45. Maddie
45
MADDIE
ONE MONTH LATER
“The window looks fantastic, Garrett,” Maddie said as she surveyed the outside of the Depot. She wrapped a thick shawl around her shoulders, the icy chill of autumn getting stronger each day. The foliage had peaked already—most of the trees had lost their leaves.
Winter—and Christmas—would be around the corner. It was usually her favorite time of year.
These days, though, even the allure of the holidays had lost its luster.
“It does look fantastic,” Naomi said, smiling at Garrett Doyle as he packed up his tools. “And I’m thrilled we’ll have our best display window up in time for the Christmas season.”
Garrett straightened, a gentle smile on his handsome face. “Sorry I couldn’t do it any sooner. But thanks for being patient with me.” He searched Maddie’s face. “How are you doing these days, Maddie? Sam and I have been worried about you.”
“Hanging in there.” She gave a taut smile. “You know, getting inducted into Brandywood’s Most Notoriously Dumped Women’s Club this week.”
Naomi shook her head. “Only Maddie could joke about something like that.”
“At least I’m joking.” Maddie shrugged. There was truth in that statement, even though she’d delivered it as lightheartedly as possible. She’d cried into her pillow for three weeks straight after Brooks had left. Called him, despite the number not being in service, and sent text messages that were never delivered.
Then, about a week earlier, she’d finally stopped crying at night. But the pain of heartbreak pervaded every single day. Rom-coms didn’t make her happy. Parties and family events seemed overwhelming.
She didn’t want to go anywhere or do anything.
Yet here she was, struggling along because—what else could she do?
Garrett leaned over and gave her a hug. “Just let me know if you need anything at all. We’re here for you. All Brandywood is on your side.”
Yeah, I doubt Gina Strickland is. Then again, she’d been fortunate not to really run into Gina lately.
She nodded, swallowing a lump in her throat. His words were kindly meant, but she didn’t want there to be a side. Even if her family was mad at Brooks—if everyone in town was mad at Brooks—she still loved him. Every kindly meant barb in his direction hurt.
She’d wanted to explain to the town that Mike had kidnapped him and exhorted him for money, and that was why he didn’t perform at the fair, but that would affect Kayla, so she couldn’t do that either. It all just sucks.
As Garrett left, Naomi wrapped her arm around Maddie’s shoulder. “You okay, or are you done peopling for the day?”
“I can handle it,” Maddie said with a sigh. “If I need a break, I’ll just head up over to Pops’s for a bit. See how he’s doing.” She’d been staying at Pops’s house for the past few weeks anyway. He needed a hand around the house after surgery while Bunny was working, and she didn’t want to sleep at her apartment anymore.
Everything there reminded her of Brooks. Even his clothes were still there, his razor still on her bathroom sink. As though he was coming back for them. She couldn’t stand it.
A tug at her skirt made her look down, then Audrey popped her head around her hip. “Hi, Aunt Maddie! Aunt Nami!”
Maddie looked around, surprised, then saw Kayla and Logan coming down the sidewalk. Kayla had been making plans to move here recently—she’d even gotten a job at the local hospital—but as far as Maddie knew, she was still living in Virginia.
She was happy for Logan, but the idea of eventually running into Brooks again because of his sister being in a relationship with her brother was exactly what she’d feared.
How in the world am I going to handle that?
“Hey, Audrey.” Maddie bent to give her a fierce hug. It still took her breath away sometimes when she looked at Audrey and Kayla—they both resembled Brooks enough that it hurt—but she’d grown to love Brooks’s sister, who had been calling and texting her daily. “How are you?”
Kayla and she had also bonded over the fact that Brooks was avoiding Kayla, too. He’d sent more security measures to her house, sure. Just like the bodyguards stationed outside Maddie’s apartment despite her asking them to go.
But Kayla had talked to Brooks only once, she’d said, and only for five minutes.
“Mommy said we had to check on you,” Audrey said, then put a hand on Maddie’s forehead. “Are you sick, Aunt Maddie?”
“Nope!” Maddie kissed her soft, chubby cheeks. “I’m good.” She stood as Kayla and Logan reached them. “I didn’t know you were coming into town today,” she told Kayla after exchanging a hug.
“I wasn’t.” Kayla searched her face. “Have you been offline today?”
Oh no.
Dread formed in the pit of Maddie’s stomach as she nodded. “Why, what happened? Tell me.”
“Audrey, Mr. Logan and Aunt Nami are going to take you to get some gelato, sound good?”
Naomi took the hint and scooped Audrey up. “What’s your favorite flavor? Chocolate? Mint chocolate? Oh, I bet you’ll love pistachio.”
“Ewwww . . . pishtachtio is yucky,” Audrey said as Naomi carried her off into the store.
Logan gave Maddie a backward glance, worry in his eyes.
This has to be about Brooks.
Maddie felt the blood drain from her face as she looked at Kayla. “What is it? Did something happen to him? Or is he dating someone?” Nausea roiled her stomach, every bad possibility assailing her imagination.
In some ways, the latter would be worse than the former.
The idea of Brooks moving on and falling in love with someone else was probably the worst thing she could imagine happening. It would certainly put a pin in Mike’s plans to exhort more money from Brooks with pictures of them. .. but it would break my heart even more than it’s broken now.
Kayla gripped her shoulders. “No, no, nothing like that.” She released a slow breath. “He put out a new single today. It’s called ‘Ever With Me.’ I’m pretty sure it’s about you. Logan thinks so, too. He was asked about it, and then released a statement that it has nothing to do with you.”
Relief sank all the way through her, replacing her fears with instant tears.
No, no. Don’t cry.
Not now.
She blinked them away and nodded. A single. She could handle a single. He was a musician, after all—new songs would be inevitable. “Oh, thank God. And that’s good, right? It means he figured out a way to get around the contract stuff. Good for him.”
Kayla hugged her again. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you like that.” She sniffled and pulled back. “Don’t worry. If he was dating already, I’d go find him and punch him in the face. I’ve been tempted to do that a half dozen times, anyway. But that would put me over the edge.”
Maddie swallowed back a tearful laugh. She sounded so much like Brooks sometimes, too.
“So I shouldn’t listen to this song, I take it?”
“I don’t know.” Sadness filled her eyes. “It made me cry, so I can only imagine what it would do to you. I think he’s still really in love with you, Maddie. And I’m so mad at him for doing this to you. To all three of us. Audrey misses Uncle Brooks so much. She doesn’t understand why he’s not FaceTiming as much as he used to.”
“He’ll probably let you in soon enough.” If Maddie knew Brooks and he’d really loved her as much as she believed, he had to be hurting. She hated he believed he needed to walk away to protect her, but there was no way he’d shut Kayla and Audrey out forever. “I doubt he’s ready to talk yet, that’s all. He wouldn’t have called you and given you his number if he wanted to cut things off with you.”
She’d been tempted to ask Kayla for that number—but Brooks had been clear, too. She wouldn’t intrude on his privacy just because she knew his sister.
Kayla scrunched her face. “You’re not supposed to be trying to make me feel better. It’s the other way around.”
“Like it or not, you’re like a sister to me now. Logan loves you, and so do I.”
Kayla laughed. “Like it? Getting into your Yardley sisters’ girls' club is one of the things I’m looking forward to the most about moving to Brandywood. If there’s room for a fifth sister.”
“There’s always room for a fifth sister. Maybe even a sixth if Jake ever gets around to finding a girl.”
Maddie stepped back from Kayla, her gaze going farther down the sidewalk. If she didn’t know any better, that man with the slick camera . . .
Shit.
The paparazzi.
Not just photographers, either. A few men and women hurried toward her, giving her flashbacks of the days after the breakup, when reporters had hounded her.
“Madison Yardley?” one woman called as she drew closer, waving her hand in the air.
They seemed to come out of nowhere, as though the reporters and paparazzi had all descended on her in a surprise attack. “Miss Yardley? Can we get a statement from you about Brooks Kent’s new song? Is the song about you?”
“Are you in touch with Mr. Kent?” another man called out.
Kayla and Maddie shoved their way toward the door of the Depot, but more reporters blocked them.
“No comment,” Maddie managed, unable to move past them.
The sound of a familiar truck roared, then stopped on the curb beside them.
Josh.
He sat in the driver’s seat of his truck and leaned over, opening the door. “Maddie,” he called. “Get in.”
She exchanged a helpless look with Kayla. It would be easier to make a fast getaway with Josh, but what about Kayla? “Go on,” Kayla said with a light push. “They’re not interested in me.”
Despite her reservations, Maddie climbed inside the truck and closed the door behind her. Josh pulled away from the curb, giving her a worried smile. “You okay?”
“I’m fine, thanks.” Ironic, finding herself here. Only a handful of months ago, she’d felt so comfortable in the passenger seat of this very truck. So sure that Josh was everything she’d ever wanted.
Now, as she looked at him, she couldn’t quite remember what she’d seen in him. “I’m just glad I was passing by. That’s quite a throng of people out there. The reporters been bothering you?”
“Sometimes.” She glanced back. Maybe she should have tried her luck and stayed out there. Here in the truck with Josh didn’t feel any safer.
The Depot was quickly moving out of her line of sight. Why hadn’t he just taken her to the back of the Depot?
“How’re you doing, Maddie? I’ve been thinking about you a lot these days.”
She frowned at him. Josh wasn’t the smoothest—never had been—but back when she’d believed she was in love with him, she thought he was kind and honest. After what had happened with Gina, she knew he wasn’t honest. Kind was questionable, too.
“I’m good.”
Josh gave a slow nod. “If you ever need anything, a friend to talk to, someone to drink with, whatever, I’m here for you.”
She stiffened, her brow furrowing.
Josh pulled up to a stoplight, then leaned over toward her, his hand sliding onto her thigh. Then he gave it a squeeze.
She didn’t wait to think it through. She just unlocked the door and climbed out of the passenger seat.
“Hey, where are you going?” Josh called after her.
“You’re not my friend, Josh. You never were, asshole.” She slammed the door and turned to walk away.
A stream of curse words started from his open window, but Maddie ignored him and fled onto the sidewalk. She kept running, crossing the street and going back toward the Depot. Jumping into the alleyway that ran behind the stores on the street that faced the Depot, she ran until the heel of her boot snapped.
Dammit. Just my luck.
Then again, high-heeled boots weren’t meant for running.
She took both pairs of boots off, then made her way down the alley in her socks. This day was spinning into a shit show, one she wasn’t sure if she was emotionally prepared to handle.
As she drew closer to the stores that were across from the Depot, she slowed. The reporters were still probably out there, waiting for her to return. Who knew how long they’d be there?
She sank against a brick wall, tightening the shawl over her shoulders. Her mind spun, trying to process the events of the last few minutes, which felt chaotic.
Jumping into the car with Josh had been stupid, but she couldn’t have foreseen him hitting on her like that.
He’s engaged, for goodness’ sake.
She hadn’t seen that coming.
More importantly, Brooks might have written a song about her and now she’d need to figure out a way to deal with the press again until that settled down.
How long would it be like this?
She really didn’t want to care about Brooks anymore.
Didn’t want to love him as much as she did. At times, she even let herself be mad at him—but it didn’t last long. Mostly, she just felt sad.
Lonely.
Because she understood why he left the way he did. She still recalled the absolute devastation on his face as he thanked her for loving him— as if that was a hard thing to do— and told her that the only way forward he could see to keep her safe was to separate himself from her. It just didn’t make things hurt less.
Of course she knew he could be cold and detached—that how he’d gotten through life. But even when they’d been strangers . . .
Ugh, who am I kidding? Dealing with Brooks hadn’t been a walk in the park at the beginning. He was arrogant, difficult, and sometimes rude.
But he was her arrogant, difficult, and rude man. Or he had been. And when he had been, he’d treated her like a queen.
Those were the moments that were so hard to forget.
She’d forced herself not to listen to his music, but the sound of his voice stayed with her no matter how hard she tried to forget it.
“You’re it for me, Madison. I love you. Only you. Always. But I will rip out my own heart if it means protecting you.”
He’d meant it, too. But he’d ripped hers out in the process.
Her eyes welled with tears.
She drew her knees up and hugged her arms around them, sighing. She didn’t even have her cell phone out here with her—it had been in the Depot when she’d gone out to talk to Garrett.
“Psst.”
The whisper came from farther down the alley.
Maddie lifted her head. She didn’t expect to see Gina Strickland standing at the back door to her father’s store, but there she was. She waved Maddie forward. “In here. You can hide here, Maddie.”
Maddie hesitated. After her run-in with Josh, Gina was the last person she wanted to talk to.
What’s she up to?
Gina held the door more widely. “Truce. I promise, Maddie. I have no agenda.”
She’d never really trusted the Stricklands, but Gina also had no reason to offer her shelter right now. She could have just kept the door closed.
Unless she has reporters hiding in there with her.
Maddie rolled her eyes at her own ideas. That’s ridiculous.
She stood and hurried down toward the Stricklands’ place, trying to forget the last time she’d been in here.
The first time Brooks and I kissed.
Gina closed the door to the storeroom behind her.
No one in here. Whew.
“You okay?” Gina asked. “Can I get you some water or something?”
“Actually, water would be great.”
Gina nodded and pointed at a metal folding chair. “Feel free to sit. It’s not super comfortable back here, but you know that.” She went over to a shelf and pulled a bottle of water from a package. “Here you go.”
“Thanks.” Maddie took it and popped it open, her eyes roaming the space. She hadn’t given thought to the comfort of the storeroom before. Gina was right, though. Their back storeroom was a far cry from the Depot’s. In fact, the Stricklands hadn’t updated anything—including the front—for years.
She knew little about them, but she didn’t get the feeling they had a ton of money. Gina didn’t dress well and worked part-time at the front desk of the accounting office where Josh was a partner. Fred drove a ratty old station wagon that Travis swore was held together with duct tape.
For the first time, Maddie felt a wave of shame go through her.
Maybe she’d never considered the Stricklands point of view.
She loved her grandfather and the Depot, but she’d gotten so caught up in their right to sell gelato and how much business they brought to the town that she’d never considered the hurt they’d inflicted regardless of their intentions.
Just like Brooks hurt me, regardless of his intent.
“Gina, I’m sorry.” Maddie took a swig of the water, thirstier than she thought. She capped it and looked up at her. “I’m sorry that my family hurt yours. That I disrespected your father and your store by fooling around with guys in here. I’ve been a brat and I’m sorry.”
Gina’s eyes clouded. “You don’t have to apologize.”
“I want to.” Maddie set the water down. “There’s enough petty drama that happens in town, and I don’t want to be a part of that anymore. My family isn’t better than anyone else’s. And gosh, the Stricklands have been here as long as the Yardleys. I think I was even best friends with your sister Hannah one summer after camp. I don’t want to have enemies. Do you?”
Gina pulled her dark hair into a ponytail and leaned back against a wall. “No, I don’t.” She sighed. “By the way, I never cheated with Josh. I swear it. And if it makes you feel any better, Josh dumped me. He’s dating some girl from a few towns over now.”
Wait, what?
Josh had dumped Gina?
Ugh. I can’t believe I ever thought I was in love with him. Or lived with him. He was despicable.
“It doesn’t make me feel better to hear Josh dumped you. Having recently had my heart destroyed by a man, I don’t wish that on anyone. But at the risk of sounding like my family, you deserve better than Josh, Gina.”
“God, that phrase sucks when you still love the idiot, right?” Gina unfolded a chair and sat beside her. “I was so jealous of you. First, when you were dating Josh. Then, when I realized Josh still was hung up on you even though we were dating. But then you were fine and happy and dating a rock star and I just kept thinking to myself, how does she get so lucky? Guess Brooks Kent wasn’t as great as it seemed, either.”
Maddie lifted her water bottle in a mock cheers. “Here’s to my luck .” She let out a sarcastic laugh, then rubbed her eyelids. “Brooks was great, though. And I know I sound dumb. You know why he broke up with me, right?”
Gina shook her head.
No, of course. How would she know?
“Well, first a stalker of his showed up and attacked me, tried to stab me with a knife. My grandfather shoved her into the lake, but he had a massive heart attack as a result.” She didn’t know why she was telling Gina any of this, except for the fact that they were both heartbroken women. “That was in addition to the paparazzi showing up everywhere we went, making our lives impossible and losing all privacy.
“Then someone threatened me and extorted Brooks. He was terrified of me getting hurt. Felt like he couldn’t protect me, especially here where he lacked resources, and he didn’t want me to have to leave Brandywood for him. So he left.”
Gina blinked at her for a few moments, then stood and grabbed her own bottle of water. She shook her head. “Well, shit.”
“Yeah.”
Gina chugged some water back. “And why are you still in Brandywood?”
“Well, he didn’t give me a choice, either. Not to mention, my family?—”
“Yeah, but . . . look, even I know that deep down Josh is a scumbag, but it sounds like Brooks actually loves you. If a man loved me like that, I would have packed my bags and left this town a long time ago. And I love my family, too.”
Maddie studied her hands. She’d had the same thoughts. Just go to Brooks.
And what?
Ask him to take her back?
He’d left her sobbing on Main Street.
Changed his number.
Made it clear they were done.
Brooks left no room for a relationship with her, now or ever.
“It’s not that easy, unfortunately. And he did hurt me, Gina. If I had found him today, I couldn’t guarantee we weren’t walking right back into the same situation as before. Besides, I have family obligations here.”
Gina appeared conflicted. She took another sip of water, then said, “Did you know Josh sold information to the paparazzi about your whereabouts? He figured out that you’d come into the storeroom for that security tape, too, so he sold it to someone for a lot of money. Then he was hooked. Kept looking for people to sell more information to about Brooks. I told him not to,” she added quickly. “But he wanted the money.”
Josh?
It was Josh?
This whole time, she’d been furious with Fred Strickland about that tape.
“Your dad didn’t know about the tape?”
Gina shook her head. “Josh didn’t give him a penny from the money he made, either.”
But . . . how? How did Josh figure so much out?
“Did someone tell Josh about the video? And how did he find out about where I was going to be to tip off the paparazzi?”
Guilt flashed in Gina’s face. “No.” She cleared her throat. “Turns out you’d signed into your text message app on his laptop and never signed out. He knew your password anyway. So he’d lurk on your messages, find information, then pass it along.”
Oh my God. No wonder the paparazzi knew where we were all the time.
Gina’s fingertips trembled slightly. “The guy he sold the video footage to, his name was Mike. They had a lot of online meetings. I thought he was a reporter. They didn’t talk in front of me, but I knew his name because I’d ask who he was talking to, and he would just say, ‘Mike.’”
Mike?
As in Kayla’s ex, Mike? It had to be.
Maddie stared at Gina, astonished and sick. The sheer violation of her privacy was overwhelming. She’d sent so many intimate text messages to Brooks. And other things, too—like texts to her sisters about how brokenhearted she’d been about the breakup with Josh. And all the while, he’d been reading her messages?
How mortifying.
It’s so gross.
Fury ignited inside her. “Why are you telling me all this?”
Gina twisted her hands together. “About a month and a half ago, a woman showed up at my apartment to talk to Josh. I don’t know what her name was, but there might be video of her on the Ring camera to my apartment still. I confronted Josh about it because I thought he might be cheating on me with her. He said she was just an actress he’d hired for a job with Mike.”
Oh. My. God.
“She showed up at the apartment the day before your grandfather had his heart attack, Maddie. I’m not sure if it’s the same woman who came after you, but . . . I swear I didn’t know. I didn’t connect the two things at all. I knew nothing, but?—”
Maddie stood bolt upright from her chair. “Fuck,” she breathed, her gut twisting.
Josh and Mike.
What a perfect asshole pair.
“Josh sold information to the paparazzi about your whereabouts. . .”
Well, that explained the way the press had just descended on her. And Josh’s “stunning” rescue at the same time.
Piece of shit.
Josh must have seen it as one more opportunity to make some money from a well that would soon go dry. He must be desperate for more if he’d pulled that stunt.
Maddie pulled out her phone, knots forming in her shoulders.
Hadn’t Brooks said he’d gotten a text from her the day Mike had extorted him?
A text from her.
What if he hadn’t been hacked?
What if he’d actually received a text from her account? Josh could have sent it, then deleted it. She’d deleted texts off her laptop app before—it would delete it from all connected devices, including her phone. She would have never seen it as having been sent.
But those deleted messages usually disappeared after thirty days.
Heart pounding, Maddie swiped to her recently deleted texts, her thumb shaking. After recovering all her deleted texts, she went to her thread with Brooks and scrolled back to the morning of the fair.
Maddie: Trailer. Right now.
Maddie: P.S. leave the guard outside ;)
Brooks: Yes, ma’am.
Oh my God.
She covered her mouth, horrified.
Josh had worked with Mike to extort Brooks.
And this was the evidence.
Maddie’s head spun. “Thank you for telling me all this, Gina.”
Thick tears trailed down Gina’s face. “You see, you don’t owe me an apology at all. I owe you one. I felt horrible about Josh spying on your texts the whole time, but mostly, I was just jealous because I was sure it meant he was in love with you. I convinced him we should get engaged instead. I should have said something to you. I didn’t want Josh to get in trouble, but I should have anyway. It was wrong of me not to. I never should have looked the other way. You didn’t deserve it.”
Maddie turned to Gina, scanning her face. Forgiveness was a moot point. The amount of processing that she would have to do to figure out how to move past this was . . . ridiculous. Brooks’s desperation for privacy no longer felt extreme. “Gina, would you be willing to go on record with any of this?”
Gina sucked in a deep breath, then gave one curt nod.
Brooks had said he’d made a deal with Mike to make him go away forever, but that wasn’t good enough. The man needed to pay for what he’d done to Brooks and see the inside of a prison for a long time.
“I have an idea.”