TODD
It took everything Todd had in him to keep his strides measured instead of rushing at the asshole that had Margery and her belongings at his mercy, or lack thereof. He knew that Sean loved nothing more than a power trip and staying calm would give him the upper hand.
He kept his temper tightly coiled in his chest as he sauntered over to where Margery stood by the red dumpster, which, by Sean’s threatening to pour gasoline, he guessed was full of Margery’s belongings. He swept a glance from the tan sandals she’d always worn on the road, up to the hair she’d twisted up into a claw clip. She was wearing a cotton sundress with blue and white stripes and a button front that showed off her curves, and though her face was red and her chest splotchy from the confrontation with Sean, she otherwise seemed to be unharmed.
“Are you okay?” He asked softly, and Margery turned to him with wide, grateful eyes. There was something in their depths that he couldn’t quite place, but it was a warmth he knew must be shining out of his own features. She nodded slightly in confirmation that she was unharmed.
But Todd wasn’t sure how much longer that would be true for her beloved book collection. He took stock of the situation, glancing between Margery, the dumpster, the oversized ranch house in front of him, and the man—if you could call him that.
Sean was a tall, standing well over six feet, with the lean muscle of a man who had time to kill at the country club gym. His light hair was clipped short to his scalp and the front of it was gelled in an attempt at a style that seemed to have failed to do anything more than make him look like an overgrown child with a cowlick. His green golf shirt with khaki pants, confirmed Todd’s suspicions. Yup. He’s a complete and total tool.
Though Sean had frozen at first when Todd arrived, the jerry can still upraised over the dumpster’s precious contents, there seemed to be a war in his eyes about what to do next. Sean scowled at him as though he were sizing up what kind of threat Todd might pose now that he’d arrived on the scene.
“I suggest you put the jerry can down, Sean.”
“It’s you.” Sean hissed.
“Me?” Todd smiled with mock innocence.
“The asshole who kidnapped my bride the night before our wedding.”
“Oh! Yeah, that’s me.” Todd smiled again, showing all his teeth, he took a step closer to Margery and Sean looked between them, his face purpling with rage.
“You think you can just take her from me? SHE’S MINE.”
“Actually, Margery is a free person who belongs only, and always, to herself. I just wanted to give her a chance to live long enough that she could find that out for herself.” He looked at Margery then and smiled tenderly, affection gleaming from his gaze. Margery returned the small smile before dipping her head in embarrassment once again. “And as a free person, she should be free to retrieve her belongings from her previous residence without their destruction by assholes that don’t even understand fire codes.”
Sean only hoisted the jerry can higher, causing a splash of gasoline to pour onto some unknown object in the dumpster. “NO! Please Sean, don’t!” Margery screamed, tears beginning to gather in her eyes. Sean held her gaze without the slightest hint of compassion or pity. His eyes were full of violence and Todd knew the books were not the only thing he longed to destroy.
“So you’d rather spend your time lighting a literal dumpster fire than facing up to the man who stole ‘your bride’ away the night before you wedding?” Todd goaded, moving away from Margery and towards the bag of golf clubs discarded in the grass on the opposite side of the driveway. Sean’s face snapped towards him. Good.
“You’re right… first thing’s first.” He dropped the jerry can to the driveway and didn’t even notice when it fell on its side and gas began slowly leaking out and down the driveway. He picked up the driver where he’d left it by the dumpster and when he turned again to face Todd, they were both holding golf clubs. “I’ll have plenty of time to make Margery regret her decision after I’ve dealt with you.” He held the club in two hands and swung it back and forth experimentally. “I hope you’re ready to die, Trucker Boy.”
“The name’s Todd. And I’ve lived my whole life in the Shadow of Death, Sean,” Todd said easily, “but I don’t think you’ll be the one to send me to glory. Not yet, anyway.” He turned his eyes to Margery briefly and winked. Her lips upturned in the tiniest hint of a smile.
“Yeah man, whatever. I’m still gonna kick your ass.” Without another warning, Sean ran towards Todd and swung the golf club directly at his head, but Todd was fast and easily ducked out of the way.
“I really ought to tell you,” Todd said, “that when I was a teenager, I used to play lightsabers every day with my neighbor.” Sean’s face was red with rage and he let out a vicious laugh.
“NERD! I don’t know what on earth Margery sees in you!” Todd blocked another blow, then advanced, swinging for Sean’s legs before he could react, sending him sprawling to the ground.
“What I was trying to tell you, young Padawan, is that I’m very good at pretend sword fighting.” Just then, the sound of sirens rounded the corner in the neighborhood, and Todd knew that it was over. Todd walked over to the prone Sean and dropped the club on his heaving chest. “Your ride is here.”
Sean was charged with attempted assault and destruction of property. Though only a small amount of gasoline had actually landed on any of Margery’s belongings, those ones were thoroughly ruined. With Margery’s testimony, her final admittance of all the fear and abuse she’d suffered those long years and a promise to come forward as a witness alongside Todd for his violent and disturbing behavior, the Sheriff was confidant he’d get some court ordered anger management, along with some potential jail time. It’s not enough. It never is.
The Sheriff was getting the final notes from Margery’s statement while Todd strolled casually over to the back of the cop car where Sean sat in cuffs, his face fuming.
“This is all your fault you worthless piece of—”
“If you don’t mind,” Todd hissed, “I think I’ll do the talking for awhile.” Sean glared into Todd’s face, but something about his voice made him shut up and listen. “I have a secret Sean. A very, very big secret.” Sean’s eyes widened ever so slightly. “A secret you could probably try and use against me, if you ever wanted to. Would you like to know what it is?”
“Why wouldn’t I? I owe you big for what you did to me. And I ain’t through trying to get my justice.”
“I know Sean.” Todd said almost sadly, “I know you’re not. And that’s the problem.” Sean stared blankly, trying to track with what Todd was saying. “I have a gift Sean. When I look into someone’s eyes for the first time, the way I did with you just a few minutes ago before you went all cave man and tried to club me to death with your sporting equipment, I can see the moment they are going to die.” Sean stared at Todd.
“You’re crazy. You’re delusional. They should have you locked up! You should be—you should be— “
“Probably yes, perhaps all that is true Sean. But that’s not what I wanted to tell you. What I wanted to tell you is how you die Sean. Because you are going to die one day. None of us gets to go on living forever.” Sean’s face blanched, his mouth working like a guppy. Open. Closed. Open again. “Now mind you Sean, this isn’t a future set in stone. This is only that path you are on right now. But boy, is it a bleak one. If I was you Sean…” he scrubbed a hand over his forehead in mock sympathy. “If I was you, I’d try to get on a different one.”
“What… what did you see?” Sean said. The control had been leached from him. His confidence was sapped. And now he was at Todd’s mercy—begging for a knowledge that would haunt him until he took his final breath.
“You die, in that house. Surrounded by PBR beer cans. The t.v. blaring I love Lucy reruns. I saw a side table full of picture frames, but you know who was in them?”
“Who?” Sean whisper shouted. “Who was in the frames?” His eyes were wide in terror.
“No one Sean. They were all empty frames with the photos torn out, only the cardboard backing remaining. There were photos of you with someone else’s face cut out of the shot, or in some cases scribbled over. But most of the photos were of those cheesy models who come with the frame. You die alone Sean. And no one mourns you. Because you single handedly destroyed every good thing you ever had in your life. Just like you almost destroyed her.”
MARGERY
Margery couldn’t hear what Todd was saying to Sean as he leaned a hip on the sheriff’s vehicle parked right behind Sean’s red camero, but he went from flushed with rage, to pale with terror. She’d seen her own face look like that in the mirror more times than she could count—her neck lined with finger print bruises, her eyes looking like she’d been planning a run on the high fashion circuit.
After a few minutes, Todd tipped his head towards Sean in mock salute and walked back towards her.
“If you think of anything else, please don’t hesitate to give us a call Miss Daniels.”
“I will. Thank you Jeff,” she said softly.
“Shall we?” Todd said, extending his arm to Margery. “What do you say we come back and get all your stuff tomorrow? I can pick up a small trailer and we’ll get it all taken care of for you. It’s been… a lot of excitement for one day.” He looked at her significantly and she smiled in gratitude.
“Yeah, that sounds great. Thank you.”
“Are you hungry?”
“Starved.”
“I hear there’s a blueberry festival going on…” Todd said, his eyebrows lifting to Margery in question.
“You read my mind Todd Mackewain.”
“Is what I’m wearing okay?” He asked. “This is your hometown after all, I don’t want to embarrass you.”
“You love to embarrass me.”
“Only in a good way,” he said smiling.
“You look…” she took a moment to take him in. His dark hair looked like he’d been running his hands through it, and he was sporting his trade mark two days of stubble. He was wearing a clean pair of jeans and what she’d come to know was his favorite t-shirt. But the most incredible part of his ensemble was, without a doubt, those sparkling blue eyes, and the gentle smile that she knew was not at all part of the charming facade he so often affected with others, but the gentle, honest, open smile he shared only with those he truly loved. “You look perfect,” she said at last, her face coloring.
But she didn’t look away. And neither did he. And a perfect understanding passed between them—as if in the meeting of their eyes they said all that needed to be said.
Todd drove them out of the suburbs and into the center of town where the Alabama Blueberry Festival was well underway in Jennings Park at the heart of Brewton. The park was a beautiful open green field, fenced in by a lush canopy of trees that shaded an array of picnic tables where couples, friends, and families had already begun to stake out patches of shade. It was a warm June day, and the air was humid, but the heat was not overbearing and there was a delightful breeze that danced its way across Margery’s skin, cooling her this its gentle caress.
Every year, ever since Margery was a little girl, she’d looked forward to the yearly tradition of the park being transformed into a feast for the eyes and the stomach. Craft vendors, boutique shops, and vintage finds were scattered among the tents with blueberry delicacies of every variety. Cobblers, pies, wines, and popsicles mingled with more savory fare of Fried Chicken and Waffles with Blueberry Compote, Blueberry Cornbread Muffins, and Turkey Cheese Sandwiches with a Thyme and Blueberry Jam. They had parked Todd’s truck off one of the many side streets and were joining the throng entering the park just in time for the dinner hour when Margery finally broke the silence between them.
“My mother used to take off every blueberry festival day.”
“Oh?”
“Mmmhmmm. It was one of the few local holidays that we enjoyed together every year, no matter what.”
“I can see why,” Todd said glancing around at the tents, the food trucks, and the crowd gathered from far and wide to celebrate the simple joy of a summer fruit.
“It’s some of the best food of the year,” she said. “So I figured it’d be right up your alley.” She looped an arm through his.
“You know me so well,” he said smiling down at her in a way that was somehow teasing, and tender. She fought down a blush.
They wove between the wide array of booths, food trucks, and screaming children for thirty minutes before finally settling on the vendor with the Turkey, Brie and Blueberry Jam sandwiches. The deciding factor had of course, been the fact the Todd discovered the sandwich maker made his sourdough bread from scratch, along with the fact that the line was even longer than the line at the chicken and waffles place.
“A long line is always a good sign when it comes to food,” Todd said.
“Yes, yes,” Margery replied, “I’ve heard this hack before.” They settled in their place in line, and Todd cleared his throat.
“About… about before,” he said, turning towards her. “I really am sorry I lied to you… I just…”, he paused, seemingly at a loss for words.
“You saved my life Todd... you took a risk, went against everything you thought you knew about your gift because you couldn’t stand idly by and let me marry that…,” she swallowed hard. “Well… you met him.” She flicked her eyes up to his and something like shame washed over her.
“Yeah,” he said, “I did.”
“I think I was just afraid that everything we shared… those three weeks on the road together… I was afraid that maybe none of it was real, just because the lie was what put us on that path.”
Todd looked at Margery startled, and his eyes held the depths of his surprise as he turned towards her more fully. “Margery… of all the probabilities and possibilities in this world—the ones I’m the MOST grateful for, were the ones that led me to meeting you.”
Her heart leapt into her throat at his words, and she felt the tears rising in her eyes as she stared at him, and he stared back at her—his eyes shining.
“I’m…” she said almost in a whisper, “I’m so glad I met you too.”
Just then another couple walked up behind them in line and started talking in animated voices. “And then, one of the officers lit up just before they were headed back to the station, but he didn’t notice there was gas spilling from a jerry can up behind the dumpster, and I guess a puddle must have formed beneath that shiny red Camero or something, because Trisha said when she got there to pick it up for the car show, it was on FIRE!”
Todd was still staring at Margery, but his gaze had shifted from the softness of tender feelings, to surprise, and finally—to a look of mock horror as they listened to the couple behind them. He pressed his lips together firmly to stifle a laugh, and Margery felt herself attempting to do the same. Todd turned back to examine the menu of the food truck even though he’d long ago decided exactly what he was going to order.
“Boy, oh boy, I’m hungry, how about you?” He said finally, trying to change the subject.
She couldn’t hold it in another moment. Todd’s sudden speech had broken the very last levy in Margery’s restraint, and she broke into obscene, cackling laughter. This was her real laugh. Her face turned red, her shoulders shook, she thought she might throw up at one point if she didn’t start breathing again. If she’d been standing at the doorway of a candy house in the woods, she knew the children would have been running for cover.
“Margery? Are you okay?” Todd said turning back towards her and running a hand back and forth across her shoulder blades.
“It’s the final revenge!” She shrieked. Her laughter nearly sounded like sobbing, and there were fat tears sliding down her face as he shoulders continued to shake. “He. Loved. That. Car. More. Than. ME!” After a few more moments of manic laughter she saw they were getting towards the front of the line, so she tried to take some deep shuddering breaths to calm herself.
“Then he’s an even bigger idiot than I thought,” Todd said, smiling at her, wiping her tears of laughter from her face with his thumb. His calloused fingers on her skin sparked a different sort of joy within her, that she couldn’t quite name.
A few minutes later, warm savory sweet sandwiches in hand, Margery and Todd walked to the edge of the park and sat in the shade of a sycamore tree.
“Can I ask you something?” Margery began after she’d taken a few large bites.
“Of course.”
“How did you get here so quickly today?”
Todd took a bite of his sandwich and chewed thoughtfully. “I had a feeling… sometimes I get these feelings, you know. I decided to stay close. The farthest I went was Betsy and Mikes. I just took small contracts within a few hours of here. When your message came in I was in Castlewood dropping off a trailer.”
“Oh.” Margery said, taking another bite of her sandwich.
“Can I ask you something?” Todd said, shifting his shoulder into hers where they sat side by side at the picnic table.
“Of course.”
“Why did you text me?”
Margery flushed. “Because… “ she said almost defensively, “because you are the only man I really know I can trust.” The words felt shallow and small—like they would never be enough to tell him what she desperately wanted him to know. That even though he’d lied to her, and their roadtrip had begun with what was *technically* a kidnapping, that he was the only man in her life that had ever made her feel safe—even loved.
“It was an…interesting choice of words,” he said, smiling at her mischievously.
“Oh I just sent you what I already had typed out.” She felt her face drain of color as she realized what she’d just revealed. Todd gave her his trademark smirk and she knew he’d never let it go.
“‘Need you.’ That was the message you had cued up to send?” Margery felt her face go from white, to pink, to red.
“So what! You need me too!” She tried to glare, but had the feeling she was failing as she stared into his deep blue eyes. She cleared her throat. “After all, without me, you’d just be the harbinger of death running around the country with shipments of maple syrup.”
Todd watched her thoughtfully, but said nothing, taking another bite of his sandwich instead. Margery followed suit.
“Oh my God this is so good. Is there a job where I can just eat delicious things all day?” She licked a drop of blueberry jam from her lower lip, and couldn’t help but notice Todd tracking the movement. The tension that had been coiled between them all these weeks suddenly pulled taut as a bow string.
“Oh my God are you going to kiss me?” She asked, something like a mixture of fear and delight snaking it’s way up her spine.
Todd licked his lips and let out a laugh. “I was… considering it.” He smiled a wicked grin. He was teasing her again.
“You know, eventually this game of ‘how red can I get Margery to blush’ isn’t going to be fun anymore and then you’re going to have to find someone else to play with.”
“Hmmmm,” he said taking the rest of her sandwich from her hand and setting it back in the togo container beside her. “I don’t think you’re right about that one Margery.” Her heart was hammering in her chest so hard she wondered if he could hear it. “I don’t think I’ll ever, get tired of playing with you.”
He slipped his calloused fingers around the nape of her neck, threading them through the loose hairs that had fallen free of her clip, and gently pulled her closer. Then his lips were on hers.
The kiss was gentle and sweet, and Todd tasted like blueberries and brie and sourdough bread, and Margery knew for sure that though her life had been saved in one way, it had been ruined too.
I’ll never love anyone else the way I love him.
Because she was admitting that much to herself now. She loved a trucker named Todd Mackewain, with the bizarre gift for seeing the moment people were going to die. And the course of her life? All the probabilities of possibilities that she’d woken up to every day before meeting him—that had all been irrevocably changed one night at a bar.
After a moment, Todd pulled back, as though he could sense the chaotic swirling of her thoughts at that very moment. Resting his head against hers, he whispered. “I love you too Margery.”
TODD
The next day was filled with sorting and boxing Margery’s belongings—most of which had been gratefully spared from the gasoline Sean had splashed into the dumpster. They left a good portion of it at her Mother’s house in her old bedroom, but Margery had told Todd the night before, that she was itching to get back on the road.
“You know you don’t have to go with me for us to be together,” he’d said gently over breakfast the next morning. “I can come and visit you… take nearby contracts. You could…”
“Todd,” Margery said interrupting him as he tried to make his gentlemanly speech, even though the thought of her not being with him felt like absolute torture. “I still have a lot of world to see. And you promised to show it to me.”
“Well, yes, but…”
“No butts about it Todd. I’m your passenger princess. You can’t get rid of me that easily.” She winked at him, and Todd felt the thrill of being teased by this woman who seemed to have blossomed right before his eyes in the past month.
“I’d never try to get rid of you,” Todd said, a hand over his heart.
She smiled at him. “I know.”
They ate in silence for a few moments, then Todd pulled out his phone, scrolling through messages from dispatch. “So,” he said finally, “which way this time Margery? North? South? East? West?” He watched as her smile grew as she considered the possibilities. The probabilities. The future that she would now have…with him.
“Today seems like a nice day for West,” she said. “But can we go North again first? I’d like to see Betsy and Mike.” Todd’s heart was so full of joy that it ached.
“They’d like that,” he said, smiling. And leaning over the assortment of pastries on the table between them, Todd inhaled her floral scent and kissed her tenderly on the cheek.
The next day, after packing a proper bag, a few books, her comfiest jammies, and her toiletries—plus a quickly thrown together trail mix (at Margery’s request), Todd and Margery hit the road.
“You know…” he said, “this story would make a really great movie.”
“Pardon?”
“You know, ‘damsel in distress, kidnapped the night before her wedding, falls in love with hot trucker…’
“I think it would make a better book personally,” she said rummaging through her bag for her latest read, “otherwise you know they’d cast some ugly guy who can’t act as the trucker and it would all be completely ruined.”
He smirked, and turned towards her, “so you’re saying I’m…not ugly?” He broadened his grin in a way that he knew made his chin dimple deepen, which never seemed to fail him where Margery was concerned.
She let out a long suffering sigh, but smiled at him, a glimmer in her eyes.
“Just drive, Todd.”
This is the conclusion of the formal portion of Todd and Margery’s story—though I am planning an epilogue! Subscribe to stay tuned for more updates on this story, as well as upcoming stories!
Awwwww! Love the title reference at the end! What a satisfying ending to a wonderful story!
I really do love a happy ending. :) Also, the car getting torched at the end was awesome. I would've cracked up myself!