Grave Delight (A Maddie Graves Mystery Book 3) (15 page)

“I can walk myself into the restaurant.”

After finally catching her breath – and almost giving Nick a heart attack – Maddie regained her senses relatively quickly. Nick was glued to her side, even when Trevor’s parents stormed into the cabin and proceeded to have a rather impressive meltdown. The only time Nick left Maddie was when the tech team arrived. He gave them specific instructions and then immediately returned to her. They hadn’t talked about what she’d seen – Nick was giving her time to process – but instead of ordering pizza Nick was insistent on getting some food in her before returning to the house.

“Maddie, if I thought I could carry you into this restaurant without making a scene I would,” Nick said.

“I’m okay.”

“I’m not. You scared the life out of me.”

“I’m … sorry.”

Nick stilled, pulling Maddie to him and hugging her tightly. “You don’t need to apologize. I’m sorry. You just … I thought you were going to stop breathing.”

“I saw … or more like felt … Hayley’s last moments. She did die in that cabin.”

“Okay,” Nick said, kissing Maddie’s temple. “We don’t have to talk about it here. I just want to get some food into you and get you into bed. You need to rest.”

“Oh, we’re still picking paint colors tonight,” Maddie said. “I was looking forward to that all day.”

“We’ll see.”

“I’m getting my way,” Maddie said, pulling away from Nick and stalking toward the restaurant. “I absolutely refuse to let this ruin my night.”

Nick scowled but followed her, almost running into her on the other side of the door because she’d abruptly stopped. “Did you change your mind? Are you going to let me carry you?” He was going for levity.

“I was wrong about something not ruining my night,” Maddie said.

“What?”

She pointed, and Nick’s heart sank when he saw the two women sitting at the round table in the center of the room. Cassidy and Marla had their heads bent together, and they were laughing about something so they hadn’t seen Nick and Maddie yet.

“We can go back to the house if you want. I’ll find something there to cook.”

“No,” Maddie said, shaking her head. “I’m done hiding. I want some soup and a grilled cheese, and I know very well you want a burger.”

Nick smiled, enjoying her “take charge” attitude despite the worry plaguing him for the past hour. “I love you, Maddie.”

“I love you, too. Now … let’s just sit down. I’m sick of having to tiptoe around the two of them. I’m just … done.”

“Now I really love you.”

“We’re looking at paint tonight, too.”

“You’re so bossy,” Nick said, putting his hand to the small of Maddie’s back and urging her toward their favorite corner booth. “I like you bossy.”

“DO YOU
two want your usual?” Ruby’s Diner had been a favorite hangout for Nick and Maddie when they were teenagers. It was no surprise then that, as adults, they opted to go there at least once a week.

“Yeah, Ruby,” Nick said. “My usual is great.”

“I want some of your tomato macaroni soup and a grilled cheese on whole wheat,” Maddie said, smiling at the aging proprietress.

Ruby arched an eyebrow. “Comfort food? Did you already tick her off, Nick?” Ruby studied them a moment, taking in the way they softly touched one another in the center of the circular booth. “It doesn’t look like she’s mad. What else is wrong? I have two months down the road for your first fight in the pool, so try to hold off.”

Nick scowled. “Don’t you guys have anything better to do than hold nonsensical pools?”

“Apparently not.” Ruby leaned over and pushed a strand of Maddie’s hair back so she could get a better look at her. “You’re pale.”

“She’s not feeling well,” Nick said. “I think she might be coming down with a cold.”

“You’re a bad liar,” Ruby said, nonplussed. “Whatever it is, I’m sure she’ll be fine. She’s survived two killers in six weeks. She’s made of sterner stuff than any of us thought.”

“I always knew she was made of stern stuff,” Nick said, poking Maddie in the ribs. “I like her … stern.”

“You like her any way you can get her,” Ruby said. “By the way, you should be aware that the Devil and her minion at the middle table have been talking about you two nonstop since you came in.”

“We saw them,” Nick said. “We’re opting to ignore them.”

“That’s probably smart,” Ruby said. “I’m just not sure that Marla is going to ignore you. I don’t think she’s made that way.”

“We’ll be okay,” Maddie said. “They can’t hurt us.”

“Oh, you two are so stinking cute,” Ruby said, rolling her eyes when Nick kissed Maddie’s cheek. “You make me want to smack you both.”

“I thought you always knew we were going to end up together?” Nick challenged. “That’s what you told me.”

“That doesn’t mean you’re not gross,” Ruby said. “At least you’re adorable while you’re doing it.”

“Thank you,” Maddie said.

“I’ll put a rush on your food,” Ruby said. “Maddie looks like she’s going to keel over.”

“She’s eating her dinner and then going straight to bed,” Nick said.

“I’ve heard you two have been doing that a lot lately,” Ruby teased.

“Ha, ha.”

“I’ll be back,” Ruby said. “Just keep an eye on the devils.”

Once Ruby was gone Nick used the moment of quiet to study Maddie’s face. “Are you really okay?”

“I’m fine,” Maddie said. “I don’t usually get visions when I’m awake. When I do, they’re … harder to stomach.”

“What happened?”

“I thought you wanted to wait until we got home?”

“Now I have other things I want to do when we get home,” Nick said, grinning.

“Picking paint better be one of those things.”

“It is,” Nick said. “I just plan on having you naked when we do it.”

Maddie wrinkled her nose and leaned in so she could kiss him. “Deal.”

“Tell me what you saw.”

“I didn’t
see
anything,” Maddie said. “I heard a girl yelling at someone and saying that she was going to do the right thing. Then I heard someone smack someone. Then … well … I felt someone being strangled.”

Nick’s eyes widened. “You were being strangled?”

“I felt what Hayley was going through. There’s a difference.”

“I saw your face, Maddie,” Nick said. “You were feeling everything she felt.” He pulled her closer. “I wish you didn’t have to go through things like that.”

“I know you do. We can’t change it, though. We just have to take what we can get from the visions and go from there.”

“You’re being brave for me,” Nick said. “I appreciate it. I still don’t like it.”

“It’s going to be okay, Nicky.”

“I know it is,” Nick said. “You’re going to eat and then I’m putting you in bed. It’s going to be fine.”

“Now you’re being the bossy one.”

“We’ll share the onus of being bossy. It’s a hard job. It’s going to take two of us.”

“Oh, you’re so cute.”

“You’re cuter.” Nick cupped the back of Maddie’s head and kissed her softly.

“Good grief! Get a room.”

The romantic moment was broken by the sound of Marla’s nasally voice. When Nick turned to face her, he found Cassidy and Marla staring at them. The diner was tiny enough for everyone to hear Marla’s comment. “We plan on getting a room as soon as we’re done eating.”

“Maybe you should have ordered in,” Marla suggested. “That would have been the polite thing to do.”

“Or you could just not look,” Nick said. “That would also be the polite thing to do.”

“Its hard to ignore the two of you when you’re purposely flaunting your indiscretion in front of the woman whose heart you broke,” Marla said.

“Oh, shut up, Marla,” Nick said.

“Excuse me?”

“Get over it,” Nick said. “We’re together. We’re happy. I’m sorry you two are so miserable you can’t just … suck it up … but that’s not our problem. It’s your problem.”

“You have no shame, do you?”

Nick opened his mouth to answer, but Maddie cut him off. “No, we don’t. We don’t have anything to be ashamed about.”

“You’re not ashamed of stealing another woman’s man?” Marla challenged.

“Nope,” Maddie said. “I’m proud of myself. I’ve gotten what I’ve always wanted. I’m not going to go out of my way to hide from you. Not any longer. I’m sorry you were hurt, Cassidy, but I can’t keep apologizing.”

“I guess that’s easy for you to say since you’re just starting your six-month cycle,” Cassidy sneered. “Talk to me again when your six months are up and he dumps you.”

“Hey.” Nick leaned forward, angry. “Your problem is with me. Stop taking it out on Maddie. And, while we’re at it, you knew very well when we started dating that I had a certain
reputation
. It’s not my fault you thought you were going to somehow be the one to break the cycle.

“Everyone in this town knew there was only one person who was going to break it,” he continued. “I knew it. I didn’t want to admit it, but I knew it. Cripes, I never even introduced you to my family. That should have tipped you off that you had a limited shelf life.”

Maddie patted his leg under the table, worried. “Calm down.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, leaning back and slipping his arm around Maddie’s shoulders so he could center himself. “That was mean. It was the truth, though.”

“Aren’t you worried, Maddie?” Marla asked, ignoring Cassidy’s crestfallen expression. “Aren’t you worried he’s going to get bored with you and dump you just like he did Cassidy? Come on. You can tell me. It has to be going through your mind. You’re too insecure to ignore it.”

Maddie sighed heavily. “I was a little worried about it at first,” she said.

“Mad … .”

Maddie cut Nick off with a brief look. “Then we decided to move in together.” It was wrong. She knew that. She was taking a small amount of pleasure in the disgusted look on Marla’s face and another small amount of pleasure from the hurt look on Cassidy’s face. She couldn’t help herself, though. She wanted people to know they were moving forward.

“You’re moving in together?” Cassidy was horrified. “You’ve been dating for three weeks. You can’t move in together.”

“Well, we are,” Nick said. “I’m selling my house to my brother and then I’m moving to Maddie’s house with her.”

“Our house,” Maddie corrected.

Nick tightened his grip on Maddie’s shoulder. “Our house.”

“You’re just doing this to spite me, aren’t you?” Cassidy was near tears. “You want to prove a point. You want the whole town to think you dumped me because she’s your true love. You don’t want to be the bad guy, so this is how you’re getting around it.”

“Where you’re concerned, I am the bad guy,” Nick said. “I get it, and I don’t expect to be treated otherwise. I treated you poorly. I am sick to death of you going after Maddie, though. She didn’t do anything to you.”

“And yet you’re still going to move in with her just to spite me,” Cassidy spat.

“I’m moving in with her because I love her and we’re going to build a life together,” Nick said. “This is our first step.”

“It’s pretty easy with Maude there as a buffer,” Marla scoffed.

“Maude is converting the garage into a private apartment,” Nick said. “In five weeks, she’ll still be a part of our home and have her own personal space at the same time.”

Cassidy’s mouth dropped open, stunned. “You’re displacing that poor old woman just to get to me?”

Maddie slammed her hands down on the table, taking Nick by surprise. “You’re not a part of the equation, Cassidy,” she said. “I don’t know how many different ways we can tell you that. We’re both sorry that you got hurt, but enough is enough.”

Cassidy burst into tears, causing Marla to rub her back and shoot daggers in Maddie and Nick’s direction. “Nice.”

Ruby picked that moment to walk out of the kitchen carrying a takeout bag. She dropped it on the table in front of Maddie and Nick and smiled at them sympathetically. “I figured you’d want to take this to go.”

“You figured right,” Nick said, digging into his wallet. “I’m sorry for causing a scene.”

“They caused the scene,” Ruby said. “Don’t worry about it. I’m going to have a little talk with Marla as soon as you go. If she can’t abide by the rules I set up for her when she was a teenager, she doesn’t need to come back.”

“I heard that,” Marla snapped.

“You were meant to,” Ruby said. “Keep it up and you’ll be banned from every business in town.”

Nick dropped a few bills on the table and flashed a cheeky grin in Ruby’s direction. “I’ve always loved you.”

“Right back at you, handsome. Now take your real love and get her into bed. She’s had a big night. She finally stood up to the resident devil and she’s going to pick paint colors.”

“You heard that?”

“I always keep my ears open for good news,” Ruby said. “Have fun tonight. You two have earned it.”