Chapter Fifteen
Madison hummed along with the carol playing on the radio. Her good mood from the night before continued as she drove down the road on her way to drop Nell off at the warehouse. At the end of the street, the sun peeked through the snow-frosted trees on the mountain ridge, casting the town in a soft, welcoming glow.
“It’s going to be a gorgeous day.” She smiled at Nell and got a sour look in return.
“What the Sam Hill’s wrong with you?” the older woman said. “You’re acting like you got into my hooch.”
Hooch? Madison shook her head and laughed. “Forget about it, Nell. Nothing you say can ruin my good mood today.”
Tugging a piece of paper from the pocket of her plaid jacket, Nell shot her a wanna-bet look. “I’m giving you another chance on Santa’s float. Here’s the list of paint colors you’re supposed to use.”
Madison sighed. Nell’d managed to ruin her good mood in under five seconds. She held up her finger, wiggled it and faked a yelp. “Sorry, I don’t think I’m up to it.”
“You’ve got a bruised fingernail while I’ve got a broken—”
“Stress fracture.”
Nell grunted. “Same difference. And I managed to put in a full day yesterday. Most of which I spent fixing your screwups. While you sat in a corner pouting and sucking on your finger before you made your escape.”
“I wasn’t pouting. And if I’m such a screwup, why do you want me there?”
“You weren’t that bad. Everyone else had their family with…” She trailed off, then lifted a shoulder.
So. As much as Nell was growing on Madison, it appeared she was growing on Nell, too. She patted the older woman’s arm. “Okay, I’ll help. But only for a couple of hours. I have to meet with G—someone later.”
Nell rolled her eyes. “I don’t understand why you want to keep what you’re doing for Grace a secret.”
“How… never mind.” Madison should’ve known it was next to impossible to keep anything quiet in Christmas. “We’re only at the early stages. Until I talk to the bank manager tomorrow, nothing is for certain.”
“Even if nothing comes of it, it’s a nice thing you’re doing for Grace. Shows you have a heart. Folks around here are beginning to realize you’ve had their best interest in mind all along. Mr. Hartwell will probably be calling you any day now. I just hope he lets you stick around for a while longer. It’s late in the game to be looking for another elf,” Nell said, her voice gruff.
A fist-sized ball of guilt lodged in Madison’s chest. It was a lie. She hadn’t come here with the town’s best interest in mind. Everything she’d said and done had been in the best interest of Joe and Hartwell. She was about to confess as much to Nell when she realized while that might have been true in the beginning, it wasn’t true now.
She cared what happened to Gage and his girls, to Nell, to Ted and Fred, to Grace, to all of them, really. And Madison wanted Christmas to stay just the way it was.
“You’re right. I do have the town’s best interest at heart. You don’t need a Hartwell resort to turn Christmas around. The other business owners in town are just like Grace. None of them have explored all the options available to expand their customer bases and decrease costs. I can show them how. It’ll take time, but in the end it’ll be better for everyone.”
“That’s all well and good, but I don’t see how anything can come of your ideas if you don’t plan on sticking around.”
Sticking around wasn’t an option for Madison. She couldn’t give up the security her job at Hartwell provided. The money and benefits package were great, and she’d worked too hard to get where she was to give it all up. After being told for so long that she’d never amount to anything, never knowing if there’d be enough money for food growing up, the thought of being unemployed, or underemployed, set off a tsunami of panic in her stomach. And no matter how much Madison had come to care for the people in town, namely Gage, she couldn’t live in a fishbowl.
“I can consult from New York.” With her workload at Hartwell, she’d be stretched thin, but it wasn’t like she had any other demands on her time. If she was in a relationship, it might be a problem, but she wasn’t. Probably wouldn’t be for a very long time if she compared every man she met to Gage. “I’m sure I can schedule…” She trailed off, realizing she no longer held Nell’s attention.
The older woman was focused on the people milling around outside the warehouse. As Madison pulled into an empty space in the parking lot, she spotted Mrs. Tate and Stella. Both women were crying.
“What the Sam Hill is going on here? They’re carrying on like someone died.”
Nell wasn’t exaggerating. Something had clearly happened to upset the citizens of Christmas. Madison could only be thankful it didn’t have anything to do with her. As soon as she put the SUV in Park, Nell was out the door. Now that she no longer required crutches, she was hard to keep up with. Tracking Nell’s progress, Madison scrambled from the SUV. She grabbed her purse and locked the doors. Ted and Fred broke from the crowd and rushed over to Nell.
“Ms. Lane.” She turned to see Rick Dane, an almost gleeful expression on his hound-dog face, approach her. Unlike Rick, the men and women who followed after him looked angry and confused.
Dear Lord, what now?
Ted moved in front of Rick. “You leave the girl be, Dane. You’re not the law. Gage is on his way.”
Without looking at Madison, Nell jerked her thumb. “Get in the SUV. Now.”
Surely they weren’t up in arms over yesterday. “Is there something I can do for you, Mr. Dane?”
“Madison!” Fred, Ted, and Nell rounded on her.
She held up a silencing hand. She needed to know what was going on.
“Sure is, Ms. Lane. You can tell us why you were hanging around the warehouse last night.”
“I wasn’t…” She was about to deny the charge, then realized she’d been parked down the street from the warehouse while she spoke to Gage. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’d pulled over to talk on the phone. What’s this about?”
“Funny, that’s what we want to know. You made your opinion about us and our parade pretty clear yesterday, but did you have to go so far as to destroy the floats?”
“I didn’t destroy the floats! I painted Santa’s house brown. Nothing I did yesterday was on purpose.” No one listened to her. They were too busy hurling accusations as they crowded closer.
Nell, beating a hasty retreat, stumbled.
“Hey, back off,” Madison warned, sounding a lot tougher than she felt. She moved protectively in front of Nell and dug in her purse for the item Mr. Hardy of Hardy’s Mountain Equipment Co-op told her no city girl should be without. “Take a step back, and no one gets hurt.”
* * *
Gage had an unwelcome sense of déjà vu as he pulled into the warehouse parking lot. Once again the citizens of Christmas were calling for Madison’s head. Only this time she was on her feet and holding them off with… a can of bear spray.
Heads swiveled in his direction when he slammed the door of the Suburban. The crowd parted like the Red Sea as he strode toward Madison. “About time,” she murmured with a shaky smile.
He cocked a brow and wrapped his fingers around her wrist, removing the can. “Bear spray?”
She shrugged, her gaze flitting from the crowd back to him. “I don’t know what’s going on—”
“You ruined our floats! That’s what’s going on,” several people yelled.
“How could you, Ms. Lane? Nell trusted you. We all did,” Nell’s neighbor Stella cried.
Madison looked stricken, eyes wide in her pale face. She didn’t deserve this. He shoved the can in his jacket pocket before he gave in to the urge to get off a few shots at Dane. Once Gage put the allegations against Madison to rest, he had a few questions for Rick. He’d been the one to report the vandalism, laying the blame on Madison. And that alone put him at the top of Gage’s suspect list. Because from the moment
Madison had arrived in town, Dane had done his best to sabotage her efforts to win over the citizens of Christmas. Granted, in the beginning, she’d made it easy for him.
“Gage, I don’t know what they’re talking about. I thought Santa’s house was supposed to be brown. I didn’t—”
Sirens blared as his deputies squealed into the parking lot. “Don’t worry. We’ll get everything straightened out,” Gage tried to reassure her. “But it’s not just Santa’s house they’re talking about.”
“What do you mean? I thought…” Her gaze shot to the warehouse, and she started forward.
He reached for her arm. “Hang on.” He waved Jill and Ray over. “Let me…”
Madison broke away from him, skirting the crowd. He groaned in frustration. He wanted to pick her up, toss her over his shoulder, and get her the hell out of there. “If anyone of you saw or heard anything, see my deputies.” At least twenty people converged on Jill and Ray. “That goes for you too, Dane.”
Rick followed Madison’s progress and smirked. “Always glad to do my duty as a concerned citizen.” He ambled into line.
Concerned citizen, my ass. Shit disturber, more likely.
Gage caught up with Madison just as she reached the entrance to the warehouse. Staring through the open doors, she released a horrified gasp. “Oh. My. God.”
He silently echoed her sentiments. It was worse than he expected. The words “I hate Christmas” were splattered in red paint across every float. Besides the graffiti, each of the holiday displays on the flatbeds had been damaged. Gage doubted there’d be time to repair them for the parade.
“Why would he…” She bit her lip, casting a furtive look Gage’s way.
“Who, Madison? Who did this?”
She cleared her throat. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t say anything.”
“There’s about twenty people here who think I should arrest you right now for this, so don’t lie to me.”
She glanced behind her, then back at him, a resigned look in her eyes. “I guess you’ll have to arrest me then.”
“For chrissakes, Madison, you—”
“Sheriff McBride, seeing as how you’re romantically involved with the suspect, don’t you think it’d be best if your deputies question her?” Rick called out as he walked toward them, a handful of men at his back.
“Not that it’s any of your business, Dane, but Ms. Lane and I are not romantically involved.” Technically, it was true. But after their conversation last night, he’d wondered if he was a fool to give up on them so easily. To not give whatever it was between them—and there was definitely something between them—a shot.
“As the ones who put you in office, we might disagree with you there, Sheriff.”
The men with Dane nodded their agreement, while several people in line were more vocal in their assent. It took Gage aback. Not once in his three years as sheriff had his integrity been questioned. Madison tensed beside him. He wondered if she was remembering their conversation of last night. Because this was exactly what they’d been talking about. Proof they’d been right not to take their attraction further.
He needed to shut Dane up. “Ms. Lane is not a suspect. As she was in the area last night, it is possible she may have seen something without being aware of it. She’s agreed to come to the station—” he gave her a don’t-even-think-about-it look when she opened her mouth to disagree with him “—and give her statement. This area is off-limits while my deputies process the scene. I suggest you all go about your business until we can let you back in.”
Madison stood quietly beside him as he answered questions about the time line of the investigation.
When the crowd started to break up, he returned his attention to her. “You can… Madison.” He followed her gaze to where Nell stood talking to Jill and tried again. “Madison.”
She looked up at him, blinking the moisture from her eyes. He wanted to shake her and hold her in his arms at the same time. “I’m not letting you take the fall for this. Just tell me who did it.”
“I can’t believe they think I did,” she said, a hitch in her voice as she once again looked at Nell. With his hand at the small of her back, he nudged her along.
Rick fell in step beside them.
“Dane, don’t you have somewhere you need to be?”
He held up his camera. “I want a shot when you search her vehicle. You are planning on searching it, aren’t you?”
No, he hadn’t been. But to prove to Dane his suspicions were unfounded, Gage held out his hand for Madison’s keys.
She appeared ready to cooperate, then her gaze shot to the SUV. She closed her eyes for a brief moment then opened them to give him a look that would’ve shriveled a lesser man. “Unless you happen to have a warrant in your possession, Sheriff, you will not be searching my vehicle.”
* * *
Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the station. Without Dane and his camera in his face, Gage hoped to make Madison see reason. “Do you want a coffee?” he asked before he shut his office door.
“No, thank you,” she said woodenly.
At least she was speaking to him. But unless he figured out who she was protecting… He mentally slapped his head. He’d been so intent on protecting Madison, he hadn’t thought through the evidence. She’d been down the street from the warehouse when she’d spotted Trent. A few hours earlier, the kid had been seen at the hardware store, probably loading up on red spray paint. Of all the misguided, stupid, idiotic, incredibly selfless things to do—she was protecting Trent. She both amazed and infuriated him.
If only the press who’d dubbed her “the woman without a heart” knew her like he did. But he had to make her realize the consequences of her action, to protect her from herself.
“Look.” He crouched in front of her and took her hands in his. “I know why you think you need to protect Trent, honey.” Her shocked gaze jerked to his. He didn’t know what shocked her more, the endearment that slipped so easily from his lips or that he’d figured out who’d vandalized the floats.
“Trent has to face up to what he’s done. And you—” he squeezed her hands “—you don’t deserve this. If you take the fall for Trent, you’ll lose your job.”
She swallowed hard, then looked him straight in the eye. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
He came slowly to his feet, taking a step back before he gave in to the urge to shake her. “You’re not doing him a favor taking—” The door to his office burst open.
Nell, followed by Ted and Fred, hobbled in. The three of them glared at him, taking up their positions behind Madison.
There were times when his aunt and her partners in crime annoyed the hell out of Gage, but this wasn’t one of them. How could he be mad when their show of support put that smile on Madison’s face?
Nell patted Madison’s shoulder. “Don’t you worry, we got you a lawyer. Ethan,” she hollered over her shoulder.
Ethan, somewhat sheepishly, entered his office. Gage stared his best friend down. “You can’t defend her.”
Madison released an offended gasp.
Gage winced. “Sorry, but it’s a conflict of interest. He’s the mayor.”
Ethan scratched the back of his neck. “Technically—”
With a dismissive sweep of her hand, Nell said, “You’re not going to charge Maddie. You have no evidence against her.”
Gage didn’t wear a badge because the money and benefits were good or because he liked the power and prestige that went along with the job. His grandfather and father had instilled in him and his brothers the desire to serve and protect, to give back. He believed in the law, and he wouldn’t let his feelings for Madison get in the way of his upholding it. “You’re wrong, Nell. I can and will charge her with obstruction. She’s withholding evidence. She knows who is responsible for vandalizing the floats.”
Ignoring their shocked expressions, he checked his watch. “I’ll give you ten minutes to confer with
your client.”
Exactly ten minutes later, Gage entered his office, prepared to take Madison’s statement. The five of them were huddled together like they were on the ten-yard line preparing for the winning handoff.
“Time’s up,” he said, taking a seat behind his desk. He steepled his fingers and looked at Madison, who now sat stiff-backed in front of him, the four stooges standing behind her.
“I did it,” she confessed.
The breath shot out of him like he’d taken a bullet. He couldn’t believe it. “You, you, you, and you”—he stabbed a finger at each of them in turn—“out.” Madison half-rose from her chair. “Oh, no, you don’t, sweetheart. Sit down.” He took a pair of cuffs off his belt and slapped them on his desk.
Ethan stepped forward and nudged a paper under his nose. “Here’s her signed confession.” Before Gage tossed him out of his office on his ear, he quickly added, “My client suffered a moment of temporary insanity and deeply regrets her actions. She’ll make full restitution and will guarantee the parade will go on as scheduled. Everyone’s happy.”
Gage leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “I’m not happy.”
“Too bad. We are, and so is Ethan,” Nell said. “He’s the mayor, which makes him your boss. We have lots to do in the next five days, and you have paperwork to take care of, so we’ll get out of your hair.” Nell pulled Madison to her feet. The five of them looked anywhere but at him as they hightailed it out of his office.
* * *
It’d been a couple of hours since they’d cleared out of the station. Gage had expected to be fielding calls from angry citizens the entire time, at the very least from Dane. But the phone lines were unusually quiet. Gage was still angry at what they’d pulled. He didn’t agree with Madison taking the rap for Trent, but he knew why she did. And it bothered him to think of her with only Nell, Ted and Fred, and possibly Ethan, his ex–best friend, helping her to repair the floats. With public opinion running high against her—again—no one else in town would lift a finger to help her.
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