“You noticed?”
John watched her wash the counter. “I was working on not noticing your dress.”
Maddy turned a pretty shade of pink. “You looked so busy, I didn’t think I was even on your radar.”
“In church?”
“No, not in church. I would hardly expect you to notice my dress in church,” she scolded, fully hoping he had noticed her dress in church. She shook her head. “After church.”
“During the fellowship hour?” he ventured.
Maddy slapped him with her dishtowel. “Yes, during fellowship hour, when you had half a dozen helpless women around you who couldn’t pour a cup of coffee.”
“Ah,” he said with a slow smile. “I’d forgotten about all those helpless women.”
“Well, it was a bit of a spectacle,” Maddy assured him. “I noticed it briefly, but then my attention was taken by two handsome young men, and then I had no more time for you.”
“Is that right?”
“Yes, and one of them,” she leaned over the counter, confiding in a low voice, “one of them even embraced me.” She pulled back, folded her towel and laid it next to the sink.
“Really?”
“I know you’re jealous,” she sighed.
“Wait until I get my hands on that guy…”
The door banged! and Tom entered the room. He walked up to the counter and put his glass down. He looked from Maddy to John, definitely sensing more familiarity than he expected.
“She’s busy on Saturday night,” he said to John, whose eyes narrowed at Tom’s tone. “And she likes to keep her business relationships clear cut.”
John stood up slowly. “Get back to work, Tom.”
Tom stared at Maddy a moment longer and then disappeared up the steps. John watched him leave, and then came around the counter. “I’m sorry about that.”
“It’s not your fault,” Maddy said quietly.
“I hired him.”
“Well, you warned me that this kind of thing could happen.”
“I hoped it wouldn’t,” he said earnestly. “I can barely get Tom to show up on time. How early did he get here this morning?”
“Not noticeably early, but then he’s never arrived before you, so I guess that was a little odd.”
“Frank said he asked you out.”
“Yeah.” She looked up at him. “I said no.”
“I hope so.” John’s face grew serious. “Anything else?”
Maddy rinsed her cloth. “He got a little pushy, but Frank came in before…”
“Before?”
“Before anything else happened.”
“Maddy, if you felt at all threatened by him, I need to know.”
“It was uncomfortable, that’s all. I’ll just keep my distance.”
“You shouldn’t have to do that. I’ll talk to him, and if anything else happens…”
“I’ll let you know,” Maddy promised.
John opened the fridge for her so she could put the lemonade away. “Maddy?”
She faced him again. “John?”
He smiled. “Are you really busy on Saturday night?”
Maddy colored a little. “Too busy to go out with Tom.”
“Right.”
Maddy raised an eyebrow. “Any other questions?”
“Well, the boys wanted me to invite you over to the house for a cookout.”
“The boys did?”
“Yeah. Pushy, aren’t they?” he grinned.
Maddy smiled. “Good thing they’re so cute.”
“So, what should I tell them?”
Maddy thought for a minute. “You should probably tell them to ask me themselves next time.”
John smiled. “Maddy, I would like you to come over for dinner on Saturday night.”
She was unprepared for the direct attack. “Really?”
“Really.”
“Well, then tell the boys I accept.”
The rest of Monday passed uneventfully, and Maddy was happy to have exactly half of her rails painted by the end of the afternoon. John made sure he was the last to leave at the end of the day, though he didn’t stay long. After starting the first of their weekly finance discussions, a call came in from another work site and cut the meeting short. Agreeing to finish up on Tuesday, John left, greeting Otis on his way out.
Maddy invited her neighbor in for a cup of lemonade and a peek at her beautiful railing. Otis was duly impressed. They talked companionably over their drinks, and Otis mentioned that her neighbors on the north side had arrived. He promised to introduce them the following day, and pointed out that the beach would start to fill up since it was getting into the latter part of June. Maddy, glad that Burt now had a fenced-in yard, hoped he’d be satisfied with the transition from roaming the entire beach to hanging out in his little pen. She also hoped he wouldn’t learn how to bark.
Otis left a short time later, and Maddy got ready to camp out in her new office. She looked up area B&Bs online and took pages of notes on prices, room decor, room names and menu ideas. The last list was very short. Maddy had no plans to cook for her guests, a little detail that might become troublesome later on. Acquiring that skill was relegated to her “To Do” list.
The rest of the week passed much like Monday afternoon. There were no further incidents with Tom, who apparently decided that he wanted to keep his job. He and Travis spent the week removing the last vestiges of green paint from the dining room. Frank went through the house checking wires and dealing with various electrical issues, replacing outlets and switches as necessary. Willy worked his magic in the bathrooms, replacing a tub in one and a sink in another, and otherwise getting the plumbing in order. By Friday, he was tearing into Maddy’s bathroom ceiling to find out what had caused the leak in there. She didn’t want to know.
Maddy finished painting her railing Wednesday morning, and then kept busy running errands for John and the crew. While she was out, she began to price window dressings and visited a few antique shops to get an idea of how she might decorate the bedrooms. It was overwhelming at first, as everything seemed to be, but once she got into a rhythm, she began to enjoy the challenge. She made list after list: to do, to buy, to look up online, to make, to ask Mom about.
Furniture was another consideration; so much would be needed to fill her large house. She hoped, eventually, to fill the rooms with antiques and estate-sale treasures, but that would take time. Everything took lots of time, and Maddy was slowly learning patience. Life in Clairmont contrasted sharply with the world of technology she’d lived in for so long, where information was immediate, and waiting was unheard of.
When Friday afternoon rolled around, Maddy did her grocery shopping and hustled home before the crew quit for the weekend. Pulling into the drive, she noted with some disappointment that John’s truck was gone.
She unloaded her groceries and put Burt on his leash. Starting down the beach, she noticed that more of her neighbors had arrived and were getting out their boats, lawn chairs, grills and other indicators of summer beach living. She marveled that this was all a part of her life now. Some of the people introduced themselves, and Maddy was glad to start making connections. No one seemed overly terrified of her dog; not yet, anyway.
Back at the house, Frank reported that all of the molding in the upstairs bedrooms had been stripped and lacquered. The next step would be to paint the rooms, and then the floors would be sanded and coated with polyurethane. When that was dry, all of the bedrooms besides Maddy’s would be ready for her decorating touch. She was anxious to see the progress, and Frank accompanied her upstairs.
Maddy was delighted with the striking molding surrounding the windows and doorways, and was equally enthused that the painting phase was just around the corner. She could hardly wait to see how the rooms would look. It was all very exciting, and she said so to Frank, probably a half-dozen times.
“John will be glad to hear that you’re pleased.”
>
“Is he coming back this afternoon?”
“I don’t think so,” Frank said. “I think he was picking his boys up early today.”
“Oh.” They started walking down the steps together.
“Of course, he’ll probably be in touch with you to discuss… whatever,” he finished with a smile.
Maddy tried to ignore the overtones of teasing in his voice as she said good-bye. Frank was probably accustomed to homeowners falling for the contractor; not a particularly comforting thought.
eight
Maddy sat on her balcony with a cup of coffee and watched as the blue-gray predawn gave way to the rose and peach hues of the newly sunlit sky. This grand display started the day a little early. She’d hoped to sleep in, and not have quite so much time to focus on her dinner plans.
She got busy, now sanding the paint off the balcony rails, alternately looking forward to the evening, and then reproaching herself for having any “date-like” thoughts about her host. The tedious work left her brain far too available for speculation.
After lunch, she walked Burt and chatted with a few more neighbors, then spent some time weeding the gardens surrounding her house. She observed with satisfaction that the flowers were coming in nicely.
A few hours and a leisurely bath later, she was parked in John’s driveway, considering the white ranch with black shutters. An occasional colorful toy broke up the green carpet of lawn, and a basketball net hung over the garage, the backboard low over the door.
As if on cue, Parker ran around the side of the house and raced up to her car. “You’re here! You’re here, Miss Maddy!” He jumped up and down at the window.
His father called him off from across the yard. “Hey, let Miss Maddy out, buddy!”
Parker skipped away from the door, but right back into the space as soon as Maddy opened it. He gave Maddy a hug and said, “We haven’t seen you all week! Remember when you called me ‘Parkerpants?’ Where’s Burt?”
Maddy laughed. “Oh, I didn’t think to bring him.”
John walked up behind his son and put his hands affectionately and strategically on Parker’s shoulders, effectively getting him to move out of Maddy’s way and stand still.
“Can you go back and get him, please?” Parker looked first at her, then up at his dad. “I said, ‘please.’ ”
“Let Miss Maddy come into the house, Parker. We’ll have Burt over another time.”
John and Maddy exchanged untypically formal greetings and then walked up to the porch to meet Blake. They had barely said hello when the boys insisted on taking Maddy on a tour of the house.
“Our house isn’t so big,” Blake warned her, “but it’s nice.”
“Yeah, and we have a huge fort in the backyard!” Parker added, fairly dancing in anticipation of showing it to her.
“Let’s show her our room first,” Blake suggested, and they all but dragged her down the hall to show her their toys and books. John followed and leaned in the doorway, watching as Maddy patiently looked from one treasure to the next, trying to focus and comment on everything they put in front of her.
“Come on, guys,” he finally interjected. “Let’s show Miss Maddy the backyard, and let her sit down.”
The deck was large, with a table and chairs, a grill, and room to spare. A single step led down to the yard and the wonderful fort and swing set. Once again, the boys took her hands so she could get a closer look. Parker scrambled up a climbing rope and called for her to join him in the little fort above the slide.
Maddy laughed. “I’m afraid I can’t climb up there in these clothes.” She looked a little regretfully at the casual, long skirt she’d decided to wear.
Parker giggled and threw himself down the slide, while Blake showed off by swinging across the monkey bars.
“I’m very impressed. You guys have a great fort.”
That was all they needed to hear, and they continued to put on a show, yelling, “Look, Miss Maddy!” at regular intervals.
John smiled and invited her to sit down and have a drink. “We have soda and lemonade,” he offered, “or would you like a glass of wine?”
“A glass of wine would be great.”
He returned a few minutes later with a bottle of red from a local winery and poured two glasses. “Cheers.”
She smiled and touched his glass with hers. They sipped their wine and watched the boys play. The evening was still quite warm; summer had definitely arrived.
“I’m glad you came tonight,” John said, watching Parker swing higher and higher. “I have to tell you, my boys have never been so persistent with a new friend. They really like you.”
“The feeling’s mutual,” Maddy replied honestly. “I haven’t spent that much time with children. I’m surprised at how easy it is to be with them.”
“They’re definitely out to charm you,” John admitted. “They aren’t always so well-behaved.” He turned to her and set his glass on the table between them. “So, time to get to know my employer. What did you do out in Seattle?”
“Computer stuff,” she answered. “Websites mostly. I worked for a small company, so I had the opportunity to do a little bit of everything.”
“So why give that up?”
Phil… “Basically, a bigger company bought us out. We had the opportunity to stay on as they expanded, or…”
“Buy a Bed & Breakfast?”
Maddy smiled. “Yeah. I’ve always wanted to run an inn, something on the water.” She stopped for a moment, lost in thought. “I looked online at inns for sale, all over the country really, and a few over in Europe. I decided that I wasn’t ready to go overseas, so I settled for the coast of Maine.”
“Some people think that Maine is pretty foreign.”
“Yeah, well, my friends did give me a hard time for moving out to the ‘sticks,’ ” she admitted with a laugh.
“It’s got its own charm,” John pointed out. “More and more people are finding their way up here, so we must have something going for us.” He got up to uncover the grill.
“Have you lived here all your life?”
“Most of it,” he answered. “We moved here from upstate New York when I was in grade school. I lived in Portland through high school, then went to college back in New York. After I graduated, I found my way here to the coast, just like you did. I’ve been in Clairmont for about eight years.”
“So, pretty much right from college, huh?”
“Pretty much right from grad school.”
“Grad school? Really?”
“Yeah. It’s a long story.”
Maddy was intrigued. “So, you moved here after grad school?”
“That’s right.”
So, Mr. F, you’re around thirty-two, I’d say…
“Something funny?”
“Oh, no. Do you ever think about living in another part of the country?”
“Not really. This is home, and it’s a good place to raise the boys.”
“Well, I grew up in the Midwest, but I’ve always dreamed of living right on the ocean. I had hoped to make it happen eventually, but I didn’t expect to do it before…” she stopped and smiled.
He turned and looked at her quizzically. “Before what?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” she stalled, “before September, I guess.”
He gave her ‘the look’ and Maddy grinned. She took a sip of her wine and focused on the boys.
Supper passed pleasantly, with talk of the fort and how John built it with the boys’ help. Parker served cupcakes for dessert, and John plugged in some patio lights, including a string of plastic lobsters.
Very festive, Maddy thought as she tried to negotiate the huge pile of frosting on her cupcake without wearing most of it.
“Miss Maddy, why did you move to Clairmont?”
Blake caught her off-guard with the question. She set her cupcake down, glad to have a reason to put off that task for a while.
“Well, Blake, this is kind of l
ike a dream come true for me. I really like your town, our town,” she corrected herself with a smile, “and I’ve always wanted to open up an inn like your dad is helping me to fix up.”
“Did you work at an inn where you used to live?”
“No, I worked for a computer company,” she replied, smiling at John, who was getting the story for the second time.
“Did you have a hubson at your other house?”
“I’m sorry, a what?” Maddy looked at Parker, who had suddenly entered the conversation.
“A husband,” John clarified with a little grimace.
Maddy’s smile was slightly pained. “No, Parker, I don’t have a husband.”
“Do you have a boyfriend?” Parker rephrased his question with a giggle. This was funny stuff for a four-year-old.
John shook his head and started to intervene, but Maddy answered. “Yes, Parker, I did have a boyfriend.”
Blake listened carefully, while Parker, who started the conversation, focused on his frosting. John looked up, obviously curious.
“In fact,” she continued, taking a deep breath, “we were going to get married, so he would have been my husband.”
“What happened?” It was Blake, again.
“Blake,” John began.
“It’s okay,” Maddy said. She turned to Blake. “He had some things to work through, and… he had to go.” She knew that the tears would well up in her eyes, but was relieved when they went no further.
Blake sensed her sadness, so he backed off with his questions. Parker, who had finished with his cupcake and was oblivious to her pain, asked, “Do you pray for him?”
“Not as much as I should,” Maddy answered, or at all… She looked at John, now silently welcoming his intervention.
“Okay, guys,” he said. “Let’s go inside and get away from these bugs. If everybody grabs something from the table, we should be able to make it in one trip.” He sent the boys ahead and turned to Maddy. “Will you stay for coffee?”
Maddy was fairly sure that she wasn’t going to be great company. “I think I should probably head home,” she replied, a little catch in her voice.
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