I know it’s not, honey. Do you want me to come?” The worry in her mother’s voice was unmistakable. But if she asked her mom to rush to Seattle, that worry would somehow transmit itself to Chloe, and Maddy had been very careful to shield her daughter from what had happened at the hospital a week and a half ago.
Besides, she was supposed to meet Kaleb at the park today to test one of the kite prototypes. Roxy was going to pick Chloe up from school and spend the afternoon with her.
Which meant she’d be alone with Kaleb for the trial run. They both agreed they didn’t want Chloe disappointed if the thing didn’t fly as he hoped it would. But her daughter was going to have to learn to live with disappointment. Just as Maddy had.
But not yet.
“No, Mom. I really am okay.”
“You didn’t come home for the funeral.”
She blinked a couple of times. “Please tell me you didn’t expect me to.”
“No. But I kind of hoped now that Matthew is—you know—you might consider moving back to Nebraska.”
Shock stopped her for several long seconds. It hadn’t even occurred to her to move back home. Why? Her mom was right. There was certainly nothing stopping her now.
But she’d come to love Seattle over the last year. The busy pace of life melded with a laid-back population. And yet, the only reason she’d moved here was to get away from Matthew’s threats. And the deep fear that he might try to do something to Chloe.
The guilt over her mother having to rely on other people to help her work the farm came back in a rush. Should she go?
“Maybe you should consider coming to live here, near Roxy and me. Get an apartment.”
“And leave your daddy and Patricia? They’re both buried here on the property, Maddy.”
The plot for her sister had been placed right next to her dad’s. There was no way her mom was going to leave the farm.
“Can you at least come to visit, sometime? Roxy and Chloe would both love to see you. Chloe misses her nana.”
Matthew’s parents had died in a car accident the year Maddy had married their son. It was just as well. It would have killed his mother—a sweet woman who wouldn’t hurt a fly—to know what her son was capable of. The way things had turned out, she’d never had to witness what her son had become. Maddy’s gut churned at the thought.
“I miss Chloe too. Which is why I was hoping you would come home. But I guess I understand. Our little town can’t hold a candle to big-city life.”
“It’s not that, Mama. It’s just...” She tried to think out exactly what was stopping her from going back. She found it. “There are some memories there that I’d rather not have to face on a daily basis.”
“I’m so sorry, honey. If your father had been alive, he’d have never allowed things to escalate the way they did.”
“It’s no one’s fault but mine for not leaving the second Matthew raised a hand to me.”
There was a pause. “Let’s not talk about that now. So what do you think? Can an old woman like me learn to fly?”
“Fly?”
“On an airplane.” Her mom laughed. “Scared to death of those tin cans, actually. Maybe I’ll get a bus ticket instead.”
“Let me check and see how long they take to get here, Mom. Maybe I can come get you instead.”
“I can manage. I’ve been on my own for a while now. I kind of like my independence.”
“I’ve learned a lot from you, Mom. Okay, let me know when you’re thinking of coming, and I’ll carve out a spot for you to sleep.”
“The couch will be fine.”
“Of course it won’t. You can have Chloe’s bed and she can sleep with me. She’ll love it.”
“I’m looking forward to it. Love you, honey.”
“Love you too.”
Maddy smiled, happy the conversation had ended on such a good note. She’d been worried for a second or two that her mom really would try to guilt her into coming back home. But she hadn’t. Maybe because Roxy had left almost as soon as she’d got out of high school. Maddy had stayed in her hometown until a year ago. But at thirty-two, it had been time, even if Matthew hadn’t started getting more vocal with his threats.
And she was going to meet Kaleb to fly a kite. That shouldn’t set a tiny spark of excitement jumping inside her, but it did. She wasn’t sure why. As horrified as she’d been at Matthew’s death, a part of her was glad she would never have to worry about him again. That could be part of the reason she was so giddy about this excursion. But she needed to curb her enthusiasm. She didn’t want Kaleb thinking that she was interested in anything other than a trip to the park to check out his design.
That was all she was going to check out.
No quick glances at sundry body parts, bulges and curves either. She was going to keep all of her attention on things that were G-rated. No eyes venturing anywhere past shoulder height.
Could she do it? Oh, yes. She definitely could.
* * *
For the hundredth time, Maddy had to tear her gaze from the sight of Kaleb’s haunches as he moved to adjust the altitude of his homemade kite. G-rated, huh?
Well, she’d definitely grazed something a little past PG, if not further. Worse, he’d caught her staring once, that quirky grin tossing a ball of heat right to her midsection, where it exploded and flowed to areas best left out of this whole trip.
She should have brought Chloe with her. At least her daughter would force her to keep her mind on something besides the hunky doctor. Transferring her attention to the kite, she had to admit she was impressed. That short stint in the engineering department in college had given him a head start in the kite-making department, unless that thing in the air was flying on pure dumb luck. But she didn’t think so. There was no design on it at all, it was a simple cat shape, but it seemed to be flying without any trouble. So far. He’d had to tweak it a bit to the right and left a couple of times. Still, it was pretty amazing.
Kaleb glanced back. “Would you mind holding it for a few minutes? I need to make some notes on the design for the next one.”
She stood, brushing a few blades of grass from her black trousers as she did. “It looks like it’s doing fine.”
“But it could be better.”
Taking the stick wound with string, she glanced at his face. His eyes were alight with something. Excitement? Whatever it was, it was doing a number on her. “It’s just an informal festival. We’re not going for an international medal or anything.”
“Hey, I’m just trying to make sure the thing stays in the air. I do the designing. You, Chloe and Roxy are in charge of decorating it.”
Sitting on the grass, just behind her, he had a notebook propped on one knee and was busy jotting something down. Probably those design changes he mentioned. “Funny how both mother and daughter have such a thing for cats.”
“Are you talking about Jetta?”
“You were dressed like a cat when we met at the hotel, remember?”
Maddy’s face flamed, and she turned around to face forward again. That was something she wasn’t likely to forget anytime soon. She glanced up at the fluttering object. “Well, at least the kite didn’t crash to the ground in a heap like I did.”
“It didn’t at that. Although you made a pretty cute heap.”
He thought she was cute? Or he thought her costume was cute? There was no way she was going to ask.
“Listen.”