by Cate Conte
On second thought, maybe it was me that was uncomfortable.
And of course I didn’t have a good answer for my mother. “You could’ve at least let me know,” I finally said, taking a sullen sip of my bourbon.
My mother leaned over and gave me a hands-free kiss on the cheek, balancing the wine glasses. “Honey. Everything is going to work out. Trust me.” With a satisfied nod that it would be so, she left the room.
I took another sip and went to find Becky. She was with her mom. I handed her the drink and went over to where Val was arranging her platters. “How you doing?” I asked, spearing an olive with a toothpick. “Need help?”
“No, I’m good!” She beamed at me. I’d never seen Val so happy. Or in such a chronic good mood. Who would’ve thought my strong, silent business partner would be the one to completely turn things around for her. Well, that and her successful new business. “This party is great, isn’t it?” She surveyed the room with her hands clasped under her chin. “It’s so nice to have everyone here. I’m so excited for Christmas this year. I got Ethan new boots and a new coat. He doesn’t dress warmly enough for New England. And a stereo system for the new café, since he likes to play music while he cooks. I can’t wait to give it to him.”
“That’s awesome, Val. I’m really happy for you.”
She looked up from fussing with the shrimp cocktail platter. “How are you doing?”
“I’m fine.”
“Right.”
“I am.” I waved her off. “I’m used to being single anyway. What does it matter?”
“It matters a lot when you care about someone and things are uncertain.”
“They aren’t uncertain. They’re over.” I looked around for where I’d left my drink.
“You don’t know that,” Val said.
“Ah, but I do. I have no desire to date him anymore. I didn’t sign up to date Houdini.” I glanced up as the doorbell rang again. “Probably Katrina. I’ll get it.”
But once again, I was wrong.
Chapter 14
Friday, December 18: four days before the murder
Noon
I paused outside the grooming-salon door, trying to appear nonchalant but peering inside like a stalker. I could see Caroline, Lucas’s main groomer, inside. She was alone save for the husky on the table in front of her. I lurked for a few minutes, debating whether I should go in. On the one hand, Lucas could be hurt or something. If so, and someone called his family to tell them, maybe they had called his shop. It would make sense, if no one knew about me yet. Which they might not, depending on how close he was to his family and how he thought of us. I had no idea about either. We weren’t officially official yet. At least, we’d never verbalized that.
So I figured before I completely wrote him off, I’d check here. If something had happened, at least then I would know. That is, if anyone here knew.
On the other hand, I could look like a pathetic stalker girl who’d been ghosted by a guy who wasn’t even really her boyfriend yet and was having a hard time letting go.
Ugh. “I hate my life,” I muttered, and turned to go.
I noticed Craig standing on the sidewalk, regarding me with an amused—or maybe pitying—smile. He was in uniform, so was clearly out on patrol. “What?” I snapped.
He shrugged. “Nothing. Did you get a dog?”
“They do cats too,” I said defensively, not bothering to call attention to the fact that I had no cat with me, not even JJ, whom I usually took around town with me. He was welcome in all the shops and even most of the eating establishments. He was definitely an island fixture. But it was too cold out. He didn’t like being outside in the winter.
“Still no word, huh?”
I wasn’t in the mood for his pretend sympathy. And I really didn’t want to talk about my abysmal love life with my ex-boyfriend. That was the problem with an island the size of a postage stamp. Everyone knew freakin’ everything.
“I’ve gotta go,” I said, pretending I hadn’t heard him. “And it looks like you’re working?”
He looked at me for a long moment, then nodded. “Yeah. I’m working. See you.”
“Bye.” I waited until he walked away then took a deep breath and yanked the door open.
Caroline looked up. If she was surprised to see me she didn’t show it. But she had kind of a one-expression face anyway.
“Hey, Caro,” I said, trying for cheery.
“Hi, Maddie. What’s up?” Her hands didn’t falter as she continued to clip her charge, but her eyes lingered on me.
“I’m sorry to bother you.… Should I come back?” I asked, jerking my thumb toward the door.
“No, it’s good. What can I do for you?”
“I was just wondering”—I sighed and decided to just go for it—“if you’ve heard from Lucas at all.”
She blinked at me. “Yeah, actually. I did. Like a week ago? Maybe a little more?”
I stared at her. “You did?”
“Yeah.” She shrugged. “He asked if I could hold down the fort for a bit longer.”
I waited, but she didn’t say anything else. A woman of few words, Caroline was. “Did he say anything else? Like where he is? Is he okay?”
She placed her clippers on the metal tray next to her. The husky waited expectantly, his tail thumping slightly. When she looked up at me, there was a slight look of pity on her face. “He didn’t. Honestly. It was a very short call and there was a lot of noise in the background. Like it was a public place? He was very apologetic about delegating all the appointments, but hey. It’s the slow season so it’s all good.”
“Yeah,” I said. “All good. Thanks, Caro.”
“Anytime,” she said.
As I turned to go, she called me back. “Maddie. Lucas is a good guy. I’m sure there’s an explanation for all this, yeah?”
I wasn’t so sure, but I didn’t want to say that. “Sure,” I said.
“If I hear from him again, I’ll tell him to call you.”
You shouldn’t have to tell him, I wanted to say, but instead managed a smile. “Thanks.”
* * *
By the time I got home, I’d gotten over the shock and upset that he’d been in touch with his groomer and not with me, and I’d graduated to angry. Like, really angry. Maybe I didn’t have the right to be this mad, but I was. Just because we hadn’t pledged our undying love for each other yet didn’t mean we hadn’t had something. He was always at my place, I was always at his. He’d spent time with my family. He’d been around through some really tough times. I’d started to depend on him. He had stuff at my place. And how did he respond? By disappearing without a word. Would a text kill him, for crying out loud?
But that one piece—the fact that I’d let my guard down and really started to care about him—made me angriest.
I pulled into the driveway on two wheels and stomped on the brake, bringing Grandpa’s truck to a screeching halt. A couple of heads poked out from the garage—Gabe’s contractor crew—curious about all the noise. I ignored them and charged inside. I was on a mission.
Slamming the door behind me, I raced upstairs to my room. Even though Lucas lived alone, we spent most of our time here because of my responsibilities with the cats. Plus I think he’d loved being around our house with all the activity—Grandpa’s antics, Ethan’s cooking, Val with her new business, and all the cats. Which meant he’d left a lot of stuff here.
And I needed it gone.
Shedding my coat and scarf as I went up the three flights, I ran into my bedroom and slammed the door so hard the house might’ve shaken. I started grabbing clothes out of the closet and throwing them into a pile on my floor, muttering the whole time. JJ, who’d been curled up on my bed, opened one eye, took in the situation, and disappeared, scrambling for cover under the bed.
I heard a tentative knock, then my door cracked open. “Maddie?” Val stuck her head in, looking alarmed. “What’s wrong? What are you doing?”
“Nothing. Go awa
y.” I took the book Lucas had left on my nightstand and chucked that into the pile too.
“Seriously? You look possessed. What’s up?” She took a tentative step into the room, then jerked back as another book—one he’d bought me when I told him how much I wanted to read it—went flying past to land on the floor with a thud.
“What’s up? I’ll tell you what’s up.” I turned around, eyes blazing, a pile of hangers in my arms. “That … jerk is alive.”
Val looked thoroughly confused. “What jerk?”
“Lucas!” I chucked more clothes onto the pile on the floor. Had he moved his whole apartment here, for crying out loud?
“Wait. You’re angry because Lucas is alive? When did you talk to him? Isn’t this good news?”
“Girls?” Grandpa’s voice from downstairs. “What’s all the ruckus up there?”
“Nothing, Grandpa,” Val called back. “Sorry.”
“Has anyone in this house ever heard of privacy?” I yelled. “Can’t I have a meltdown in peace?”
“Maddie.” Val stepped all the way in, tentatively at first, then closed the door behind her. “Take a breath and tell me what happened.”
I didn’t usually let either of my sisters see me in such a state—I was the oldest after all, and I had a reputation to uphold—and it made me even more upset that she was there to witness my meltdown. “I don’t want to talk about it,” I snapped. “I just want to get this stuff out of here.”
“Okay. Let me help. What do you need, a bag?”
I nodded.
“I’ll get one. Be right back.” She slipped out of the room.
I shoved my hands on my hips and surveyed the room. I’d grabbed all his stuff out of the closet and anything he’d left out in the open. I yanked open the drawers of the nightstand I’d cleaned out on the side of the bed he liked and pulled out a few items—earbuds, Altoids, a day planner.
A day planner?
I snatched it up, flipping to the most recent entries. Not that I thought he might have written Flee from Daybreak Island and never return as an entry, but perhaps there was some clue.
But no, it was actually pretty boring. Grooming appointments; the gig his band, the Scurvy Elephants, had secured; and the conference that had taken him off-island in the first place. I flipped forward a few pages and frowned. He had entries in there for the past couple of weeks. Things that I knew were on the island. Like plumbing job at the library, and pick up M’s gift at Lee’s.
I frowned. “M” would be me, probably. And “Lee’s” was an adorable little boutique with the best jewelry. So maybe he hadn’t planned to never return?
I abruptly closed the book and threw it in the pile. So what if he hadn’t planned it? That could even be worse. Spontaneous ghosting. Either way, he was gone and hadn’t bothered to contact me. He’d contacted his coworker, but couldn’t find the time to even send me a text. So what if he had entries in his planner? He didn’t even like doing plumbing jobs. He probably was looking for somewhere else to live where you could have a steady stream of income all year round, not some stupid island where you worked your butt off for five months and twiddled your thumbs the rest of the time.
Val returned with some trash bags. She stepped in cautiously, checking to see if there was anything in my hands first. “All set,” she said cheerfully, holding up the bags. “What am I packing up?”
“That.” I pointed. “And what are you so happy about?”
“Just trying to be upbeat.” She knelt next to the pile and started placing clothes neatly into the bag.
“Just throw them in so I can get them out of here.” I grabbed some of the shirts and balled them up to toss them in the bag.
Val grabbed my arm. “Maddie. Stop. I’ve got it. Seriously, will you tell me what’s going on please?”
I sighed and sank down on my bed. “Lucas called Caroline.”
“Who’s that?”
“His second in command at the grooming salon.”
“How do you know?”
“I went by there. I just”—I lifted my shoulders and let them drop in a defeated shrug—“wanted to know.”
Val sat back on her heels. “What did he say?”
“Asked her to hold down the fort a while longer. Apologized. That was it.”
Val thought about that. “And you’re sure he hasn’t called or texted? Maybe from a number you don’t recognize? He could’ve lost his phone.”
“He didn’t lose his phone. He doesn’t want to talk to me. It’s fine. I’m done thinking about this.” I stood up abruptly again. “I’m going to go throw the bags in a dumpster.”
“What dumpster?” Val wanted to know.
“I don’t know. Whatever dumpster I can find.” I was horrified to realize tears were filling my eyes.
Val came over and gave me a hug, then made me sit down on the bed with her. “Maddie. I know it sucks and it’s kind of weird—”
“Kind of?” I interrupted. “Rational people don’t just vanish. Not unless they’re in witness protection or something.” I dropped my head into my hands and pressed my fists against my eyes, willing myself not to cry. “I dated a guy out in Cali. We were serious—at least I thought we were. But he had this bad habit of ghosting me every so often when he got freaked out, or when we’d had a fight. Then he’d come crawling back and I was dumb enough to let it happen again. I’m not”—I swallowed as my voice betrayed me and broke—“I’m not doing that again.”
Val was silent for a moment, then leaned over and hugged me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know that. And I get it. But there’s got to be an explanation. Lucas isn’t a bad guy. Look, I have that same intuition you do when it comes to this stuff. It works better on others than on myself,” Val said dryly. “And I know he’s not a bad guy.”
“Whatever. I still want his stuff gone.” I pulled away from her and crossed my arms stubbornly.
“Okay. Fine. I’ll take care of it,” Val said. “Is there more?”
I went into my bathroom and came back with all his stuff—shampoo, electric toothbrush, moisturizer—and threw it on the bed. “I should do it. It’ll be therapeutic.”
Val added the latest items to the bag, then hefted it up like Santa Claus. “I’ve got it. It’s gone. See? No worries.”
“Out of the house,” I commanded. “In the trash.”
She saluted. “You got it. I’ll tell Grandpa everything’s okay up here.”
“Great,” I muttered. “You can lie to him then.”
Chapter 15
Thursday, December 24, Christmas Eve: two days after the murder
7:45 p.m.
I had to blink to clear my vision. And then I still thought I was imagining things. Otherwise, it meant Lucas was real, standing on my doorstep holding a small gift bag—from Lee’s, ironically—and wearing a nervous smile. I had no idea what to say. Or why he was here. Unless it was to properly dump me. Which I guess was better than just disappearing into thin air.
“Hey, Maddie,” he said. “I hope it’s okay I stopped by. I figured you guys would be…” he gestured at the party behind me, seemingly at a loss for words.
“Yeah,” I said. “We’re having a party.”
Lucas nodded, his face sinking into a semi-miserable expression while he still tried to keep the smile pasted on.
He looked … off. Don’t get me wrong, he was still gorgeous, but something was different. He looked thinner. Pale. His eyes were cloudy and troubled. I wondered if he’d been ill and that was why he hadn’t been in touch, then shoved the thought out of my mind. If he’d been able to get back to the island and call his staff, he’d clearly had the ability to send a text or make a phone call somewhere along the way.
My heart started to pound, that awful feeling of facing down the confrontation you’d almost hoped for but now dreaded. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what I wanted. I did know that despite whatever was wrong, he looked … good. Like the guy I’d had a crush on immediately when I saw him last
summer. The guy I’d subsequently fallen for.
He looked like Lucas. And it made me sad.
Which totally threw me off. “Wow. I guess they do have transportation back to the island,” I said, trying for sarcasm. It would have been a lot more effective without my voice shaking. “What”—I cleared my throat—“what are you doing here?”
“I wanted to see you.” He glanced behind me, wincing a bit at the crowd. “Can we talk?”
I leaned into the doorway, blocking the inside from his view. “Talk about what? The fact that you left for a three-day conference and have been gone for a month with no word? Or that you were able to get in touch with your employees but didn’t even have the courtesy to text me once and let me know you were alive?”
“Maddie. I know how it looks—”
“Madalyn!” Grandpa’s voice boomed in my ear. “You’re letting all the cold air in. What are you—oh, hello, son! Come on in!”
“No, Grandpa, Lucas was just—” I began, but Grandpa ignored me and pushed the door open all the way for Lucas. “Leaving,” I finished as Grandpa reached out a hand and pulled Lucas over the threshold into the room. I cringed inwardly. I felt like the whole room was staring at me. When I looked up, Cass’s eyes met mine. I could read the concern there.
Conversation filtered off as the rest of the group in the living room realized we had company. Val turned from where she was fussing over the platters of food, and her mouth dropped open. Craig stared openly. My dad, sensing the weird vibe, immediately rose and came over to greet Lucas. His gesture cut off any awkwardness in its tracks.
“Merry Christmas, Lucas. Good to see you. Let me take your coat,” he said.
Lucas shot me a look that was part apology, part plea for help, then obliged, shifting the bag from hand to hand while he wrangled his coat off. “Thank you. Good to see you too. And merry Christmas to you too,” he added.
My dad looked at me. “Maddie, maybe you can get Lucas—”
“A drink?” I finished. “Sure. Happy to. What’ll you have?” I turned to him with a too-bright smile.