by E J Cochrane
“What now?” she asked the pups. “Does it ever get easier?”
For an answer Goliath rolled onto his back and wriggled on the bed as if to scratch an itch. Bart, meanwhile, army crawled to her side, leaned against her and rested his scruffy head on her shoulder. His snuffling sigh matched her own, and she kissed his snout in gratitude.
As she lay there, comforted by the warmth of her dogs, the events of the past week played in her mind. While there had been a few bright spots, so much of what had transpired—from Leigh’s mounting tragedies to her rekindled (and apparently doomed) romance with Nadia to Dottie and Granny’s orchestrated violation—had left her feeling drained. If she could have skipped even one of those events, she would be free to bask in her minor victories in her boring, mundane ways. After all, her life wasn’t a complete failure, as evidenced by her business’ imminent expansion. If she didn’t have a surplus of reasons to wallow in misery, she would be celebrating, probably by revisiting the firehouse to plan and daydream about the future home of Little Guys.
“You know what, boys? We should celebrate anyway. You haven’t been to the new space yet, and you will be spending a lot of time there once it’s up and running. You need to familiarize yourselves with the new office space, pick out your favorite spots. I don’t want to just spring it on you.”
Slightly energized, she kissed Bart’s head once more, scratched Goliath’s belly and swung her feet over the side of the bed.
“Boys, we’re going on a field trip.”
Nothing rejuvenated Maddie or set her world aright again like focusing all her energies on her business—one area of her life that never ceased to satisfy her. And after the downward spiral of the previous night, she needed something positive and soothing in her world. Her business could do that for her.
Bart and Goliath loved walks, no matter the destination, as long as they were long, so she felt confident they would delight in the trek to their new home away from home, Little Guy’s future headquarters. As they approached the building, with the sunlight glinting off its surface in what she found a particularly hopeful display, the boys’ tails seemed to start moving in a more forceful demonstration of happiness. Either she was desperate, or she had hit upon the one location in the city that she and the boys liked as much as their own home.
They walked around the perimeter, Maddie conjuring images of her business’ future successes, the boys sniffing and wagging wildly, all of them lost in the possibilities locked within this piece of real estate, none of them noticing the approach of another person.
“I thought I’d find you here.”
Maddie turned to find her sister smirking at her.
“Harriet, you shouldn’t sneak up on people like that.”
“I was worried about you after last night.”
That Harriet had honestly addressed her concerns rather than tormenting her under the guise of sibling fidelity indicated just how worried Harriet was—that and the fact that she had come looking for her, twice in recent memory. Something had her sister worried.
“I’m fine. I’m not even the one who got hit in the head with a pool ball.”
“But you are the one whose girlfriend treated you unfairly in front of a bar full of people.”
She shrugged, unable to find the words she’d need to make Harriet stand down. “Don’t worry about me, Harriet.”
“Can’t help it. That’s what big sisters are for.”
“I’m fine.”
“For the record, I don’t believe you, but I know you won’t talk about it unless I put you in a headlock, and I’m too well-dressed for wrestling.”
“Thanks. Did you know about the remodel?”
“Not a clue, and I’m just as surprised as you are that Granny kept it a secret from you.”
“So I’m not being ridiculous and hard-headed about this?”
“A little bit but I get it.”
“You think I should be happy that Dottie up and decided that her esthetic sensibilities were more important than my rights as a property owner?”
“I think you’re getting pretty worked up about a house you didn’t even want six weeks ago.” Harriet hit her with the same raised-eyebrow, arms folded across her chest look she’d used in her capacity as big sister since Maddie was old enough to follow her everywhere she went.
“I’m going to have to sell it eventually. I don’t want to waste money undoing whatever Dottie ‘fixes up’ in there.”
“As if Dottie’s design choices would somehow hurt you down the road.” Maddie kicked at the weeds withering outside the firehouse but refused to concede Harriet’s point. “Maybe you should go see it before you make up your mind.”
“No thanks.”
“Why not? What’s the harm?”
“I found my friend dead on the floor. It’s not exactly a welcoming environment.”
“Maybe it will be once Dottie finishes. It would be foolish to ruin your friendship over something as unimportant as a piece of real estate.”
“I hate when you’re right.”
“And it happens all the time, you poor thing.” Harriet looked like she was about to hug her but stopped short of actually doing so. “Are you good?”
She nodded, ready to move on to whatever happened next. Love it or hate it, she would have to deal with the house and the changes Dottie wrought at some point. “Thanks, Harriet.”
“It’s what big sisters are for.” She shrugged. “As long as you’re going to be okay, I have to go conquer the real estate market. You should go see your best friend before you have to be in the market for a new one.”
“I will. I just have something else to take care of first.”
“Anything to do with a girl?”
“Something like that.”
“Hi.” Maddie fumbled with her keys. She didn’t know what to say any more than she knew what she was doing there. “I wanted to make sure you were okay after last night. And to thank you.”
“All in a day’s work.” Murphy opened her door wider to let Maddie in. Miraculously her cats didn’t dart into the hall, but Stanley did take the opportunity to rub against Maddie’s legs.
“I think helping to thwart a pool-ball launching murderer’s escape falls well in the ‘above and beyond’ category.”
“I just wanted to make sure you were safe.” Murphy shrugged off her praise.
“I am, thanks to you.”
“You did fine without my help. Though, considering your tendency to inspire violent reactions in killers, I wouldn’t dissuade you from taking self-defense classes.”
“I’m staying away from murderers from now on.”
“Famous last words.” Murphy winked, sending her stomach on a roller-coaster ride. “I’m glad you’re not hurt.” Murphy looked at her intently, and she forgot how to breathe.
“Me too. About you. I’m glad you’re okay.” She fiddled with her keys again. “And since that’s established, I should go.”
“Or you could come in. Don’t think I’ve forgotten about that dinner you owe me.”
“It’s eleven thirty in the morning, Murphy. It might be a bit early for dinner.”
“Then I guess you’ll have to come back another time.”
“I guess I will.”
At the next stop on the closure circuit, Maddie broke the news to Leigh. Though ecstatic to no longer be living in fear of arrest, she took the news of Kat’s guilt about as well as could be expected.
“You’re telling me Lindsey’s dead essentially because of jealousy?”
“And a healthy dose of instability.” Leigh would likely experience guilt over her role in Lindsey’s death (insignificant though it was), but Maddie saw no reason to feed her self-inflicted remorse.
“And I really slept with a murderer? A murderer who tried to frame me for killing her ex?”
“And I thought my love life was complicated.”
“Kittens is right. I do need to make better choices.”
“Don’t we al
l.”
She felt a little guilty leaving Leigh in the wake of the news she’d delivered, but she still had damage to repair. She’d saved the most daunting reconciliation for last.
“Where’s Nadia?” Granny asked as soon as she opened her door.
“At work.” Maddie knew Granny wanted a more complete answer—possibly an explanation for Nadia’s behavior and what Maddie planned to do about it—but Maddie was in no mood to dissect her perpetually lackluster love life.
“What about after work?” Granny pressed. “Where will she be then?”
“I don’t know where she’ll be,” Maddie admitted.
“Because you don’t want to deal with it, or because she’s in time-out for bad behavior?”
“Or maybe because I know it’s never going to work, so why delay the inevitable? Now can we please talk about something else?”
“Better yet, how about we take a walk?”
Granny didn’t wait for an answer. She just bundled up and headed out the door, obviously expecting Maddie to follow.
“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing, Granny.”
“I didn’t realize I was being mysterious.”
“You’re being obstinate.”
“And you can thank me later,” Granny called over her shoulder and picked up the pace, leaving Maddie no choice but to follow or risk angering her grandmother, a consequence she habitually tried to avoid.
“Fine. Let’s get this over with.”
She marched on with her grandmother, grumbling the entire way. Whether she wanted to or not (and she definitely didn’t want to), she’d be visiting Howard’s house. She held no illusion that she could avoid this indefinitely. Granny had made up her mind, which meant that sooner or later Maddie would have to visit the scene of her friend’s crime. But that didn’t mean she had to be happy about it.
“Are you trick-or-treating?” Dottie eyed her from head to toe upon opening the door.
“Yes. I’m dressed as a frustrated lesbian who’s in the market for a new best friend.”
Dottie pursed her lips. “Next year you should cut way back on the flannel. Maybe go as a sexy lesbian.”
“I thought the point of my visit was a tour of the unauthorized remodeling of my house, not a fashion tutorial.”
“Oh precious. It would take more than one lesson.”
Dottie sashayed forward, Maddie hesitantly trailing in her wake for her first look at the transformation Dottie had carried out in secret. It was actually her first time inside the house since she’d found its previous owner dead on the floor not five feet from where she now stood. She hadn’t wanted to return to such a horrific reminder, so she had let Harriet and their mother handle everything related to the acquisition of her horror house. When Dottie signed the lease, they’d done so at Harriet’s office, and when she’d visited Dottie earlier in the week, she’d been barred from entering (not that her aversion to the space didn’t offer as much resistance as Carlisle and Dottie).
But the space she stepped into now bore so little resemblance to the spot where Howard had met his end, she considered stepping back onto the porch to double-check the address. Though the basic architecture remained more or less the same (give or take a wall or two), the feel was completely different.
“This is incredible,” Maddie admitted.
The work was still in progress—not even Dottie’s deep pockets could speed the renovation process—but the environment had dramatically shifted. She turned slowly, taking it all in, and she could envision what the space would become much more readily than she could call to mind what it had so recently been. She felt the tension she hadn’t even realized was there slipping from her shoulders
“I still don’t understand, though. Why keep it a secret?”
“Because you would have mistaken my insistence on good taste as an act of charity and would have refused to let me fund the project out of stubborn pride. And even after I convinced you to make changes, you would have insisted on doing the work yourself, so I would have had to wait for what I wanted, which we both know I despise, and I would have gotten it piecemeal rather than the instant gratification I prefer. I didn’t care for either of those options.”
“So you lied to me instead.” She wandered into the almost-finished bathroom, inspecting the fixtures and new granite countertop.
“For the greater good, puddin’. And since I know you love it, everything worked out. Admit it.”
“It’s beautiful, Dottie, but why didn’t you hire my dad? You have half my family on the payroll already.”
“And risk him telling you? I don’t think so, dumpling. He would have shown you the blueprints on day one.”
“But he would have done impeccable work and charged you less.”
“Fret not, little one. I’ll hire him when I overhaul the second story.”
“You’re planning more work? You’ve already done so much.”
“Carlisle needs a decent space to share with her cats, and you know how I adore a good makeover.”
“Especially when it comes to me and my belongings.” Maddie glanced around again, taking it all in, considering what the finished product would look like. She nodded approvingly at the space, and for the first time thought of it as something other than a burden—she thought of it as hers.
Bella Books, Inc.
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