“Maddie, I don’t want to cause any trouble with you and your family.”
She laughed softly. “I’d say it’s about time someone did.”
CHAPTER 12
Maddie watched Chase walk around Sugar’s Eats to the sailboat, wishing she could go with him. It had been worth seeing Q happy spending a beautiful evening watching the sunset. Now it was time to pay the piper. Or piperess, as the case would be.
“That was fun, huh, Uncle Maddie?”
“Sure was.”
“Where are you on the sad meter?”
She leaned close to him and grinned. “I’m not.”
He blinked. “You’re not sad? At all?”
“Not right this moment.”
“Kewl.”
When that little boy smiled, her heart almost burst. At least someone in her family wanted her to be happy. She gave him a hug. “Thanks for coming.”
There had been moments when Maddie had wished she’d been alone with Chase. Those were the moments, in retrospect, she was grateful Q had been playing unwitting chaperone. Otherwise, she would have crawled into Chase’s lap and stayed there for a long, long time.
She didn’t want to think about that big chunk of wood they’d hit, or that Chase made a point of hauling it out of the water.
When she pulled up in front of the house, Q got out and ran to his father’s workshop. She grabbed the cooler and towels out of the car, then thought to call Q back just in case. No, Bobby was past that.
Still, she followed him, because her first duty was to face Colleen. When Q walked back around the house, his expression was a worried pout.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“The door was locked. Daddy was making weird noises.”
Please let it be him and Colleen.
“Baby, you are in so much trouble, you have no idea!” Colleen’s voice called from across the street.
So was Bobby. She looked down at Q. “Don’t say anything about the noises, okay?”
“What’d you do, throw him in the Gulf?” Colleen said, stalking up to her. “Q, go in the house.” He reluctantly complied, and Colleen waited until he’d closed the door. She had her vulture look, with her hair pulled back to emphasize her sharp nose. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“You know, you’ve been harassing me for a year about moping around on the couch, and now you’re harassing me for not moping. What’s the deal?”
Colleen took in the question, then shook her head. “Don’t sidestep the issue, which is you kidnapping my son.”
Maddie surreptitiously glanced toward the workshop in back. She hoped Bobby had heard the commotion and, if he was doing something bad, was getting rid of Wendy. “I did not kidnap Q. He’s been dying to go out on the Dinky for months, so we went. No big deal. Like I said in my message, it was intended to free you up so you could spend time with Bobby.”
Colleen’s eyes shadowed for a moment, then her mouth tightened in anger. “His name is not Q. If you’re going to have a nice thought, ask me first. But you weren’t thinking of helping me out. As usual, you were thinking of yourself spending time with that guy. Darcy told Karen who told Mom you were with him, so don’t deny it.”
“I didn’t need Q if I wanted to spend time with Chase.” Well, she did, but Colleen didn’t need to know that. “The fact was, I needed Chase to go out on the boat with Q. To help me face going to the house.”
“You don’t need to turn to some stranger, Baby. That’s what family is for.”
“No, family is for keeping me on the couch all day. You and Mom would have talked me out of going.”
“You’re just crazy, Baby. He’s doing something to you. Look at yourself. Running out of the house at night, falling into the bay, kidnapping Quigley. Brainwashing him with that stupid nickname. He won’t even talk to me when I call him by his name. Well, I appreciate you watching him these past years, but your services won’t be necessary. Until you start acting normal, I’m having Beth watch him.”
“Don’t do that.” Maddie couldn’t keep the hurt from her face. “I love spending time with my nephew.”
“You should have thought of that when you kidnapped him.”
“I didn’t kidnap him…”
Colleen was looking toward the workshop. Maddie was almost afraid to turn around and see what was putting that puzzled, hurt in her eyes.
Wendy stepped out of the workshop. The slice of dim light made it all too clear that Bobby was giving her one last kiss before she slipped through the hedge. The door closed again, and in a minute, the sound of a drill pierced the air. He’d gone right back to work, screw and drill.
Colleen walked back to the house. Maddie grabbed her arm and pulled her back. “Colleen?”
“I have to put Quigley to bed,” she said in a dull voice, pulling away.
Was Colleen going to ignore what she’d seen? Yes, entirely. Maddie jerked open the door to the workshop. Bobby gave her an innocent smile as he continued to drill screws into a cabinet.
She yanked the drill’s cord out of the wall.
“Hey, Baby, what’s the deal?”
“First of all, the deal is, I’m not Baby. I’m Maddie.”
“Aw, man, you changing your name, too? First Quigley…”
“He hates that name.”
“I know. I call him Q when Colleen’s not around.”
Maddie lowered her head. “Like you bop Wendy when she’s not around?”
That stopped him for a moment. “You saw her leave?”
“Yep, and so did Colleen.”
He set the drill down with a thud. “Damn. I thought she was across the street.”
“Yeah, too bad you’re going to have to do something. Your son heard you in here ‘making weird noises.’ Good thing you locked the door this time.”
“I learned my lesson with you.”
“You didn’t learn anything.”
“Listen, Baby—Maddie, whatever. I know it’s wrong, but if I don’t have Wendy, I’ll go crazy. I’m not happy with Colleen. We haven’t had sex in months, and to tell you the truth, I don’t even care. All she does is criticize me. I’m not even sure I love her anymore.” He took a deep breath, looking down at his big hands. “If I don’t have Wendy as a diversion, I’ll probably leave Colleen. So, if you want our family to stay together, leave it be.”
“But she knows!”
“She won’t say anything. She’ll tell me to the moon how to live my life and what I’m doing wrong, but when it comes to the serious stuff, she won’t say a word. Every time I’ve tried to talk to her about our marriage, she changes the subject. I gave up. Yeah, I’m doing bad. That’s all I have left. I’m actually kinda relieved she knows.”
Maddie’s shoulders sagged. She didn’t know how to deal with marital problems. She knew Colleen always avoided serious discussions like everyone in the family, so Bobby was probably right.
“I promise I’ll be more careful,” he said, plugging in the drill. “I didn’t expect you and Colleen to be standing over in that corner when Wendy left. I’ll find another place to meet her. That’s all I’m promising.”
Maddie walked out and stood in the yard. Avoid the whole ugly issue or confront it? She knocked on Colleen’s door, then let herself in when no one answered. The house was dim, lit only by the hallway light. Dozens of glittering troll eyes gave her the creeps.
“You mean I don’t have to take a bath tonight?” Q asked from the back.
“Not if you go right to bed.”
“What’s wrong, Mom? Are you on the sad meter now?”
“I’m fine. Now go to bed.”
“All right. G’night.”
When Colleen closed Q’s door a few minutes later, she looked surprised to see Maddie standing there. Her face was still pale, but her slanted eyes hardened. “What do you want?”
“To talk.”
“Well, I don’t want to talk to you.”
Colleen walked into her bedroom, also filled with
trolls, and Maddie followed, closing the door behind her. Colleen spun around. “This is my domain. I don’t have to be nice to you over here. And I want you to go.”
Maddie could see how hard she was holding onto her anger so she wouldn’t shatter. She remembered seeing that look during dinner a few nights before, when she’d had the urge to ask if she was all right. She hadn’t been all right. She sensed her marriage falling apart.
Maddie was tired of ignoring things. She was tired of fighting with her sister. And so she did something she couldn’t remember ever doing. She hugged her.
“Baby, what are you doing?” Colleen asked in a strained voice.
It felt strange, especially since Maddie only came up to Colleen’s chin. But she remembered how wonderful it had felt when Chase held her and wondered how long it had been since someone had held Colleen.
Colleen made a feeble attempt to push Maddie away. “Baby, stop it. This is silly. It’s…” Then Colleen put her arms around her and started crying. “I don’t want to lose him, but I don’t know how to make it better. Oh, God, it hurts, it hurts…”
Maddie just held on and let her cry. After a while, she led Colleen to the bed and let her keep crying as they sat together. When her tears subsided, Maddie slid off the bed and headed to the door.
“Maddie?”
She turned around, a soft smile on her face at Colleen’s use of her real name. “Yes?”
“Thanks.”
Maddie closed the door and found Q sitting outside his door looking lost. She led him to the dark living room.
“What’s wrong with Mom?” he asked.
“She’s a nine on the sad meter.”
“Is she mad at you?”
For once, Maddie could genuinely say, “No. Something sad happened to her today, and she needed to cry. She’ll be okay. But she could probably use a hug from you now and then.”
“Okay.”
He still looked worried as she led him back to his room. He whispered, “How about if I give her one now?”
When Maddie nodded, he quietly opened the door and crawled into bed with Colleen. She immediately pulled him into her arms, and Maddie left.
Chase had thought a lot about Maddie during the night. He hoped she wouldn’t catch too much hell. If he thought his presence would have helped, he’d have gone with her. Undoubtedly, that would have been a bad idea.
“Well, you’re pretty damned good at acting on those lately,” he muttered to himself.
He’d gotten up at dawn again and spent a few minutes on the deck looking out over the Gulf. It was still gray to the west. He saw the sailing memory again, and something new: a band of gold on his left hand. He stared at his hand searching for the telltale band of lighter skin. If the ring had slipped off when he was floating at sea, the sun would have tanned the line. But wouldn’t there still be a difference in skin tone?
Married. He’d been married once. Maybe still was. And he had absolutely no feelings about it.
The warehouse door screeched when he pushed it upward, and the sound brought Barnie out of his office home.
“Morning,” Chase said.
“Looks like she’s ready to be turned over.”
“I see a couple of spots that need some attention, but we should have those smoothed out by mid-morning.” We. Him and Maddie.
“Have to go over and set it up with Carol.”
“If she’s still talking to you.” Chase remembered how Carol wanted Barnie to fire him and how his absolute refusal touched him somehow. Hadn’t anyone ever stood up for him?
Barnie wheeled out of the warehouse. “Oh, she’ll talk to me. Just had to promise not to discuss my crushed nuts again. Sensitive woman, she is.”
With a chuckle, Chase went to work sanding the rough spots, though he caught himself looking up every so often. Maybe she’d gotten a tougher time than she imagined. Chase wasn’t sure what to expect. She’d crumbled when she walked into her house, but she’d faced him down even when he’d made her cry.
Which he couldn’t quite forgive himself for. Can you ever love me more than sailing? Tell me, Chase, are you capable of loving someone?
By ten, the crane was in position, and they maneuvered the hull off the form while Chase and the marina workers pushed it toward the side of the warehouse. Then they guided the hull onto the rack they’d put in place.
“Be careful!” a woman’s voice called out…Maddie’s voice. She wore pink overalls with a yellow shirt, and the colors made her skin look vibrant. “That thing could fall and crush you.”
Something inside him lifted at the sight of her. Then he realized he wasn’t paying attention to the hull hovering over him and took his attention off the waif standing in the sunshine with a worried look.
“Did they give you a hard time about going out on the boat?” Chase asked when the hull was in place and she’d come to his side.
“Colleen was mad, until she saw Bobby kissing Wendy, who was sneaking out of the workshop, and then we hugged, and she cried, and then Mom didn’t say anything, but she put all my angels back.”
Chase tried to make sense of that, but then he didn’t care, because she was there, and she looked at peace.
“I went to the house this morning,” she said. “By myself. I didn’t tell anyone, but I took some cleaning supplies and started on the floors.”
Had she sat on her bed and remembered making love to Wayne? He didn’t want to think about it. “And you’re all right?”
A shadow of melancholy passed over her face, but she lifted a shoulder. “I’m okay.”
“Thinking of moving back?”
“I’m not ready to think about that yet. I just couldn’t stand to see it dusty and stale.”
He wasn’t sure where his smile came from—pride at how far she’d come or just the fact that she was there—but when she smiled back, he had the insane urge to pick her up and twirl her around. Which then made him think of her body plastered against his while he did it. He turned to the boat. “Better get to work.”
Chase couldn’t sleep the next night. The air inside the cabin was stuffy, and a restlessness ran through his veins even though it was well after midnight. All day his thoughts had been heavy, like a thundercloud waiting to erupt.
First there was Maddie. He knew the best thing was not to spend time alone with her. She did things to him when they were alone, like opening his heart. And tempting him. So working on the boat until nearly eleven had been much safer than spending time with her.
While Barnie had napped, Chase worked alone and missed her. Even if neither of them had been in much of a talking mood, just her presence was enough. Every time he’d heard something, he looked up expecting to see her walking in with a big smile. The prospect of that had made his heart beat a little faster, then slow to nothing when the sound meant nothing.
If they’d spent time together, he might have kissed her again, like he wanted to do all day. Or he might have told her his suspicions, that he was possibly married. Which was a better idea, if for no reason other than to keep distance between them.
He was sure part of his heaviness was the fact that the boat was nearing completion. Which meant he was closer to leaving, to finding out who he was.
And to leaving Maddie.
He kicked the air conditioner unit down several degrees and dropped back onto the berth. A few minutes later he rolled onto his side and tried to push those thoughts from his mind. It was inevitable, that he’d have to leave her. They’d known that from the beginning. So why did it hurt now?
He eventually drifted into an uneasy sleep and dreamed of icebergs and silence and aloneness. But it wasn’t the kind of aloneness that he’d felt ever since leaving the ship and the only people he’d known at the time. He’d wanted to be alone then, had relished it. What about his wife, probably the woman who had asked him to love her? He’d obviously committed to her. Possibly had children with her.
He kicked off the sheets and shifted on the V-berth. Moonlight
spilled down through the hatch above him, but he was somewhere else: an outdoor restaurant with a roof made of palm fronds. People sat around the bar, and someone was telling a story.
He focused on the voice telling the story and realized it was his own. He was talking about a generator failing and having to eat all the perishable food within a few hours’ time. The woman sitting next to him made a remark about his penchant for rice with relish and hot sauce and his bare refrigerator.
The bartender brought over four shot glasses of amber liquid and a plate of lime wedges. Chase licked his lips as his dream or memory self-squeezed the lime into his mouth and tossed down the liquid.
“Hooh!” the woman beside him said, then leaned drunkenly against him.
She was a sexy blonde with long hair and high cheekbones, and he couldn’t help noticing the deep cleavage of her shirt, and then she was teasing him about that, and then her mouth was on his, her tongue thrusting inside.
Chase sat up in bed. He’d felt the tequila going down his throat, the tart lime, and the salty kiss of the woman beside him. But he hadn’t felt…involved. Maddie’s kiss stirred him a thousand times more than the sexy blonde’s.
He tried to bring the memory back to see if he wore the wedding ring, but it lingered at the edges of consciousness. It was her voice that haunted him. Can you ever love me more than sailing? Tell me, Chase, are you capable of loving someone? He rested his arms on his knees and stared at the shadows in the cabin. So, his life was returning.
He could almost taste the tequila as it curled through his system. Though he’d forgotten what it was like to drink, his body hadn’t. Maybe he was a weekend partier. But that didn’t jive with the guy who liked being alone in some godforsaken place with icebergs. Could he even trust these vague images?
And could he trust the feeling that he wasn’t going to like who this guy was?
Three days later, Maddie’s mom still hadn’t confronted her about going against her wishes. She was acting pretty much normal, except for the ever-present expression of betrayal. Maddie couldn’t quite make herself start that conversation either or correct her when she called her “Baby.”
Heavenly Stranger Page 14
