* * *
Rafe needed to know the rest. And so did Maddie. She wasn’t going to leave him on the island, on his own, until she did.
So she said she needed time to think about what he’d proposed. She suggested that he head toward the beach and look for Rex.
With reluctance, he agreed.
Once he was out of earshot, she called the only person she knew she could trust—and who might know something she needed to know.
“Maddie!” Brandon said when he answered. The connection sounded hollow, as if he was in his car. “Are you out of the hospital? Are you okay?” Apparently, he hadn’t heard the rest.
So she told him about the fire.
The line went silent.
Then: “You’re kidding.”
“I wish.”
“Was it arson?” It was curious he asked that before assuming it was caused by a frayed wire or something else not sinister.
Suddenly Maddie wondered if her earlier concerns that things weren’t as they seemed had been correct. “They don’t know how it started yet.”
He paused again. “I can turn around. I can get there in time to catch the last boat.”
Ugh.He wasn’t on the island. Again.
“You’re on your way back to Boston?”
“Yup. I have to be in court tomorrow.”
Disappointment skittered through her. “Don’t turn around, Brandon. You have to work. I’m fine. Rafe is with me. We’re going to stay in Rex’s cabin tonight. After that . . . I don’t know.” She decided not to tell him they might go back to Green Hills in the morning. Maybe she’d overreacted when he’d mentioned arson so fast.
“I wanted you to know about the fire, that’s all. I’ll keep you posted.” She needed to shift the topic. “How’s your mom?” Making this about Evelyn helped Maddie breathe more easily.
“She claims she’s fine.” The drone of highway traffic humming filled the dead air space. “Maddie?” he said. “Can you do me a favor?”
“Anything.”
“Give me a couple of minutes, then call her.”
“You’re worried about her.”
“No. I’m worried about you. There’s something you don’t know.”
She hadn’t expected that. All along, she’d been second-guessing herself, blaming herself for not trusting others, for letting her intuition get the better of her. But Brandon, like her father, had just confirmed her angst.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I don’t know the details. But my mother does. She said it wasn’t our concern, and she swore me to secrecy. But I hate the way this is ripping you up. It isn’t fair.”
Her pulse started to hammer at the base of her throat. “Am I in danger? Is my son?”
“Just, please. Call my mother. But first, give me ten minutes to shame her into telling you the truth.”
They rang off, which left Maddie to wait. And to try not to think about what she was about to learn. Or that Brandon hadn’t answered her question about her and Rafe being in danger. Maybe her best choice would be to go to Green Hills tomorrow. She’d insist that Rafe come with her; she’d lie to him if she had to. She’d leave her car there; they could get his on the Cape. Once she told him whatever it was that Evelyn would say, maybe Rafe would hate her less for tearing him away.
She checked the Steamship Authority schedule but found that walk-ons didn’t need reservations. She noted the departure times.
