“See you, Maddy.”
He was walking down the boardwalk with a silly grin on his face when she called his name.
He turned, walking backward.
Her long hair whipped in the wind, and the smile on her face made his heart stutter. She gestured at the restaurant. “Feel free to stop in anytime. You know, if you feel the random urge to bus a table or something.”
He gave his chin a lift as he raised his hand in a wave. He just might do that.
Chapter 16
July 12, twenty years ago
The summer was turning out much better than Maddy had expected. It seemed Jonathan had to work a lot, leaving Emma free to hang out with her.
They’d taken the ferry to Bald Head Island and tooled around on a golf cart for an entire day. They’d taken the kayaks out in the bay and around Pelican Point. And they’d made many ice-cream runs, even though Emma often complained that she’d never fit into her wedding gown.
Maddy also got to help with the planning of the wedding. It was going to be held in January at their church in Charlotte. That Emma trusted Maddy’s input made her feel all grown up. Mama, Gram, and Nora pitched in also, the five of them often huddling over a kitchen table that was filled with invitation samples, bridal magazines, and menus. Maddy couldn’t believe all the minute details involved in planning a single day. If she ever got married, she was going to elope! Emma hoped to get the bulk of the planning done over the summer so she could focus on school once August came.
Jonathan seemed only too happy to let them handle the plans, coming around every so often to drop a kiss on Emma’s head and applaud her decisions. His job was planning the honeymoon, and he was keeping all those details to himself.
The only negative was that the busyness was making the summer pass too quickly. And as much as Maddy was enjoying her time with Emma, it seemed as if the family was all too often going in opposite directions.
Daddy, of course, traveled a lot, although he made time for each of them when he was home. The only time they were all together seemed to be Sundays, when they attended Gram’s church. Nora also seemed scarce, although to be fair, much of Maddy’s activities with Emma involved the sun, and ice-cream outings didn’t interest Nora, as she’d never had much of a sweet tooth. Was it the wedding planning, Maddy wondered, that had thrown everything off? Or the presence of an outsider in the house?
Maddy shook the thought away and stared out the window as Emma drove them down the road toward the hair salon. Maddy was getting her hair cut today. She’d grown it out long, but it was a pain, always blowing in her face. And ponytails made her head hurt. She’d found a picture of a woman with a long bob in one of Emma’s magazines and thought that might do the trick.
The picture! Maddy stuck her hands into her pockets, but they came out empty.
“What’s wrong?” Emma asked from the driver’s seat.
“I forgot the picture.”
“You can just describe it, can’t you? We’re almost there.”
“Please, can we go back? I don’t want her to get it wrong. What if she messes it up?”
“Maddy.”
“We’re early anyway. We’ll still be on time.”
Emma sighed. “Fine.” She slowed the car and turned around in the bicycle shop’s parking lot.
A few minutes later they were back home. Emma pulled the car along the curb and Maddy jumped out.
The house was quiet except for the strains of jazz Jonathan always listened to while he worked. He called it big band music and was always making them listen to songs that had been popular way back in Gram’s day.
As seemed to be the case recently, everyone was otherwise occupied today. Gram and Mama had gone grocery shopping, and Daddy was traveling. Jonathan was working in his bedroom, and Nora was undoubtedly lounging in the shade somewhere with her nose in a book.
Maddy took the stairs quickly, not wanting to irritate Emma further by dillydallying. She’d left the picture in the bathroom where she’d been trying to imagine what she’d look like with eight inches lopped off. She was a little nervous—she didn’t want to look even younger.
She slid past her own bedroom door, then into the bathroom. There it was, by the sink. She snatched it up and turned just as a familiar lilt of laughter sounded over the strains of a saxophone.
Maddy paused outside the bathroom door, looking farther down the hall to Jonathan’s door, which was partly open.
“So I hear you’re the favorite grandchild.” Jonathan’s tone was teasing.
“Not true. Gram is very fair—she spoils us all.”
