Finding Madelyn Read online

  “The sheriff has a phone and so does the diner.”

  “The diner.” He nodded. She was going to make this as difficult as possible. “Thank you, sir.”

  He hung up in time to see her cross the street. Grabbing his coat and hat, he rushed out of the room. The desk clerk waved as he sidestepped the front door, back out into the cold of the day. He looked both ways before the red kerchief caught his eye in the grocers.

  Making sure no one would run him over before he could talk to her, he slowed his pace to cross the street. He still couldn’t take as long as he wanted. Heckle and Jeckle from the diner would probably be along shortly.

  “No, Roy,” she was raising her voice to the man behind the counter, pushing a package of meat back at him. “I won’t take that junk. Would your wife be happy with me if I served you that mess? It’s mostly fat and you are round enough.”

  “It’s all I got, Maddy.”

  “Then get me better. You should be doing better for everyone. How are the boys on boats supposed to even function on this stuff?”

  “I get another shipment Thursday.”

  “I expect it to be good.”

  She poked him in the stomach that hung over the counter to make her point. When she turned, she wasn’t shocked to see him.

  “Go home, Galen.” She tried to breeze past him.

  He grabbed her arm, whispering, “Can’t do that unless you are with me.”

  “Then you might as well find someplace to live around here then because I’m not going. Now take your hand off me.”

  She was even stronger than the last time he’d seen her. The warmth in his stomach rose, he released her and she immediately headed for the door.

  “Not going to ask about Harland?”

  “Not today. Not tomorrow.” She pushed the door.

  He followed, “He was married three months ago.”

  “Good, I’m sure the newest Mrs. Langley will be very happy.” She stopped only long enough for a car to pass as she crossed the street.

  “Rita snagged him up as soon as he was done looking for you.”

  “And that took what, two minutes?” She waved to a passing mother with a buggy.

  “Three months from what I understand.”

  “Sad for him.” She waved at the man in the hotel.

  “Everyone here knows you?”

  “That’s what happens when you are part of a community, instead of above it or below it.” She removed her coat as she went into the diner.

  “What do you mean by that?”

  She turned, finally looking at him for the second time, her eyes sad. He much preferred the carefree side that she was good at giving out to everyone else. This was the side of her few saw and the reason he had wanted to be the person that came out to take her back home.

  “You have to come back.” he continued.

  The look was gone and she was heading down the aisle back toward the kitchen. “Why?”

  “You know why.”

  “Do you?” She dropped the counter down between them, planting her hands firm on the divider.

  “They told me what happened.”

  “I’m sure.” She turned, grabbing a coffee cup.

  “When I got home.” He started spinning his hat in his fingers.

  She stopped pouring, standing perfectly still for a moment. “When did you get back?”

  He heard it. A twinge of Madelyn behind that closed off demure.

  “About four months ago.”

  Her hand shook as she picked up the coffee cup and sat it down on the counter in front of the seat he was standing by. Without looking at him, she went to the kitchen.

  He sank into the chair, wondering what the cup of coffee meant. At this point, he would take any kind of truce she might offer. The bell over the door jingled and he knew the truce would stop with the sound of boots on the linoleum floor walking his way.

  

  This is exactly why she left. She didn’t need those people’s issues, she had enough of her own. It wasn’t her place to fix their problems. There had been no way for her to write to him, not after she left. And before that. . . before . . . what would she have said?

  Now it was far too late to think about what she should have, or could have done. She tossed two eggs on the grill, then a third, and a good portion of bacon. There had to be some way she could set everything right without going anywhere near Washington. Fredric had to understand. . .

  Frank sitting down next to Galen stopped all thought. Those two men in one spot was a bad thing. At least one of them had a brain. Maybe. Galen sent a silent warning her way, his eyes spoke to her in ways that Frank couldn’t understand.

  Frank smiled across. “Heard it went bad with Roy.”

  “Could be worse in here in a minute.” She failed to control the edge in her voice.

  His smile faded, she’d made her point, probably a little harsher than she meant, before flipping the eggs.

  Galen kept his eyes on his cup. “She’s pretty good with coffee, how’s the food?”

  “She’s good at everything she does.” Frank eyeing Galen.

  “Frank, go to work.” She pulled the food off the griddle.

  “They can do without me for the day.” His smile was back, trying to look reassuring.

  She pushed through the door, it banged against the wall. “And I don’t need you taking up one of my seats.”

  Standing, he leaned over for a kiss, missing her as she leaned down to place the plate.

  His voice had grown cold, even colder than hers. “I’m only a call away.”

  “I’ll see you for lunch.” At least she hoped.

  The door almost slammed as he headed out, but she couldn’t worry about him. She leaned against the counter as Galen took a bite.

  “He’s your. . .?” Galen bit his lip, keeping his eyes on the plate.

  “We date. That’s it.”

  Galen nodded.

  “Paula, go ahead and do your shopping, I’ll handle it ‘til lunch.”

  With Galen being the only customer, it would give them a chance to talk about what needed talking about. They both waited until Paula was out the door before speaking.

  “So, what is my list of crimes by Fredric Langley’s highly regarded standards?”

  He swallowed harder than she expected. “You really don’t know?”

  “I want to hear them from you.” She bent to look him in the eye.

  “On top of the embarrassment you caused him, theft would rank pretty high.”

  “You believe it, too, don’t you?”

  “Give me a reason not to.” He sat down his fork, crossed his arms on the counter, and waited. His soft eyes were very patiently planted on hers.

  She hated when he gave her that look.

  “What did I steal?” she inched closer.

  “Twenty-five thousand in payroll.”

  “So I put back your grandmother’s wedding ring and took payroll for half the county. How can that possibly make sense to you?”

  “I have no idea what was going on with you from the moment I left.”

  She stood, jerking away from him. “No you wouldn’t. Enjoy your breakfast, don’t bother to pay.”

  “Maddy. . . Madelyn.”

  The kitchen door closed behind her.

  Three

  Frank tossed the ice over the fish, fuming from her making him leave. Had been since he stood up from the chair, replaying the whole thing for Hollis was just making it worse.

  “So she was actually talking to the guy when you left?” Hollis looked disgusted.

  “Fixed him coffee and breakfast, too.”

  “But this morning she was about to climb the walls.”

  “You think I understand it anymore than you do? One minute she’s telling him to ‘Go home, Galen,’” Frank raised his voice to match hers. “The next she’s got breakfast out for him.”

  “You think he’s really going take her back west?”

  “If she
took that money, I don’t see how we can stop him.”

  “Easy. He doesn’t leave with her.” Hollis smirked rolling his massive shoulders.

  “She already said if anyone gets involved she’ll have their head. I really don’t need her mad at me.”

  “Have you decided when to ask her?”

  “Well, I figured now I have to wait ‘til this guy’s gone.”

  “Why? It’s a perfect time. He’s drudging up the past that she ran from, she might just come running to you.” For once, Hollis was making sense.

  Frank shook off the thought, “I think there’s more than we know and I don’t think Maddy has ever run to anyone.”

  Least of all him. When she got here, she could have had her choice of men. The un-married ones at least. Instead, she rented a room and waited tables. Something in her seemed so distant. Everyone figured she’d keep going on after she made enough money. One of those women that lost their love to the war and just kept searching. Instead, she bought the cottage down by the sea.

  It’d taken nearly another year of him constantly asking for her to agree to a date. Still, she kept him away but she didn’t seem so distant anymore. The look had been back this morning. That look of pain and anger that said leave her be.

  “You think maybe that’s how she bought the diner?” Hollis asked.

  “Everybody knows she’s got some agreement with old man Tate. Like food for life or weekly payments. There might be a lot we don’t know about Maddy, but she’s not a thief.”

  

  Galen dropped his hat on the dresser and his coat over the chair. Somehow, he’d gone from talking to dead weight in less time than it took him to scarf down breakfast. It hadn’t bothered her to be accused of stealing, but the moment he mentioned him being gone, she was out the door.

  He would have to take smaller steps to get her back home and be more careful about what he said. They didn’t really need to go over everything that had happened. This wasn’t story time. It was time to close her chapter in his life. They’d simply gone different directions and it was time to come to terms with those decisions.

  The guy in the diner told him she had moved on. Of course, when she wasn’t in Washington when he walked off the train should have told him that much. Now he just had to worry about Frank complicating his life.

  Sitting on the bed, he loosened his tie and threw it toward the dresser. There would be no way to get her on a plane without telling her everything though. He fell back on the bed. A little rest would do his mind good. The plane had been too nerve wracking, the bus too jarring, and seeing Madelyn was too. . .painful.

  He finished undressing and crawled onto the twin size bed.

  

  Madelyn leaned against the counter watching the burgers sizzle. The lunch crowd couldn’t keep her mind occupied. So far this morning, nothing would.

  Galen had looked good though. He’d filled out a little in the past few years, wasn’t as thin as when he’d left. The new suit had been tailored well. He needed to let the honey grow back to his hair, but he looked good…healthy really.

  She flipped the burgers, double-checking they hadn’t burned on one side. One sided was how Galen was looking at this. His daddy spoke and he jumped, no different from when he’d left, let alone when she’d left.

  To get her point across, she would have to tell him everything from her last few days there. She bit her lip. And that was if he gave her a chance instead of throwing her in a car the first opportunity that arose, taking her back without a say.

  She put cheese on the burgers, then on a bun on the plate. “Order up.”

  “You gonna come out of that kitchen today?” Frank was sitting back in front of the window.

  Paula blocked her view as she picked up the food. She’d been so preoccupied that she hadn’t seen him come in. Which made twice today.

  “Not while I’m busy. Never do and today is no different.”

  His lips puckered. He definitely didn’t like that answer. Yet, he started eating and she pulled more orders from the spindle. Hopefully, the late and large breakfast Galen ate would keep him out until Frank went back to work.

  With the last order in the window and Frank heading out the door, she boxed up Stan’s lunch, along with the constable, Roy’s, and the other shop owners. Then she shoved an extra on the top. She pulled the bag over her shoulder and started out.

  Waving at Alva driving back toward the fish plant, she headed to the constable first. It was a small red brick building, two jail cells, the front desk, and the constable’s office. The building was conveniently placed too, diagonally from her and across the street from the bar. She stopped at the front desk and pulled out two boxes.

  Her hand was on the door as he yelled through the little room. “Heard you might be having a problem.”

  The constable, Lucien, was a good guy. Tall, lanky, handsome, and happily married to Frank’s aunt. Probably just looking out for her after watching them cross the street.

  “Galen is about as harmful as a gnat.” She ignored the nagging image of Galen tossing her over his shoulder.

  Lucien walked out of the office toward the food, “Frank said. . .”

  “Frank,” she interrupted him, instant heat coming from every pore. “Frank needs to learn when to stay out of what isn’t his business.”

  He leaned on the desk. “The way you two have been around town, I’d say that makes it his business.”

  “Dancing with a man gives him no right and you know it.”

  Lucien smiled, his green eyes sparking, but his voice staying smooth and calm. “You know where I am if you have any problems, Maddy.”

  “Yeah,” she pushed out the door.

  Damn men. She passed by the bar. It was simple. She wouldn’t be able to have a private conversation in this town, which made it no better than where she grew up. Instead of being under Langley’s thumb, she was under everyone’s watchful eye.

  Roy was smarter than Lucien, as he kept his mouth shut when she dropped the container on his counter. Linda at the tailor’s wasn’t nearly that bright.

  “So is he married?” Her dark hair was pristine, lipstick thick, and dress too short. Galen wouldn’t look twice. At least not the one that left for Europe.

  “Last I knew, free as a bird.”

  If Linda knew, everyone knew, or would shortly.

  The toy store was quiet and Everett didn’t say anything. Which was normal for the man of few words. Even if he knew there was someone new in town, he wouldn’t say.

  She caught herself glancing around as she went through the hotel doors.

  “Hello, Stan.” She sat his food on the desk with one more container left. “Is the guest in his room?”

  “Now, what makes you think I keep tabs on my guests?”

  She raised her eyebrow, hoping he didn’t want her to answer. All tact had left with Linda.

  “Fine. He’s up there, has been since he left your place.”

  “Thanks, got food for him, too.” She clarified, afraid of what would be spread around if she didn’t.

  This would be short, she promised herself. She’d be back to the diner with a little more good will spread. The knock echoed down the empty hall and the pit in her stomach. When she heard nothing in the room she knocked again. She could leave the plate in the hall but then it’d be cold by the time he got it.

  The door didn’t make any noise as she eased it open. “Galen?”

  The shade was drawn making it dark, still, she could make out the form in the bed. She’d know that form even in pitch black. Squeezing her eyes shut she shook off the thought.

  His suitcase was sitting next to the dresser still packed with the tie he’d been wearing about a foot short of it on the floor. She sat the plate of food down, put the tie next to the food, and eased toward the bed.

  “Galen?”

  “Shh, they’ll hear you.” He breathed deep, his eyes still closed.

  She leaned down, wondering if
someone else was coming, “Who will?”

  His eyes flew open as his hands grabbed her, swinging them down to the bed together. One hand clamped over her mouth, the other her throat. The muscles in her body tensed. He was really going to drag her back without a say, or even worse.

  His breathing was more labored from the exertion than she expected. Muscles restrained in his arms and chest, his entire body filled out much more than she would have expected from the way he looked in the diner.

  Warm breath from his lips blew down her chin, her neck, and her ear, heating with each gasp he took. His hands loosened, finding their way unsteadily down her arms, the jacket doing little to keep out the warmth of his touch.

  “Madelyn.”

  It came out as a whisper, little more than the mist from the sea spray, but it liquefied her muscles. The blowing moved up her chin, his eyes coming to view, open but unseeing. Slowly they focused, with his hands roaming her side, slipping under the jacket.

  He looked confused, “Madelyn?”

  He truly had been somewhere else, another time, another woman. White hot anger pushed through, wondering who’s arms he’d caressed just so but that wasn’t her concern. He wasn’t hers. Not anymore.

  The confusion cleared and he sprang off the bed, pulling the sheet around him as his feet landed on the floor.

  “What are you doing in here?” His voice was raised, impatient.

  She took a deep breath, flinging her hand toward the dresser behind him, “I brought you lunch.”

  “Well how’d you end up. . .” he pointed to her in the bed. “There!”

  She sat up, she wouldn’t tell him that he’d been dreaming. “You pulled me down there, when I tried to wake you.”

  One hand held the sheet loosely around his waist, the other ran over his head. “I’m sorry, Madelyn. I didn’t mean. . .”

  “I know.” She let the door slam behind her.

  

  He hadn’t been dreaming about her, he smacked his head with his hand. Still she’d been there, in the dream and in his bed. Madelyn, the way she’d been before he left, but it wasn’t supposed to be her. Now she was a little different, stronger somehow. She’d grown up.

  But he wasn’t here to remember. Not here to have her close. He was here to bring her home. She had to answer for taking the payroll, for leaving when she had promised she would be there.