18. Maddie
18
MADDIE
The soft click of a door opening roused Maddie, and she blinked in the darkness, disoriented. A curtain opened, and she squinted one eye, then sat, recognizing Brooks’s sister by the window.
Oh crap, I slept here.
Kayla stared at her, consternation on her face, then her gaze traveled to the little sleeping form beside Maddie. She held Maddie’s gaze again as she crossed toward the bed. “Is she okay?” Kayla whispered with all the worry of a mother who’d just probably driven freaking herself out about the safety of her little girl.
Maddie nodded, swallowing hard. This whole situation was so bad, but hopefully, Kayla wouldn’t be angry with her for snuggling with Audrey during the night. “She woke up with night terrors, I think. But Brooks was?—”
“Yeah, I know. Cormac called me,” Kayla answered, then bit her lip as Audrey shifted. She stepped away from the bed. “I don’t want to wake her up.”
Maddie took the cue to get up quietly. She went out of the room before Kayla, tugging her hair out of the elastic she’d slept in and shaking it out.
I can’t believe I slept here.
But what else could she have done? Brooks had been so drunk and sick. And Audrey had needed someone.
Brooks had needed someone, for that matter.
She sat on the couch, uncomfortable and unusually tired.
A few moments later, Kayla joined her in the living room. She sat beside Maddie and grabbed her hand. “I don’t know how to thank you enough for being here,” Kayla said earnestly. A flicker of annoyance filled her face, and she shook her head. “I’m so mad at Brooks right now I can hardly think straight, but I really owe you, Maddie. Thank you.”
“It’s not a big deal.”
Kayla raised a brow. “It’s a huge deal, actually. Audrey is my whole life. And that stupid man in the bathroom in there is the rest of it, but right now, he’s on my shit list.” Kayla released Maddie’s hand, frustration on her face. “Do you have any idea what set him off?”
Oh great. This wasn’t going to make Kayla like her.
Maddie cleared her throat, then ran her fingers through the tangles in her hair. “Uh, yeah, actually, I think it’s sort of my fault.”
Kayla stared at her in confusion. “How’s that?”
She’d already admitted the truth to a few people. What was one more person?
Yeah, because telling Naomi went so well.
“Did Brooks tell you he crashed into my store Sunday morning?” Maddie asked cautiously.
Kayla’s eyes widened. “Crashed? What? No. He didn’t say anything. What happened?”
Dammit. She really didn’t want to interfere with Kayla and Brooks, either.
Maddie combed her fingers back into a ponytail and tied it up again. She’d already said too much to backtrack now. “Brooks drove his car through my store window as he tried to dodge a deer. I live above the store, so I heard it, and uh, we ended up making a deal to handle the situation quietly.”
Did she dare mention that she’d blackmailed him? Funny how it sounded so much worse to admit to someone who cared about him. If some random woman blackmailed either of her brothers, especially if they were rich and vulnerable to blackmail, Maddie would probably hate that woman.
Kayla gave her a hard stare as though she was already questioning Maddie’s character. “What sort of deal? If he pays for the damage, what difference does it make if it’s quiet or not?”
Maddie’s face flushed. “I didn’t know Brooks, Kayla. I’m sorry. I just assumed he was all these awful things that the tabloids seem to push, and I threatened to tell the press unless he played at the town fair for us in a few weeks. But I’m going to tell him never mind.”
She said that last part without even thinking it through.
Yet it was the right thing to do, wasn’t it?
How could she continue to blackmail him for a concert? She’d known the blackmail was wrong the whole time, but now?
The air was rife with tense silence.
Kayla didn’t look at her.
“What changed your mind about blackmailing my brother?”
Ouch. It really sounded terrible.
What sort of person does that make me?
“To begin with, I’m realizing how much I hate myself for doing it,” Maddie said, a lump in her throat. She needed a sip of water or something. “But also because Brooks has another side to him. He’s . . . just really got a tough exterior. But he adores Audrey. And I think I was wrong about him.”
Kayla rubbed her eyes, not saying anything about what she thought of Maddie now. “But why would you blackmailing him make him drink? He’s been blackmailed before. And Cormac said he thought you two were sleeping together. Brooks has had you over every day this week.”
Maddie shifted in her seat, her knee bouncing. “We’re not sleeping together. Brooks demanded ten hours of my time in our deal, and that’s why I’ve been by. Mostly just running errands for him.”
Kayla gave her a look of disbelief. “Cormac said you had dinner the other day.”
Cormac has a big mouth. That wasn’t entirely fair, though. She imagined Kayla probably had a thousand questions for him when he’d called about Brooks.
Maddie twisted the hem of her sweatshirt in her hands. “I did. And we got to talking afterward, and Brooks told me about your parents and how they died,” Maddie admitted in a low voice. “I was supposed to come by yesterday, but I couldn’t, and when I didn’t show up, I think it must have triggered him somehow. Like he’d shared too much with someone he shouldn’t have. Maybe it even scared him.”
“He told you about my parents?” Kayla searched her face. Then added, “About Dad?”
Maddie nodded.
Letting a slow puff out from her cheeks, Kayla stood abruptly. “I need coffee. You want some?”
Coffee sounded magical right about now.
Maddie followed her into the kitchen.
Kayla pulled two mugs down from the cabinet. “I can’t believe he told you about Dad.” She didn’t meet Maddie’s eyes as she started the coffee. “He never talks about him. Ever. And definitely not about his death.”
That made Maddie’s failure to appear the day before somehow worse. She turned on the sink, splashing some water on her hot face. Grabbing a paper towel, she dried off. “I don’t know why he did?—”
“He clearly trusts you, that’s why.” Kayla turned on the coffee machine. “Which is ironic, considering you blackmailed him. But yes, I can see why that would set him off. Not that it’s any excuse. I’m still furious with him.”
Kayla settled her weight on her hands, leaning forward on the counter. “To be honest, it’s you I have my questions about. I like your brother; he’s really sweet. I figured you were the same way. But I didn’t expect to hear that you were blackmailing Brooks. That’s . . . disappointing.”
Hard to hear, but not undeserved, either.
“Except that you also told me about it. And you came over and took care of my daughter last night. And Brooks obviously sees something in you he likes. Telling you about our parents is monumental, Maddie. Like . . . I’m not sure he’s ever told anyone about Dad.”
“I get it, I really do.” Maddie rested her weight against the counter. “It was a stupid idea to blackmail Brooks—I just . . .” She sucked in a deep breath.
“My ex-boyfriend, who basically cheated on me, has a cousin in the band River House, and I got them to play for the town fair next month. Except River House pulled out and is playing another night when my ex’s new girlfriend’s family is sponsoring the main concert stage. I needed a band. And who should come crashing into my store but Brooks? I don’t know. It felt like fate in a way.” Maddie cringed at the silliness of it. “But it was stupid. And Brooks doesn’t deserve that. He’s sweet, and this wounded soul that makes me want to hug him, and I’m so, so sorry.”
“He’s an ass,” Kayla said with a smirk. She grabbed a bottle of half-and-half from the fridge, setting it on the counter. “But he has a sweet side, yes. I’m shocked he let you see it. He was an incredible big brother growing up—he still is—and he’s an amazing uncle. You know he raised me, right?”
“Yeah, he said your mom died when he was eighteen.”
“She did, but that’s not what I meant. He raised me. Like almost entirely by himself.” The coffee pot beeped, and Kayla pulled it out, then brought it toward them.
“After my dad died, my mom had to work a lot to keep us afloat. I never met my dad. The only dad I had was Brooks. He changed my diapers and took me to the playground. He got to school late every day because he insisted on walking me. Packed my lunch, too. Studied with me. Most girls go to their moms when they get their first periods, but I went to Brooks. Mom had already died. He did everything, Maddie. He raised me.”
A deep, cavernous ache went through Maddie’s heart.
My God.
She couldn’t even imagine.
And she’d made some flippant comment about her wonderful family the other night.
What a privileged little brat you are.
“Why would your mom let him do so much? He had to have been a kid himself when you were little.”
Kayla poured her coffee, then handed it to Maddie. “He was. But he grew up fast. Dad’s death really sent Mom into a downward spiral. She was always sad, depressed, I think. We didn’t have any extended family—both my parents were only children—and the only grandmother I knew died a few years after Mom. So Brooks didn’t really have a choice. It was that or leave the state to handle me.”
No wonder Brooks is the way he is.
He hadn’t come from a life of love or happiness.
How in the world had he survived? Gotten so far?
That, by itself, was a testament to something great inside him. Determination. Grit.
Maddie’s hands shook as she poured her own coffee.
I’ve been so wrong about him.
She set the coffee pot on the counter, as the warm scent was almost sickening her. “Thank you for telling me,” Maddie said softly, tears stinging her eyes.
Kayla’s face pinched, and she sipped her coffee, looking away. “He’s a jerk to the rest of the world a lot, except when he’s on stage. That’s probably where Brooks is most himself, and that’s why people fell in love with him there. Where they can see the person I’ve always seen and love. But it sounds like he let you in, too, Maddie. Just . . . don’t take advantage of that, please.”
Wow.
Maddie’s head spun. “I won’t,” she promised.
Somehow, she was sure she meant it, too.