Knock Knock…Boom
Delaney
The first thing I felt was warmth.
The second was confusion.
The third was pounding – loud enough to wake the dead and probably half the island, too.
Under the covers, I pulled away from Maddox and sat up to listen. The room was softly lit, with morning sunshine filtering in through the blinds.
The pounding was coming from downstairs. The front door?
I listened harder.
Yes. Definitely.
When I looked to Maddox, he was already awake. But he didn't look startled. Mostly, he looked resigned. He threw back the covers and said, "Hang on. I'll be right back."
"Wait…do you know who it is?"
He looked toward our bedroom door – technically mine, if anyone was keeping track. "No."
My brain was still waking up. "So, why would you get it?"
As another round of pounding shook the house, Maddox said, "Better me than you."
But already, I was out of bed and scrambling for my clothes – any clothes within easy reach. In the end, I lunged for the Bigfoot-boner T-shirt and a pair of leggings I'd left folded on the nearby chair.
I moved fast, but Maddox beat me to the punch, getting dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt before I'd even gotten the leggings halfway up – probably because the faster I moved, the faster he moved, too.
It felt like we were racing.
By the time we burst out of the bedroom with Maddox in the lead, Ryder was already striding past us, wearing jeans and nothing else. Behind him was Tessa in a little pink tank top and silky shorts.
Maddox and I scrambled after them, nearly skidding on the foyer rug as we stopped short behind Tessa.
Ryder yanked open the front door to reveal a familiar figure, looking wild-eyed and breathless.
It was Franny Mulberry.
Her silver hair was mussed. Her floral scarf hung long on one side and short on the other. And her cardigan sat slightly askew, like she'd mismatched one of the buttons.
Without waiting for a hello, she blurted out, "She's alive!"
Holy crap.
She didn't say who.
She didn't need to.
Slowly, we all turned to look at Maddox.
He didn't look the least bit surprised.
Franny bustled into the house and looked around. "Where's your TV?" She perked up. "Never mind. I see it." And with that, she barreled into the living room and grabbed the remote off a side table.
She pointed it at the TV mounted above the fireplace and gave the remote a decisive click. When the sports channel lit up the screen, she made a sound of annoyance and clicked again, bringing up the news channel like she knew the number by heart.
And there she was, right there on the screen.
Sloane Hayworth.
She was crying.
No – ugly crying – on a rural front porch.
She looked nothing like the stunner who'd spent months dabbing gently at her eyes while pouring out her heart for the cameras.
Today, she wore loose sweatpants, a ratty gray T-shirt, and pink fuzzy slippers. Her honey-blonde hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail that was only half-holding.
The porch was surrounded by a gaggle of reporters, hollering out questions, even as two men in suits – security, obviously – stood guard on the steps, keeping the reporters at bay.
Here in the living room, Tessa said, "Woah, that's definitely not Greece."
No kidding. The camera pulled back just enough to show pine trees framing an old-fashioned white farmhouse with a rolling farm field behind it.
I stared, dumbfounded. "Hey, that looks like Michigan."
"Not Michigan," Franny corrected. "Indiana."
I could hardly believe it. "Indiana?"
Franny nodded. "Yup. Oak Hollow."
At the name, I almost staggered. "Hold on…did you say Oak Hollow?" It was the same place Cal had mentioned just yesterday.
This couldn't be a coincidence.
Franny gave a vigorous nod. "It's a little town north of Indy."
I turned to stare at Maddox. In spite of his silence, I knew exactly what this was.
Plan B.
But what on Earth was Plan A?
Franny said, "She was hiding out at her grandma's sister's place."
Stunned, I turned back to the screen, where Sloane had started yelling at the reporters. "No headlines! Please!" When they responded by calling out more questions, she shrieked, "Hey! I deserve my privacy!"
I was insanely glad to see her alive. Still, none of this made sense. I looked to Franny. "Wait…so she was rescued and didn't say anything?"
"Oh, honey, it's better than that." Franny's eyes gleamed. "She was never missing."
I just about fell over. "You're joking, right?"
On the screen, a new figure burst out of the farmhouse and onto the front porch. I recognized her immediately. It was Cynthia Hayworth, Sloane's mom.
She grabbed her daughter's elbow and gave it a hard tug. "For God's sake, Sloane, get off the porch."
"Why?" Sloane shrieked. "It's not like we can put the horse back in the barn now." She whirled back to the reporters. "You know what? Fuck all of you! You fucking paras—"
The broadcast cut to a commercial.
Yikes.
For a second, nobody said anything.
I gave Maddox a long sideways look. He didn't even twitch.
From near the sofa, Ryder looked to Maddox and said, "Looks like you dodged a bullet." He grinned. "So hey, you're welcome."
Tessa gave Ryder a funny look. "Wait…what does that mean?" But then she paused. "Oh, my God. That friend you talked out of a terrible relationship…you meant him? Maddox Freaking McGuiness?"
As if there were a different Maddox.
Ryder only shrugged.
Tessa frowned. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I did," he said. "I just didn't name names, that's all."
Maddox finally spoke. "And he never talked me out of anything. He just gave me some info." He shook his head. "So don't blame him. Blame me."
Judging from Tessa's face, she was too flabbergasted to blame anyone. She looked back to Ryder. "What kind of info?"
With a humorless laugh, Ryder said, "They weren't even married, and she was already selling him down the river."
Franny edged closer to Ryder and asked in an eager voice, "Really? How?" When he balked, she said, "Oh, come on! Don't tease us now."
With his eyes on Maddox, Ryder lifted his eyebrows as if to say, Should I tell them?
I already knew what Maddox would say. No. Absolutely not. After all, he'd kept quiet for nearly a year regardless of whatever had happened.
Turns out, I was wrong.
Maddox only shrugged as if he didn't care either way.
Ryder turned back to Franny. "Alright. Long story short? She'd already sold the whole damn wedding."
"But wait…" Tessa said. "How can you sell a wedding?"
"Easy," Ryder said. "You chop it up and sell off the pieces – the guest list, the schedule, hell, even the seating chart. And she got kickbacks on the catering, too." He snorted. "After Maddox paid."
Tessa stared. "You're joking."
Ryder replied, "Nope."
Franny's eyes narrowed. "What a sneak! To think, I actually bought her book."
Tessa turned to Maddox. "But why didn't you say something?"
"Because I didn't have a reason to."
"But what does that mean?"
He took a second before answering. "When it was just me taking the heat, it wasn't a big deal."
"Not a big deal?" Tessa repeated. "You can't be serious. She was all over the news. Everyone hated you."
Maddox grinned. "I know."
"So why are you smiling?"
His grin didn't waver. "Because I'm done."
Tessa looked more confused than ever. "With what?"
He flicked a glance at the TV. "That." His expression sobered. "But you know what?"
Tessa asked, "What?"
"It wasn't all bad."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
Maddox shrugged again. "It told me everything I needed to know."
"About what?"
"Not what. Who." His gaze slid to Ryder. "For starters, which friends and family were the real deal."
Tessa looked surprised. "So that's why you didn't say anything? Because it was some sort of test?"
With a short laugh, Maddox replied, "Hell no. That was a byproduct. And as far as the drama, I figured it would burn out eventually."
I spoke up. "But it didn't. She wrote that book and everything."
He gave me a wry smile. "I know."
I studied his face. "So…was that the final straw? The book?"
"Nope."
"So, what was?"
His gaze locked on mine. "When those vultures started going after someone else." His eyes softened. "I cared. A lot."
And just like that, my heart went all gooey. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. What if he meant someone else – like his brother or his mom?
Boy, wouldn't that be awkward?
Especially because I'd fallen for him.
Hard.
Suddenly, I just had to know. "You don't mean…because of me?"
"Who else would I mean?" He moved closer and reached for my hand. "Delaney?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you."
Those three simple words hit like a tidal wave, nearly knocking me off my feet. I loved him, too. I'd known for a little while, but thought of him actually falling for me was nearly too much to fathom. And now, I couldn't stop smiling. "I love you, too."
His eyes warmed. "Yeah?"
With a laugh, I fell into his arms. "Oh, yeah. Completely."