25. Maddie
25
MADDIE
Maddie glanced up from her laptop as her younger brother, Jake, slid into the seat opposite her at her favorite booth at Yardley’s Pub. She’d come here for lunch and to get some work done—and because things still weren’t any better with Naomi.
Their relationship had survived plenty of trials before—it was the nature of sisterhood—but Maddie wasn’t sure if she’d ever seen Naomi hold on to hurt like this before. Normally, they were back to normal after twelve hours. Max.
Maddie broke her thoughts away from Naomi and caught Jake’s stare as he drummed his fingers against the tabletop. “So you skipped family pizza night last night,” he said at last. “Could it be because of a certain rumor I heard about a certain rock star who’s hanging out with a certain sister of mine?”
“I can neither confirm nor deny the rumors,” Maddie said, taking a break from the keyboard to grab a fry. She wasn’t about to tell Jake she’d spent the night in her apartment, in bed, trying to process the past week. Then she cringed. “Mom wasn’t mad that I skipped, was she?”
“No, but I was. Why the hell didn’t you bring Brooks Kent to meet us? That’s not cool, big sis.” Jake crossed his arms, his blue eyes narrowing to match his mock scowl.
That he wanted to meet Brooks was a good sign that Pops, Lindsay, and Naomi had probably kept their word not to say anything about the car accident. Maddie dipped a fry into some crab dip.
“Look, Jake, I love our family, but they’re kind of a lot for anyone to meet, let alone a guy who’s shy and insanely private.”
“Brooks Kent shy? Come on, Mad. Then why did Logan get to meet him?”
Maddie looked over her shoulder to where Logan was behind the bar. In a similar way to how she and Naomi ran the Depot, Logan and Lindsay ran the pub. Jake did a lot of administrative work for her grandfather’s brand and floated between the two locations.
Logan caught her eye and waved. Maddie made a face and turned back to Jake. “Cormac’s the one who invited us over. Take it up with him.”
“No, because according to the whole town, Brooks Kent seems to have taken a particular interest in you. ”
Maddie’s fingers fumbled as she reached for another fry, hoping that Fred hadn’t told too many people about that kiss.
She didn’t want to think about the way that thought made her heart skip a beat.
She gave a patient smile to humor him. “Well, they’re wrong. Brooks is leaving in a couple of days.” Back to a life that doesn’t have room for a small-town girl from the middle of nowhere.
He had a lot going on. Some of which, if she was honest, scared her.
Quite a lot of what had been printed in the media about him was extremely unflattering. And while she’d scratched the surface of some of those claims, only to find out that they weren’t entirely true, it worried her.
And he’d gone back on doing that concert without batting an eyelash. The past few days were reduced to a simple business transaction—not that she could argue. She had broken her side of the deal. I just didn’t expect him to back out like that. But it had never mattered to him. He’d only agreed to it because she’d blackmailed him.
I never should have done that.
Still, his offer to help her find another band was . . . unexpectedly kind.
He didn’t owe her anything. Wanted nothing with her. So why bother?
Jake frowned and took a fry from her plate. “Listen. All I know is that if you don’t introduce me, I’ll resent and hold it against you for life. This is where siblings are supposed to pull through, you know. I’ll never have an opportunity like this again.”
“Aw, Jake. You have a crush? I have it on good authority that Brooks is straight.”
Jake glared at her. “So am I.” Then he tilted his head. “Wait, what do you mean on good authority ?”
Maddie bit the inside of her lip, a shiver running through her as she remembered Brooks’s hands on her hips, the hardness of his length pressed against her, his lips devouring hers. Nope, don’t think about that.
“I mean, it’s a fact. He has dated some famous women.”
Jake shrugged. “Could be lavender setups. Celebrities use matchmakers all the time.”
How am I the only person who didn’t know about this? “Yeah, well, in this case, I’m pretty certain.”
Jake eyed her suspiciously. “You didn’t sleep with the guy, did you?”
“Give me a little credit. I’m not that easy.”
“You moved in with your ex-boyfriend after two weeks, Mad,” Jake deadpanned.
She couldn’t argue with that, so she wrinkled her nose. “Don’t remind me of that unfortunate fact. I can’t believe I thought I was in love with that asshole.”
“Weren’t you just sobbing over him a week ago? Naomi and Lindsay said you were pretty torn up about him last weekend.”
Huh. Had it only been a week since that had happened?
Yet . . .
Much as even finding out about Josh and Gina’s engagement the day before had been like a punch in the gut . . . the same level of angst was just . . . gone.
Gina could have Josh for all Maddie cared. She didn’t want him back anymore.
The thought brought such a profound sense of peace that she sat back against her seat, mesmerized by it.
I don’t care anymore.
Josh no longer has a hold on me.
That relief quickly faded as Brooks’s face flashed in her mind.
“Hello? Earth to Maddie.” Jake dragged her plate of fries away from in front of her and closer to him.
“Hey!” She snatched it back. “Those are mine. Get your own damn fries.”
An easy smile crossed his face. “I figured that would get your attention.”
“What do you want?” She gestured toward her laptop. “Some of us have work to do, you bum. I have a thousand orders to place to make up for the inventory we lost when the store window was smashed.”
“I was trying to get you to introduce me to Brooks Kent, remember? Are you bringing him to Applepalooza tomorrow?”
Ugh. She’d been avoiding thinking about the whole damned festival. “Nope. And for the record, I mentioned it to him, and he didn’t seem remotely interested in going. I’m not even sure I’m going.” Or when I’ll talk to Brooks again.
Jake appeared appalled. “It’s practically your favorite thing we do in Brandywood.”
He wasn’t entirely inaccurate, but . . . she was tired of it, too. The whole overblown . . . everything. “Maybe old Maddie was a basic fall bitch, but the new and improved version of Maddie is on to her grand millennial era. I think I’ll stay home and crochet instead.”
Jake squinted at her. “Are you even a millennial?”
“Don’t care. What I’m not is someone who needs to show up to a day of apple-related fall festivities where her ex-boyfriend and his new fiancée are going to be. Josh and Gina deserve each other—they’re both assholes—and I’m not interested in proving that I’m better than either of them in any arbitrary contest.”
“Damn.” Jake sighed. “I was hoping I could talk you into doing a few things with me.”
“Like?”
“Apple picking. Pie eating. Bobbing for apples. Hard cider pong. You know—the fun stuff.” Jake rolled his shoulders. “Plus, Millie Price made me sign up for the Auction-a-Peck and told me she needs more volunteers. I may have put your name on the list to auction off the Cortland apples.”
Maddie’s eyes widened. Of all the parts of the day she regularly avoided, it was the Auction-a-Peck. Volunteers would take the stage with various peck-sized containers of apples to be auctioned off to a crowd . . . but the top bidder of each auction also won a kiss from the volunteer. “I’m not doing that medieval contest, Jake.”
“Come on.” Jake put his hands together pleadingly. “It’s for a good cause. And you’re not currently dating anyone. What do you have to lose?”
“My dignity, for one. Don’t you remember the year Laura Redding had to kiss Milton Hirsch? I swear the old man shoved his tongue in her mouth. And he bids on single women every year.”
“But that’s why they have rules now,” Jake countered. “They always remind people that a peck means a peck. Some winners only kiss people on the cheek. Besides, people mostly bid on the apples, not the kisses. And the money goes to the senior center.”
“The money could go to poor, starving orphan baby hedgehogs and it still wouldn’t change my mind.”
“Yeah, it probably would. You’re a sucker for baby hedgehogs,” Jake muttered. A glum expression crossed his face.
“Come on. You’re not seriously bummed out because I won’t do it, are you? Get Logan to do it. He’s desperate enough for a woman to kiss him. He won’t care.”
“I heard that, Maddie,” Logan called out. “I have more game than you think. And I’m not doing the auction.”
The bar was empty enough that their voices were probably carrying louder than Maddie had intended. Maddie almost cackled. Oops.
“Please?” Then Jake’s eyes lit. “If you don’t, I’ll go visit Brooks Kent—I know where he’s staying, thanks to Logan—and I’ll tell him you used to have a poster of him on the wall of your college dorm. That you once described his voice as . . . what was it again?”
Maddie’s face heated. No way he remembers that.
“Oh yeah, that’s right. Liquid sin. Not sure what the liquid part was all about, but it sure as hell sounds scandalous.”
Dammit. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Wouldn’t I?” Jake gave her a devious look.
Maddie locked eyes with him. She didn’t doubt he’d make good on that threat. Come to think of it, we seem to overuse blackmail as siblings. She made a mental note to bring that up for discussion at the next family pizza night.
“Fine. I’ll do the stupid auction. With any luck, no one will bid on the apples. Cortland aren’t that great.” Maddie closed her laptop. “But just for that, I’m not doing the other contests with you. Maybe I’ll do them with Logan.”
“I already asked someone to the festival.” Logan came out from behind the bar toward them. “So you’re stuck with Jake. Sorry, hon.”
Maddie feigned a look of hurt. “And who, may I ask, did you ask?”
“Kayla.” Logan’s eyes hinted with warmth. “I thought it would be fun for her little girl.”
Nooooo. She knew that look. Logan got that look when he liked someone. “You can’t date her.”
“I like her. She’s witty. Keeps old groucho on his toes. Cute kid, too,” Jake said with a grin.
Maddie looked from Logan to Jake. “How do you know Kayla?”
Jake shrugged. “Logan invited her to pizza night last night. Maybe if you hadn’t skipped it, you would know.”
What? Kayla had met her whole family?
Maddie propped her elbows on the table and covered her face. “Ugh, no, Logan. Don’t catch feelings for Kayla. That’s so messy.”
“And why is that?” Logan asked, sliding in beside Jake. He crossed his arms.
Jake copied his stance. “Yeah. Why is that, Maddie?”
“Because Brooks . . . is leaving, guys. So is Kayla. Neither are from around here.” Not to mention that if Logan dated Brooks’s sister and things didn’t work out, it would . . .
Would what, exactly?
Make it hard for you to see Brooks?
Make family situations awkward? Only if she and Brooks were involved, which they weren’t.
“Kayla lives three hours away. It’s not that far. Besides which, it’s a date to a fall festival, nothing more. I didn’t ask her to move in with me like you would have done by now.”
“Ouch, that was below the belt, asshole.” Maddie shoved her laptop away, her appetite quickly fading.
Sincere regret filled Logan’s face. “I was just teasing?—”
“Forget it.” That wasn’t what she was upset about, anyway. And what she was upset about, she couldn’t quite verbalize. Logan had every right to date Kayla if he wanted to, so what was the problem?
She stood. “I should go.” She scowled at Jake. “You can sign me up for a couple of events with you. And maybe the singing competition by myself. I don’t need any more grief about how much I suck.”
Eyes burning, she hurried out of the pub.
She was already walking down Main Street when Logan caught up with her. “Hang on,” Logan said, grabbing her firmly by the elbow. He hauled her to a stop, then faced her. “What’s going on with you?”
Maddie swiped her lashes, blinking rapidly. “I don’t know.”
“I really didn’t mean to hurt your feelings about the moving in comment, Mad. If anything, I think it’s admirable how open you are to love. You jump in feet first, sure, but you jump. I’ve spent a lifetime hanging back and regretting it.”
“Really, that’s not it, Logan.” She hugged her arms to her chest, the day chillier than she expected. They’d reached that point in Maryland weather when one day you’d wake up freezing and be boiling by noon, and the next, you’d dress in summery clothes and a cold front would move in by midday.
“What is it then, Maddie?” Logan set his hands on her shoulders. “You know you can tell me anything.”
What am I feeling? Why am I this upset?
She pressed her lips together, then said at last, “I don’t want you to fool around with Kayla.”
He searched her eyes. “Why not?”
She gulped a breath. “Because I like Brooks.”
There. She’d said it aloud.
To someone.
To herself.
Compassion dawned in his eyes.
Tugging her into his arms, Logan gave her a tight hug, which was just what she needed. Big brother hugs. No one hugged better than Logan, although her grandfather was probably a very close second. “I thought you might. I take it he doesn’t return those feelings?”
“I have no idea. But he’s a freaking rock star, Logan. I was googling him, and he...he’s got a life I can’t even imagine. The Met Gala, Grammys, red carpet appearances . . . even members of the Royal Family went to his last concert in London. And then he met with them. Why would he be interested in me?”
“Because you’re real.” Logan released her. “And you’re wonderful. He’d have to be a dimwit not to see that. He probably does see that, considering he’s been spending time with you.”
“Not everything about him looks good on paper. Mom and Dad would freak. The press likes to present a rough side of him that isn’t entirely accurate.”
“Maddie, you’re a smart girl. You can talk to him and judge for yourself if he’s worthy of you.”
Funny how different he was being about this than Naomi had been.
Then again, Naomi had been given reasons not to like Brooks from the start. That’s my fault, too.
She hugged her arms in tighter. “Yeah, because I did such a great job judging that with Josh.”
“You can’t throw the entire crop out because of one rotten apple,” Logan said, a smile in his eyes. “Forget Josh. If it’s any consolation at all, Kayla and I have talked about Brooks, and she’s told me how wrong the media is about him. Said there was a whole incident in Vegas last year after a concert where his band threw this party and some people ended up arrested. The media highlighted the prostitutes and drugs and made it a big scandal. Brooks wasn’t even there, but he still got dragged for it, even after he released a statement.”
“No, that doesn’t make me feel better.” Poor Brooks. He’d really had a rough go of it with the media. It made her want to take a flamethrower to all the powers that be on his behalf. Burn it all down.
Why doesn’t he fight back harder?
Then again, the guy had been fighting all his life. Maybe he’d decided some things he didn’t want to fight about.
“Brooks is one of those classic cases of walks and acts like a duck but is probably a goose. According to Kayla, anyway,” Logan said with the kind of smile that recalled a conversation that had made him happy.
Dammit.
“When did you get the chance to talk so much to Kayla? Last night?”
Logan rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Actually, I asked for her phone number on Sunday. We’ve talked and texted every day since then.”
Oh. My. God. Logan must really like her.
Maddie’s heart fell. “That’s great, Logan. I’m glad you’re happy.” She wanted to feel it as much as she meant it, but her own worries and disappointments ate away at her.
But what was she imagining anyway? Brooks didn’t live three hours away—he lived on the other side of the country. And despite the attraction between them being mutual, the chance of them having any sort of relationship was ludicrous. Brooks didn’t seem like a relationship guy.
Logan gave her a sympathetic look, as though he understood what she was thinking. “You should invite Brooks to come to the Applepalooza tomorrow. You never know, with Kayla and Audrey going, he might show up.”
Maddie swallowed hard. Unlike Kayla with Logan, Brooks wasn’t texting her at all. Or calling. She hadn’t even heard from him after dropping him off last night.
And now that he’d said he wouldn’t play at the fair, who knew when she would see him again? His rental was up on Sunday.
Lowering her shoulders in defeat, Maddie smiled sadly. “It doesn’t matter if he shows up. I’ve got to put on my big girl pants and accept the situation for what it is. Brooks is just passing through this town . . . and my life. And my little crush won’t change that fact.”
She sucked in a deep breath. “I’ll be fine, Logan. Don’t worry, according to you guys, I’ll find someone else to develop feelings for soon enough.”
She walked away before he could respond, her heart aching.
Maybe they were right anyway. She could catch and lose feelings fast. She was already over Josh.
But she didn’t want to forget Brooks so easily.
This was different in a way she couldn’t say.
And that terrified her.