Harbour Falls

Chapter 10



Friday afternoon was spent fully emerging from my week of self-imposed isolation. First I called Helena to let her know everything was fine and promised to stop into the café sometime the following day. The trill of conversation punctuated the background, and when I asked who was there, Helena said Jennifer had brought somebody over on the ferry, and she was in the middle of filling their order for two lattes to go. Before I had a chance to question her further to find out who had arrived on Fade Island, Helena yelled out a hasty, “I gotta go, talk to you later,” and disconnected.

My next call was to my father. He kept stressing that Fade Island was a lot closer to Harbour Falls than Los Angeles, but sometimes it didn’t seem that way. So after catching the hint that my father was missing his daughter, I made plans to head over to the mainland and visit him on Sunday afternoon. That seemed to brighten his day considerably.

After I hung up, I glanced over to where I’d hidden the case files, in their new spot under a loose floorboard by the bookcase. I knew I should go back over the material, review it some more, but I wasn’t really up to delving back into the mystery. Not just yet.

For one thing, I was too preoccupied thinking about the night ahead—movie night with Adam. And after the week I’d just had, I wanted one night where I could pretend there was no mystery, no missing person, no unsolved case. I wanted to be Maddy Fitch—a girl who was looking forward to spending a fun, flirty evening with a guy she was falling for. Tonight I didn’t want to be Maddy Fitch—the writer investigating a complicated cold case and getting in way over her head.

With those thoughts in mind, I went upstairs to find something more appropriate than my current ensemble of baggy sweats and crummy T-shirt. After rummaging through half my wardrobe, searching for something casual, yet sexy, to change into, I finally settled on charcoal twill pencil-leg jeans; funky, black, open-toed ankle boots with lots of sassy straps; and a cute, black-lace, corset-style top with satin ribbons up the back. Yeah, this outfit was definitely hot, and I was pretty certain it would get Adam’s attention.

It was approaching seven, so I quickly showered and got dressed for the evening. I left my hair down and applied more eye shadow, liner, and mascara than usual to give my eyes a smoldering, smoky appearance. Satisfied, I went back downstairs to double-check the provisions for the evening.

There was beer in the fridge—a respectable import—and a frozen pizza in the freezer. That was going to have to do if we got hungry. After all, it wasn’t as if there was pizza delivery around the corner here on the island.

Since this was, in a way, our second date, and the first one had ended so badly, I felt a little apprehensive and nervous. Pacing around the kitchen wasn’t settling the butterflies in my stomach, so I went back into the living room, put on a mellow CD from some indie band, and popped open the cold beer I’d grabbed from the fridge. Sitting down on the floor in front of the TV cabinet, I began to organize my somewhat-limited DVD collection into categories. I sorted eight into “comedy,” four into “horror,” twelve into “drama,” and two into a special category I deemed “Hell-no-Adam-mustn’t-know-I-own-this.”

Falling into that last category was, first, a classic Disney movie. It was really cute, but Adam did not strike me as the Disney type. So Simba, Timon, and the gang got tossed under the sofa. The second DVD was a romantic drama, a real tearjerker. One of my favorites, in fact, but I feared Adam would suspect I was trying to send him some kind of message about how I expected our relationship to go. Yeah, definitely too soon for that one, I thought. I hesitated, though, because I really loved that movie.

Sitting there, DVD poised in hand, the glare of car headlights suddenly flashing across the living room wall drew my attention. Was it Adam arriving early? If so I had to get rid of the tearjerker flick. So I quickly jammed it under the sofa to join the Disney show.

I rose and went over to the window to look out. Adam’s car was, indeed, closing in on the cottage, but the Porsche was coming from the direction of town, not from Adam’s house. Odd, maybe he’d gone into town first for some reason. As the vehicle slowed around the bend near the cottage, I saw Adam driving. But what was strange was that there was someone in the passenger seat. A woman, for sure. One with short, dark hair. What the…?

The car sped off toward his house, and I went back to sit on the sofa, dumfounded. Why would Adam be driving by my cottage with a woman in his car? Fifteen minutes before he was supposed to be here to watch a movie with me. Something was definitely off. And I didn’t like it one bit.

I went into the kitchen, slammed the empty bottle down on the table, and defiantly grabbed another one out of the refrigerator. And then I began to pace, the heels of my boots clicking across the linoleum floor. My mind went into overdrive. The woman wasn’t Helena or Ami, not with the dark hair. It couldn’t have been Jennifer either. This woman had short hair. Besides, I suspected Adam and Jennifer were not particularly friendly. How could they be with the J.T. factor thrown in? So who was in the car with Adam?

Lifting the bottle to my lips, I drank down the last of my second beer. I attempted to toss the bottle into the trash but missed. Damn, I was a lightweight when it came to drinking. I went over to pick the bottle up off the floor and froze. Oh no! What if the unidentified woman was Lindsey? From what Helena had said, I’d gotten the impression Lindsey didn’t come here to see Adam; it sounded more like a convenient tryst for when he was in Boston. But maybe she’d come up to the island to find out why Adam had stopped seeing her. Hell, I would have. And hadn’t Helena said Jennifer had brought somebody over from the mainland earlier today? I kicked myself for not calling Helena back earlier to find out who’d been ordering that latte with Jennifer. Shit.

Things rapidly went from bad to worse when I noticed it was three minutes after seven. My heart dropped. Not only was Adam with another woman, but he was apparently standing me up. Now determined to drown my sorrows in alcohol, I grabbed another beer. And that was when my cell phone began to buzz.

Adam, the screen indicated.

Oh, this ought to be good, I thought to myself as I took a long drink and then said “Hello” in a none-too-happy voice.

“Maddy, it’s Adam.” No kidding. “I got delayed, but I’ll be there in—”

“You’re late,” I interrupted, promptly sipping more beer in the ensuing interlude.

“I know, and I apologize. Something out of my control came up—”

“Oh, I bet something came up,” I said bitingly. Being a smartass was better than crying, and the beer made it all too easy.

Adam paused. “Maddy, are you alright? You sound kind of, I don’t know, not yourself.”

“Never been better,” I answered, before downing the last of my cold beverage.

“Uh, if tonight’s not a good night…” he trailed off, uncertainty in his voice.

I wanted an explanation—in person— so I hastily replied, “No. In fact, how soon can you get here?”

“Ten minutes?”

“See you then,” I said flippantly, before hitting end.

I waited until I heard his Porsche pulling into my driveway to get up from the kitchen chair I’d settled into. Whoa, steady there, I thought as I held tightly to the edge of the table for a few extra seconds. The alcohol I’d consumed had caught up to me, and I was definitely feeling it.

Tottering in my heels, I negotiated my way to the front door. Once I made it there without incident, I fluffed out my hair, bit down on my lips to give them some color, and pushed up my corset to further enhance my already-prominent cleavage. Let him see just what he’ll be missing once I kick him to the curb.

But when I opened the door, I was met with a breathtakingly gorgeous—albeit slightly blurry—Adam. Dressed in a deep blue pullover that complemented the color of his eyes and faded jeans that hugged him in all the right ways, he was quite a vision of handsomeness. “Wow! You look hot,” I blurted and then mentally slapped myself for complimenting him when I was supposed to be mad.

Adam chuckled, and I caught him steal a glance at my ample cleavage. Score one for me.

“Coming in, Adam?” I giggled, throwing his words from the night on the runway back at him, while leaning against the doorframe for support.

Adam eyed me curiously, brow furrowed, “Have you been drinking, Madeleine?”

“Aw, just a little,” I pshawed. I grabbed his hand and tugged. “Come on in to my humble abode. Or should I say your humble abode.”

Adam allowed me the illusion that I was dragging him across the floor and into the living room, but in reality he was helping me keep my balance. “Maybe you should lose the heels,” he said when I almost tripped.

“Trying to get me out of my clothes already, Adam?” I teased, swaying.

“Come here, Maddy,” he said gently as he led me to the sofa, where I promptly fell back into the cushions. He knelt down on the floor in front of me, while wrapping a hand around one of my heels. “Lift,” he prodded.

Sighing, I complied, and Adam unzipped my boot. “So I had a little too much to drink,” I protested. “It’s your fault anyway.”

Dropping the boot to the floor, he wrapped his hand around my other ankle as his oh-so-blue eyes met mine. “My fault?” he asked, nonplussed as he unzipped the other boot. “Why’s that?”

I held up my index finger. “One, you’re late.”

“Only fifteen minutes, and I apologized.” The second boot dropped to the floor.

“That was only the first reason,” I said, waving my finger and raising a second. “Number two, and this is a big one.” Adam cocked an eyebrow. “I saw you driving by with another woman.”

Adam laughed—and damn if he didn’t look more gorgeous than ever. This man was maddening. But I forged on. “Who was she, Adam?”

He curled his hand around my calf, smiling. “You’re cute when you’re jealous.”

“It’s not funny,” I huffed. “And I’m not jealous.”

“You are,” he said as he rubbed my calf gently. “But you have no reason to be. That was my sister in the car. She was supposed to come in tomorrow, but she came up from Boston early.”

“That was Trina?” I squeaked out, realization dawning on me that she was the person Jennifer had brought over today. Oops.

“Who did you think it was?” Adam asked, unmistakable amusement lacing his tone.

“Oh, I don’t know. Nobody, really…” I trailed off.

Not only did I have no intention of sharing my misinterpretations with him, but his hands were wrapped around both my calves now, and whatever he was doing with his fingers felt amazing.

“Yeah, sure.” A smile played at the corners of his mouth.

“It’s not important anyway,” I said as I relaxed back into the sofa. “We should just pick out a movie and forget about it.”

“We should but first”—Adam swiftly pulled me into his lap—“we should do this.” His lips crashed down on mine, and I maneuvered my legs to either side of his.

Soft and warm those tender kisses were until they turned ravaging. Desperate, hungry, I couldn’t get enough of Adam. And caught off guard, he responded.

With his fingers tracing the laces on the back of my corset, Adam broke away long enough to breathe out, “This is very hot.” His hands trailed down to curve around my bottom. “God, Maddy, do you know how much I want you?”

In response I let out a stifled moan and grinded myself down against him. Please, don’t stop. And though I could feel his body didn’t want to, Adam hesitated.

I sighed in frustration, and he moved his hands to the sides of my face. “What is it? What are you thinking?”

I shrugged. “Why’d we stop?”

He kissed me softly, and against my lips, he said, “If we keep going, I might not be able to stop.” He pulled back and our eyes met. “It’s just… Maddy, I know you want more than—”

“Adam,” I broke in, “I don’t have any expectations. I mean, I do, but…”

I didn’t know what I wanted, not really. And that was the problem. Yes, I wanted Adam. But not like this. Not under the influence of alcohol, although my buzz was wearing off. But Adam was correct; I’d regret a hasty action.

Ducking my head, I muttered, embarrassed, “You’re right. At least one of us is thinking tonight.”

“Hey, hey.” Adam wrapped his arms around me. “We can talk about this stuff later. Why don’t we watch that movie?”

I nodded my head against his shoulder and held on, enjoying his warmth, a minute more. When we broke away, I scooted off of Adam and rose to my feet, straightening my clothes in the process.

Adam tried to be coy, but I caught him sneaking another peek as I adjusted my corset top. “What?” he asked, playing innocent oh so well.

“Nothing,” I replied, shaking my head. “I’m going to grab something to drink. Do you want anything? Beer? Coke?”

Adam cocked an eyebrow. “What are you having?”

I was done with drinking for the night, so I answered, “I think I’m switching over to Coke.”

“Coke sounds good,” he said. “I’ll have the same.”

I started toward the kitchen, and halfway there I called back, “Oh, I have food too. If you’re hungry, I can heat up a pizza.”

“Sure.” I heard Adam say. “Do you need any help?”

“No, no, I’ve got it,” I yelled back. “Go ahead and pick a movie. There are some in the TV cabinet on the bottom shelf.”

Having reached the kitchen, I grabbed two cold Cokes out of the fridge. And then I pulled the pizza out of the freezer, unwrapped it, and slid it into the oven. The back of the box indicated it would take twelve to fifteen minutes for the pizza to be ready, so I set the timer and went back into the living room.

“How long is your sister staying on the island?” I asked Adam as I handed him one of the cold sodas. He was crouched down in front of the TV cabinet, thumbing through my limited DVD collection.

“Just ’til Monday,” he replied.

He opened the soda and took a drink, while I walked back to the doorway and leaned against the jamb. I had promised myself that I’d forget about the case for this one night, but if there was ever going to be an opportunity to spend some time with Trina, this weekend could be it. So I casually inquired, “Will Trina be at the café this weekend?”

“She’s hanging out with Helena most of the day tomorrow, so, yeah, probably,” Adam said as he rose from his kneeling position, two DVDs in hand.

Perfect! I thought, but to Adam I said, “Find anything good?” I nodded to the cases he held.

Holding up both a comedy selection and a classic Hitchcock film, he asked, “Funny or suspenseful?”

The oven chimed before I could answer, and Adam walked back to the sofa. The toe of his shoe hit something on the floor, and he stopped. To my dismay I saw it was one of the DVDs I didn’t want him to see. Crap, I thought I’d pushed them both under the sofa. Adam bent to pick it up, and I froze, catching the image on the cover. Oh no, it was the romantic tearjerker. “Um, we don’t have to watch that one,” I said in a rush of words.

“Is there some reason this one is halfway hidden under the sofa?” Adam smirked as he skimmed over the back cover.

“Um, no,” I muttered.

”Hiding your chick flicks, eh?” Adam teased in return. He was enjoying this way too much.

“I must have dropped it,” I mumbled, embarrassed for the second time in one night, because we both knew that wasn’t true.

The timer buzzed, so I made a quick escape to the kitchen. I’d literally been “saved by the bell.” Or maybe not. As I was getting the pizza out of the oven, Adam came into the kitchen.

He grabbed the paper plates I’d set out on the counter, and I slid the pizza onto a large cutting board. “I bet you’d never guess,” Adam said softly, “but I’ve always wanted to see that movie.”

“The chick flick?” I looked up, shooting him a look of disbelief.

Adam tapped the paper plates against the counter and smiled. “I’ll admit, maybe it won’t make my life complete. But judging from your reaction, it seems like it would be something you’d enjoy watching.”

“It’s only one of my favorite movies, like ever,” I said under my breath as I pulled a cabinet drawer open and rummaged for the pizza slicer.

Adam’s hand stilled mine. “Then let’s watch it.”

I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe I was going to watch such a romantic movie with such a gorgeous guy. Maybe he was starting to fall for me too. A girl could only hope, right?

In the end we watched the “chick flick.” And not surprisingly I cried at all the touching and sad parts, of which there were many. And Adam was sweet, wiping my tears away and showering me with tender kisses. By the end of the movie, I was curled up with Adam on the sofa, wrapped up in his strong arms, feeling happier than I’d felt in a very long time. If only things could have remained so blissful.