Grave Haunting (A Maddie Graves Mystery Book 10)

by Lily Harper Hart

  “I got coffee.” Maddie lamely held up the cup for proof. “I thought you were getting your hair highlighted.”

  “I was almost done when you came in,” Cassidy explained. “You didn’t stay very long, though. I wanted to talk to you. I’m glad you’re still hanging around.”

  “Why?” Maddie used to feel guilty about the way she got together with Nick. He didn’t break up with Cassidy straight away, instead keeping her at a distance while everyone in town took bets on when he and Maddie would get together. Maddie knew it was a strain on the woman and she felt bad for putting Cassidy through any turmoil. Ever since her breakup with Nick, though, Cassidy had been nothing but nasty and Maddie was at her limit. “I’m not in the mood for whatever nonsense you’re about to spew.”

  “I try really hard not to spew nonsense,” Cassidy argued. “I’m a teacher. I don’t think the parents of my students would like it if I was spewing nonsense.”

  “You still haven’t told me what you want.”

  “I want to talk to you,” Cassidy said, uncomfortably shifting from one foot to the other. “I don’t want to hurt you. I just … want to talk.”

  Maddie took comfort from the fact that Cassidy looked as unsettled as she felt. That didn’t mean she wanted to talk to the woman. “I’m not sure what we have to talk about. I’m tired of apologizing for being happy.”

  “That’s not what I want,” Cassidy protested.

  “That’s exactly what you want,” Maddie argued. “You’ve spent the last nine months glaring at me … and hating me … and wishing something terrible would happen to me. Before that you wanted all those things, but you pretended to be nice because you thought that would somehow placate Nick. I prefer it when you’re overt with the hostility.”

  “Believe it or not, I like to think of myself as a pleasant person,” Cassidy said, clearly struggling to maintain her temper. “While I admit that my attitude where you’re concerned isn’t great … you have to meet me in the middle here. If you were standing where I was standing, you wouldn’t be happy either.”

  “I spent ten years being unhappy,” Maddie reminded her. “While I do have some sympathy for you – and I had a lot more before you started acting crazy – you’ve now spent more time separated from Nick than you ever did with him.”

  “That’s true, but … .”

  Maddie shook her head to cut off whatever Cassidy was going to say. “Everyone in this town knew that Nick had a six-month cycle. He dated a woman for that amount of time and then walked away with a smile and a wave.

  “Now, I get that you thought you were going to be the one to break the cycle,” she continued. “I think every single woman he dated desperately wanted that. I’m not sure how many of them really thought it was going to happen, but that was the dream.

  “My problem isn’t that you thought you were going to be the exception,” Maddie said. “Nick is something worth holding on to, after all, so I get that. My problem is that you decided to try and manipulate him and hurt me to do it. That’s where I draw the line … and I’m done.”

  Cassidy blinked several times in rapid succession, finally sucking in a breath and exhaling slowly. “I guess I deserved that.”

  “Cassidy, I don’t want to hurt you,” Maddie said, sympathy bubbling up despite her earlier words. “I just want to live my life.”

  “And that’s why I chased you down,” Cassidy said. “I know that I acted weird when I found out you were engaged to Nick – and I know that I should’ve realized this was coming – but I need you to know that I’m not going to do anything to hurt you. I’ve moved on.”

  Maddie sincerely doubted that. “You’ve moved on? You just chased your ex-boyfriend’s current girlfriend down the sidewalk.”

  “To tell you that there’s no reason to avoid me,” Cassidy supplied. “We’re never going to be friends. You did save my life, though. I know you think I’m blind, but I’m not. I see that Nick loves you. I won’t pretend that it doesn’t hurt, but he never looked at me with even a quarter of the emotion that he beams in your direction whenever he sees you.

  “I get it,” she continued. “I heard the stories about the two of you when we started dating. People warned me. I didn’t want to listen. That’s on me. I won’t pretend that it didn’t hurt to find out that you two were essentially living together almost before we broke up, but it’s over and done with.

  “You and Nick are going to get married,” Cassidy said, her voice strong and true. “Soon you’ll be having kids. I have no doubt you’re going to live happily ever after. I’m not like Marla. I haven’t convinced myself that this is a game and Nick is going to wise up. You are what Nick wants.

  “So, I want you to know that I don’t like you, but I don’t hate you and I know that I owe you for saving my life.” Cassidy ran her finger over the side of her nose, her lips curving a bit. “I want you to be happy. I know you will be. I am sorry for the things I’ve done, but I’m honestly over all of this.”

  Maddie stared at her for a long time before finally nodding. “Thank you for that … I guess.”

  “You’re welcome. Oh, by the way, you should definitely let Christy pick out her own bridesmaid dress. If you don’t, you’ll never hear the end of it.”

  This time Maddie didn’t fight the emerging smile. “I guess we finally can agree on something, huh?”

  MADDIE FELT better after her conversation with Cassidy. Nick would warn her to take whatever the woman said with a grain of salt – and then slam a bottle of wine so she would be drunk enough not to care – but Maddie honestly believed Cassidy meant what she said. Of course, once the woman had a few drinks with Marla Proctor whispering in her ear that might change, but for now Cassidy appeared to be one less thing for Maddie to worry about.

  Instead of turning home, Maddie continued toward the bed and breakfast. She was hoping to run into Fran’s ghost because now that she knew the rumor mill indicated that Fran was having a relationship with Dora, odds were that Fran’s spirit was torn between two places. She loved her trinkets, but she loved Dora, too. Well, maybe. Maddie still couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that she didn’t know about Fran and Dora. She felt like an idiot for overlooking that clue.

  The bed and breakfast was quiet when she entered, and it only occurred to her after the fact that she risked running into George Hunter by coming here. Briefly she wondered if subconsciously she recognized that fact. It was too distressing to dwell on, though, so she pushed it out of her head.

  Instead she wandered up to the front desk, fixed the middle-aged woman behind it with a warm smile, and hoped she wouldn’t make a fool of herself when she started the interrogation. “How are you today?”

  Dora Walker still wasn’t wearing makeup, or if she was, she cried enough each day to wash it away fairly quickly. Her eyes were puffy, her skin sallow, and her expression was vacant. “Can I help you?”

  Maddie realized fairly quickly that “how are you” was as dumb for her to say to Dora as it was for Nick to keep asking the question of Maddie. She decided to take a different tack. “You’re probably really suffering, huh? You were Fran’s closest friend, weren’t you?”

  Dora shrugged, her expression hard to read. “Did you know Fran? I thought you just moved to town a few months ago.”

  “I grew up in Blackstone Bay,” Maddie corrected. “I moved away when I went to college and settled in the Detroit suburbs for about five years before moving back after my mother died.”

  “Oh, well, I guess I didn’t realize that about you.” Dora was clearly distracted. “Did you like Fran?”

  “She seemed nice whenever we had occasion to cross paths.” That wasn’t technically a lie, Maddie reminded herself. Maddie knew Fran was a bit hard to deal with, but she didn’t openly hate the woman or anything. “I understand you guys were really close.”

  “We were,” Dora agreed. “We both liked to knit and watch QVC. Of course, a lot of people like that so I guess our relationship wasn’t speci
al or anything. Still, we got along and I really love working here. This place feels like home to me.”

  “Yes, well … I heard that they’ll probably have to sell the Bayside,” Maddie said. “Fran’s finances weren’t great and the bill collectors will insist that the bed and breakfast be sold to cover her bills.”

  Dora seemed legitimately surprised by the news. “But … she couldn’t possibly have been in that much financial trouble. This bed and breakfast does a fine business. I know she gave a lot of money to her kids, but she stopped doing that when I pointed out that her kids were never going to stand on their own two feet unless she pushed them out of the nest.”

  That was a nice way of looking at it, Maddie thought. It was more like Fran served as a human crutch for her kids for the bulk of their lives and then shoved them out of the nest and expected them to walk with only one leg each. “Yes, well, it’s sad all around. It wasn’t just the money she gave the kids, though. She had three lockers at the storage place out on the highway. They were jam packed with the stuff she bought over the internet and from the television shopping channels.”

  “But how much could really be there?” Dora protested.

  “I’m no expert, but I’m guessing it could’ve easily been a good hundred grand worth of stuff,” Maddie volunteered. “I know a lot of that stuff was expensive and I’m sure the bulk of it will be seized by the bill collectors.”

  “But … .” Dora was distraught. “She had to have made plans for her death. She loved this place more than anything. She wouldn’t have risked it for a bunch of junk she bought while watching infomercials.”

  “My understanding is that she was in the middle of changing her will,” Maddie volunteered, opting to put everything out there and deal with Nick’s anger later if it came to it. She needed to see Dora’s reaction to the news … and the inevitable question that would follow. “She was going to leave the bed and breakfast to you, although I’m not sure how she planned on getting around the bill collectors to do that.”

  Dora brightened considerably. “Me?”

  “Well, yeah,” Maddie hedged. “You guys were … um … girlfriends, right?”

  “We were definitely the best of friends,” Dora agreed.

  “Were you more than that?”

  It took Dora a moment to realize what Maddie was asking. “I’m sorry, are you insinuating that Fran and I were … like … um … kissing girlfriends?”

  Maddie was secretly glad Dora found a way to phrase the question so she wouldn’t have to do it herself. “That’s the rumor.”

  Instead of being horrified, Dora broke out in raucous laughter. “Lesbians? You think we were lesbians? Can’t two women of a certain age simply like to hang out together without people thinking they’re doing something?”

  That was a fair question. Maddie didn’t have an answer and she was starting to feel defensive. “I didn’t start the rumor. In fact, I laughed at it, too. Everyone else seemed to think it was true, though.”

  “Who is everyone else?”

  “Oh, well … .”

  “You’re friends with Christy Ford, right?” Dora’s grin was impish. “Everyone at that hair salon spreads gossip like it’s going out of style. That doesn’t mean it’s true.”

  “Oh, well, I guess that’s fair,” Maddie supplied. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

  “You didn’t. I’m just surprised Fran is leaving me the bed and breakfast. Maybe things will work out and I’ll be able to keep it, run it the way she would want. That could be her legacy.”

  “I said she was in the middle of changing her will,” Maddie clarified. “She never finished it. The kids are getting the Bayside but … there’s no way they’ll be able to keep it either. It’s going to be sold at auction and the kids probably won’t end up with a thing once all of the debts are settled.”

  “Oh, well … .” Dora looked disappointed. Maddie didn’t blame her. “Still, it was a nice thought on Fran’s part.”

  “It definitely was,” Maddie agreed. “I … .” Her eyes drifted to the top of the stairs when she saw movement, her eyes locking with George Hunter’s as her heart rolled.

  “Maddie?” George’s expression reflected a mixture of excitement and worry. “What are you doing here?”

  Maddie heaved out a sigh. That was a very good question … and now she was going to have to come up with a plausible answer.

  20

  Twenty

  “What are you doing here?” George hurriedly made his descent, never breaking eye contact with Maddie in case she decided to break the spell and bolt through the front door. “Not that I’m not glad to see you here,” he added hurriedly. “I’m very glad to see you. In fact … I’m so glad to see you.”

  Maddie swallowed the mad urge to laugh as she looked him up and down. It was clear she got her tendency to babble from him. “I actually didn’t come here to see you.” She saw no reason to lie. “It didn’t even occur to me until I was already inside.”

  George’s face fell. “Oh, well … .”

  “That doesn’t mean we can’t talk,” Maddie interjected, keeping her face placid without reflecting welcome. “I didn’t come here for that. Er, well, maybe I did. Maybe subconsciously I knew I would run into you and decided I just had to talk to Dora because of that. That would be just like me.”

  George didn’t bother to hide his smile. “Well, at least you’re opening your mouth this time. That’s progress.”

  Maddie matched him grin for grin. “Yes, well, I tend to look inward when I don’t know how to handle what’s going on outward.”

  “You get that from me.”

  “I figured. Mom was never that way.”

  George stiffened a bit at mention of Olivia. “I was sorry to hear about her passing.”

  “Were you?” Maddie cocked a dubious eyebrow. “I would think you would be happy she’s gone.”

  “Why would you say something like that?”

  Maddie shrugged, legitimately uncomfortable. “Because you left her. You divorced her. You didn’t want her … or me.”

  George ran his tongue over his teeth, sparing a glance for the front desk where Dora worked. The woman stared intently in their direction, making him uncomfortable. “Do you want to take a walk with me?”

  Maddie was surprised by the offer, but not opposed to it. “I guess that would be okay.” She flicked her eyes to the large doors at the front of the inn. “There’s a small park across the street. We can go there.”

  “That would be good,” George said, shrugging into his coat. “I think we have a lot to talk about.”

  “HEY, NICK, do you have a minute?”

  Nick glanced up from the paperwork he perused, doing his best not to scowl when he saw Cassidy hovering in the doorway that separated the hallway from the office he shared with Kreskin. “I’m kind of busy here.”

  Cassidy refused to take the obvious brush-off personally. “It will just take a minute.”

  Nick shifted his eyes to Kreskin’s empty chair. His partner volunteered to run to the diner to pick up lunch and was due back any minute. He wasn’t keen on playing out some emotional drama in front of Kreskin because he knew he’d never hear the end of it. “I guess, but if this turns into a wailing and sobbing thing I’m not going to be happy.”

  “I’ll try to refrain,” Cassidy said dryly, rolling her eyes as she stepped into the room. “I just ran into Maddie.”

  Nick stiffened, Cassidy’s tone setting his teeth on edge. “Did you say something to her?”

  “I did.”

  “What?”

  “I told her that I wasn’t happy for her, but I understand it now,” Cassidy replied. “I told her I wasn’t interested in making her uncomfortable so there’s no reason for her to hide and shrink when she sees me. That part of our lives is … done.”

  “That part of our lives is done,” Nick agreed, leaning back in his chair. “I take it you were at the salon. Maddie said she was going to spend some time with Christy
.”

  “That’s where I saw her,” Cassidy confirmed. “Then I talked to her outside after. She had a coffee … and a hat pulled over her ears … and she looked cute and I barely wanted to punch her for it.”

  Nick smirked at Cassidy’s proud pronouncement. “Was it the hat with the cat ears?”

  Cassidy nodded.

  “She does look cute in that hat.” Nick stroked the line of his jaw as he debated how to finish the conversation. “I’m sure that finding out Maddie and I are engaged was difficult for you. I didn’t give it a lot of thought before we saw you at the restaurant, but perhaps I should’ve told you myself. It honestly didn’t occur to me, though.”

  “I would like to believe it didn’t occur to you because you didn’t want to hurt me, but I know it’s because you rarely think about me,” Cassidy said. “After we broke up I kept thinking that you would change your mind and come back. I never thought how that made me look, mind you, but I thought it all the same.

  “It would’ve made me weak and pathetic to welcome you back and yet I would’ve done it,” she continued. “That’s how much I wanted you.” Cassidy held up her hand to quiet Nick when he opened his mouth. “The thing I didn’t see was that you never wanted me. It took me all of this time to see that …and it makes me feel even more pathetic to realize it.”

  “It’s not that I didn’t want you,” Nick argued. “It’s that I didn’t want you the way you wanted me to want you. I enjoyed some of the time we spent together.”

  “You enjoy all of the time you spend with Maddie, don’t you?” Cassidy’s question was pointed, but she didn’t wait for Nick to answer. “I see it when you’re together. Even when something bad is happening, or one of you is upset, you still enjoy being together.”

  “That’s because we lean on each other,” Nick explained. “We’ve always been like that.”

  “People told me and I didn’t want to see.”

  “I didn’t want to see it either,” Nick admitted. “I was so angry with her I didn’t want to see it. Now, I would never deny it. I belong with Maddie. I always have.”