Grave Delight (A Maddie Graves Mystery Book 3) (12 page)

“Are we interrupting something?” Nick asked, his gaze bouncing between Christy and John.

“Of course not,” Christy said, smiling brightly. “I just happened to stop in for some dinner and saw John sitting here alone. I didn’t realize you guys were here, too.”

“I wasn’t sure if you were coming back,” John said, his dark eyes fixed on Maddie. “I’m really sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Maddie said. “I overreacted. I do that sometimes.”

“It’s not okay,” John said. “I didn’t realize what I was saying was so … wrong. I never would’ve said it, Maddie. Believe it or not, I’d never want to hurt you. I knew you growing up, and I was always fond of you. My brother is crazy about you, though, and I would never hurt you simply because it shreds him.”

“I’m sorry for walking out,” Maddie said. “It was immature. I don’t know why I did it.”

Christy glanced between her best friend and crush, conflicted. “What did he do to you?”

Nick reached over with his foot and nudged Christy. “Move to the other side of the booth.”

“Maddie can sit here next to me,” Christy said, patting the vinyl.

“I want her to sit with me,” Nick said. “You can go to the other side of the booth with my brother and you two can feel each up under the table to your hearts’ content.”

Christy wrinkled her nose. “Good idea.”

Once everyone was settled back at the table the waitress stopped by. “Can I continue your orders?”

“Yeah,” Nick said. “I’m sorry about before. We’ll make sure you get a big tip. Add the redhead’s dinner to the bill and give it to my brother. He’s buying.”

The waitress beamed. “You’ve got it.”

Conversation was light until their meals arrived, and then things turned serious.

“I’m really sorry, Maddie,” John said.

“I still want to know what you did,” Christy said, sipping from a glass of wine. “Did you make fun of them for looking like Barbie and Ken?”

John snickered. “No. I … .”

“He knows,” Maddie said quietly.

Christy’s eyes widened. “Oh. Did you tell him, Nick?”

“No,” Nick growled. “I would never tell anyone.”

“You know?” John was surprised. “I thought no one knew but you, bro?”

“I figured it out on my own,” Christy said.

“How?”

“I caught her talking to a ghost up at the kissing spot one night,” Christy said. “Things just kind of fell into place.”

“You can talk to ghosts, too?” John’s eyes were wide. “No way.”

“Oh, no,” Christy said, wringing her hands. “I thought you said he knew.”

“I knew about her being psychic,” John said.

“Keep your voice down,” Nick warned, glancing around to see if anyone was listening. “We don’t need to tell the whole town.”

“I’m sorry,” John said. “This is crazy, though. How long have you known you could … do that?”

“Since I was little,” Maddie said, shifting uncomfortably next to Nick. He slung an arm over her shoulders to steady her. “I saw the first one when I was five. I didn’t realize what was happening until I had a talk with my mom.”

“And she could do that, too?”

“It runs in our family.”

“Holy crap! Does that mean Maude … ?”

Maddie immediately started shaking her head. “Granny doesn’t have the peculiarity. It skips some generations.”

“Do you wish it skipped you?” John was mesmerized with the conversation.

“Sometimes.”

“I think it’s cool,” Christy said. “I’ve been trying to convince her to hold a séance so we can talk to some famous people. She won’t do it.”

“Leave her alone,” Nick said. “That’s just … do you think we could talk to James Dean? I always thought he was cool.”

Maddie rolled her eyes. “No. I wouldn’t even know where to start with something like that. I don’t seek them out. I usually just stumble across them.”

“What about Hayley Walker?” Christy asked. “Have you been able to find her?”

“Not yet,” Maddie said. “I was looking for her this afternoon, but I’m not sure she would be hanging around the pier if that’s not where she died. I got distracted once I ran into Mildred, though. I think I’m going to try again tomorrow.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Nick asked.

“I’m sure that we need to find out who killed her,” Maddie said. “Don’t worry, I won’t be out after dark and it’s a pretty open area. I’ll be perfectly safe.”

“We’ll talk about it at home tonight,” Nick said.

“Speaking of that, I have no problem staying at your house again,” Maddie said. “We need to check in on Granny tomorrow morning, though. I don’t like thinking of her being on her own for two straight days when she’s plotting against Harriet.”

Christy snorted. “Harriet is probably dead and buried in the woods behind your house.”

“Don’t joke about that,” Nick said, wagging his finger. “I don’t need Maude getting any ideas.”

“When does the construction start on her apartment?” Christy asked.

“The day after tomorrow,” Maddie said. “I’m not looking forward to the mess, but I am happy she’s getting what she wants. She’s very excited to pick colors. She wants you and I to help her next week, by the way.”

“Ooh, that sounds fun,” Christy said. “I love interior decorating. After the construction is finished, are you going to finally move into your mother’s bedroom?”

Nick tried to kick Christy under the table and missed, instead making contact with his brother’s shin.

“Ow!” John glared at him. “Why did you do that?”

“What did you do?” Maddie asked, curious.

“Nothing,” Nick said.

“He kicked me,” John said. “I think he was aiming for Christy, though.”

“Why?”

“He wants you to move into your mother’s bedroom so there’s enough room for him to move in there with you,” John said. “Don’t look at me that way, Nick. You need to tell her what you want.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Maddie asked.

“I’ve tried to talk to you about moving into the big room,” Nick said, choosing his words carefully. “I know you don’t want to displace your mom, so I’m letting it go.”

“Olivia is dead, though,” John said. “What? She is.”

“It’s probably harder for Maddie to take the room over because Olivia is still around,” Christy said. “That’s got to be hard.”

“Wait, your mom is a … ghost?”

Nick shot him a look. “I’m going to beat you. You just keep sticking your foot in your mouth at every turn.”

“I didn’t say it was a bad thing,” John said. “I just … it’s amazing.”

“It is amazing,” Nick said. “It also makes things difficult for Maddie. It’s not a big deal.”

“Now … wait a second,” Maddie said. “Do you really want to move in with me once Granny is settled in her apartment? I’m not sure if she’ll like that.”

“She’s the one who brought it up,” Nick said.

“Oh. Wow.”

“Mad, don’t worry about it,” Nick said. “We don’t have to do anything right away. We’ve got time.”

“Not if I’m buying your house,” John said.

“You’re selling your house?” Maddie’s eyebrows shot up her forehead. “How come you didn’t tell me any of this?”

“I haven’t had time,” Nick said. “We were … busy … last night and I didn’t realize my brother was going to tell you everything I
secretly
confided in him. I thought I would be able to approach it in a sane way.”

“You were busy last night?” Christy’s face brightened. “Finally. I can’t believe you didn’t call me and give me all the dirty details this morning. I’m hurt.”

“They were in bed until noon,” John said. “The only reason they got up is because I made them.”

“You’re a bad brother,” Christy said.

“I’m a good cop, though,” John said. “As much as I want to continue to dig Nick’s hole deeper, I think we need to talk about the case a few minutes.”

“I hate you,” Nick grumbled.

“I’m going to let you two go early tonight,” John said. “I’m going to try and track down that Michael Jarvis kid and question him. He’s probably not a suspect, but it’s one thing to cross off our list for tomorrow.”

“Michael Jarvis?” Christy wrinkled her nose. “Why are you questioning him?”

“Apparently he was hanging around with Hayley on the pier,” Maddie replied.

“You guys know he’s gay, right?”

“So we’ve been told.”

“I can take you to the Jarvis house, John,” Christy offered. “I know where it is, and that way you won’t have to waste too much of your time.”

“That sounds great.”

Nick cleared his throat. “Didn’t we talk about this earlier?”

“I can’t remember,” John said, feigning ignorance.

“Talk about what?” Christy asked.

“It doesn’t matter,” Nick said. “I just … why don’t we hold off questioning the Jarvis kid until tomorrow?”

“I’ve got it,” John said. “Take your woman home and … well, I’m guessing you two are going to have a big talk. Ha, ha.”

“I really hate you,” Nick said.

Maddie patted his knee under the table. “Don’t worry. We’re not just going to talk.”

Nick smiled.

“We are going to talk first, though.”

“Great,” Nick said. “That’s exactly how I saw us spending our time together tonight.”

“WHAT
are you doing out here, Mad?” Nick asked, sliding the glass door open and joining her on the deck. “I thought you wanted to yell at me.”

“I don’t want to yell at you, Nicky,” Maddie said, leaning forward on the lawn chair so he could situate himself behind her. “I just want to know what you’re thinking.”

“I’m thinking I don’t want to be away from you,” Nick said. “I’m thinking I want us to share our lives.”

“I thought that’s what we were doing.”

“We are,” Nick said. “I still want to climb into bed next to you every night.”

“We’ve been doing that.”

“When I say ‘I’m going home,’ I want that to be a place you and I share.”

Maddie sighed. “You could have just told me that. You didn’t need to hide it.”

“I was afraid I was moving too fast.”

“We’ve only been together two weeks,” Maddie said. “In our hearts, though, we’ve been together forever. It doesn’t feel too fast.”

“So, what’s the problem?”

“There is no problem,” Maddie said. “I’ve already talked to Bill Schroeder about sprucing up Mom’s room when he’s done with Granny’s apartment. He’s going to paint the walls and upgrade the shower in the bathroom. He’s also going to refinish the wood floors throughout the entire house.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I was going to surprise you with a grand gesture,” Maddie said.

Nick’s heart rolled. “Oh. I’m guessing I ruined that for you.”

“You could never ruin anything for me,” Maddie said. “You’ve given me everything I’ve ever wanted. The truth is, I was worried about approaching you because I wasn’t sure you’d want to give up this place. I know you love it here. It’s just … .”

“You love your house,” Nick finished. “I know that. Olivia is there. Maude still has a few good years ahead of her. Who knows? She may never die. Your store is in that house. I picture our future in that house, Mad. Don’t worry about that.”

“But what about this place? You love it.”

“I love you, Maddie,” Nick said, kissing her neck. “You’re my home. I’m not going to lie about missing this place, but that’s why I’m selling it to my brother. It’s going to stay in the family and I’m going to be able to come out here and fish whenever I want. This place isn’t my home, though. I can’t have a home that doesn’t include you.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my entire life,” Nick said. “Besides, love, this house has two bedrooms. It’s not big enough for when we decide to start a family.”

Maddie balked. “You think about things like that?”

“I constantly think about our life,” Nick said. “I think about it all.”

“You don’t want to have kids right away, do you? I was kind of hoping we’d have some time for just the two of us before we even consider that.”

“We’ve got a lot of time,” Nick said. “I don’t want anything but you right now. I’d like a few years where we can be together without having any obligations. We could travel. We can go camping. We can take off in the middle of the night and go skinny-dipping.” He poked her in the ribs, causing her to giggle. “I want kids with you some day. That day isn’t right now, though.”

“I love you, Nicky. I can’t wait to move in with you.”

“Me either,” Nick said, kissing her softly. “Just because we don’t want kids right away, though, that doesn’t mean we can’t practice.”

“I’m glad you brought that up,” Maddie said, beaming. “I have plans for you tonight.”

“You mentioned that.”