Chapter 24
After they hung up, Maddie shrieked. The next thing she heard were feet scuffling out in the hallway, followed by two sharp knocks on her door, which then burst open. Grandma and Stephen rushed in, no doubt expecting something awful had happened to her. Or to the baby.
She shared the news.
She shrieked again. “No! He can’t come home tomorrow! I see Dr. Mason tomorrow!”
Stephen quieted her down, saying he doubted Rex would be on the red-eye, so chances were he wouldn’t get to the island before her one o’clock appointment.
Then he asked if he’d said what time he’d arrive in Boston, if he planned to fly into Logan, and if he wanted Maddie to pick him up at the boat or if Taylor would be there.
Maddie was dumbfounded. “I was too stunned to ask.”
Stephen laughed.
Grandma rubbed her hands together and said this was more fun than Jeopardy!
Thinking quickly, Maddie said, “I’ll text him later and find out when he’ll land.
Then I’ll figure out the rest. If Taylor’s there, that’s fine.
But I want to surprise him … and see his face to make sure it’s really him, and that he’s really okay.
” She didn’t add that she’d stand there and wait for hours if that was what it took.
Then the image of that brought on another shriek. “What will I wear?” She practically sprinted toward her armoire.
Stephen looked at Grandma—his new best friend—and said, “You should have seen her the first time a boy asked her to the prom.”
Maddie stopped, redirected her footsteps over to them, hugged Grandma first then Stephen, and shooed them from the room. “Go back to whatever you were doing. I have things to do.”
Once the older duo was out of sight, she started prowling through her closet.
Though she would have loved to don the beaded skirt, she decided it wouldn’t fit over her belly now.
She needed something less revealing. After all, Rex had been through a lot; she didn’t want his homecoming to be about her. Not yet.
Two hours later, with clothes strewn all over the bedroom, she settled on a loose shirt—the same blue as her eyes—her stretchy pants, and a multicolored wool cape that should help mask the evidence.
She sucked in a breath and texted him.
WHAT TIIME WILL YOU GET INTO BOSTON? SO I CAN MAKE SURE THE PLANE LANDED SAFELY!
Happy and exhausted, she crawled into bed and promptly fell asleep before he replied.
Early the next morning, she pulled on her warm robe and slippers, then checked her phone. He’d returned her text after midnight, nine o’clock California time:
LANDING AT LOGAN AT 3:00.
Wonderful, she thought. That would allow plenty of time for her appointment.
Maybe she’d have a quick lunch first in the hospital cafeteria—unless she was too excited to eat.
She started to respond with a heart emoji, then changed her mind and sent a thumbs-up instead.
She didn’t want him to feel pressured by their relationship (whatever it was or would be) before he was on island ground.
After making her bed, she headed to the kitchen for tea.
Which was when she realized she had no idea how she was going to get to Dr. Mason’s, let alone the ferry terminal.
It had been weeks since she’d totaled her car, but she—and her father—had been too busy with bookshop distractions to hunt for a replacement.
At eight o’clock that morning, Stephen was at the kitchen table, one hand holding a bagel with cream cheese, the other poised over his laptop, quietly scrolling through the news headlines before he headed to the boat.
Maddie had set her alarm so she’d be awake to say good-bye.
“What will you do about the car situation?” he asked. “I can’t believe we got so wrapped up in working that I forgot about it.”
She stared at him blankly; she couldn’t believe that she’d forgotten, too. “So did I.”
“I’m so sorry.”
Forcing a laugh, she said, “Don’t worry, Dad.
If that’s the only thing we’ve forgotten, it will be a miracle.
I’ll take care of it. I’ll call Joe after you leave.
” But the pained look on his face told her that her father felt responsible.
Of course he did. “Let’s look on the bright side,” she said, as she gave his shoulder a quick squeeze. “At least I can walk to work!”
Then she glanced at the clock. “Speaking of leaving, you’d better get going, Dad. They want you in queue an hour before departure, and it’ll take you thirty minutes to get there.” He sighed, closed his laptop, and gathered his things, while she nibbled on a bagel and drank half a cup of tea.
When he was ready, they hugged. “Safe travels, Dad. And, please, don’t worry about me.”
“Oddly, my daughter,” he replied, “I rarely have.”
Sad to see him go, but so glad that he’d been there, she hugged him once more, then headed for the shower as he headed out the door.
After showering and dressing she added a little makeup, not that it would last long, but it made her feel like she looked her best, which boosted her spirit, though Rex coming home was all the boost she needed.
Then she put on the silver bracelet with the shiny oval of wampum that he’d given her for Christmas.
The last thing she did was toss her makeup into her purse so she could reapply it before seeing him.
For a pregnant woman on the cusp of telling the baby’s father that they were expecting, Maddie thought she was remarkably calm. Until she called Joe.
“You’re where?” she asked.
“Hyannis.”
“But that’s on the Cape.”
“Correct. Nancy was running low on a special kind of ash bark she uses for her baskets. So we came over to buy more at the woodworking shop.”
“I thought she never left the island.”
“She doesn’t. She usually orders her supplies. But this time she refused to wait for a shipment.”
Maddie told him about her transportation dilemma.
Joe pondered it for only a few seconds. “Can you get a ride up to my place?”
“Probably.” If Kevin wasn’t around, Dave might be at the bookshop. If not, she could always call a cab.
“Well,” Joe said, “Orson’s up there. Keys are in the kitchen on top of the fridge.”
“She can’t drive a stick shift,” Grandma’s voice squawked in the background.
There might have been another option, but Maddie didn’t have the patience to think about it then. If it was either drive Orson or spend the day traipsing around with the meter of a taxi click-clicking, she’d pick Orson. How bad a stick-shift driver could she be?
“Tell Grandma I’ll be fine. It’s straight down State Road with only a couple of turns. I’ll take good care of the old guy. And maybe tomorrow you’ll have time to give me a thorough run-through? I’d like to use him until Rafe gets here.”
Joe said it wouldn’t be a problem because, with sweet Joe, not much ever was.
After hanging up, she grabbed her things and headed out the front door to try and get a ride to Joe’s. But as she dashed out the door, something caught her eye. It was white. It was tucked partway under one of the granite steps. And MADDIE was printed on the front.
With her hand starting to shake, she grabbed the envelope, tore it open, and pulled out the expected sheet of paper. It didn’t take long to read the message:
LAST CHANCE.
Her legs wobbly, her heart racing faster than it should have, Maddie shoved the note into her purse and briskly trekked down to the bookshop where, luckily, Dave was hard at work. Kevin wasn’t there; Dave said he had “stuff going on today.”
She didn’t take the time to wonder if that meant he and Taylor planned to greet Rex at the boat. It didn’t matter; Maddie would be there, come hell or high water—as high as that which, on occasion, flooded Five Corners down by the ferry. With luck, an accident with Orson wouldn’t stop her, either.
Dave said he’d be glad to take her to Joe’s. On the way to Aquinnah, she asked if he would wait until she felt sure that she could safely drive the stick.
As expected, the back door to the house was unlocked; the key to Rafe’s shiny red pickup was right where Joe said it would be. When she went back outside, Dave already sat on the passenger side of the pickup; he said he’d decided to review the gears with her.
Orson started up right away and hummed like a new top. Dave directed Maddie to go out to the road and up to the circle by the lighthouse; he said it would be good practice.
His idea turned out to be essential; she ground every gear, her stomach lurching in tandem with each misstep on the clutch. Or maybe the lurching was due to the new note in her purse.
After fifteen or twenty minutes, and Dave’s patient instruction, the grinding eased; she made it around the loop from the lighthouse to the shops at the Gay Head Cliffs, around to the Aquinnah Cultural Center, and down to the restrooms in pretty good time without many mistakes.
She repeated the trip a second, and third time.
After the fourth, she drove back to Joe’s with confidence.
And Dave said she’d do fine.
She thanked him for his impressive tutorial, said goodbye, and started off to the hospital, firmly expecting that Dr. Mason would say not only was Maddie too old, but also her blood pressure was too high to give birth to a healthy baby.
And that she was sorry, but because she was pregnant there wasn’t much she could do to stop Maddie’s trembling.
Maddie hated that she seemed to need having something to worry about.
She drove so slowly—with only two or three missteps—that she didn’t make it to the hospital until twelve fifteen. Plenty of time to call Brandon, because the time had come. She parked the truck and picked up her phone.
After two rings, his voicemail kicked in.
“This is Brandon Morgan. I am out of the country on business; I’ll return the last week of April. If this is urgent, please contact my law partner, Heather Goodwink, at our regular office number. Otherwise, leave a message, and I’ll try to get back to you in a day or two. Thanks for your patience.”