Grave Insight (A Maddie Graves Mystery Book 2)

by Hart, Lily Harper

  “I … there was someone here,” Maddie said, gasping. “He was wearing a hoodie. He started after me. I was trying to get away when I fell again. I’m a total klutz.”

  “Where?”

  Maddie pointed in the direction of the football field. Nick moved to the trees and gazed out, searching for a hint of movement. After a few minutes, he returned to Maddie’s side. “There’s no one there.”

  “I … he was here.”

  “Okay,” Nick said, holding up his hands. “I believe you.”

  Maddie pressed the heel of her hand against her forehead. “I … I just screamed. I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to do.”

  “You did the right thing, Mad,” Nick said, reaching underneath her legs and pulling her to his lap. “You’re okay, right? Other than your ankle, I mean.”

  “I’m fine.”

  Her face said otherwise. “You scared the life out of me,” he said. “Why were you over here?”

  “I … saw Cassidy.”

  “You’re kidding.” Nick looked around again. “Where?”

  “Right here.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I didn’t want to make a scene,” Maddie replied. “I think she was here to talk to me.”

  “What did she say?”

  “She said I’ve ruined her life.”

  “Don’t blame yourself, Mad.”

  “She said you two were going to move in together until I showed up.” Maddie averted her eyes from Nick’s piercing gaze.

  “That’s not true, Mad. You know that’s not true. Don’t let her get to you.”

  “She’s really angry, Nicky. I don’t blame her. From her perspective, I ruined your life when I left, and then I ruined her life when I came back.”

  “You did ruin my life when you left,” Nick said. “You also saved it when you came back. I’m sorry for whatever she said to you.”

  “It’s not your fault. She’s just really sad.”

  “Well, she’s going to have to deal,” Nick said, struggling to get to his feet and still maintain Maddie’s weight in his arms. “I’m done playing this game. I’m going to take you home, and then I’m not stopping until I find her. You could have been seriously hurt.”

  “There’s no way she could’ve known about our … friend.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure,” Maddie said. “Cassidy is mixed up, but she’s not mean.”

  “Well, I’m going to unmix things,” Nick said. “You’re going home and straight to bed. We’ll pick up your turtle on the way.”

  “She says she’s going to keep you,” Maddie warned.

  “Where she’s concerned, I’m already gone, Mad. She’s just going to have to deal with it.”

  AFTER three hours of fruitless searching, Nick was at his wit’s end. He’d considered returning to Maddie’s house, the need to be near her overwhelming, but he tempered his urges. She needed her sleep, and he had to deal with Cassidy.

  Nick let himself into his house, dropping the keys on the table by the front door and slamming the deadbolt into place behind him. Before he could reach for the light switch, the overhead lamp in the living room flared to life.

  Nick inadvertently jumped, and when he saw who was standing at the edge of the room, he internally sighed. Cassidy had gone all out. She was wearing a red-lace teddy that pumped her breasts up to unnatural heights, and garter belts that left little to the imagination below the belt. Her hair was blown out, and she was standing next to his recliner watching him.

  “It’s about time you came home,” she said.

  Nick licked his lips. “How did you get in my house?”

  “You left the back door unlocked.”

  Nick knew that was a lie. He never left the door unlocked. He glanced over her shoulder, the unmistakable signs of a missing pane of glass in the back door catching his attention. He’d deal with that later. It was the least of his worries now. “I’ve been looking for you.”

  “Well, I’m right here,” Cassidy said, flouncing around the chair and moving toward him.

  Nick purposely shuffled to the other side of the coffee table to cut her off. “We need to talk.”

  “Later,” Cassidy said. “We can talk later. There are other things I want to do now.”

  “We’re going to talk now.”

  “Oh, don’t be such a fuddy duddy,” Cassidy said, reaching over so she could run her finger up his chest.

  Nick grabbed her finger firmly. “Just so there aren’t any misunderstandings, we’re over.”

  Cassidy flinched. “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t know if you’ve lost your mind, or if you’re playing a game, or if you’re just … freaking out … but we’re done. This relationship has been over for weeks, you just wouldn’t accept it. I’m saying it now, though. We’re through.”

  “You don’t mean that,” Cassidy said, jerking her hand back. “You’re just confused.”

  “I’m not confused. I don’t want to be with you.”

  “You do.”

  “Cassidy, in case you haven’t noticed, we haven’t been together in two months.”

  “Since Maddie came home,” Cassidy spat.

  “Have you been paying attention? I was separating myself from you two weeks before Maddie came back to town.”

  Cassidy faltered. “That’s not true.”

  “It is true. Come on, Cassidy. I know you heard the rumors about me before we started dating. Everyone knew my schedule. Six months. That was all I was equipped for. I didn’t want a serious relationship.

  “You knew that going in,” Nick continued. “I never let you stay here in the entire six months we were dating. I never spent more than two nights a week with you. That was by design. It shouldn’t have been a surprise for you when the time started ticking down to goodbye.”

  “But … we were happy.”

  Nick was at a loss. “I wasn’t happy.”

  Cassidy reared back as if she’d been struck. “You were so.”

  “I was … settled … kind of. I wasn’t going out and cheating on you, but I knew there was no future for us. I’m sorry you seem to think there was. That was not my intention.”

  “We had a future ahead of us,” Cassidy countered. “I had a plan. On our one-year anniversary, you were going to propose. Six months after that, we were going to get married in a nice outdoor ceremony. Two years after that we were going to have our first child.”

  She was delusional. There could be no other explanation. “You weren’t going to last past the six-month mark.”

  “We’ve been dating seven months,” Cassidy pointed out.

  “Because I didn’t want to rock the boat.”

  “What? I don’t understand.”

  “We had a murder in town, and … there was other stuff going on. I didn’t want to deal with a breakup when I had so much else going on.”

  “So, you’re saying you couldn’t be bothered to break up with me?”

  When she put it like that … . Shame flooded through Nick. “Sadly, yes.”

  “And I suppose you’re going to tell me that this has nothing to do with Maddie.”

  Nick rubbed the back of his neck as he sank down on the couch. “I can’t tell you that.”

  “See. I knew she’d been working you. She denied it.”

  “She hasn’t been working me,” Nick said. “In fact, she’s been fighting me off until I could deal with you. My disinterest in you really doesn’t have anything to do with Maddie, at least not in the way you think it does.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “Sit down, Cassidy,” Nick ordered.

  Cassidy started moving toward him.

  “In the chair.”

  She scowled, but she settled there anyway.

  “There are some things we need to talk about,” Nick said. “First off, I am very sorry for the way I’ve treated you. It hasn’t been fair. It hasn’t been nice. It hasn’t been … tolerable. I’
ve treated you very poorly, and I’ll always feel bad for it.”

  “We can still work through it,” Cassidy said, desperate. “We’re not lost yet.”

  Nick held up his hand to stifle her. “I’m not breaking up with you because Maddie came home,” he said. “I am breaking up with you because of Maddie, though.”

  Nick rested his hands on his knees, rubbing them against his jeans as he geared up for some long-coming truth. “I’ve been in love with Maddie since I was seventeen years old.”

  “Puppy love,” Cassidy said. “You’ve just elevated it in your mind.”

  “No,” Nick said, shaking his head. “What Maddie and I share is … beyond anything I’ve ever felt for anyone. She almost broke me when she left, and then she did break me when she cut off contact.”

  “And yet you still love her.”

  “She had reasons for what she did,” Nick said. “I’m not sharing them with you, and I’m not pretending her reasons were right. She made a mistake. She knows it. She’ll always be sorry. She can’t erase ten years of misery, but we can move forward. I’m beyond her leaving now. I don’t want to dwell on it. She’s home.”

  “And you’re going to be with her, aren’t you?”

  “I am.”

  “Are you going to break up with her in six months, too? Is she aware of your schedule?” Cassidy was bitter, and she was almost at her breaking point.

  “I didn’t have a six-month schedule simply because I didn’t want to get close to someone,” Nick said. “I had it because I didn’t want to get close to anyone but her. I know it sounds crazy, and simple, and little sad, but I was always waiting for her.”

  “How did you know she would come back?”

  “Because I had faith,” Nick replied. “I had faith that we belonged together, and that we would find our way back to each other when the time was right. I was willing to wait forever for her if it came to it.”

  “And you didn’t care who you hurt in the process, did you?”

  “I cared,” Nick said. “I just didn’t let myself think about it too much. What I’ve done to you is unforgiveable. I don’t expect some happy hug and well wishes. I know you’ve been hurt, and I know you’re going to keep hurting. I can’t fix that.”

  “You’re willing to break me like she broke you, though.”

  “There are three people in our little triangle,” Nick said. “If I stay with you, you’ll be happy and everyone else will be miserable.”

  “So, you’re sacrificing me for Maddie’s happiness?”

  “If that’s the way you want to look at it. The truth is, I’m ready to be happy. I can’t be happy with you. She’s all I’ve ever wanted. She’s all I’ll ever want. I’m very sorry that you got caught up in all of this. You’ll never know how sorry I am. I know that doesn’t help you. I know it doesn’t make you feel any better. I just … I need her.”

  Cassidy’s face crumbled. “You can’t believe that she’s a better girlfriend than I am.”

  “That’s neither here nor there. There’s no such thing as a better girlfriend. There’s just love. She’s my whole heart, and nothing is ever going to change that. The thing you need to understand, though, is that even without Maddie in the picture, I never would be able to love you.”

  Cassidy was openly sobbing now.

  “There are times in life when you know where you belong,” Nick said, his heart twisting as he watched Cassidy convulse with body-wracking sobs. “I have always known I belonged with Maddie. I hope there’s a day in the future – and I hope it’s soon – where you find someone to belong with.”

  “I did.”

  “No, you didn’t,” Nick said, sympathy rolling off of him. “You only thought you did. When it really happens, you won’t have to change who you are to fit into a little box. That’s what you tried to do with me. That’s not love.”

  “I’m going to be the laughingstock of this town.” Cassidy’s face was shifting. She was no longer sad. Now she was vengeful. “Everyone is going to laugh at me, and you’re going to have your happy ending with Maddie. How is that fair?”

  “Life isn’t fair,” Nick said. “I can’t fix this for you, though. I’m sorry you’re hurt, and I’m sorry you’re embarrassed, but you did bring a lot of this on yourself. Your actions over the past few days have been … unbelievable.”

  “So, this is my fault?”

  “No,” Nick said, holding firm. “You can blame this all on me. Tell everyone you need to that I’m a horrible person. I don’t deny it. I just need this to be done.”

  “Well, bully for you,” Cassidy snapped, getting to her feet. “We’re done. Go and get your happy ending. Don’t expect me to be waiting when she dumps you in the dirt again.”

  “I understand.” Nick wasn’t about to engage in another argument.

  Cassidy strode toward the back door, grabbing her coat off the kitchen table as she navigated through the house. “You’re going to regret this.”

  “I hope you find some happiness, Cassidy. I really do.”

  Sixteen

  Nick was in the middle of an extraordinary dream when he suddenly lost the ability to breathe. He jerked awake to find a woman sitting on the edge of his bed. It wasn’t the blonde one he’d been dreaming about, though.

  “Mom.”

  “Good morning, Nick.” Sharon Winters was a kind woman, but she was clearly enjoying her son’s discomfort. She was in her fifties, but she didn’t look a day over forty, and the smile she sent Nick now was full of mirth. “Did I wake you?”

  Nick narrowed his eyes. He loved his mother, but she had an odd sense of humor. “You pinched my nose until I woke up. I think that was your intent.”

  “Of course it wasn’t,” Sharon soothed. “I’m just happy it worked out this way.”

  Nick rolled his eyes and stretched, taking a moment to let his mind clear. “How did you get in the house? I took your key away after you snuck in and had it cleaned last year and the maid threw all of my underwear away. Did you have a copy made?”

  “I do have a copy, but that’s not how I got in,” Sharon said. “Did you know the glass pane in your back door is missing?”

  “Yup.”

  “Do you want to tell me how that happened?”

  “Probably not.” Sharon waited. Nick tried to ignore her studied gaze, but finally he gave in. “Cassidy let herself into the house last night. I found her here when I got home.”

  “Oh, well, that’s interesting,” Sharon said, choosing her words carefully. “I was under the impression she was hiding from you. That was the talk of the town when I got my hair done the other day.”

  Nick stilled. His parents lived fifteen miles outside of Blackstone Bay, and while they still considered themselves part of the town, they weren’t generally up on the day-to-day gossip. “You heard about that, huh?”

  “You’re one of the town highlights these days.”

  Nick pursed his lips.

  “Cassidy is another,” Sharon added.

  “And, let me guess, Maddie is the third?”

  “See, I shouldn’t have to hear about these things from random people,” Sharon said. “You should be calling me with nightly updates. I enjoy good town theater as much as the next person.”

  Nick made an exasperated sound in the back of his throat and rubbed his forehead ruefully. “I broke up with Cassidy last night.”

  “And a whole month late, too. I was way off in the pool.”

  Nick scowled. “You’re my mother. You’re supposed to be on my side.”

  “I am on your side,” Sharon said. “That’s why I think you should have broken up with Cassidy before Maddie returned to town.”

  “It’s not like I knew she was coming home.”

  Sharon clucked sympathetically. “How did the breakup go?”

  “Not well. She had kind of a meltdown.”

  “Worse than hiding for three days?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well … how is Maddie? I was actual
ly surprised to find you here. I figured you would have been over there with her the second you were free.”

  Nick froze. “What do you mean?”

  “Oh, don’t do that, Nicholas Winters,” Sharon chided. “I know very well that you and Maddie are officially on.”

  “No, we’re not,” Nick countered. Not yet, he internally conceded.

  “I heard you and Maddie were on a date last night,” Sharon pressed.

  “We weren’t on a date,” Nick said. “I took her to the fair.”

  “And won her a stuffed animal.”

  “This town is like one big gossip mill,” Nick grumbled. “I didn’t win the stuffed animal. She won it for herself after I dropped twenty bucks trying to win it for her.”

  Sharon grinned. “She always was a stellar athlete. I heard she dunked you in the charity tank, too.”

  “Why are you even asking questions if you know all the answers?” Nick asked.

  “I just wanted to see how you were doing,” Sharon said, not chafing at her son’s harsh tone. “I think your life has seen a lot of upheaval over the past few weeks. Maddie came home. You found out the truth about her. You saved her life. Now you’re going to be a couple. That’s a lot to deal with after ten years of pining.”

  Nick froze. “What did you just say?”

  “I said that you’re dealing with a lot.”

  “No, you said she told me the truth,” Nick said, his voice icy. “What truth are you talking about?”

  Sharon licked her lips as she met her son’s angry gaze. “I know you know about Maddie being psychic. That’s the only way you two could have gotten over everything and found a way to be together.”

  Nick was flabbergasted. “You knew?”

  “Olivia and I were friends … .”

  Nick threw the covers off and climbed out of bed, being careful to give his mother a wide berth. “You knew!”

  “I … yes.” Sharon’s eyes clouded with concern. “Why are you so angry?”

  “You knew why she left town,” Nick challenged. “You knew why she left me. You knew how upset I was, and you didn’t say a word. Why?”

  “Because you weren’t ready to deal with it, and Maddie wasn’t ready to let you deal with it,” Sharon replied, calm. “You two needed to find your way back together on your own. I knew it would happen eventually.”