The Devil's Storm

by Lorelai Watson

  safe.

  Chapter Thirty Seven

  To say Richard was upset was an understatement. He had insisted on taking the company jet to Savannah. While Maggie Beth was grateful they had the means to board a private jet on a whim, the plane was filled with tension. Lee and Madeleine had joined them, rather than driving across the entire state. When Madeleine had heard the time from Atlanta to Savannah would be a mere forty-five minutes over a four-hour-drive, she had been willing to sit, arms folded across her chest, taciturn on the same plane as Richard as long as it meant getting to Adrian at top speed. While Madeleine stared out the window, Lee kept his eyes on Madeleine. He still loved her—that much was obvious—but Maggie Beth hoped that love was morphing into something purer than the tangled, romantic relationship that they shared when they were married.

  She flicked her eyes over to Richard, who was staring out the small jet window, drumming his thumb on the armrest and bouncing his leg. The sound was driving her insane. Although at the moment, even the sound of his breathing was nerve-wracking. She wished he would just go sit with the pilot until it was time to land.

  If only he didn’t go so completely overboard when he didn’t get his way, maybe they wouldn’t be in this situation. The day Adrian told them he loved Madeleine, they should have said their peace, made their arguments, end of story. But no. Not Richard Atwood. God forbid he not get exactly what he wanted, when he wanted it.

  Richard’s eyes would occasionally meet hers, and Maggie Beth was quick to give him a piercing glare of punishment. She would glare at him until the man impressed her with the impossible—humbling himself to apologize to Madeleine. He needed to realize Adrian loved her and intended on having a life with her. He would have to accept the fact that his son had a mind and heart all his own, and Madeleine was exactly what he wanted.

  Maggie Beth cleared her throat. “We all need to have a talk before we land.”

  Lee and Richard took sharp breaths and tried their best not to roll their eyes. Maggie Beth knew better than to expect anything different. Father and son were too alike.

  Surprisingly, Madeleine spoke up. “No, I don’t think we do, Maggie Beth.”

  A pang of surprise hit her in the chest. She’d gotten hit in the sternum with a softball once in high school; it felt about the same. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean I’m not open to any discussions with any of you,” she stated in a flat, even tone. “I’m just here to get to Adrian as fast as possible. After that, I’m done with all of you. I can be polite for Adrian’s sake, but that’s it.”

  Maggie Beth laced her fingers together and held her tongue for a moment while she thought out the best course of action. “So you’re not breaking off this engagement?”

  “Not a chance in hell,” Madeleine said, narrowing her eyes first at her, then Richard.

  “Good. It’s about damned time you started fighting for what you want,” she stated. Maggie Beth heard a stifled snicker escape Lee, but she didn’t throw him any of her typical motherly, disciplinary looks. When she looked at her son, the one-sided smile and expression of satisfaction on his face told her he was proud of who Madeleine had become.

  “Now that’s out of the way, I’m going to fight for what I want.” Richard’s head snapped toward her; she had his attention. “I want my family back together. I don’t want polite, but fake relationships, or for my boys to be unable to be in the same room together.”

  Lee shook his head. “Not going to happen.”

  “And why not? Why can’t we get over this?” Maggie Beth implored them. “Yeah, what we’ve been through is ridiculous. What I’m asking for us to do is hard. But ridiculous and hard doesn’t mean impossible. I think underneath it all, we all love each other, and love’s in such short supply in the world. It would be a shame to waste such a rare thing because we’re too proud to forgive each other.”

  The plane’s engines seemed to get louder, or was it the lack of speaking that made the volume so overwhelming? They all seemed lost in thought, but Madeleine’s face was still hardened, her body stiff and unyielding.

  Finally, much to her surprise, Lee spoke up first. “I miss my

  brother. I think I’ve got all the reason in the world to be mad at him, but I don’t want to be mad anymore. And Maddie and I are fine. Right? At least I think we are.”

  Lee made Madeleine soften, but not too much. She wouldn’t say anything back. Lee looked over expectantly at Richard. Maggie Beth did the same, but she knew that look—it was rare, enough to make her heart skip a beat. Contrition was not something Richard Atwood expressed well. He was very unaccustomed to admitting he was wrong. But Maggie Beth knew it was going to happen. Richard would actually come through for her.

  She saw the exact moment Madeleine and Richard’s eyes met. It felt like lightning sparking in the small cabin. Richard’s eyes narrowed, and it filled Maggie Beth with a sense that maybe she was wrong. Perhaps Richard wasn’t going to apologize.

  “Madeleine, I have never given you a fair chance.”

  Maggie Beth thought her heart was going to stop. Maybe the Lord had given her just enough time on Earth to keep this family together, and now that she’d completed her mission, he was going to take her on. And all before she had grandchildren...

  “I’ve only ever wanted the best for my boys, and I thought that meant a lot of different things. I always had this vision of who and what they should be. They turned out pretty great, but their lives—all of this—is not what I had pictured.”

  Madeleine looked confused, trying to connect to what Richard was saying. Maggie Beth had to admit she was feeling the same way. Where was he going with all this?

  “I’m guilty of wanting the same things every other parent wants for their children, whether they’re willing to admit it. I wanted things to be perfect for them. When I pictured who they’d marry, I was thinking they’d find that girl in college, just like I did. She’d be just as privileged and driven and she’d make the perfect society wife I thought they needed to be successful. And that’s not what happened. I had one fall in love with you in high school, and the other just when he was going down a path I couldn’t rescue him from. You came along just when Lee needed you, and I never thanked you for that.”

  It seemed Madeleine’s firm countenance was waning again, but she said nothing.

  “I judged you, for reasons beyond your control, and there’s no other way to put that in a better light. I’m sorry for that. Then this whole crazy drama went down, and I placed all the blame on you when our family split because it was easier than blaming Lee and Adrian, and most of all, myself.”

  Madeleine shook her head. “So you didn’t like me this entire time because I was poor? I mean I knew it, but it’s different actually hearing you say it.”

  “Yes,” Richard admitted. “I didn’t trust my boys’ judgment, and I was afraid you might take advantage of them.”

  “That’s sickening.”

  “Yes. It is. You’ll make some bad calls as a parent one day too, trust me. But making you into the bad guy when all you’ve done is love my sons through everything stupid thing they’ve ever done, that was my worst. And I hope you can forgive me because Maggie Beth and I want to be a part of your and Adrian’s life together.”

  “Yes, we do,” Maggie Beth finally interjected. “This past year had been hell. I’ve always made it a point to be an involved mother. Probably too involved.”

  “Jesus, yes,” Lee muttered. Maggie Beth ignored him. She’d give him a good smack later, no matter if he was thirty-six, divorced and running a rather large corporation. It didn’t make him any less her responsibility.

  “I just want my family back,” Maggie Beth choked. “And I want that to include you.”

  She didn’t answer at first but seemed to think about it as turbulence shook the cabin. Lee and Richard barely seemed to notice, but it always set Maggie Beth on edge. Between both the physical and metaphorical turbulence, she waited, breathless, for Madele
ine to respond.

  “You know you two have put us through hell this past year, right? Especially Adrian, and that wasn’t fair. It hurt him more than you can know,” she finally stated. Maggie Beth loved her in a way for that. Here was their apology to her, so very long overdue, and she was still more concerned about how their actions had made Adrian feel. That was all she had ever wanted in a daughter-in-law, someone who could love her boys selflessly.

  “We know. It was our worst mistake as parents. At least it was for me,” Richard said.

  “You can’t do that to him. Not again. I don’t want him in a position where he had to choose between us.”

  Maggie Beth agreed. “No, you’re absolutely right. He shouldn’t

  have to.”

  “And I’m sorry too. For being selfish. I know I hurt you all, too. I will never regret loving Adrian, but I’ve had a hard time knowing I’ve separated the only family I’ve ever known,” she murmured as tears started to gather in the corners of her eyes. Maggie Beth undid her seat belt and hugged Madeleine up as if she were her own child. “We all could have been better. But I promise we can fix this. We have to make this better for my grandchildren.”

  Madeleine smiled through her tears. Maggie Beth hoped and prayed they would make good on that promise.

  Chapter Thirty Eight

  The second they landed, Madeleine was turning her phone back on, frantic that in the few minutes it had taken to land that Adrian might have tried to call.

  Lee looked at her with a pitying expression. “Maddie, they probably don’t even have the cell towers repaired yet. It might take a while—”

  “Doesn’t matter. If there’s even a possibility he’s able to call, I want to be ready.”

  He sighed but insisted on carrying her bags for her so she could safely walk down to the runway. Madeleine didn’t want him to treat her with the same respect he would if they were still married, but arguing with Lee was impossible, and was she really going to complain if he wanted to be chivalrous?

  She kept her eyes trained where the signal strength icon would appear. Disappointment abounded when instead of bars, she saw the words “no signal”.

  Madeleine sighed, just as they made it to the runway and Lee looked over her shoulder. “No bars, huh?”

  “Nope. I just hope he’s okay.”

  “Well, let’s get there and see for ourselves, okay?” Lee started. “I’m sure he’s fine. Hell, it’s Adrian. He can be pretty tough when he needs to be.”

  Richard had arranged for an SUV to be parked and ready at the airport when they arrived. How the man always arranged for everything he wanted even in a hurricane-ravaged city was beyond Madeleine, but at this point, it had become an expectation rather than a surprise. A twenty-minute trip turned into another hour between checkpoints, traffic and avoiding debris still left in the roads.

  Madeleine kept bouncing her knee and staring out the window at the changed landscape. Lee kept looking at her, setting her nerves even more on edge. He understood how worried she was, and while her every emotion laid bare made her uncomfortable, she could read Lee just as easily. When he was nervous, he would chew on his lips, and his lips were a deep, cherry red at the moment. Lee was as worried as she was.

  When they finally made it to Gaston Street, Madeleine watched as floodwaters seemed to stretch on for miles. The street was a veritable wasteland filled with abandoned cars and random bits of debris. She spied an old suitcase floating lazily across the street; Madeleine wondered who it belonged to, where it had been, and what would happen to it now.

  Her breath suspended completely as their home—the word finally associated with this place again—came into view. The tree was the first thing she saw, eliciting a gasp as the damage became more apparent with every foot they advanced. Then, she spied Adrian’s red Jeep as they rounded the corner of the house. “He’s here,” she gasped gratefully, having to stop herself from jumping right out of the car. It was just a few seconds before Richard came to a halt next to Adrian’s Jeep, allowing Madeleine to scramble out of the car.

  Of course, Lee was right after her. “Maddie, don’t—”

  She ignored him and sloshed right through the water in her jeans and galoshes she was more than glad she’d had the mindfulness to pack. If only she’d packed her medicines as well. It didn’t take long before Lee was out too, sloshing behind her and calling her name the entire time. “You have no idea whether there are power lines down or anything,” he warned as he approached.

  “Yet here you are, following me,” Madeleine huffed in response, not slowing down one bit.

  “Because I’m an idiot,” he said as he caught up with her.

  He held out his hand to help her up the tall first step, but she didn’t take it and walked right up on her own. She sure didn’t need Lee’s help to enter her own house. At the front door, Madeleine cursed when she realized her keys would still be in the bag in her car, but Lee reached out and pressed down the door handle and pushed the door open. “See, I’m not totally useless,” he snarked.

  “This isn’t about you being useful, it’s about finding Adrian,” Madeleine muttered as she rushed past him.

  “Adrian!” Madeleine called out. They both stopped dead in their tracks, listening for his response. Madeleine’s heart pounded faster with every passing second there was no response.

  “How long do you think he’s been here?” Lee asked.

  “No idea. I’m going upstairs,” she announced, but Lee caught her

  by the elbow.

  “Oh no you’re not. You’re gonna let me handle that,” he ordered. Madeleine jerked her elbow away and set a hard glare at him.

  “Just in case you’ve forgotten, this is my house and I am not your wife.”

  “Yeah, that’s true, but if I let anything happen to you, Adrian’s going to kick my ass.”

  “He would also understand that I don’t listen to a damn thing I don’t want to, either. Try and stop me.”

  “Jesus Christ you need a good spanking,” Lee muttered as he began following her up the stairs.

  “I’m ignoring that.”

  “You deserve it.”

  They both called for Adrian again as they stood at the top of the landing, she and Lee branching off as they searched from room to room. Madeleine noticed vestiges of damage in their bedroom, like the water trickling down from the story above.

  Madeleine felt her bottom lip trembling as it became clear, Adrian was nowhere to be found and wasn’t answering. Something was wrong, he was hurt, or worse, dead, and he would be on that third story, and Madeleine wasn’t sure she could even handle her imagination going a single step further...

  As she came back out to the landing, she noticed Lee looked just as worried, and they both stared up the stairs to the third story. They both approached the bottom step, but Lee put his hand out to stop her. Madeleine writhed against him, but Lee held firm.

  “Maddie, please, just let me handle this part."

  “No, I will not. I—”

  He looked her straight in the eye and shook his head. “You know he’s most likely up there. He’s not answering, and that means one of two things.”

  A cry immediately escaped and the tears burst. She knew exactly what it meant, and the possibilities were already overwhelming. Lee wrapped his arms around her tight and let her cry, but just for a moment. “I’ll go check, and if he’s alright, I’ll yell down as soon as possible, okay? But no matter what, you’ve got to promise me

  you’re not going to set foot up there, got it?”

  “What happens if you get hurt?”

  “Then you get Dad and tell him to do his thing. He’s got contacts

  everywhere. He’s probably already on it, anyway.”

  “Lee, be careful” she warned, now feeling a worry deeper than she ever had before as he struck off for the top story.

  “He’s dead. You know that, right?”

  Madeleine spun around. Evelyn was leaning against the doorjamb o
f their bedroom, arms crossed and a cruel smile twisting her lips.

  “Don’t you dare—”

  “I wonder if it was an electric shock? You know there’s a lot of downed power lines around here, and you saw the water coming down the walls in the bedroom. There was probably an exposed wire somewhere upstairs, and there he was, standing in water—”

  “He’s an engineer. He knows more about wiring than anyone I know. He would have been looking for that.”

  “Accidents happen. At least it would have been a quick death.”

  “Shut up—”

  “Fine. You’re right. He would have known how to ground himself. Okay, try this theory on for size—simple mortal wound. Maybe the house was fine, and then the tree came down, and Adrian was standing right there when it happened. Your so-called husband probably had his head bashed right in—”

  “Maddie! I’ve found him!”

  Madeleine ran halfway up the stairs so she could hear Lee better. “Is he alright?” she yelled.

  “I...I can’t tell right now. Give me a minute, he’s caught between these tree branches.”

  Evelyn raised a brow and smirked. “I told you so.”

  Heart beating wild, she dashed the rest of the way up the stairs.

  “Ade?” Madeleine heard Lee calling out to Adrian through the branches of the tree. Evelyn had followed though, and she kept whispering in her ear as Madeleine waited for Lee to say something, anything...

  “Lee?”

  “I’m having to be careful, but I’m almost down to him... what’re the chances you guys have a chainsaw?”

  “We’ve got one, but I’m not going anywhere until you tell me how he is.”

  Madeleine saw the tree shaking as Lee weaved himself in and out of the branches.