The Devil's Storm

by Lorelai Watson

It was almost comical how low Adrian had to stoop and how high Maggie Beth had to jump to for them to meet, but it happened naturally without the least bit of hesitation. Maggie Beth had tears streaming from her shut-tight eyes.

  “I’ve missed you more than you could ever possibly know.”

  “I’ve missed you too, Mom.”

  Madeleine didn’t dare interrupt. Adrian and Maggie Beth needed this moment, just the two of them. Madeleine imagined as a mother, Maggie Beth needed it especially. She’d spent every second they'd let her have with Thomas before they finally took him away. Even five years later, his absence from her life still hurt.

  “Is Dad here?” Adrian asked. Madeleine detected a slight quaver

  in his voice when he asked. His father was the parent Adrian would be most worried about seeing.

  “He’s inside. He was taking a business call when I saw you pull

  in. He’ll be disappointed I got to see you first.”

  “Maddie, you coming?”

  He forced her into the conversation. Adrian wasn’t going to let her flounder on the outside, away from Maggie Beth’s attentions. Madeleine gave a weak smile that probably looked more like a grimace. Maybe the shadows prevented her from looking as awkward as she felt.

  “Hey there, Maggie Beth,” Madeleine forced herself to say. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to speak to her ex-mother-in-law (future mother-in-law?). Madeleine just didn’t know if Maggie Beth would condescend to speak to her ever again. Her family was in shambles. Did she think it was all Madeleine’s fault?

  “Hello, Madeleine.”

  Maggie Beth’s tone rang hollow. It was not her typical warm, Southern drawl punctuated with a genuine smile. Instead, it was tight-lipped and emanated cold politeness rarely seen in her (ex? future?), mother-in-law. She hugged her, but it was short and felt obligatory. But Madeleine knew it was the best she could expect, given the circumstances. If it were her sons torn apart and heartbroken, Madeleine didn’t think she’d behave any differently.

  Maggie Beth turned to Adrian, who Madeleine noticed had positioned himself closer like had needed to protect her. Suddenly, Maggie Beth was all smiles. “Have y’all had dinner? I made your favorite chicken casserole, just in case you hadn’t.”

  “Oh my God… I would have driven faster if I knew you’d made chicken casserole,” Adrian answered with a beaming grin as he wrapped his arm around his mother’s shoulders. They started walking together into the house. Madeleine was grateful her attention shifted to Adrian.

  “If Maggie Beth can only manage to be polite, what do you think Richard’s going to be like?” Evelyn asked as they followed behind.

  A shudder ran down Madeleine’s spine. “Why did I ever agree to this? I hope that man knows how much I love him…”

  Evelyn laughed. “What you don’t know is what a chain of events you’ve set into motion. An entire life of having to put up with in-laws that hate your guts. If you were smart, you would have poisoned

  Adrian against them.”

  “No! I could never do that! He loves his parents, and I’m glad he has them. I wish I’d had a real relationship with my parents.”

  Evelyn raised a brow as Madeleine hesitated at the threshold.

  “This is a mistake.”

  Madeleine took a deep breath as she stepped inside Richard’s house. “It’s not a mistake. It’s a step in the right direction. Adrian needs this.”

  The sight of Richard hugging his son tight and, if she wasn’t mistaken, a lone tear rolling down his cheek, was not what Madeleine expected to see first. “See? That makes it all worth it,” Madeleine told Evelyn.

  She saw Richard murmur something in Adrian’s ear, followed by an equally quiet response to his father. Madeleine wished she could hear this overdue conversation. But then again, it was special, just for Adrian and his parents.

  It was then Richard spotted her.

  If looks could kill, she’d be lying dead on his floor rather than processing the fact she was not the least bit welcome in his home. I can handle this, she told herself. I knew they weren’t going to be happy to see me. I’ll be accommodating and show them I love their son. That will make Maggie Beth and Richard happy enough.

  “Or will it?” Evelyn questioned.

  Madeleine wasn’t sure.

  Chapter Twenty Three

  Madeleine had laid in the bed a long, uncomfortable time, waiting for Adrian to wake. As much as she didn’t like to admit it, she needed his protection for the rest of their stay in Atlanta. Richard and Maggie Beth’s reception had provided all the evidence she would need to establish that fact.

  She blended in well enough at dinner. Adrian had failed to mention they had already eaten, although Madeleine knew full well Adrian wasn’t going to mention this if his mother had gone through the trouble of making him his favorite dish. While she pushed around the casserole on her plate, Maggie Beth and Richard sat entranced with their son’s every word. When he told a story about their life together, it was as if she wasn’t even in the room. The woman in the story was the anonymous girlfriend of Adrian’s. She certainly sounded charming, even adventurous, from Adrian’s point-of-view.

  That wasn’t her at all. Was it?

  Maggie Beth would occasionally ask her a question out of politeness, but Richard wouldn’t even look at her. Evelyn was right. This was her life now. This one meeting would evolve into Christmas and Easter and birthdays and whatever else Maggie Beth would plan. Madeleine didn’t see their obvious disdain waning with time either. Maybe when they had children, it would get better. Or would they use them as pawns against her? Would Maggie Beth and Richard stoop so low? Madeleine didn’t want to think they would, but after all, they were Lee’s parents, and he had to get his tenacity from somewhere.

  “You just gonna sit there watching me sleep?” Adrian muttered, eyes still shut. “It’s kinda creepy.”

  Madeleine reached for her pillow and hit him with it. “You could quit being a lazy bum and wake up at a reasonable time.”

  He groaned and opened a single eye to glare at her. “Woman,

  you didn’t drive all night after installing storm shutters all day. Let me sleep.”

  “Don’t call me woman.”

  Adrian smiled a mischievous grin. “Well, that’s what you are. I mean I’ll check to make sure,” he said as he grabbed the hem of her nightgown and began pushing it to her thighs.

  She giggled as he wrestled his way between her legs and laid a sweet kiss on her lips.

  “Ugh, you have morning breath,” she laughed.

  “So do you!” he teased. “Kiss me anyway.”

  “Gross, no. Kissing is the gateway drug to sex, and I’m not getting it on in your dad’s house.”

  His face and shoulders plummeted. “Wait — what? Why not?”

  “Oh come on. It’s only a few days. You’ll survive.”

  He groaned as he rested his head on her chest. “It’s your fault I’m spoiled. Why can’t we have sex here?”

  “Um, because I’m uncomfortable? Not to mention, I just have the creeping feeling your parents would know, and it would make everything worse.”

  “Baby, I think they know we’re sleeping together. Besides, you’re the loud one. They wouldn’t have a clue if you’d keep it down,” he teased as his hands ran up her thighs.

  “I know they know,” Madeleine said, slightly annoyed as she placed her hands over his to stop him from working her panties off, “but if you haven’t noticed, they kinda hate me. I’m sure the last thing they want is their son married to a woman they despise.”

  Adrian sighed, flopped to her side and stared up at the canopied top of the four-poster bed. “They don’t hate you.”

  “What? You mean they strongly dislike me instead?”

  “Probably,” Adrian admitted, “but they don’t hate you. I think as soon as we’re engaged—”

  “They’ll even further disown you?”

  “They’ll have to accept it. We love each other."<
br />
  Madeleine said nothing in return. She somehow doubted that Maggie Beth and Richard would ever accept it, even if they were engaged, or married, or had a hundred children together.

  “You’re a gold-digging whore who destroyed the entire Atwood family, just so you could keep up with your lifestyle,” Evelyn said with a tut from the bathroom as she put the finishing touches on her

  mascara for the day.

  “That’s the way they see it,” Madeleine grumbled in agreement.

  “Huh?”

  Madeleine’s heart sank and her eyes grew wide. Did she really just respond to Evelyn aloud? She’d never done that before… She shook her head, trying her best to play it off, even though her heart was racing inside. “Nothing,” she murmured.

  Adrian eyed her with concern. “You know I love you more than anything, right? And nothing will ever change that. Even if they hated you, which they don’t, it wouldn’t make a difference to me.”

  Madeleine smiled. She didn’t want to pretend like everything was fine; she had already done enough of that in her life. But this time was different. This was for Adrian. While she normally wouldn’t be able to hide from him, Madeleine knew that this was an illusion he would actually want to believe — that they could all be one happy family again.

  Evelyn laughed as she strolled out of the bathroom, dressed and made up to the nines, ready to seize the day with a vengeance. Madeleine wanted to stay in bed. In her bed. At home. With Adrian.

  That wasn’t going to happen. A knock on the bedroom door sealed her fate.

  “Adrian? Maddie? Y’all up?” Maggie Beth called from outside the door.

  “Yeah, Mom.”

  Adrian looked at Madeleine with another expression that needed no explanation. He loved her, and he was there for her. Adrian squeezed her hand.

  “Can I come in?”

  Adrian looked to Madeleine for approval, and she nodded in response. Madeleine sat up in the bed, already feeling the prickle of anxiety creeping in a crescendo across her body. Adrian rolled out of bed with a groan and padded towards the bedroom door wearing only his boxers. “You’re not going to at least throw on some pants?” Madeleine asked in a harsh whisper.

  Adrian’s face screwed up in confusion. “It’s my mom,” he shrugged. He opened up the door, his typical grin and a smart comment at the ready. “Can’t the women in my life let me get any sleep?”

  “Sleepless night?” Maggie Beth asked with a raised brow.

  “Don’t I wish?” he snickered.

  An embarrassed groan that escaped Madeleine’s mouth, while Maggie Beth’s face reddened. Her eyes met with Maggie Beth’s and she gave a sympathetic expression; it was the closest they had gotten to a genuine interaction since they’d arrived.

  But then Maggie Beth Beth looked down to the floor. She looked as nervous as Madeleine felt. “Beatrice got upgraded to a category three early this morning,” she sighed. “The city ordered a mandatory evacuation.”

  Adrian sighed. “Locals said it was going to be bad. At least we got out early.”

  For once, Madeleine agreed. “Yes, I’m glad we got out when we did.”

  “Adrian, it’s not gonna be that bad. It’s just a category two,” Adrian said in a playful, mocking tone.

  Madeleine raised a brow in his direction but smiled nonetheless. “You were right,” she conceded. “But now I’m worried about the house. And Freya. I don’t know if she left.”

  “Who’s Freya?” Maggie Beth asked.

  “A friend of ours. She has two little girls, and she’s all by herself.” Madeleine explained.

  “Why don’t you call her?” Adrian suggested. “I’m sure she’s fine, but if we can help her out somehow, we will.”

  Madeleine grabbed her phone from the nightstand, excusing herself to the bathroom to call Freya. Behind closed doors, Madeleine heard Maggie Beth and Adrian having a very muffled discussion. Madeleine took a deep, steadying breath and scrolled through her contacts for Freya’s name. She called the number, but it went straight to voicemail. Several more attempts later, her call went unanswered. Anxiety began to rise, and outside the door, the discussion between Adrian and Maggie Beth had dropped even lower in tone.

  “Wonder what they’re talking about?” Evelyn smirked. She was sitting on the marble bathroom counter now, long legs crossed, everything about her vivid and glowing. Even the scars on her neck looked less visible today. Why did she seem to be thriving so well, when just days ago, Madeleine could dismiss her without a second thought? “She’s probably begging her son to make another good

  decision and dump you.”

  “No, she’s not,” Madelene sighed, in an exasperated tone. But her stomach flopped. “No, I’ll bet you're right. She’s probably got him half-convinced already that it would be for the best. And wouldn’t it be? I can’t give him what he wants. A wife and a family? I can’t carry a baby and I’m already going nuts actually responding to you. It’s only a matter of time before he finds out I’m not that amazing woman he described last night at dinner and that I’ll never make him happy.”

  Evelyn shrugged. “I’ve been telling you for years.”

  “It’s going to hurt though. I love him so much.”

  Evelyn leaned forward and tucked a strand of hair behind Madeleine’s ear. The gesture was almost loving. “I know you do. And he’s a good man. All the more reason to take care of that whole messy break-up thing for him. Lord knows he doesn’t want to be the one to pull the trigger on that one. He’s too good for it.”

  “Yeah, he is. Sometimes I think he would have married Emily if I didn’t seem like the more valiant effort. He is so good. That’s what makes this hard.”

  “So when will you do it?”

  Madeleine sighed. “When we get back? Maybe before? He won’t have to deal with any house repairs if I do it here. That would be nice. And I can pay to have his things sent up. He won’t even have to come back to Savannah and deal with me, or the house…”

  “Good idea. Very considerate,” Evelyn agreed.

  Madeleine suddenly felt dazed, then took a couple of steps backwards before padding out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom with Adrian and Maggie Beth. Adrian was telling yet another one of his tales of their life together, and Maggie Beth was just grinning from ear to ear. The second she stepped out of the room, Adrian looked at her. No, he didn’t just look at her — he looked at her as if she’d been gone for years and he’d missed her.

  Oh, God. He loved her. And she had considered breaking his heart to spare him from… from what exactly? Madeleine knew Adrian loved her, scars and blemishes and all.

  Evelyn.

  And then Madeleine realized what was wrong. Adrian’s face must have mirrored her own, echoing the fear and worry that Madeleine felt.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked as he sat up. “Couldn’t you get in touch with her?”

  Madeleine shook her head. “It kept going straight to voicemail.”

  “Maybe her phone just died,” Adrian suggested. He was ever the optimist.

  “You’re probably right. I mean the storm’s not even hit yet,

  there’s no reason that they wouldn’t be safe right now, right?”

  “Yeah. We can try again later, baby. And if that doesn’t work, I promise you we’ll figure something out.”

  How could she ever consider hurting him? God, he was too good to be true.

  “In the meantime, I’m going to get breakfast started. You two can come down when you’re ready,” Maggie Beth said.

  “I can help,” Madeleine volunteered. “If you want.”

  Rather unexpectedly, Maggie Beth smiled at her, and it didn’t seem fake this time. “I’d like some help. I’ll go get everything started.”

  The second she left the room, Adrian wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead. “You sure everything’s okay?"

  Madeleine sighed, grateful she could collapse in his arms. “I need to take my meds. We were so rushed yesterday I d
on’t think I got to take them.”

  “You did pack them, right?”

  “Um…I mean, I guess I did. Surely I would have gotten my pills…” Madeleine trailed off as she went to search through their things in the bathroom.

  “If all else fails, it’s not like the pharmacy shouldn’t have it in their system. We can go pick it up after breakfast if you can’t find them.”

  Madeleine rifled through the bag to no avail. Both prescriptions for her depression and anxiety weren’t there. Her heart rate was already rising, and her mind had already been racing with thoughts she just couldn’t control. Madeleine closed her eyes and sighed. “You’re right. It’s no big deal. I can get another bottle.” She said it more to convince herself it was true.

  “It’s not. Everything’s going to be fine,” he said, nonchalant as he took off his boxers and turned on the water in the shower. “We’ll get out of here after breakfast, get your meds, and who knows. Maybe we can find something fun to do in this one-horse town.”

  “You don’t want to spend time with your parents?” Madeleine questioned with a raised brow as he stepped into the shower.

  “Mom, maybe, but I doubt Dad’s taking a day off.”

  “I better get dressed and go help her.”

  Adrian leaned out the shower door. “Hey. Come here,” he beckoned. Madeleine did as he bade, already smiling before he kissed her and made her entire body loosen. He wasn’t a pill, but he

  came damn close to having the same effects.

  Chapter Twenty Four

  Adrian sneaked down the back stairs to the kitchen. He worried about Madeleine left alone with his mother. As much as he’d hoped that something bordering magic would happen, something that would bond them all back together, Adrian knew he was being overly optimistic. This would take time. And a lot of forgiveness from everyone.

  Yet, when he set foot on the stairs, his mother was laughing. He stopped and sat down while he waited to see how this conversation between Madeleine and his mother would play out.

  “One morning we were out for a run — well, Adrian was out for a run, I can only keep a steady jog— anyway, he’s a good block ahead, and this woman comes zooming around me. She’s like, model-thin with dark-brown hair, and she’d dressed from head to toe in this perfectly coordinating Tory Burch activewear. Totally Adrian’s type.”