Maggie's cell phone rang as she was cooking dinner.
"Hello?" Maggie listened. Sarah wandered and nibbled on a carrot. "Well, is she in town? Do you two want to use the apartment or…wait, she's not staying at Bo and Hope's? I guess you can but Abigail, be nice to Chloe. I mean it. If I hear one bad word, you two will have to find another place to stay. I love you, too."
"What's up with Abby?" Sarah asked.
"Abby and Chelsea want to stay at my place which is fine. But Chloe's there and Abby…doesn't like Chloe. Now that I think about it, neither does Chelsea. This isn't good," Maggie frowned.
"Mom, aren't you suppose to be on vacation?" Sarah pointed out.
"Yeah. But my insurance rates are skyrocketing and I'm learning about how get to stains out that I didn't even consider! "
"So say no. It's your house. You don't need the rent money from boarders. Do you want to have people stay with you?" Sarah asked.
"I don't want to live alone. And I like having Chelsea and Abby there," Maggie said.
"You like having Chelsea and Abby there. What about Chloe?" Sarah asked.
Maggie shrugged and continued to cut carrots.
"Mom, no one likes to be a charity case, even a well-fed one. You could still help Chloe without living with her," Sarah pointed out.
"I'll consider that point," Maggie said.
"You should also consider dating Victor," Sarah said.
Maggie took a deep breath. "I don't. I dated Victor and it didn't work out."
"Right. You went on, what, two official dates and hung out at his house? That's not dating. If you consider that dating, I'm dating six men now," Sarah said.
"You sound like Julie," Maggie said, annoyed.
"Julie isn't always wrong, Mom. And while you were 'not dating' Victor, you sounded the happiest I've heard you sound since Dad's death. You seemed happier. You seemed alive and now you look, well, devastated."
Maggie bit her lip. "It didn't work out and it won't work out. He's impossible. He wants me to change."
"Ah, well, yes, because you don't need to change. He does but you don't. His girlfriend takes in the person who cheated on his godson with his son. But he doesn't get to complain about that because Maggie Horton needs to save a fellow drunk. Mom, you ran away from Salem! What's so wrong with your life that you just leave?" Sarah asked.
"I messed up, Sarrie. I got stubborn and I decided being right was more important. I couldn't back down," Maggie said.
"Did you loved him?"
"I could've fall in love with him," Maggie said.
Sarah took a deep breath.
"What?" Maggie asked.
"Nothing. It's just I never heard you say you were in love with a man that wasn't Daddy. Even with Neil and Don, it was always 'I cared about him very much'. It's just weird."
"mmm. I—I always had your father to go back to. Even when we were divorced, I knew your father and I were going ended up together. Victor…" Maggie shrugged.
"Victor…" Sarah prompted.
"Yeah, there's Victor and he's furious with me at the moment. So much for romance," Maggie said.
"Oh, Mom. You took off, remember? You don't know that he's furious. You didn't exactly talk to the man," Sarah said.
"I hate being told what to do with my house."
"Mmm-mmm."
"And Chloe did need help," Maggie said.
"Mmm-mmm."
"Oh, will you stop being so non-committal?" Maggie cried.
"Fine. Kick Chloe out and date Victor. "
"She has nowhere to go," Maggie said.
"Not your problem. She has parents and she's costing you too much. And you aren't her Mom anyway," Sarah said.
"Are you jealous?" Maggie chuckled.
"Well, you're my Mom and you keep adopting these twenties-somethings. I don't get nearly enough mom time," Sarah said.
"I know. Nobody seems to get enough Maggie time including Maggie. I just need time to think."
"Well, you're incommunicado now. Do you miss Salem at all?"
"Of course, I do! Salem's my home. I just need a break," Maggie said.
"And Victor?"
"Victor's not talking to me."
"You're telling me if you call the man, he wouldn't pick up? Victor is the guy who practically stalked you until you agreed to dinner. Really, Mom? Call Victor," Sarah hopped down from the counter. "By the way, the rice's burning."
"Great." Maggie turned down the flame under the rice.
To: Fabulous_Julie gmail. com
From: HortonS CCN. net
Julie-
I tried to convince Mom to call Victor. Is Victor as mad at Mom as she thinks he is? Mom's coming around on Chloe. Hopefully Abby and Chelsea can be a reality check on her. Continue to work on Victor and I'll work on Mom.
-Sarah.
Maggie sat on the porch, staring at her phone. Just call him. Even when you're fighting with him, you still talk to him. Just call him. Maggie dialed her phone.
"Hello?"
Maggie smiled at Victor's voice.
"You know, Maggie, this works better if you talk, too. Although I suppose we're improving on phone calls, considering you haven't hung up on me yet," Victor said.
"Hi," Maggie said, quietly.
"Are you o.k.?"
"Well, I think I ran away from home."
"Yeah. Next time tell me and we can go away together," Victor said.
"Victor, are we…I know I said that I was fine with…."Maggie said.
"I'm still going to disagree with you about Chloe."
"I know."
"I still love you but I can't watch Chloe use you," Victor said.
"O.k."
"O.k.?"
"I need time to think," Maggie said, softly.
"I wish you would come home. I love you, Maggie," Victor said.
"I can't. Not yet. Victor…I love you, too." Maggie hung up the phone, conflicted.
She sat down and thought for a long time. Home never seemed so unreachable.