“No, thanks. Actually, I was wondering if anyone knows where Maddie is?”
Derrick, Jenna, and Maddie’s mom shrugged, but Cat just stared into the fire.
Judging by the times Maddie mentioned her sister on the long car ride, they were close. “Can I speak to you in private?” Nick asked.
“Sure.” Nervously tucking her hair behind her ears, she got up and followed Nick to the driveway, where they stood out of earshot of the others.
“Tell me where she is.”
“Well, it’s nice to see you, too. How long’s it been? Ten years?”
“Congrats on your engagement. Where’s Maddie?”
“I don’t know.”
Nick paced, his loafers crunching on the gravel driveway. He ticked off items on his fingers. “I’ve checked the hospital parking lot, the rehab center, drove through downtown, and stopped at the park. I need to talk to her.”
Cat lowered her voice. “Look, I’m the only one who knows about the auction and the shares. I’m sorry if you have things to discuss with my sister. But if she doesn’t want to get found, I’m not ratting her out.”
Clearly stubbornness ran in the bloodlines of this family. But Kingston Shoes was no longer just a mismanaged company circling the toilet bowl. It was a family in crisis. Somehow, he’d managed to land smack dab in the middle.
“Please.” He was incapable of begging. This was as far as he could go.
Cat crossed her arms. “Why should I?”
Well, maybe he’d have to go a little further.
“She never told me about your father. I had no idea.”
“She didn’t want to tell you. She didn’t trust you enough to tell you.”
Her words stabbed like dagger pricks. Nick had grown up not trusting. He’d heard it over and over from his grandfather that trusting leads to getting screwed. Yet he always thought of himself as a person others could trust to be honest, work hard, and do the right thing.
The fact that Maddie didn’t, hurt him. A lot.
“You may not believe this, but I haven’t got a penchant for revenge up my sleeve. I am sorry about what happened to your dad.”
Cat sighed. “Honestly, I don’t know if you’re a friend or an enemy. But if you want to find her, you might try the dock.”
“Thanks.” That’s all Nick needed to take off at a jog down the sloping yard to where it ended in a wall of woods. It was fully dark now, and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to find the path he remembered that led to the lake.
The air still held its humid heaviness, but it was pleasant in that hot-summer-night kind of way, with bullfrogs blurping and crickets skreeing and the spilled-puddle Milky Way in full view above the treetops. It reminded him of being young and carefree but also brought into bitter contrast how much had changed. When was the last time he’d taken a few moments to enjoy nature? Or have someone to enjoy it with?
Instinct served him well because he found the path using his cell phone light, and a minute later parted his way through the brush to a clear view of the lake. Maddie sat on the far end of the dock, her knees bent up, head bent low and her arms encircled around her calves. A muffled sniff sounded over the frog melodies.
A sickening feeling swirled in his stomach. Any kind of crying made him feel helpless and vulnerable, two things he’d vowed never to be. When women cried, he usually ran far and away.
Nick should be thrilled that all this chaos made the company an easy target for a quick kill, but he knew he couldn’t bring himself to feel that way. Maddie needed a friend. With all his heart, he wanted to be that friend. Yet he’d run from her last year without so much as a word after Gramps had ended up in the hospital for a heart scare, managing to tell himself his loyalty to his grandfather was everything.
He was incapable of trusting anyone enough to let go all the way. He’d never had a long-term relationship. Some of that might have been his grandfather ranting for much of his childhood over his hurt of being cut out of the business. But maybe it went a lot deeper.
After his parents and sister died, he’d been afraid to love anyone for fear of suffering like that again. The business world was more predictable and a whole lot less emotionally risky. It made sense to him to thrust everything he had into becoming a success.
Trouble was, he had no idea how to do anything else.
He cleared his throat. “Maddie,” he said. His voice sounded stiff and raw and an octave too nervous.
Her head bobbed up like a buoy in a boat’s wake, and she quickly swiped her hands over her cheeks. She gave a half-hearted wave but kept facing the lake.
He walked along the old dock, feeling the slight bounce from his weight and the low rumble of his leather soles on the weathered old wood. The same mossy, fishy scent accosted him, stirring a fleet of old memories.
Everyone in Buckleberry grew up surrounded by Lake Watchacatchee. On weekends it was loaded with pontoon boats and families that headed out for a day cruising around and fishing and swimming. There were cabins to rent and a lodge and restaurant where people could eat overlooking the water.
The lake was tied to all the important moments in his life. Learning to swim. Endless summer picnics and barbecues. His first job at the lakefront restaurant. Necking with girls on the backroads near the marshlands. And almost making love to Maddie in an old canoe not far from this dock. They’d taken a picnic out and watched the sun set. The moon was full and the lake so calm it looked like black glass. She’d been young and inexperienced, and he’d made her come. He still remembered the look on her face as she let go for the first time—a beautiful prism of feelings, pleasure as the waves hit her and she rode them through, then shock and surprise. And so much more. Her eyes softened with feelings he couldn’t even name, and she’d reached for him, eager and willing to please him as well.
But he didn’t deserve her. She was too good, too loving, and he’d had no business doing that with her. The boy from across the tracks, shunned by the town and her family. Impossible. So he broke it off.
In the past, Nick had failed her in every way possible. But by God, he wanted to help her now.
He didn’t say a word, just lowered himself next to Maddie. To his surprise, she clutched a fishing pole. She’d tied her hair back in a ponytail, reminding him of the vulnerable girl she once was. They’d sat on this dock before, dreaming of the future, making plans for college and the big lives they’d lead.
“Catch anything?” he asked.
“Not yet.” Her tone was quiet and a little optimistic, like it was the most normal thing in the world to be dangling a fishing pole off the dock after dark on a starry July night.
He nodded and leaned back on his hands. The dock was still pleasantly warm from the sun beating down all day, and he had a sudden urge to sprawl his tired body out and just lie there and stare up at the stars. And then drag Maddie down with him. Plant deep, thorough kisses on her soft lips and her neck, slide his hands from the smooth skin of her waist up under her shirt, and take both of them to that dangerous edge where all these problems did not exist.
“Have you ever caught anything out here?” He squinted across the quiet surface of the lake.
“Haven’t caught anything for years.”
“So why the sudden interest in fishing?” He recalled her fear of impaling worms and minnows. She’d never had the heart.
Maddie looked at him. In the moonlight, drying streaks tracked down her cheeks. Something deep inside his guts snapped like an old guitar string. He felt helpless. All he could do was stare back into those big, worried eyes.
Reason and sense fought with an overpowering urge to tug her into his arms and make it all better. He was inches away from her, close enough to smell her clean, citrusy scent and see the twinkle of imitation diamond studs in her ears.
He fought against the tide of emotion like a man buried under a wall of water, clutching his way to the surface. He didn’t want feelings to get in the way of this weekend. He didn’t want to cloud his h
ead when he had to make tough choices that impacted so many people. That affected his grandfather, his partner, Maddie, and her family.
On impulse, Nick reached for her, but just then the fishing line lurched. Maddie grabbed for the pole, which bumped and rattled down the dock. Nick sat up and caught it just before it was dragged off the dock. The pole bent, the line pulling it down in big, impressive tugs.
“What kind of bait did you use?” Nick asked incredulously. They were standing now, all their attention on the commotion in the water.
“I-I wasn’t even fishing. I just grabbed the pole. I think one of the boys left it down here before dinner.”
Nick couldn’t help smiling. Just like her to not want to show any weakness. He handed her the pole. “Nothing to do but reel it in.”
Maddie stood up and pulled up on the pole. She cranked until something shot out of the water—a little something, about eight inches long, flashing silver in the moonlight.
“Oh my God, it’s a fish!”
Nick laughed. “Maybe you shouldn’t go fishing if you don’t like the consequences.”
“It’s so little. The way the line was pulling, I expected…”
“What? Shamu?” Nick reached out and grabbed the line. Flipping and flopping on the end was a small but flashy fish, its silver scales glinting in the moonlight. “It’s a sunfish.” He flashed his light on the flailing creature. “The red-breasted kind.”
Maddie did a weird little dance around the dock, prancing about and flapping her hands. “Put the poor thing back, Nick. Please.”
“Don’t freak out. It’s just a little fish.” Her usual tough demeanor had all but crumbled. This was one hundred percent girlie behavior, and if she weren’t so earnest, he’d burst out laughing.
“I don’t want to kill him.” Her eyes pleaded, so he grabbed hold of the fish. The hook protruded from its jaw. Its gills were heaving and its mouth gasping and its big eye was looking at him in what he imagined was distress. Maddie turned away and covered her face with her hands. “I can’t look. Tell me when it’s over.”
Nick twisted the hook out as gently as he could. “Sure you don’t want to fry him up for breakfast?” He bit back a smile.
“Let. It. Go.”
“All right then. If you’re sure.” Nick tossed it back into the water where it hit with a satisfied plop.
Maddie exhaled loudly. Nick roared with laughter. “You come across as being so tough, but here’s a little eight-inch fish doing you in.”
“I’m not tough.” She stood there on the dock with her arms crossed, looking mock-offended, the moonlight shining off the highlights in her hair and giving her a fairy tale cast. He fought the overwhelming urge to kiss her. “At least not as tough as you,” she said. “You definitely don’t strike me as a catch-and-release kind of guy.”
So, she perceived him a grab-and-never-let-go kind? “Why is that?”
“Oh, just that you’ve built an empire grabbing on to opportunities one at a time.”
“You make me sound greedy. Maybe I’m just ambitious.”
“I’m sure that sometimes that’s a very blurred distinction.”
“Yeah, but sometimes you’ve got to let the little ones go.” Nick stepped closer and fingered an errant curl. “And you are tough, but maybe it’s okay to show people you’re vulnerable once in a while.”
“I can’t afford to do that.”
“You can with me.” He took a deep breath and plunged. “I know about your dad.”
Her face twisted up, a patchwork of pain and misery.
In one movement, he dropped the pole and pulled her to him. She tensed in his arms, but he tightened his hold, wrapped his arms full around her and tucked her head under his chin until at last she relaxed a bit. God, he loved the way she smelled, fruity and fresh and she was just so damn pretty. He wanted to let loose and plow his hands through those soft luscious curls, pull her head back and drag his lips to hers, use his body to comfort and possess her and make her forget every last blessed pain. Replace all logical thought with hot, pure sex.
They’d used sex instead of communication in the past, and it had turned out disastrously. For once he needed to think of what she needed. And right now that was a friend.
She was still trigger-ready tense, every muscle cocked and loaded like a slingshot ready to fly. “I visited my dad tonight. He’s still so weak. I expected him to be like I always knew him—just—Dad. But he’s not. Everything’s different.”
“It’s okay to be afraid.”
She pulled back a little and looked at him. “I shouldn’t have told you that. I’m fine and I—I’ve got to go. Thanks for saving the fish.” She slipped out of his arms and ran up the dock.
“Maddie, wait!”
For the first time he wondered if the company was worth the price both their families had paid. If only it were as easy to toss out the past as it was to throw that fish back into the water. But when their grandfathers parted ways, they left behind a disaster zone of twisted feelings, a train wreck of anger and bitterness.
How to ever rebuild, start anew? Would it ever be possible if he followed through with his plan to install Gramps as new head of a new company?
Nick caught up to her just outside the strip of woods. He didn’t bother asking why she didn’t tell him the truth. A company without a head was an easy target for takeover. Plus she had no reason to trust him. He stopped her with his words.
“Have you told him what’s happening to the company?” The sinking feeling he had in his stomach already told him the answer.
Maddie spun to face him. “Dad needs to focus everything on his recovery. It would kill him to know the company is going under. Just kill him.”
“Nothing you do can stop what’s already happened. The company’s been in trouble for a long time. He deserves to know.”
Guilt pricked at him. Didn’t she deserve to know he owned the majority of shares in Kingston Shoes? But how could he tell her now?
Her eyes flashed with grim determination. “I know I can turn it around. I’m going back to the drawing board about product and design. I can make a difference.” She squeezed her eyes shut as if debating whether or not to say more. “I know you don’t see how important this is, but Kingston Shoes is seventy years old. That name is my family’s legacy. I have to find a way to save it.”
Her chin tilted up at a resolute angle. Every instinct warned him not to let her get to him. She was too proud to beg but Nick understood what she wanted. So he chose his words carefully. “I can tour the company and give you my best assessment on the options, if you want.”
“You’re not going to dismantle us?”
Oh, hell. Of course he wasn’t. But he couldn’t give up on helping his grandfather. So exactly what was he promising her? He wasn’t sure.
Hairs pricked on the back of Nick’s neck. Seconds ticked as he weighed his options, bad and worse. Finally he answered. “No, I’m not going to dismantle the company.”
She jumped up and kissed him on the cheek. Just a peck. She was grateful and relieved and that made him inexplicably happy.
He held her lightly at the waist, and every instinct made him want to tighten his hold, but he made himself pull away.
“Thank you.” She paused. “I still don’t understand why you want the company so badly. If it’s to make up for how your grandfather was treated years ago, maybe I can arrange some recompense…”
“It’s not about money, Maddie. My grandfather got stuck spending his life managing a chain of poorly performing shoe stores and raising me. I saw an opportunity to give him the chance he never got.”
“So exactly what is it you want?”
“My grandfather had big dreams that he couldn’t achieve because he had to raise me. I’m in a position to help him achieve those dreams.”
“So you want us to give him a job?”
Nick shrugged. He wasn’t about to tell her the job he was planning just happened to be that of CEO. “I’ll
know more after my analysis.”
She searched his face before answering. “Okay. I accept your word.”
“Great.” They’d finally agreed on something. But still he felt he owed her more. “Maddie, I’m sorry about last night, in the camper.”
She frowned. “Sorry about what?”
“About, you know. Almost having sex.”
She let that settle before answering. “Oh.”
“What I’m saying is, I want us to be friends.”
Her brows lifted in surprise. “You want us to be friends?”
Maybe he’d just tossed his common sense in the water with that fish. “Yeah. Seems like you need one about now. You okay with that?”
“Um, yeah. Sure. Thanks.”
He guided her through the bramble with a light touch on her back but otherwise kept his hands to himself.
Friends. It was the right thing to do. He’d use his contacts and influence however he could to help her and her family while keeping his grandfather’s interests at heart. Keep it casual and businesslike and his emotions out of it, because he wasn’t capable of offering her anything more.
Chapter Ten
“It’s a perfect day for the festival,” Maddie said as Nick left the house with her the next morning. She carried one of her mother’s famous mixed berry pies and handed Nick the other. Maddie had promised to deliver them to Ophelia Gorsky, the town librarian and one of her mother’s oldest friends, who also happened to be supervising the pie contest.
“Let’s not discuss business today,” Maddie said. “Call a truce. Just enjoy the festival.”
“There’ll be plenty of time for business tomorrow,” Nick said, eyeing her from the side. She wore a red tank top that showed off her nice rack and a jean skirt that showed off her great legs. Tiny American flags dangled from her ears. To anyone else on the street she probably looked apple-pie fresh and clean, but to Nick she looked downright dangerous. She had no idea how badly he wanted to ditch the pies and the festival and drag her off caveman-style to somewhere quiet and private.
“Oh, I almost forgot.” She shifted the pie and pulled something narrow and flat out of her skirt pocket. “Hold out your wrist.”
Heart and Sole Page 9
