“I think the thing is up here,” Maddie said. “I think it’s a poltergeist. I don’t know why it found me at home, but I’m pretty sure this is where it lives.”
“What does Nick think about all of this?”
“Nick is struggling with it the same way I am,” Maddie said. “It’s a lot to grapple with.”
“It’s definitely a lot to grapple with,” Maude said. “Keep me in the loop if something happens. And, Maddie girl, I love you.”
“I love you, too, Granny.”
“I’m going to stop loving you if you don’t stop calling me that,” Maude grumbled, although she didn’t mean it.
“WELL, if what Maude says is right, that changes things, doesn’t it?” Christy said, pouring herself a drink and offering one to Maddie.
“I thought you were done drinking for the rest of your life?”
“We both knew that wasn’t going to stick,” Christy said, unruffled. “I need something to soothe my nerves. Do you think Rosario killed Rose and then someone turned around and killed Rosario?”
“I think that someone killed Rose, and Rosario is looking like a better suspect than Big Jim right now,” Maddie said. “We don’t have any proof that Rosario is dead.”
“We don’t have any proof that she’s alive either.”
That was a good point. “I just don’t know,” Maddie said. “I’m hoping to get a chance to talk to Rose again tonight. If we’re lucky, she’ll find Cassidy and then find me.”
“Are you feeling lucky?”
“I’ve been feeling lucky ever since I got back to town,” Maddie said. “Let’s hope it holds.”
“What are you two gossiping about in here?” Marla asked, poking her head into the library and glancing around disdainfully.
“We’re just talking about where Cassidy might be,” Maddie said. That wasn’t a total lie. It wasn’t the complete truth either, though.
“Oh, don’t pretend you care,” Marla said, sauntering the rest of the way into the room and striking a pose next to the couch. “If Cassidy is dead, that makes your life a heck of a lot easier, doesn’t it?”
Anger boiled in the pit of Maddie’s stomach. “How can you even say something like that?”
“Because it’s the truth,” Marla said.
“What’s going on in here?” Nick asked, appearing in the doorway. His gaze bounced between Maddie and Marla nervously. “Marla, why don’t you go and spread your light and joy to everyone else out on the patio?”
“Why don’t you butt out,” Marla suggested, wrinkling her nose. “Maddie and I were just having a little discussion about how her life is going to be so much better now that Cassidy is probably dead.”
“Shut your mouth,” Nick snapped.
Christy reached over and grabbed his arm, shaking her head as she watched Maddie. Maddie didn’t miss the gesture, but she couldn’t spare time to think about it because she was about to explode.
“You’re just so … awful,” Maddie said, glaring at Marla. “You’re not happy unless you’re making everyone else miserable. Why is that?”
“I’m not the one throwing a party because my rival is dead,” Marla shot back.
“Cassidy isn’t my rival,” Maddie said. “Cassidy is a sad woman who had her heart broken. If you think I’m happy about that, you’re wrong. I feel for her. I really do. I never wanted her to get hurt in all of this.”
“That didn’t stop you from stealing her boyfriend, did it?”
“I didn’t steal Nick,” Maddie said, her blue eyes flashing. “I came back to town to build a life for myself. Did I think Nick was going to be part of it? I didn’t know. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping for it, though.
“The thing you don’t seem to understand is that I’ve always loved Nick,” she continued. “He’s always been my whole heart. Before you even start in on your crap about me leaving town, you’re right. I shouldn’t have left. I was dealing with some stuff then and I handled it terribly. I’m not proud of it. If I had it to do all over again, I would do it differently.
“I still didn’t steal Nick from Cassidy,” Maddie said. “If I’d never returned to town, Nick was still going to break up with her. It probably would’ve happened sooner than it did, in fact.”
“You don’t know that,” Marla said. “Nick could’ve fallen in love with Cassidy.”
“No, he couldn’t have,” Maddie said, her face plaintive. “He was never going to love her. It’s taken me a long time to come to grips with certain things, but I know that Nick loves me. I also know that I love him. We’re meant to be together.
“That doesn’t mean I want Cassidy hurt, and I especially don’t want her dead,” Maddie said. “I’m sick of it, though. I’m sick of all of it. I’m sick of your glares and Cassidy’s pouting. I’m sick of you whispering about me behind my back. I’m especially sick of you keeping Cassidy’s hopes up through lies. Even if Nick and I break up tomorrow, he’s not going back to her.
“Enough is enough, Marla,” Maddie said. “I’m starting to think everyone else is right. This isn’t about Cassidy at all. This is about your crush on Nick. You’ve always wanted him. You convinced yourself I was the reason you couldn’t have him. The truth is, you can’t have him because you’re mean and awful and he would never love someone like that.”
“You’re just so full of yourself,” Marla spat.
“I’m also done playing this game,” Maddie said. “I’m not scared of you. I’m done trying to hide my happiness because it might upset others. I have everything in my life that I’ve ever wanted. I’m going to enjoy it. You might want to try and find some happiness for yourself because I’m not going to let you tear me down ever again. I’m done.”
Marla opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Maddie’s diatribe had clearly taken the wind out of her sails. Instead of saying something hateful, Marla surprised everyone by turning on her heel and flouncing out of the room without a backward glance.
Once it was just the three of them, Christy broke into applause. “That was awesome. Good job, Maddie.”
Maddie glanced up at Nick, worried he was going to be disappointed with her minor fit. The broad grin on his face told her he was feeling something entirely different. “What?” Maddie asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious.
“You’re my hero, Maddie Graves,” Nick said, swooping closer and pulling her in for a hug. “I love you more than anything in this world.”
“I love you,” Maddie said, burying her face in his neck.
“I’m going to leave you two to your mutual love association,” Christy said, heading for the door. “You have twenty minutes until dinner. You’d probably better make it count.”
“We have our whole lives,” Nick said, rubbing the back of Maddie’s head as he kissed her neck. “We have forever.”
Twenty-One
“So, does anyone want to tell us what happened in that library?” Aaron asked, his gaze bouncing between Maddie and a murderous-looking Marla as they settled around the dinner table.
“Nothing,” Marla said, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Oh, please,” Christy said. “Maddie laid down the law and finally put Marla in her place. It was glorious.”
“It was nothing of the sort,” Marla said.
“Oh, it was,” Christy countered.
“I’m sorry I missed it,” Lauren said. “What did Maddie say to her?”
“She just told her she’d had it with Marla building herself up by tearing others down and that she was going to ignore her from now on and focus on being happy,” Christy said. “She also told her that she didn’t have a shot with Nick and she could suck it.”
“I didn’t say that,” Maddie said.
“You did say it, just not in that way,” Christy said. “I embellished a little. I was putting my spin on it.”
Nick grinned as he slung an arm around the back of Maddie’s chair. “My girl was pretty hot in there … in more ways than one.”
“And j
ust when I thought I’d beaten my hangover you made me sick to my stomach again,” Brian teased. “Nice job.”
Nick shot him a thumbs-up. “I aim to please.”
Over a dinner of red wine-infused steaks, baby red potatoes, and Caesar salad, everyone did their best to relax and enjoy the night. It was hard with the pall of Cassidy’s disappearance hanging over them.
Max and Aaron started regaling everyone with stories about their childhood, and when one particular story touched on Big Jim Denton, Maddie saw her opening.
“I’ve heard a lot about your grandfather,” she said. “What was it like to grow up with him in the same house?”
“He died when I was fifteen,” Aaron said. “There are a lot of tall tales about Gramps, but I’m not sure how many of them are really true. If you believe my mother, none of them are true. I think she just didn’t want me to act like him, though. If you ask my father, they’re all true. He thinks Gramps was a larger-than-life character straight out of a movie.”
“What do you think?” Christy asked.
“I think that my grandfather was very nice to me,” Aaron said. “I also think he was a terror when it came to the staff and, from what I can tell, he was a righteous dirtbag when it came to women.”
Well, this was almost too easy. “I … um … heard about your grandfather’s reputation when it came to women,” Maddie said. “Do you think that was all true?”
“Oh, it was true,” Aaron said. “Even when he was older he was still handsy. Finally, my father had to tell him to stop groping the maids. Dad was terrified we were going to be sued. The way Gramps did things in the seventies and eighties was not the way my dad wanted to do things.”
“What did your mother think?” Lauren asked, helping Maddie without even realizing it.
“Mom wasn’t Gramps’ biggest fan,” Aaron said, smirking. “She had to be nice to him, though. She didn’t have a choice. The big house was his, and if she wanted to live in it, she had to put up with his … proclivities. It killed her, though.
“Mom loves this house,” he continued. “It’s a status symbol to her. While Gramps was in the big room, though, she had to either put up or shut up. When Gramps died, I think she was secretly happy.”
“That’s horrible,” Lauren said.
“Like I said, I loved Gramps,” Aaron replied, nonplussed. “I can see why he pissed people off, though. As a teenager, all the life advice he gave to me seemed like a great idea in theory. You can imagine my surprise when it didn’t pan out in real life.”
Max snorted. “I particularly liked it when you walked up to that woman at the mall and told her that you were rich so she should strip,” he said. “What were you, fourteen?”
Aaron blushed. “Right around there. The woman was thirty. He told me that’s how you get women,” he said. “I took it literally when I probably shouldn’t have.”
Everyone chuckled, the idea of a fourteen-year-old boy hitting on a grown woman entertaining everyone. As amused as she was, Maddie wanted to get more dirt on Big Jim.
“What about your grandmother?” Maddie asked. “How did she put up with your grandfather?”
“I don’t know,” Aaron said. “The truth is, no one ever really talked about her much while I was growing up.”
“That’s sad,” Christy said. “You don’t know anything about her?”
“I know that she didn’t like Gramps very much and she was considered a bad reflection on the family when she decided to get a job as a nurse,” Aaron said. “The interesting thing is, she sounds like one of the only members of my family who was truly a good person.”
“Did your dad ever talk about her?” Nick asked.
“Not a lot,” Aaron said. “I think he respected her, though. He never talked about her in front of Gramps. I got the feeling it was a sore subject. He did mention her a couple of times, and it always felt like he had a lot of regrets where she was concerned.”
“Meaning?”
“Dad admits he was a bratty kid,” Aaron said. “Despite how entitled my mom felt – and that’s exactly the way she wanted to raise me – Dad put his foot down with a lot of her weird ideas.
“She wanted me to go to private school, but Dad said there was nothing wrong with public school, and she wanted to force me to date in … higher class … circles,” he continued. “Dad said the only thing I was going to find there was misery. That really set her off because that’s how they met.
“Anyway, Dad always said that Grandma was right about the way we lived our lives,” Aaron said. “He thought the Denton name was all flash and no substance. He said if Grandma survived longer she might’ve been able to turn our family into something truly great.”
Rose was growing in Maddie’s estimation by the moment. “She sounds like an interesting lady.”
“She does,” Aaron agreed. “I never got to meet her, and I think I probably lost out on that front.”
“Did your mother like her?” Lauren asked.
“My mother never met her,” Aaron said. “I doubt they would’ve liked each other, though. Heck, if Grandma survived longer, Dad probably wouldn’t have married Mom and I wouldn’t even be here.”
“What do you mean by that?” Nick asked, genuinely curious.
“If you believe family gossip, which I take with a grain of salt given my family, Grandma was making noises about taking Dad and moving out of the house when she died,” Aaron said.
“Why?”
“Apparently Gramps was fornicating with one of the downstairs maids.”
Max perked up. “I’ve never heard this story.”
“It was quite the scandal at the time,” Aaron said. “The maid wanted to move into the big bedroom with him and everything.”
“What about your grandmother?” Lauren asked.
“They had separate rooms,” Aaron said. “I believe, once my father was born, they never touched each other again.”
“That must have been hard on your grandfather,” Marla said. “No wonder he went looking for love in other places.”
“I think it was a mutual decision,” Aaron said. “I’m pretty sure my grandmother didn’t even want to marry Gramps. It was one of those business mergers. Her father was rich and my great-grandfather was rich. They put their heads together and married their kids off as a way to get even richer.”
“That’s a little depressing,” Brian said. “If you’re going to get married, I think love should be a necessary prerequisite.”
“Love is overrated,” Marla said. “Most marriages were arranged by parents for centuries. You didn’t hear about those people getting divorced. Marrying for status and money is the only way to go.”
“Oh, with a romantic streak like that I can’t believe you’re not married,” Max deadpanned.
“Go back to the maid,” Christy said. “You dropped that story. How come she didn’t marry your grandfather after your grandmother’s death? If my grandmother is to be believed, she was pregnant.”
“Oh, wow, is that true?” Lauren asked.
“That’s another one of those family rumors that’s survived over the years,” Aaron said. “I never got up the guts to ask my father if it was true but once, when my mother had a few too many gimlets, I asked her.
“She said that the woman purposely got pregnant to trap my grandfather and when he refused to acknowledge the baby and marry her she cut her losses and left,” he said.
“That’s quite the story,” Nick said. “Do you think it’s true?”
Aaron shrugged. “There’s a lot of stuff in my family that’s shrouded in secrecy,” he said. “I do think it’s funny that my mother fought so hard to get into the big room, and then six months after getting it she decided to split her time between here and Florida.”
“Why is that such a big deal?” Maddie asked.
“Because of the ghost,” Aaron said, chuckling harshly.
Maddie stilled, her heart flopping as she risked a glance at Nick. He looked interested, too.
“What ghost?”
“My mother is convinced that this place is haunted,” Aaron said. “She swears up and down that she’s seen plates hit walls without anyone being there to throw them, and she says she’s heard people screaming in the night even though no one is there.”
“Have you ever seen a ghost?” Maddie asked.
“Nope. There have been times when I could swear I was being watched, though,” Aaron said. “Don’t laugh, Max. I told you this when I was a kid.”
“And I laughed back then, too,” Max said. “I lived here for several years and I never saw – or heard – anything like that.”
“I didn’t say my mother wasn’t crocked,” Aaron said. “I just think she likes attention. She’s kind of like Marla that way.”
Marla scowled. “You suck.”
Nick rubbed the back of Maddie’s neck thoughtfully. “Aaron, are there any other passageways in the house beside the ones we found on the second floor?”
“Not that I know of,” Aaron said. “To be fair, though, I wasn’t supposed to know that one existed. My mother was convinced I’d get into trouble if I could hide in there on a regular basis.”
“Why do they exist at all?”
“I have no idea,” Aaron said. “My guess is that my grandfather wanted a way to come and go from various beds and he wanted to be able to do it without anyone knowing what he was up to.”
“The passageway we found doesn’t go to the basement, though,” Nick pointed out.
“Huh,” Aaron mused, rubbing his chin. “I never really thought about that. You know, the room you and Maddie are staying in was my grandmother’s room. Maybe, before she moved out of his room, Gramps had someone else in that room. I really have no idea.”
“We’re staying in your grandmother’s room?” Maddie asked, surprised.
“Yeah. Why? Is that a problem?”
“No,” Maddie said, shaking her head. “I was just curious.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a hint of movement at the far end of the room. At first, she thought it was a member of the kitchen staff, but when she focused her full attention on the area next to the drink cart, she saw Rose floating there. The woman’s face was hard to read, but Maddie couldn’t help but wonder if she’d garnered a modicum of respect for the grandson she’d never met thanks to the turn in the conversation.
Grave Misgivings Page 16
