Chapter 34
“I’ve had to stay on a few days longer to get a deal worked out,” Denise told Fi on the phone when she called to ask if Denise could join the group for dinner on Sunday. “I finally realized I hadn’t done my due diligence in exploring the community before making Oliver an offer.”
She continued, practically gushing now, but she couldn’t help it.
“So now I’m checking out all the local hotspots.
We’ve walked some of the loveliest hiking trails.
And there’s a ton of things to do right in Blueville.
They even have a fall music festival that started last night with local bands and out-of-town acts.
There was also a street fair with different vendors like artists, authors, and crafters.
Today, we’re going to visit a few of the shops too.
I’m about to head out the door for that right now. Anyway, it’s actually been fun!”
“Sounds like it!” Fi answered with a grin in her voice. “It doesn’t hurt to have a hot local tour guide to show you around either, I’m assuming.”
Denise’s face grew predictably hot. Lord. If she could overheat this easily now, how was she ever going to survive hot flashes later on down the road? “What makes you think—”
“It’s fine. It’s fine,” Fi interrupted with a cheeky laugh. “I told Solange and Trace you’d probably ditch us this weekend to keep hanging out with Maddox. It will be fun to tell them I was right, as usual.”
“How are they anyway?”
“Clueless as ever,” Fi grumbled, mercifully accepting Denise’s course change away from Maddox.
Yes, they’d been her tour guide. And yes, it was pointless to deny Denise found them hot, even hotter now than when she’d actually slept with them, if that was possible.
Her memory conjured up an image from the night before of Maddox beneath the strings of lights dangling above Blueville’s Main Street, laughing and swaying to the music of the band on stage.
God, she’d wanted to dance with them again so badly, the way they had that night at Murphy’s, if only to have a semi-acceptable reason to feel their arms around her and drink in their scent and the warmth of their body once more.
But she hadn’t asked, and Maddox hadn’t offered. It was a bad idea.
“Oh, give them a break,” Denise mumbled absently. “Feelings are complicated.”
“Yeah, if you decide to overcomplicate them,” Fi said with a snort.
“Trace is overworking himself, which…nothing new there. It’s not like he doesn’t have a lot of shit to contend with in his caseload right now.
But I think he’s also using work to hide.
Meanwhile, Solange has jumped stilettos-first into some kind of thing with that random guy she met at dinner with us the other night.
Giles, Kyle, Lyle, whatever his name is. ”
“Ugh, really?” Lyle hadn’t actually done anything wrong, but something had felt a little off in that interaction, and Denise couldn’t say why. He’d been completely charming to Solange. But maybe that was the problem. Denise had experienced her fair share of trouble with handsome, charming men.
“Oh, yeah,” Fi said. “You know Solange. He’s just her type: tall, toned, and sketchy.”
Denise snickered, and Fi continued ranting. “It’s moving fast too. He’s been trying to insinuate himself into dinner with us already. Solange says it’s because he appreciates found family just like we do, since he’s an only child or whatever, but I have my doubts about the whole thing.”
Denise frowned as something nagged at the edge of her brain. “Yeah—”
A light rap on the door disrupted her words and train of thought, and her pulse spiked.
Maddox
“Oh, I’m sorry, Fi. I have to go. I’ll call you later, okay?”
When the call ended, Denise hurried to the full-length mirror on the closet doors and did a quick once-over of her appearance, adjusting her sweater and trying to tame her frizzy hair.
Then she rolled her eyes at herself. What was she doing?
It’s not like this was a date. Besides, Maddox had seen everything already and… ugh!
Nice going, Denise!
A memory of Maddox seeing her undressed was the last thing Denise needed at the front of her brain when she faced them.
There was another, softer knock at the door, and Denise rushed to open it, haphazardly grabbing her purse and phone on the way.
“Maddox, hi! I didn’t mean to keep you waiting!” she rambled as she pulled the door open wide and held up her phone. “I was just getting off.”
“Damn! Sorry I missed it.”
“Huh?”
Maddox’s lips spread into a playfully wolfish grin.
Denise replayed her previous words in her head and groaned. “The phone! I was just getting off…finishing…a call, I mean. I was ending a call on my cellphone. Oh God. Can we please just go now?”
“I mean, we can, but I feel like anything that happens now will be downhill after what you were just doing,” Maddox quipped.
“Maddox, stop!” She smacked them on their firm arm, which was clad in a red and black flannel shirt that looked far too delicious on them. Maddox all but cackled in response, and Denise couldn’t keep her own laughter from bubbling up and echoing through the hall as they left the room.
It was another gorgeous day, with the sun shining in a clear, cloudless sky and the air being the perfect blend of cool and crisp. Denise couldn’t imagine tiring of weather like this anytime soon. It was ideal for walking on the sidewalks of downtown Blueville.
Maddox took her to numerous shops, including the one that made the bath salts in the gift basket Maddox had brought her as a peace offering what seemed like ages ago now.
Then they jokingly grumbled when Denise had spent nearly an hour at the next stop: an adorable independent bookstore with a surprisingly wide offering of new and used books.
Despite pretending to fuss back at Maddox for teasing her, Denise was glad Maddox felt comfortable enough to joke.
The afternoon before, Denise had visited the Blueville Public Library again before meeting with Maddox.
She’d blathered about it for a while before asking Maddox if they ever frequented it.
That had led to Maddox explaining how they used the library’s digital services because of their preference for audiobooks.
With uncharacteristic shyness, they’d described the challenges they’d faced in school.
It was almost as if they were expecting an avid reader like Denise to judge them for their story.
Or maybe they’d never gotten over the lack of understanding and kindness others may have shown them in the past. Either way, Denise had done her best to show Maddox she had nothing but compassion for their experiences and respect for all they’d accomplished using different skills than she was accustomed to using.
And apparently, her efforts had worked, if the lighthearted tone of the bookstore visit was any indication.
They were now at the final store of the tour, Filmore’s Fudge Shop, a candy store that was famous in the area for its fudge. Denise could see why, given the decadent sample she had tried in Maddox’s gift basket.
As soon as they walked into the store, Denise was struck by the sweet, delightful smells that greeted her and the welcoming feel of the cheery white-painted display cases and tables.
At all the previous stores they’d visited, Maddox had introduced Denise to the owners.
Normally, meeting that many new people would have drained her, but she found she didn’t mind when Maddox was there.
The owner of the fudge shop was Nolan Filmore, a jovial, middle-aged man with thinning white hair.
She’d already picked out several gifts that day for Fi, Solange, Trace, her dad, and the executive assistants she worked with most at Farrington Parks, but she was about to ask Nolan’s advice for even more presents when she noticed that something in the back of the store had drawn Maddox’s attention.
Someone rather.
A pretty, petite woman around Maddox’s age stepped out from the kitchen. Her blonde hair was styled in a cute pixie cut, and she wore an apron. Once Maddox saw her, they called out. “Jenny?”
When Jenny spotted Maddox, her face lit up. “Maddox!”
They hurried toward her, and she held up a hand. “Oh, Maddox, I’m a mess from the kitchen.”
But Maddox only scoffed. “Like I care? Get in here!”
They held open their arms, and the two embraced. When the hug ended, Maddox didn’t step back far. They rubbed Jenny’s arms gently and looked her up and down.
A sharp pang filled Denise’s chest as she watched the tender way Maddox treated the young woman, but she did her best to shove it away. She shouldn’t be feeling any kind of way about how Maddox interacted with any woman. In fact, she shouldn’t even be paying attention.
“My daughter, Jenny,” Nolan said from behind Denise, making her start.
She turned to face him. “Your daughter works here too? That must be nice.”
“It is,” he agreed with a fond grin. “But mostly I’m grateful she can be here a few hours a week now. Until last month, her health hadn’t really allowed it, and this is her first week back.”
Denise’s brow crinkled, all her previous uncomfortable feelings fading as she concentrated on what Nolan was saying.
He leaned his elbows on the counter. “Jenny and her husband Scott got married right out of high school. The two of them and Maddox all graduated together, actually. They’re pretty good friends.
Anyhow, Jenny has always worked so hard helping me run this place, and Scott puts in a lot of hours at the drugstore and landscaping in the summer, and they never had time for a honeymoon or even vacation trips.
But Jenny had always wanted to go to Paris, so she and Scott saved up for years until they had enough.
“But a few weeks before they started making reservations, Jenny was diagnosed with lymphoma. Not only was she not up for travel, but the medical bills wiped out their savings.”
Nolan shook his head gravely as he recounted the story, and Denise reached over and touched his arm. “I’m sorry. That sounds so difficult.”
“Yes,” he acknowledged. But then his face brightened. “However, the community really showed up for Jenny and Scott. They raised money to help with their bills and expenses.”
“That’s wonderful!” Denise said with sincerity. It fit with everything she’d been seeing and hearing about the people who lived in and around Blueville.
“And then there was Maddox,” he said with an affectionate smile.
“What did they do?” She leaned forward.
“Maddox organized a big Parisian-themed party for Jenny at the resort on her birthday last year. Everything was French-inspired: the dinner, pastries, champagne, decorations. Somehow they even got some of the others on the Middle Waters staff to help them construct a replica of the Eiffel Tower. It was amazing.”
“Wow,” Denise murmured, glancing over at Maddox.
They were still chatting with Jenny, but they seemed to sense that Denise was watching them because their eyes locked with hers for a moment, and they sent her a tiny grin.
Something inside her that had stayed frozen and buried away from the light for years melted.
“Everyone was amazingly kind and generous to make sure my girl’s needs were met, of course,” Nolan continued, “but what Maddox did was special. They reminded her, reminded all of us that there were still reasons to celebrate and moments to treasure.”
The bell above the shop door jingled then, as a cluster of tourists entered, and Nolan excused himself to wait on them. A few minutes later, Jenny returned to the kitchen, and Maddox rejoined Denise. “Jenny had to get to work on an order, but maybe you can meet her if she gets another break.”
“I’d like that.”
Maddox snagged a sample of praline fudge from under a covered plate on the counter and offered it to Denise before grabbing another one for themself.
Denise took a bite of the fudge and moaned with delight at the decadent mixture of sweet, creamy fudge and nutty flavor.
She looked up to see how Maddox liked the sample and froze.
Their eyes were watching her mouth as she licked her lips.
After a second, Maddox blinked and took a step back. Their voice was strained when they cleared their throat and said, “So…we’ve hit a ton of shops and made the rounds of the festival booths. Is there anything else you wanted to check out for your research?”
Denise located a napkin on the counter and wiped her hands and mouth. “Actually, yes. I’d like to learn more about the Prism Youth Collective.”