Now? Now he was thrown. Every hateful thing he’d ever thought about Maddie had flew out of his mind – and memory – the second he saw her. He’d hugged her out of instinct, and the way she’d melted into his arms caused a familiar longing to bubble back up.
Dammit! He was still in love with her. After ten years, after a multitude of nightmares and despondent tears, after … everything … he was still in love with her. He was a glutton for punishment. There could be no other explanation.
Maddie had seemed so … distant … when she approached him. She’d always been shy, but the woman standing in front of him the day before had seemed haunted more than anything else. He didn’t like it.
A flash of flaxen hair caught Nick’s attention out of the corner of his eye. He jerked his head, his heart skipping a beat when he recognized Maddie’s long blonde hair as it flopped in the wind. He knew it was her without hesitation. Her hair was in a ponytail, and her lithe body was in a pair of jogging shorts and a tight tank top – one of those ones with a bra built in, so his imagination didn’t have to wander too far – but he knew it was her without even giving it a second thought.
He didn’t care, Nick told himself. She hadn’t cared enough to keep in contact with him, and he certainly didn’t care about her return. She was nothing but an old friend. Despite himself, Nick found his pace increasing.
When he crested the hill that overlooked Willow Lake, he almost crashed into her. She was standing, her fingers pressed to her neck as she checked her pulse, and she was oblivious to his presence. Her sea-blue eyes widened as he zoomed into view. She pulled to the side to avoid the imminent collision, and the change in his trajectory caused him to lose his footing and topple to the side.
“Holy crap!”
“I … .” Nick looked up at her from the ground, rubbing his knee ruefully as he regarded her. “What are you doing?”
“What are you doing?”
“I was out for my morning run,” Nick said, fighting to catch his breath. He wanted to believe he was gasping because of his workout, but he knew that wasn’t entirely true. She’d knocked the air out of him, like she always did. “What are you doing?”
Maddie gestured to her tiny outfit. “The same thing you are.” She extended her hand to help him up.
Nick took the proffered hand begrudgingly, and when he was back on his feet, he looked her body over with the studied eyes of a trained police officer. She’d had a fantastic body as a teenager, but age had only done favorable things to it. Her legs were long and toned, her midriff tight. And her breasts? He’d give anything to see what was under that tank top. Anything.
“I didn’t know you liked to run,” Nick said after a beat.
“Well, I like to eat,” Maddie said. “That means I have to run.”
Nick pursed his lips. “I guess that makes sense.”
Maddie rubbed a hand over her forehead, brushing the accumulated sweat from her brow. Her face was devoid of makeup, and just like when she was a teenager, Nick couldn’t imagine anyone ever accumulating enough beauty to touch her.
“You look good, Nick.”
He was surprised by the compliment. “You look good, too.”
“So, um, how have you been?”
Nick snorted. “Really? That’s your opening line?”
“I’m not sure what you mean,” Maddie said, rubbing her hands over her midriff self-consciously.
“You know, Maddie, I’ve been imagining what I would say to you – if I ever saw you again, that is – for ten years now,” Nick said.
“And how is that going?”
“Not good,” Nick said. “I had a lot of mean things stored up where you were concerned.”
Maddie’s face fell. “I … .”
“No, it’s my turn now,” Nick said. “You just cut me out of your life, Maddie. You pretended I didn’t exist.”
“I got … I had a lot going on,” Maddie said lamely.
“We both had a lot going on, Mad,” he said, shortening her name like he’d so often done during their childhood. “I still managed to pick up a phone.”
“You don’t understand, Nicky,” Maddie said.
Nick’s heart rolled painfully when she used the nickname only she’d ever been allowed to utter. “What don’t I understand?”
“Life was always so easy for you,” Maddie said, her eyes flooding with tears. “Sure, we were both losers in elementary school, but when we got to middle school, everyone suddenly noticed you. I was just the geek you deigned to spend time with.
“Even in high school, I could see the way all those girls looked at me,” she continued. “You were the big stud on campus. You were the quarterback, and point guard, and … whatever it was you did on the track team. I was just the ugly girl at your side, and no one could understand why you were friends with me.”
Nick was incredulous. “Ugly?”
“You saw how they looked at me, Nicky,” Maddie charged on. “I was your … charity case.”
“I never felt that way,” Nick said, anger coursing through him.
“I know you didn’t,” Maddie said, softening. “It was different for me when I got away, though. I wasn’t the daughter of a single mother who had to walk around in used clothes anymore. I didn’t have people snickering behind my back. I wasn’t exactly popular at college, but I could hide there. No one noticed me, and I was happy not to be noticed. I wasn’t anyone’s charity case.”
Nick was having trouble believing no one at college had ever noticed her. “Really? No one noticed you?”
“Oh, sure, frat boys,” Maddie said, her tone dismissive. “They were always trying to get me into bed, but it was only because they’d nail anything with a pulse.”
Nick scowled. “Sleep with a lot of frat boys, did you?”
Maddie’s face was murderous. “No. I’m not into being used for sex and then dumped.”
Nick was at a loss. She either had no idea what she looked like, or she was putting on a show for his benefit. His battered heart decided it had to be the latter. “I don’t know what you want me to say, Mad. You seem to want to make me the villain in all of this. I was the one left behind.” He pounded his chest. “I was the one ignored. I was the one forgotten.”
“Nicky … .”
“Don’t,” he warned. “I can’t even look at you. You’re so not the person I thought you were.”
It took every effort he had, but Nick turned away from Maddie and her crumbling face. He jogged away without a second look. He was done here. He was so done.
Four
Maddie stopped outside Cuts & Curls, the local beauty parlor, and sucked in a breath. She never thought she’d be here again. She knew the local parlor was gossip central for Blackstone Bay, but she desperately needed a trim. Her hair was raggedy, and six months of neglect was making her feel self-conscious. Since the town only had one parlor, she had two options: Suck it up, or drive forty miles out of her way. She was tired of running from this town – and its denizens.
When she entered Cuts & Curls, she wasn’t surprised to see the same fading wallpaper and vinyl chairs. There’s comfort in simplicity, and Cuts & Curls wasn’t trying to be fancy.
Maddie walked up to the front counter, refusing to scan the various women in the shop (even though she could feel their eyes boring into her), and waited. Finally, a woman with flame-red hair piled on top of her head – messy curls spilling out in every direction – bounced up to the counter. “Can I help you?”
“Um, yeah, I just need a trim,” Maddie said. “I don’t have an appointment, but I’m willing to wait. It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. I don’t need a wash or anything.”
The woman across the counter studied Maddie for a moment, and then her face broke into a wide grin. “Maddie Graves?”
Maddie faltered. “Yeah.”
“It’s me,” the woman said, patting her ample chest. “Christy Ford.”
Memories swirled in Maddie’s head. Christy Ford? The only Christ
y Ford she could remember had been a rotund girl with a bright smile and an infectious laugh. Maddie didn’t have a lot of friends in high school, Nick notwithstanding, but Christy had been an ally in a sea of mean girls. “Christy?” Maddie studied her more intently. The girl she remembered had been blessed with a round face, emerald green eyes, and bland brown hair. The brown hair was gone, and the round face had narrowed some, but the green eyes were still there.
“Holy crap, girl,” Christy said, bounding around the counter and enveloping Maddie in an invasive hug. “You look amazing!”
Maddie gasped for breath. “You do, too.”
“Oh, don’t lie,” Christy said, smiling. “I look like a big raspberry. You, though, you could be a model.”
Christy was always the first one to utter a compliment, even if it was completely untrue. “How have you been?”
“Good,” Christy said, gesturing to the open spot closest to the front counter. “Come on. I can give you a trim.”
Maddie settled in the chair, letting Christy cover her with a frock without complaint or further comment. Christy studied her hair for a few minutes, poking at her roots and then focusing on Maddie’s face in the mirror. “Is this your natural color?”
Maddie nodded. “I know it’s kind of … flat.”
“Flat? Girl, people would kill for this color. It’s amazing,” Christy said. She reached for the bottle of water on the counter and started spraying. “Do you want any length off?”
“Not really,” Maddie said. She’d never really focused on her hair. People noticed it, so she figured it was one of her few attractive attributes. “Just cut an inch or so off the ends.”
“The form is good,” Christy said, running her hands down Maddie’s head. “The natural highlights are gorgeous. The ends are kind of split, though.”
“I haven’t had it cut in six months,” Maddie admitted.
“I’ll have it looking great in fifteen minutes,” Christy said, reaching for a pair of scissors. “So, what are you doing back in town?”
“I’m taking over my mom’s store.”
Christy faltered. “I was really sorry to hear about Olivia,” she said. “I always liked her. She read my cards once a month. She always told me great things.”
Maddie’s mom told everyone great things. If she saw any hardship in the cards, which she was capable of doing (that was part of the “peculiarity”), she always left it out. People don’t want to hear bad things. That’s what she’d always told Maddie anyway.
“She was a good woman,” Maddie said, fighting to keep her voice even.
“She was,” Christy said, happily snipping at the ends of Maddie’s hair. “So, have you seen Nick?”
Maddie shifted uncomfortably. “Yeah. Why?”
“I just always thought you two were a couple,” Christy said. “It didn’t occur to me that you weren’t until you left him high and dry and went to college.”
“That’s not really what happened,” Maddie mumbled.
“It’s none of my business,” Christy said. “So, how does it feel to be back?”
“Weird,” Maddie admitted. “Nothing has changed, and yet it feels like everything has changed.”
“Because of your mom?” Christy was sage. Maddie had forgotten that. She had a natural ability to read people.
“I miss her.”
“Of course you do,” Christy said, her eyes narrowing sympathetically. “She was the only family you had.”
“I have Granny.”
“You do have her,” Christy agreed, laughing. “She comes in once a month. She was suspicious for six months after I bought the place, but now she lets me set her hair without threatening to set my house on fire.”
“Oh, you bought the salon?” Maddie was surprised. “Granny never told me that.”
“Well, I always did love this place,” Christy said. “I never had wandering thoughts, so I never wanted to leave. When I decided what I wanted to do with my life, this was what I pictured. So I went to that beauticians’ school over in Traverse City, and then I came back here.
“I worked here for five years, and then when Louise wanted to retire, she agreed to sell it to me,” she continued. “I’ve been the owner for three years now. I love it.”
Maddie admired her. She knew what she wanted, and she’d gone after it. Her aims weren’t high. She knew what would make her happy, though. Maddie had never known what would make her happy. She’d followed the dream she thought she was supposed to, and been miserable the whole time.
“So, what are you doing for fun since you came back?” Christy asked, oblivious to the heavy thoughts plundering Maddie’s mind.
“Well, I had to pick Granny up after she rear-ended Harriet yesterday.”
Christy barked out a laugh. “I heard about that. It was quite the town gossip.”
“It certainly was.”
Maddie froze when she heard the voice. She recognized it … from her nightmares. “Marla Proctor,” Maddie said, keeping her voice even.
“Maddie Graves.” Marla’s face appeared in the mirror behind Christy.
She still looked the same, Maddie mused. Her dark hair was long, and flat. There was no “bounce” to it. There never had been. Marla’s features were narrow and pleasing – if you liked the “ferret” look. She’d been popular in high school, nabbing every boy she’d ever set her sights on – except for Nick. That had been the major bone of contention between Marla and Maddie, from their middle-school years onward. Nick Winters was the prize, and Marla just couldn’t claim him.
“How are you?” Maddie asked, refusing to lower herself to a dirty argument.
“I’m great,” Marla said. “Well, I was great until I heard you came back to town.”
“Marla, I won’t take any of your nonsense,” Christy warned. “Maddie is a paying customer here.”
“I pay you every week when I come in,” Marla countered.
“And, as long as you don’t attack any of my other clients, you’re welcome,” Christy said. “That doesn’t mean I like you.”
Maddie stilled. She wasn’t the only person Marla had terrorized in high school. She’d almost forgotten. Christy had been another victim of the malicious guttersnipe.
“Now, Christy, you know I’ve apologized for any … misunderstandings … in high school,” Marla soothed.
“You call them misunderstandings,” Christy countered. “I remember the actual events.”
“But … .”
Christy raised the scissors in warning. “Don’t push me, Marla. I will ban you.”
“Oh, so you’re taking ‘Greasy Graves’ side?”
Maddie’s stomach twisted. That had been her slur in high school. Marla was one of those girls who got off on making others feel like dirt. Some things never change.
“Okay,” Christy said, her tone clipped. “You can leave now. You don’t have to pay your bill, but you’re done.”
Marla’s hands raised to her hair, her face mutinous. “I haven’t gotten my set yet. I have a date tonight.”
“You should have thought about that before you insulted Maddie,” Christy replied, nonplussed. “I told you the rules when I took this place over. It’s not my fault you can’t follow them.”
“You can’t do this,” Marla screeched. “I’m a paying customer.”
“You can be a paying customer in another town,” Christy said. “The money isn’t worth the hassle of putting up with you.”
“You listen to me, Christy Ford,” Marla said, waving a finger around haphazardly. “If you toss me out of this place, I’ll tell everyone to stop coming here.”
“Go ahead,” Christy said, not phased in the least. “I’ve been turning away people every week. Losing you and that little gaggle of harpies you run around with isn’t going to hurt me. In fact, it will probably make this place more popular.”
“You can’t do this!”
“I just did,” Christy said, her eyes focused on Maddie’s hair. “Get out.”
<
br /> Marla scanned the salon for sympathetic faces. Finding none, she mustered whatever dignity she could find, gathered her purse, and then flounced out of the salon. “You’ll be sorry.”
“Bye,” Christy said, not bothering to look up.
Once Marla left, the assembled women in the salon broke out into spontaneous applause. Maddie’s face was flushed when she met Christy’s eyes in the mirror. “You didn’t have to do that. I could’ve just left.”
“Oh, Maddie,” Christy said, running her hands down the sides of the blonde woman’s hair. “I’d much rather have you here than her. You just need to learn how to stand up for yourself. Marla Proctor is nothing more than a bully. She’s always been a bully, and she’ll always be a bully. There’s only one way to deal with a bully.”
“And what way is that?”
“You bully them right back,” Christy said, smiling. “Your hair is really beautiful.”
Maddie fought the urge to cry. “Thank you.”
Maddie caught a hint of movement out of the corner of her eye. She stiffened involuntarily when a woman – a young one with extraordinary brown waves and expressive green eyes – approached her nervously. She was wearing a smock, which meant she’d been there to witness the verbal sparring with Marla. Maddie was on edge.
“Hey, Cassidy,” Christy said, not breaking stride as she snipped the ends of Maddie’s hair. “Is something wrong?”
“No,” Cassidy replied, unsure.
Maddie wracked her brain. She didn’t remember anyone named Cassidy from high school. The woman looked to be about the same age as she and Christy. She braced herself for a verbal onslaught.
“Are you really Maddie Graves?”
Maddie met Christy’s eyes, confused. “Yes.”
“I’m Cassidy Dunham,” she said, extending her hand. “I just wanted to meet you. I never thought I would get to. I’m just really excited.” She smoothed the smock covering her clothes. “You’re a legend around here.”
Maddie looked to Christy for help. Christy took pity on her. “Cassidy has been in town for about two years now,” she said.
“I’m a school teacher,” Cassidy supplied helpfully.
Grave Homecoming (A Maddie Graves Mystery Book 1) Page 3
