“Yep.”
It came to her then. Sheknewwho that house belonged to. Whipping off her hat and the sunglasses, too, she whirled to confront him. “No.”
“Maddy.” He said the nickname so sweetly, for the very first time. It sounded so good. Only her mom and dad had ever called her Maddy. Unfortunately, he’d called her Maddy while trying to push her to do what she wasn’t ready for. “I’m almost certain Percy Valentine will be at home,” he coaxed. “Just go up and knock on the door—I’ll go with you, if you want. You said he’s been waiting for you to contact him. The old guy is going to be so happy to see you.”
“Take me back to the cottage.”
“Come on, take it easy.” He lifted his hand to touch her, to soothe her and coax her some more.
She knocked his arm away. “Take me back or I’m out of this truck.”
“Mad—”
“Stop.” She unhooked her seat belt and grabbed the door handle. He caught her other arm. “Let go,” she demanded.
He released her. “Nobody’s forcing you. Just take a deep breath.”
“You don’t get to do this, okay?” She spoke to the dashboard. “I’ll make a move whenI’mready.”
“I just thought—”
“I do not want to hear it, what you thought, why you brought me here when I never asked you to. It’s my life and my call and you just...no. Uh-uh. No. So just answer me. Are you taking me back or not?”
He let several awful seconds elapse before huffing out a breath. “Right. I’ll take you back now.”
* * *
Sten could feel her fury, like a separate presence in the truck with them, breathing fire. She didn’t say a word during the ten-minute drive back to the cove.
When he pulled into his garage, she waited for the truck to come to a stop and then she grabbed her hat and glasses and took off.
Okay, maybe he was a little out of line, to go pushing her to do something she just wasn’t ready for. But didn’t somebody have to care enough to give her a nudge in the right direction?
She’d come here to meet her family. She needed to face whatever was holding her back and get on with it.
But she hadn’t. And she wasn’t.
And he wanted her to have what she wouldn’t reach out and take. Because she was funny and sweet and kind. Because what he felt for her somehow already went way too deep.
* * *
“Where’s Madison?” Karin asked him Tuesday night. The kids were in bed. It was raining, so they were having a beer in the upstairs great room—well, he was drinking real beer. Karin had a ginger beer. “Something happened with the two of you, right?”
He stared at the raindrops. They glittered like jewels as they skittered down the big windows that looked out on the deck. “Are all little sisters as nosy as you?”
“Probably. And I hear big sisters are worse. What’s going on?”
“We had a disagreement, that’s all—and don’t ask me over what. It’s something she told me in confidence, so leave it alone.”
“That’s good, that she would confide in you.”
“Don’t start.”
Karen pointed at him with the bottle in her hand. “Madison’s nothing like Ella.”
“I never said she was.”
His sister sent him a glance of infinite patience. “With Ella, it was simple timing for you. You were finally ready to get serious with a woman. You ran into Ella and she had that adorable little boy. You’ve always loved kids. You fell for the kid more than the woman.”
