Page 30 of Back To Our Beginning

Kai chuckled. “That’s how Marlowe and I saw it. I wasn’t sure that Maddie was catching on, but Marlowe says that she is definitely interested in you.”

“That’s how I’m reading it.”

“So why in the hell are you letting the past and her big brother stand in your way?”

“I’m just biding my time. I grew up with Maddie. When she’s mad or sad or confused, she needs time to brood. If I go in too soon, I’ll get my head bitten off. I need to wait for her to come to me.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Kindergarten to senior year. Yeah, I’m sure.”

Was I? It had been three days. Maybe she had changed. Maybe I was wrong.

Dammit all to hell.

I stood up. “Is it time to head back?”

“I’ve got another half hour in me before heading back.” Kai smiled as I held out my hand for him to grab.

“Let’s hit it.”

* * *

I was parked in the back left corner of her office parking lot. I watched as the delivery guy went in with the hundred-and fifty-dollar bouquet of flowers. Whoever heard of spending that damn much money on flowers? Still, I was trying to make a statement. I knew she was in there, because I had spotted her Jeep.

She’d told me that Wednesdays were the days she tried to catch up on administrative stuff. I had the flowers delivered at four o’clock so that I could catch her in the parking lot as she left, in case the flowers didn’t work, and she didn’t call or text me.

After a half hour with no call or text, I tried to console myself with the thought that she was on a phone call or in a meeting.

“Yeah, sure.”

Time for Plan B.

I’d driven to Nashville to pick up a five-pound sampler tin of Leon’s candy. It had a mixture of homemade pralines, turtles, pecan rolls, and caramels. In my junior year, I had gotten her a one-pound tin, and I had received a hug and a kiss on my cheek that I still cherished to this very day. I was dying to find out what a five-pound tin would get me.

I tossed my phone on the passenger seat next to the chocolate tin and waited for five o’clock to roll around. After five, with no sight of Maddie, I turned on some music and listened to Linkin Park and Foo Fighters.

I kept my eyes open partway and focused on the back door where employees were coming out. At seven-thirty, I was getting damned pissed. Not because of no acknowledgement for the flowers, but because it was dusk and soon to be dark, and there was no sign of Maddie. Only one of the two lonely parking lot lights came on, flickering weakly, while the other one didn’t even bother lighting up. Neither light was close to Maddie’s Jeep, not that it mattered since both were obviously broken. There was one spotlight over the employee entrance that practically screamed, ‘Here I am, come get me’.

Since the only other vehicle in the parking lot was mine, I highly doubted she was coming out with someone, unless, pray God, there was security in the building who would be walking her out. I stewed and stewed and stewed as I waited for her. Finally at eight-thirty, the employee door opened. And it was worse than I imagined. Maddie was wearing a short trench coat and boots. I thought she must be wearing a skirt that ended, hopefully, right above her knees, because it wasn’t showing below the trench coat.

Of course she was alone.

She rolled her shoulder to better haul her satchel and purse up higher. She had her keys in her hand. At least that was something. At least she wouldn’t have to stop to and rummage through her purse when she got to her car.

That was all. That was the one thing she’d done right. Hell, she hadn’t even looked around the parking lot to realize there was only one truck in it. Did the woman have any self-preservation instincts at all?

I watched as she crossed the parking lot. I got out of my truck. I didn’t want to scare her, so I called out.

“Maddie, it’s me, Beau.”

She quickly did a quarter turn. “What the hell? You scared the hell out of me!”

“Better me than some random asshole,” I continued to shout as I stalked over to her. “What in the hell are you doing leaving so late at night, without somebody to walk you out to your car?”

She dangled her car keys at me, and I saw a gray tube hanging from them. It was a can of pepper spray.

“If someone has a gun, that’s not going to do you a whole hell of a lot of good.”