluttered the sidewalks on their way to a working or leisurely lunch. The tall steel skyscrapers blocked his view, not that there were any mountains or ocean close by.

  The manmade horizon lacked the vibrant colors of Hawaii. And Maine.

  “Graham, can you explain these?”

  He’d missed the entire conversation the suits had regarding his situation. Now he looked down at a stack of pictures, taken from a telephoto lens from pretty far away.

  “What the hell?” He picked up the first picture, of him and Maggie having a picnic at Fort Williams Park nearly two months ago. Another of him leaving her office. Another of them at the Seacoast airport getting ready to take off. And tons of them in Hawaii. “Where did you get these?” He turned them over and glared at the men around the table.

  “Did you sleep with your therapist?” the company’s attorney asked. “Is that why she cleared you?”

  Graham took his time answering, steadying his breath and tapping his fingers on the table.

  “You don’t need to answer that, Mr. Riley.”

  “It’s okay, Paul. No. I did not sleep with my therapist.”

  “But the pictures—”

  “Get your facts straight. Dr. Abigail Warner was my therapist. I attended her sessions regularly during my ten day leave and she’s the one who signed off to say I’m fit for society.” Or whatever the legal jargon was. Graham didn’t really care. He was fuming that someone had invaded Maggie’s privacy.

  “The woman in these photos…”

  “Is none of your concern. What I do and who I spend my time with outside of work is private.”

  “She was the therapist originally assigned to your case. Can you tell us why you switched therapists?” Waters crossed his arms and leaned back in the overpriced leather chair. “Global Air has invested a lot of time and money into you, Mr. Riley, and is making every effort to support you, but the company must come first. You need to be forthright with us.”

  As if. The only effort they were making was to make sure they didn’t get sued. “Conflict of interest. We met and planned a date before I knew she was my therapist. I immediately contacted a new one when we realized she’d been assigned to my case. This civil lawsuit has nothing to do with my ability to fly a plane, sir. I ask that we ignore the media hype Stockton is trying to stir and get on with our lives.”

  “Graham.” Jeffrey stood. “We need your cooperation on this.”

  “I’m not feeding into this guy. I’m going to do my job, and do it well and ignore the ridiculousness of this lawsuit. I’m not putting my life on hold for this asswipe. He has no legal leg to stand on, right, Paul?” He turned to his attorney.

  “I’m pretty confident we can win this. The man is money hungry and agreed to a two million dollar settlement.”

  “What?” Graham choked.

  “If you publicly admit you wronged him, and Global Air pays him two million, he won’t send these pictures to the media.”

  “That’s blackmail. We could counter-sue. These pictures aren’t of my therapist and me.”

  “Margaret O’Fallon was your therapist initially.”

  “Do what you guys need to do. But leave Maggie out of it.”

  “Graham,” Jeffrey said apologetically. “We’re not going to give this son of a bitch a dime.”

  Which meant the pictures would go viral and would smear Maggie’s reputation. “It doesn’t matter what we do anyway, he wants the money.”

  “For some reason he has a vendetta against you, Mr. Riley,” Ian said.

  “What does he want from me? The two million I can’t help him with. I’m not a millionaire.”

  “He feels you ruined his reputation. His boss fired him from his job and his wife left him. He wants the same for you.”

  “He’s already done that by getting into sealed files from my youth. Don’t let him ruin Miss O’Fallon’s reputation.” The reputable news affiliates didn’t run with that story, knowing the information had been illegally obtained. The other outlets, however…they had a field day pinning Graham as some monster. The story died within a week when no one could dig up any dirt on him since he turned eighteen. But the media would have a hay day twisting around his relationship with Maggie.

  Graham was glad he’d stayed away from the news for the past few months or he probably would have anger issues. He had no idea how the rich and famous lived their lives in the spotlight. It damn sucked and made Graham crave the quietness of Maine more and more.

  “What Mr. Waters is saying,” Paul interrupted, “is that this is going to be messy. We can’t ignore it. Mr. Stockton doesn’t have anything left to lose.”

  “It already is messy. He wants me to lose my job? Fine. What if I resign?”

  “You’re not serious? You’re one of my best damn pilots,” Jeffrey huffed.

  “I appreciate that, but this whole mess has made me second-guess my career path anyway.”

  “You not fly? I can’t imagine it.”

  “Thanks, Jeff. I didn’t mean flying altogether, just commercial air.”

  “We can’t let this bastard win,” Graham’s lawyer argued. “Resigning from your job isn’t going to stop him from sending these pictures out to news vultures.”

  “Let’s say Global Air pays the two million. What’s to prevent him from an oops moment? You know how easy it is to put something on the web and how near impossible it is to take it off.”

  Meaning Maggie’s reputation could be scorched no matter what.

  “There are no guarantees, Graham.”

  No, there weren’t. Not with his career, not with this lawsuit and not with Maggie. He had no control over Stockton or his seedy lawyers and the pictures they would probably leak. He did, however, have control over his life and the decisions he made. The steel and concrete city outside of the window didn’t appeal to him and neither did the sterile glass and chrome office inside.

  It was a no brainer. “I can’t let him ruin someone else’s life either.” Graham walked out, leaving the three men in utter confusion.

  And damned if Graham wasn’t confused as hell too.

  A few hours later, he was back in his lifeless apartment, loaded with cardboard and packing tape. It didn’t take long to throw his few belongings into boxes, label them, and stack them by the front door. He’d come back for them in a few days, or however long it took to make things right in Maine.

  Graham had tried to leave Maggie alone, but the past three weeks were killing him. His feelings for her ran deep, something he’d never experienced before and it scared the hell out of him. Twice while in Hawaii the “L” word almost slipped from his lips. Twice he saw her eyes light up, expecting him to tell her what she wanted to hear, and both times he pulled back, not knowing if what he felt was love. Or lust.

  Maggie O’Fallon deserved better than him. He knew it and she knew it. Severing their ties had been the only way to help her move on. The bomb his lawyer dropped on him yesterday tore at his gut, making him feel things he never imagined possible. He needed to give her a heads-up, which is what led him back to Maine, and her office.

  If he showed up at her house, he’d be tempted to sweet talk his way into her bed, and he couldn’t do that to her. Graham needed to keep his head—both of them—on straight.

  “Hey, Tiffany.”

  The secretary looked up in surprise. “Mr. Riley, is Dr. O’Fallon expecting you?”

  She glanced over her shoulder toward the hallway and Maggie’s open office door.

  “No, I figured she’d be on lunch break pretty soon. I just need five minutes.”

  Tiffany stood, eyeing him questioningly. Not like she despised him, which meant Maggie ha
dn’t confided in her secretary about the bastard who ditched her after Hawaii, but the thorough scrutiny meant Tiffany had to know something.

  Seconds later she returned with an equally confused—and pissed off—Maggie.

  “Hey, Doc. I have some paperwork for you to…look at.” He held up the large envelope that contained the final nail in the coffin.

  “Tiffany usually handles all the paperwork, Mr. Riley.”

  She’d mastered the Ice Princess look while he was away, and he knew he deserved it. “If it’s all right, I’d like this handled in private.” He kept his focus on her bright green eyes, noticing a slight twitch before she frowned.

  “Fine. But five minutes is all I have.”

  Graham thanked Tiffany and followed in Maggie’s wake, inhaling the familiar scent of lust and…Maggie. She kept the door to her office open, but Graham reached around her to close it.

  “If you think for one minute that we’re—”

  “Relax, I’m not going to tear your clothes off. However, if you start clawing at mine I’m not going to yell for help. Just sayin’.” He flashed her a grin which she didn’t reciprocate.

  Maggie marched to her desk and sat behind it, crossing her arms once she was seated in her large leather chair. Graham took the seat across the desk and tapped the envelope against his palm.

  “I have a situation at work—”

  “I’m not your therapist, Mr. Riley. You can see Dr. Waters for any more trouble you may have gotten yourself into.”

  Graham leaned back and crossed he ankle over his thigh. “This is between you and me, Maggie.”

  “If there was anything between you and me, Graham, you would have called me by now.”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t—”

  “No, stop right there.” She held out a palm. “I’m not looking for an apology. You were always upfront with me about your need to have a woman in every port.”