Contents
Cover
Title Page
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Epilogue
Discussion Questions
Acknowledgments
An Excerpt from Blue Ridge Sunrise Chapter 1
About the Author
Praise for Denise Hunter
Also by Denise Hunter
Copyright
Chapter 1
Maddy Monroe was cowering behind a ficus tree near the hostess station when her cell phone rang. Her hands shook as she silenced the phone before it drew the attention of the staff.
She jabbed the elevator button for the third time. “Come on, come on.” A star could be born in interstellar space, a polar valley carved by a glacier in the time it took the elevator to reach this floor. Stairs were not an option, as she was on the twentieth floor of the Waterford building and sporting heels.
She sniffled. Drat. She seemed to be crying. She swiped a hand under her eyes, heedless of her makeup.
She heard voices, Nick’s boisterous laugh. Maddy shrank deeper into the ficus and finally, finally, the elevator dinged its arrival.
“Maddy?” Noelle’s concerned voice tunneled down the hall. “Maddy, wait.”
“Oh, come on,” she muttered, tapping her fingers against her leg until the gold doors crept open. As soon as she could fit, she squeezed inside and punched the ground-floor button.
She didn’t draw a breath until the doors sealed and the elevator began to drop. She placed a palm over a heart that was threatening to beat its way out of her chest. Her white blouse clung to her back, and her skin prickled beneath her arms.
She closed her eyes, the scene that had just transpired playing out in fast-forward in her mind. And then, as if that montage weren’t painful enough, the image of Nick’s face appeared. The look on his face just before he’d kissed her good-bye last night.
Nick. She clamped her teeth together until her jaw ached.
There had been signs. Many of them, really, she was realizing now. They ranged from whisper-subtle to neon-sign obvious. But like so many other walking clichés before her, she was only seeing them in retrospect.
Maddy opened her eyes to the buttery sunlight streaming through her blinds. She scrambled for her iPhone to check the time. But as she did so, the events of yesterday washed over her like a tsunami. She didn’t have to get up at all, because she didn’t have a job anymore.
Her cell buzzed with an incoming call, and she squinted bleary-eyed at the unfamiliar number on the screen before declining it.
She drooped against her pillow, only now aware of how fat and swollen her eyes felt. Of the persistent achy lump pushing at the back of her throat. Her heartbeat made the bed quake. Her eyes burned with tears. Yesterday’s anger had faded, and something worse had filled its spot.
Yesterday she’d come home, changed into yoga pants, and worked in her little garden until she was too exhausted to do anything but flop on the sofa. She hadn’t fallen asleep until after three o’clock in the morning.
She didn’t want to talk to anyone, didn’t want to see anyone. She didn’t even want to be awake today. She pulled the covers over her head and prayed for oblivion.
A steady pounding pulled Maddy awake. She turned her face into the pillow. Sleep. She just wanted to sleep. But the noise was relentless. Someone was pounding at her apartment door.
“Go away,” she mumbled.
She wondered if it was Nick, coming with some lame apology. As if “sorry” could make up for what he’d done.
Her phone buzzed an incoming call on her nightstand. Why couldn’t everyone just let her be? When the buzzing stopped the pounding resumed.
“Argh!” She tossed back the covers and checked her phone as a text buzzed in. Her best friend, Holly: Open the door.
Before she could put down the phone it buzzed again. I know you’re in there.
Maddy let loose a sigh that had been building awhile. She pushed off the mattress, realizing she’d fallen into bed in the same yoga pants and T-shirt she’d gardened in. Gardened was such a tame word to describe her treatment of those poor weeds. She hated to think of the sight she must’ve made, tearing through her zinnias like a crazy woman.
A glance at the hall mirror also told a sad tale. A bedraggled ponytail captured only half of her hair, and dark smudges underlined puffy eyes.
She walked to the door and pulled it open, interrupting the loud banging. “All right already. Jeez.”
Holly’s brown eyes widened in surprise, whether at Maddy’s sudden materialization or her disheveled appearance, she didn’t know.
Leaving the door open, Maddy retreated into her living room, seeking the comforting embrace of her overstuffed sofa. She grabbed a fluffy yellow pillow and pulled it into her stomach.
Holly dropped beside her, the smell of fresh soil and flowers emanating off her. They’d met three years ago at the nursery where Holly worked, bonding over their love of all things green and growing.
“What happened yesterday?” Holly asked. “Noelle said there was some squabble at the restaurant and you tore off.”
Yesterday’s scene at Pirouette played out yet again in Maddy’s mind, making her eyes sting.
Holly set her hand over Maddy’s. “Honey, what’s going on? Did you lose the promotion? It’s not the end of the world. You’re still assistant manager of Charlotte’s most prestigious restaurant. There’ll be other opportunities for—”
“I caught Nick and Evangeline together.”
Holly blinked. “Evangeline, the owner? What do you mean, ‘together’?”
“I mean exactly what you think I mean. They were all over each other.” The image of it made her heart crumple up like a wad of trash.
Holly’s eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared. “That jerk.”
“But it’s worse than that. I heard him accepting the promotion.”
“What?” The indignation on Holly’s face was like salve on a raw wound.
But his words still haunted her. You made the right decision . . . Maddy’s a terrific girl, but she gets frazzled . . . Wouldn’t be able to handle more responsibility . . .
Was there a nugget of truth in what he’d said? Had she been deluding herself all along?
“Did they see you?”
Maddy gave a harsh laugh. “Oh yes, they saw me. I stood there like a guppy, my mouth just working.”
“Who could blame you? You were blindsided, you poor thing.” Holly’s eyes pierced hers. “How long do you think it’s been going on?”
“I don’t know, but when I saw them together . . . I ran. I just ran away. Oh, Holly, he planned this, didn’t he? He played me like a fiddle.” T
ears seeped out the corners of her eyes.
“I could just throttle him.”
It almost brought a smile to her face, trying to envision petite, pacifist Holly doing any such thing. She’d never cared for Nick, not that she’d said as much, but Maddy could tell. She should’ve trusted her friend’s instincts since, apparently, she couldn’t trust her own.
“I thought I was a shoo-in for that job.” Pirouette’s general manager was retiring and, as assistant manager, Maddy was next in line. “I feel so stupid.”
Nick, the restaurant’s beverage manager, had pursued her for months before Maddy finally went out with him. Holly had been encouraging her to put herself out there, and six months ago Maddy decided to give Nick a chance.
One date led to another. He was easy to talk to, he shared her faith, and since they were both passionate about the restaurant industry they found plenty to talk about.
“Let’s keep it professional at work,” he’d said as their relationship progressed beyond casual. It had seemed like a wise idea. But now she realized she may have played right into his plans.
Holly squeezed her hand. “I’m so sorry, Maddy. You don’t deserve this.”
“I’m not gonna lie, losing the promotion is bad, and losing my job is even worse. But having Nick betray me like this . . . You know how hard it was for me to take a leap of faith like that.”
“Aw, honey.” She drew Maddy into an embrace. “I just hate this. It won’t always be this way, Mads. Someday you’ll find the right man to love, and it’ll all be worth it. I promise.”
“Was this his plan all along? To keep me out of the way while he sucked up to Evangeline? Did he ever care for me? I thought he did, but what do I know?” Maddy’s throat constricted around her words.
Holly rubbed her back. “Would it help if I told you he’s not worth the lint on this old, smelly T-shirt you’re wearing?”
“I feel like such an idiot. I keep remembering little things he said and did. I must’ve had blinders on.”
“Hey.” Holly pulled back and gave Maddy one of her stern looks. “Don’t you be putting this on yourself. You trusted him. You gave him the benefit of the doubt. Nick’s the idiot. Anyone who tosses you over like that needs his head examined.”
Maddy absorbed the warmth from Holly’s eyes. “I don’t know what I should do now.”
“You should tell Evangeline, that’s what you should do. Tell her you and Nick have been dating for six months and he was cheating on the both of you.”
“I’d love nothing more, believe you me.” She gave Holly a guilty look. “But I told Nick about my résumé.”
The air escaped Holly, deflating her posture. “Oh, Maddy.”
Four years ago when Maddy applied for the assistant manager job, she’d falsified her experience. It was only one job. She’d been at a low point and overly ambitious—not that that was an excuse. She wasn’t proud of it. She’d never done anything like that before or since, and she’d nearly come clean to Evangeline a dozen times over the years. She wished now that she had.
“Even if I go to Evangeline I won’t get my job back. And that’s on me. I knew what I was doing was wrong, and I did it anyway. That is my fault.”
Holly studied her thoughtfully. “What are you going to do, honey?”
“Eat an entire package of Oreos.”
Holly gave her a look. “After that.”
“Look for another job, I guess. At least I’ve got money in the bank. I’m not flat broke or anything. I just feel so . . . ruined.”
“You are not ruined.”
Maddy’s phone buzzed against her palm, and Holly uncurled her fingers and took it. “It’s Noelle. She’s worried about you. I’ll let her know I’m here and you’re okay.”
“Nice of her to check up on me,” Maddy mumbled, feeling numb after letting out her feelings.
She thought of all the people she was leaving behind at Pirouette. They weren’t friends exactly. She was their boss—used to be their boss. She thought of everything she’d put into her job. All the overtime, all the energy. She’d lived and breathed that place. It was the reason she’d gotten to the ripe old age of thirty-one without a ring on her finger. Well, part of the reason.
She’d loved everything about her job, from the staff to the patrons to the amazing aerial view of Charlotte. It was like throwing a party every day. She’d made the restaurant the most important thing in her life, had made Nick runner-up, and now they were both gone.
“Honey, you’ve got, like, twenty unopened texts on here. And a bunch of missed calls.”
Maddy shook away the cobwebs. “What time is it anyway? And why aren’t you at work?”
“It’s after three, honey. I just got off. Have you been in bed all day?”
“Maybe.”
She was going to have to put out her résumé again—undoctored this time. She could do this. Maybe she’d wind up at an even better restaurant. But they didn’t come much better than Pirouette. Was she willing to move away from Charlotte? She didn’t even want to think about that.
Holly held up the phone. “Who’s this from a 910 area code?”
“Telemarketer probably.”
“They’ve called five times. Look.”
“I don’t recognize the number.”
“They left a bunch of voicemails.”
Maddy took the phone, put it on speaker, and tapped the arrow beside the oldest one, which had been sent yesterday at 3:12—just about the time everything had gone down at Pirouette.
“Um, hi, my name is Connor Sullivan. I’m a friend of your grandmother’s over in Seahaven. I was hoping you could give me a call as soon as possible if you would.”
Maddy frowned at the cryptic message. Her grandma lived alone at the beach. The same cottage where her family had once spent many an idyllic summer.
“I hope everything’s okay,” Holly said.
“Me too.”
She played the second message, sent a couple hours after the first. “This is Connor Sullivan again. Um, I really need to reach someone in the family, so please call as soon as you get this.”
Maddy’s heart sank at his urgent tone. What if something bad had happened to Gram? “This doesn’t sound good.”
“Call him.”
Before she did, Maddy played his most recent message, sent early this morning. Her heart squeezed in dread.
“This is Connor again.” Impatience edged his tone this time. “Look, I didn’t want to leave this on your voicemail, but I’m very worried about your grandma. She seems to have gone missing. There are signs she’s been gone a few days, but her car’s still here. It’s really not like her to take off like this. Please call me.”
Her fingers shaking, she hit Reply and held the phone to her ear.
“Maybe she turned up,” Holly whispered. “Maybe that’s why he hasn’t called since this morning.”
Maddy held tight to that hope. But what if her grandma had fallen and broken her hip or something? She’d always been pretty spry for her age, but these things happened. What if she’d been lying on the floor in pain for all these hours while Maddy had been hiding from the world like a sulking toddler?
“Hello?” A low, lazy voice drawled in her ear.
“Mr. Sullivan, this is Maddy Monroe. You called about my grandmother.”
There was a brief pause. “Yes, I did. Thank you for returning my call.”
She detected a hint of sarcasm in his tone. “Has she turned up yet?”
“I’m afraid not.”
“Can you tell me what you know? How do you know she hasn’t simply gone on a trip? She takes the ferry to Bald Head Island sometimes.”
“For day-trips. I’ve never known her to spend the night there.”
He seemed familiar with her grandmother’s habits but sounded too young to be a significant other. Red flags were waving. Connor . . . She couldn’t remember Gram ever mentioning the name.
Her grandma was a wealthy woman. Had this guy ingratiat
ed himself to her for selfish purposes? What if he was even responsible for her disappearance?
“I went over to do some work on her house yesterday and found three newspapers on her porch. That’s not like her. She reads the paper over coffee every morning. And there was no answer at the door, though her car was in the drive.”
“She could just be ill or something.”
“That’s what I thought, so I let myself in. But she was nowhere to be found. I didn’t see a purse, and of course she doesn’t carry a phone, so I found your name in her address book and called you.”
He had a key to her place? In the background she heard the piercing cry of sea gulls and the distant hum of a boat’s engine. She imagined the guy bobbing around in the sunny bay while her grandmother was who-knew-where.
“You seem to know her quite well.” She hadn’t meant to sound so suspicious.
“We look out for each other around here, Miss Monroe.”
“Have you filed a missing persons report?”
“I didn’t feel that was my place. I tried you first, since you’re within driving distance, and when I couldn’t reach you, I got hold of your sister. Emma’s flying in now, so I’m sure she can handle things just fine.”
Guilt pinched hard. Seahaven was only a four-hour drive for Maddy, but it was a far piece from Denver.
“I’ll be on my way just as soon as I can pack a bag.”
“All right. Listen, I have to go now. You have my number if you need anything.”
She said good-bye and turned off the phone, looking at Holly as adrenaline flooded her system. Dread built with each surge of her blood. “I guess I’m going to Seahaven.”
Chapter 2
Connor dipped his brush into the white paint and guided it steadily over the weathered siding of the beach cottage. The ladder wobbled slightly with the motion. He was losing daylight, but Louise’s granddaughters would be here soon anyway. He wanted to be on hand in case the sheriff wanted a word with him.
He’d been trying to keep busy. He sure hoped Louise was all right. He’d taken half a day off work yesterday to ask around, but none of her friends knew anything about a trip. He hadn’t known what else to do but call the family.
He thought of the youngest sister, Maddy. Louise spoke so highly of her, but the woman’s lack of response to his calls and her suspicious tone had put him off.
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