13. Maddie
13
MADDIE
Naomi was in the back of the Depot getting a bag of flour to make waffle cones when Maddie found her. “Hey, got a minute?” Maddie asked, unexpectedly nervous.
It wasn’t like Naomi was her boss. When Pops had first pitched the idea of the Depot to them, they’d agreed that they would run it like co-owners. Maddie had gone to school for marketing, so it fell to her to do more of the administrative and marketing parts of the business while Naomi did more of the day-to-day operations.
But since Naomi was her older sister, there was always that feeling there that, somehow, Naomi was in charge.
“Sure.” Naomi set the flour down, then brushed her hands on her apron. “What’s up?”
“I need to take off this afternoon.” Maddie crossed her arms. “It’s for the business.”
Naomi gave her a curious look. “You know you don’t have to ask me about that.”
A guilty feeling went through her. “I just wanted to let you know.”
Naomi smiled as she tied her light blond hair back with an elastic hairband. “As long as you’ve got Lars covering you, I’m good. But thanks for telling me.”
Maddie nodded, then moved to go back to the front.
“Out of curiosity, where are you heading?”
The part of her that wanted to tell Naomi all about Brooks burned a hole through her gut. Naomi was her best friend. She was only a year older than Maddie and closer in age to her than Lindsay, so they’d always done everything together, including the Depot.
Not breathing a word about Brooks was killing her.
Especially after he was acting so human last night.
So nice, really.
Until she’d killed it by calling him sad and lonely and pointing out she was only there per their arrangement.
She’d long had a habit of not knowing when to shut up, and it had bitten her in the ass last night. Clearly, Brooks was lonely—why else would he call her up randomly like that?
Maybe as a flex.
But, no, he’d opened up. Told her personal things she got the feeling he didn’t share often.
Naomi must have read the tension on her face because her brows furrowed, and she stepped closer to Maddie. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired. Overwhelmed. Trying to find someone to play for the town fair. I think I’m close, but I just have a little extra work to do to make sure it happens.” That was practically the truth.
“I still want to punch Josh in the face for doing what he did. Did you hear he and Gina registered as a team for the Applepalooza this weekend? They’re signed up for every event.”
Maddie groaned. She’d nearly forgotten that was this weekend. Brandywood loved its fall events, and Applepalooza was one of the bigger ones besides the fair.
Her stomach clenched when she remembered that she and Josh had signed up a month ago for everything. He must have crossed out their names from the sign-up board in the middle of the town square.
“Guess I won’t be going,” she said with a nonchalant shrug. Well, as much as she could muster.
“Don’t do that. Don’t let him push you out of things you’ve always loved doing. Just find someone else to partner up with. There’s no way he’s going to win things anyway. Pops and Bunny, or Jen and Jason will win the apple pie contest again. That’s a given. And I think Pops has a good chance at cutest couple again, too.”
Maddie sighed. “Who am I going to sign up with? Jake? Logan?” She gave Naomi a tired smile. “Brandywood’s contests don’t favor the single.”
Naomi shrugged. “It doesn’t have to be someone you’re dating. You could ask one of your girlfriends, too. Maybe Amanda?”
“Nah, she doesn’t like to compete against Jason in anything.” Maddie wrinkled her nose. She’d become good friends with Jason Cavanaugh’s ex-wife a few years ago through a book club they were both in. She had to hand it to Amanda—she and Jason did an amazing job co-parenting their son together. But Maddie was certain that part of the reason it worked so well was that Amanda did her best to avoid any situation that could be tricky, like a competition.
“Well, do some of the solo events. Like the singing competition. You usually do pretty well in that one.”
“Maybe.” The thought of seeing Josh gave her anxiety. But she could at least sing better than Gina, right? Josh had told her he loved her singing, and their shared love of music brought them together.
Maybe if Josh hears you singing, you can at least show him what he walked out on.
She drew in a breath and shrugged. “We’ll see. Anyway, I better get moving. Let me know if you need anything at all.”
Naomi smiled. “Yeah, yeah. Go. I’m not your boss.”
Maddie removed her apron and hung it on a locker. She didn’t have time to change before heading out to Brooks’s place.
Hopefully, he’ll be dressed when I get there this time.
She hurried to the back employee parking lot and got in her car. Taking out her phone, she looked for a playlist to download for the drive before she left the comfort of Wi-Fi, then paused, her thumb hovering over the search bar.
Brooks’s face, those soulful eyes, flashed in her mind.
“Wildfire” was her favorite of his songs. She typed it in.
The cover art, featuring a younger version of Brooks, filled her phone screen, and her heart lurched.
The man really was hot.
Hot. Rich. Yet miserable.
Turns out money and fame couldn’t buy friendship.
The sound of a piano filled her car as she drove. She knew he played that instrument in addition to the guitar—was this him playing, too?
As his deep voice started on the first verse, she slid deeper into her seat, relaxing back. Whoever he was now, young Brooks had been soulful. She’d cried to this song more than once. Maybe even made love to it—a slightly awkward thought.
“. . . love is the flood she drowned in . . . washing me away. Taking all my feeling, until I couldn’t stay. You want me to give, but there’s nothing left . . . lost in the water . . . and molded by the flame . . .”
The words were sad. Haunting.
Like he’d written them from something deeply personal.
Maybe listening to his songs would give her a better insight into who he really was.
She gripped the steering wheel harder.
“What difference does it make?” She flicked her gaze at the rearview mirror. Brooks was here for the week, but then he’d leave, and she’d never see him again.
Except, hopefully, for the concert.
That he’d asked her to come out to his place again today was only because he wanted to waste her time like he’d done last night. Because he could. Not because he really wanted her around.
She shut the music off and drove in silence instead.
When she pulled up to the lake house fifteen minutes later, she was in an irrationally bad mood and feeling feisty. She slammed the car door, then practically stomped her way up to the front door. As she got closer, she heard a deep male voice call, “Come on in.”
“You’d better not be naked aga?—”
Maddie tumbled into the doorway and stopped short. Cormac stood a few feet away from the door, Audrey beside him. Heat flooded Maddie’s face. “I mean?—”
Cormac raised a brow at Maddie.
“You were naked?” Audrey stared at Cormac with big eyes.
Brooks rounded the corner, his face expressionless. “Audrey, you remember Miss Maddie, right? Why don’t we go grab a popsicle?” He grabbed his niece by the shoulders and guided her away, leaving Cormac and Maddie alone in the foyer.
Maddie pushed her hair behind her ears. “It’s not what it sounds like,” she blurted.
A smile played on Cormac’s lips. “It’s none of my business. What you and Brooks do is between you and Brooks.”
“Cormac, seriously.” She crossed her arms.
“Listen, it’s cool. He’s a good guy. I got the feeling after Sunday that you running into me at the butcher wasn’t entirely accidental. But I had the chance to catch up with Logan, and that was great.”
Brooks . . . a good guy?
She stepped closer. “Whatever it is you think you know, just imagine something else. And for God’s sake, don’t say anything to anyone about me being here. Especially not to someone in your family or my family.”
Cormac laughed. “How about I promise not to imagine anything at all? The not saying anything goes without saying. Brooks is weird about his privacy, not that I can fault him for it. I already swore I wouldn’t tell anyone he was here.”
She set her hands on her hips. “Then why did you invite Logan and me back the other night?”
Cormac offered her a wide smile. “First, honey, you invited yourself. And second, because I trust the Yardley clan. I didn’t think Brooks would mind so long as you all were cool about keeping it to yourselves.”
She cringed. Had she really invited herself on Sunday?
Maybe I did. And Cormac is too nice to tell me no.
“Isn’t your family wondering who you’re hanging out with this week?”
Cormac shrugged. “They know better than to bug me. Mom is afraid I won’t visit if they try to dig into my business too much.”
“Must be that stoic Irish side. My family would be like bloodhounds during a hunt.”
Footsteps approached again, and Audrey came running back with a red popsicle. Brooks was a few steps behind her. “Cormac, can we go to the playground now?”
“We should probably eat that in the kitchen, Audrey,” Brooks said with a worried glance at the rug near the door.
“Actually, I think Miss Maddie is going to take you today. I promised my dad I’d go to a family dinner tonight.” He winked at Audrey, then ruffled her hair. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back tonight. Probably past your bedtime, though.”
Wait, what? Brooks was putting her on babysitting duty? Why? Because she was a woman? Ire spilled through her.
Cormac pulled a key fob from his pocket and winked at Maddie. “Have fun.”
An awkward silence descended between Maddie and Brooks when Cormac shut the door behind him. Maddie tapped her foot, trying to figure out how to tell him to screw himself, when Audrey gave her a hopeful smile. “Can you take me to the playground with the big slide?”
“Um . . . maybe?” Maddie grinned at her, then set her hands on her knees and leaned down toward her. “Why don’t you go back to the kitchen to finish the popsicle while your uncle Brooks and I talk?”
Audrey hurried off, her curls bouncing as she ran.
Maddie straightened and glared at Brooks. “I’m not babysitting, Brooks. I don’t want to be responsible for a whole child who doesn’t know me.”
He gave her a mocking smile. “How about a half a child? I hear they’re so much easier.”
“Shut up. I’m serious.”
“I believe our arrangement was no questions asked.” He crossed his muscular arms, and she tried to ignore how good his forearms looked when he did that.
She sighed. “Yes, but I have an aversion to being put in a position of responsibility to children I’m not related to. Why can’t you and your sister take her?”
“Kayla’s back home. She had to go in to work yesterday, so I’m watching Audrey for the week.”
He was taking care of his niece for an entire week? Somehow, she didn’t picture Brooks as the child-friendly type. Still, she didn’t want to get off-topic with that. “But why don’t you take her to the park, then?”
“I wasn’t planning on sending you off on your own with her. But since my car is in the shop and you know where the playgrounds are, consider yourself my guide. Also, I want to go by that mechanic’s. He told me he closes at five, so I want to get there as close to closing as possible.”
She gawked at him. His guide? “Haven’t you ever heard of rental car companies and GPS?”
“Nope, never.” He smiled with perfectly white teeth. “But I have heard of a certain woman who owes me nine hours and ten minutes of her time.”
She stepped closer, pointing her finger at his chest, right in the center. “Eight hours and twenty minutes. I’m charging you driving time.”
His eyes narrowed. “Maybe you should keep a log.”
“Why, you don’t trust me?” God, he was so close that she could smell his aftershave. Tempted to inhale deeply, breathe in the masculine scent radiating from his skin, she held her ground and set her shoulders back.
“Nope.”
Maybe it was just her, but a current of electricity seemed to pulse between them, charging the atmosphere. Maddening prick.
Those sexy forearms were too close to ignore now. What would it be like to run her fingers against them, feel the soft dark hair, the tightly corded muscle underneath? Her gaze traveled to his throat, where she swore she could see his pulse beating as hard as her own heart sounded in her ears.
“We go now?” Audrey seemed to materialize beside them. Telltale red stained her lips, but how in the hell had she eaten the whole popsicle that fast?
Maddie stepped back. “Yup.” She took a step forward, then stopped. “Shoot, though. I don’t have a car seat.”
“Dammit.” Brooks swore in a low voice. “Kayla put it in Cormac’s car.”
“Why don’t we just call him? Ask him to bring it back here?”
“I’ll try.” Brooks slid his phone out of his pocket, then dialed.
He has surprisingly long lashes. She looked away. Any admiration—physical or not—on her part was foolish.
A moment later, Brooks shook his head and hung up. “Voicemail. I’ll shoot him a text in the meantime.”
“Can we gooooo?” Audrey asked, clearly not understanding the situation.
“Is there anywhere close by that sells car seats?” Brooks asked.
“Yeah, there’s a Walmart about twenty minutes away. But I’m not taking her there without a seat.”
“I wasn’t asking you to. Kayla would kill me. Hell, I’d be mad at me.” Brooks pulled out his wallet and held out a credit card. “Could you go buy one for me and then come pick us up?”
She took the credit card from him, her palm slick. Why did this make her feel so nervous? “I really am your errand girl, aren’t I? Which one do you want?”
“Hang on, I’ll check the safety ratings on the ones they have in stock.” Brooks was on his phone again in an instant. He flicked his gaze over the edge at her. “Make yourself at home in the meantime.”
Safety ratings? Who the hell even are you, Brooks Kent?
And why was it ridiculously endearing?
Audrey watched Maddie with a frown. “Can I have mac and cheese?”
“From the store or from your fridge?” Maddie asked.
“Store. I don’t have any mac and cheese,” Brooks answered tonelessly without looking up.
“And hot dogs!” Audrey gave an exaggerated smile, then swiped her red mouth.
Maddie glanced at Brooks. “You want me to pick those up too?”
“You don’t need to. I have a chef coming at . . .” He nodded. “Yeah, all right. She’d probably prefer that to whatever the chef is making tonight.”
Maddie reached into her purse and took out a tissue, then held it out to Brooks. “You might want to use this on Audrey. Text me a list, and I’ll grab what you need while I’m out.”
His look was hesitant, and when his fingers brushed hers as he took the tissue, goosebumps rose on her skin. “All right.” His hand didn’t move, though. “Thank you, Madison.”
He has to stop calling me that.
She nodded wordlessly, then stepped back. “Just let me know. Whatever you need.” And before she could overthink anything else, she fled back to the safety offered with each footstep she took away from Brooks Kent.
Eight hours. I can make it to eight hours.
What Maddie couldn’t work out was why she had to do this in the first place when he was the one who crashed into her store. ..