Knocking at Her Heart (Conover Circle #1) (19 page)

“Yesterday?”

The inspector looked like she
expected Maddie to offer her some swamp property next. It made Maddie want to
yank the woman’s clipboard out of her hand and throw the thing across the room.

She put her hands behind her back.
The woman probably got lied to all the time. She would be a natural Doubting
Thomas. “Yes, yesterday. The gas burner won’t light. I’ve already called a
repair person. He’s coming later this afternoon.”

The woman made lines of notes on
her clipboard before putting the cap back on her pen. Maddie itched to see the
note, but knew she’d get a copy of the sheet once the inspection was finished.

They went down to the basement
next. Maddie held her breath praying that the woman wouldn’t see the
mousetraps. The woman took her flashlight and peered under the two-compartment
sink next to the washer and dryer. “There are mouse droppings under here.”

So much for that plan. “I have
traps set.”

Cap came off the pen and more
scratching on the checklist ensued.

When they got upstairs, the woman
sat at Maddie’s kitchen table and made some final notes. Then she ripped off
the top copy of the worksheet and handed it to Maddie.

Return Inspection Required.

There were other words too, but
none of them jumped out like those three. She’d had more than a dozen
inspections since she’d bought Kids Are It. They’d never needed to come back
for a second look.

Maddie swallowed hard. “When
should I expect you back?”

“It’ll be an unannounced visit,”
the inspector said. She shook her head. “You’ve also run a top-notch facility
here. I’d hate to think things are changing.”

“Nothing has changed,” Maddie
said. “When you come back, you’ll see that.”

The woman nodded and hugged her
clipboard up to her check. “Thank you for your time,” she said and walked out
the front door.

Maddie took her anger out on the
unsuspecting pots and pans in her kitchen, banging and clanging. After about
five minutes, her mother came to the doorway.

“What is going on in here?” she
asked.

“I’m cooking.” Maddie set a kettle
down with a thud.

Her mother rolled her eyes. “And
your father accuses me of not being able to boil water.”

“Boil! Water!” Maddie thought she
might really explode.

Now her mother looked scared.
“I’m getting your father,” she said, and ran from the room.

He made it to the kitchen in less
than a minute. “Madelyn, what’s wrong?”

“Where’s mother?”

“Somebody needs to watch the
kids.”

It was Maddie’s turn to take off
at a dead run. When she got to the blue room, her mother stood in the center of
seven giggling four and five-year-olds, doing something that looked like…Maddie
watched another minute…yeah, definitely a mix between a hula and a polka.

“What are you doing, Mom?” Maddie
asked.

Her mother smiled. “I don’t
know,” she said, a little breathlessly. “But they like it.”

Maddie looked at the little
faces. Pure fascination. “You can stop now, Mom.” The woman’s face was
practically as red as her hair.

Frances gave the group her best
Ladies Auxiliary smile. “We’ll do it again sometime,” she said. “Your turn, Peter.”

“I don’t dance. I’ll take them
outside for some fresh air.”

Frances and Maddie helped him zip
up spring jackets. After her father and his brood trooped outside, Maddie and
her mother back to the kitchen. Maddie got her mother a glass of water. 

“Thank you, dear,” Frances said.
“You look like you’ve calmed down a little. Care to tell me what lit your
fuse?”

Maddie chewed on her lip. If her
mother were still in Washington, D.C. and making her weekly telephone
check-ins, it would have been easy to lie, to tell her that everything was
fine. But, now that she was sitting across the table, her cheeks pink and her
eyes bright, Maddie had the sudden urge to confide, hopeful that somehow,
someway, her mommy could make it better.

“That woman was from the Department
of Children and Family Services,” Maddie said.

“I know, darling. You introduced
us. I’d hate to have to wear one of those blue coats every day.”

The woman’s wardrobe wasn’t her
concern. “They serve a very good purpose. It’s not a bad idea to have a
watchdog when children’s lives are at stake.”

“I still don’t understand why
you’re so upset.”

“I’m upset because I could see it
in her eyes. She didn’t believe me when I told her that the hot water just
stopped working. And the damn mice in the basement didn’t help things any.”

Her mother wrinkled her nose.
“Dead one in a trap?”

Maddie shook her head.
“Droppings.”

“Oh, shit.”

“Exactly.” Maddie closed her
eyes. “I have bad Karma.”

“I don’t believe in Karma.”

Maddie opened her eyes. “Step
into my shoes for a couple days. You’ll change your mind.”

Frances Sinclair inspected her
red fingernails. “I got the impression this morning that you’d had gotten some
pretty good Karma last night.”

Where exactly was the hole in the
floor that she wanted to slip through? She didn’t know what to say so she
didn’t say anything.

“Are you seeing Sam again
tonight?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Well. Just in case, I wanted you
to know that your father and I won’t be here so you’ll have the house to
yourself.”

“You’re both going out?”

“We’re going to dinner.”

“Together?” Maddie was
embarrassed when her voice squeaked. “When did you plan this?”

“When you were walking around
with that woman in the awful blue coat. He’s already made reservations at
Terratoni’s.”

There was probably no good way to
say what needed to be said. “Mother, you and Father are visitors, but I have to
live in this town. If the two of you start throwing food at each other, I’m
going to have a hard time living that down.”

Her mother rolled her eyes.
“Don’t worry about us. Worry about yourself and how you’re going to get your
man over here.”

Her
man?       

“How late do you plan on being
out?” Maddie heard herself asking the question and knew that her body had
somehow taken over her mind.

“I’ll tell your father to linger
over dessert.”

“Does he know that you’re in here
suggesting that I entertain while the two of you are having dinner six blocks
away?”

“He’s the one who sent me in.
Said that perhaps the two of you could tie a necktie around the door handle.
That was…uh…you know, always the signal for…”

Oh my God. “I went to college,
Mother. I know that signal.”

Her mother gave her a smile, sort
of like she’d given the children earlier when the dance number had ended. “As
long as we’re clear on that. Good luck, darling.”

*

Jean dropped Kelsie off right
before naptime. “I’m going to work a few hours this afternoon,” she said to
Maddie. “Sam will pick her up.”

“That’s fine,” Maddie said, like
it was no big deal.

Jean fidgeted with her necklace. She
leaned closer to Maddie, like she didn’t want to be overheard. “Brad invited
Kelsie and me out for pizza tonight. I don’t know what to tell Sam. I don’t
want him making a big deal of it.”

“Sam just doesn’t want you to get
hurt.”

“Brad knows all about the MS. I
didn’t realize he did and so like some idiot, when he started acting like he
wanted to go out with me, I wouldn’t go until I’d told him. He said he knew.
That he’d known for a year or two.”

“How?”

“If I’m in a relapse period,
there are times when I miss work. I didn’t want to jeopardize my job. So, I had
applied for an intermittent medical leave under the Family and Medical Leave
Act. Those forms always end up in the director’s office.” Jean opened the front
door and Maddie followed her out onto the porch. “I can’t believe it, but he
still wants to go out.”

“He’d be a fool not to want to,”
Maddie said.

Jean ran a hand through her thick
dark hair. “It’s just pizza.”

Yeah, and it had just been a
sixth grade basketball game. “Don’t be afraid, Jean. None of us know what the
future holds.”

Jean smiled at her. “I was up
when Sam came home last night. He didn’t say much, but I could tell, Maddie.
He’s happy. He hasn’t been happy for a really long time. I just want you to
know that I like you. You’ve been so good to Kelsie. I’m happy for both of
you.”

Sam had warned her that Amy was
the romantic. It didn’t look like Jean could be discounted. “I’ll make sure
your brother has somewhere to be tonight, that he doesn’t have to worry about
what you and Kelsie are doing.” 

Jean hugged her. “I owe you.”

Maddie rolled her eyes. “We both
owe my parents.”

“What?”

“Never mind. Enjoy.”

Maddie walked back inside her
house, and her father held out the phone to her. “Call for you. Some man named
Percy.”

She only knew one Percy. So now
he was going back to telephone calls. Had he run out of stamps? “I’ll take it
in the kitchen,” she said.

When she picked up, she heard her
father disconnect. “This is Maddie,” she said.

“Ms. Sinclair, its Percy
Monaghan.”

“What can I do for you, Mr.
Monaghan?”

“It’s what I can do for you.
Since I didn’t hear from you following my last correspondence, I wanted to make
sure you understood my offer.”

These people were going to drive
her crazy. “I don’t recall having any questions about it.”

There was prolonged silence on
the other end. “And you haven’t changed your mind?”

“No.”

“What if I were to add another
$25,000 to the price?”

Oh, for goodness sakes. “Mr.
Monaghan, over eighty percent of my customers work at the hospital. This
location is very convenient for them. I don’t want to disrupt their lives or my
own life. For the final time, I’m not interested in selling. It doesn’t matter
what price you offer.”

He hung up on her. It was a loud,
resounding click in her ear.

“Hey, you called me,” she yelled
at the phone. “I’m the one who gets to hang up. Idiot.”

She left the kitchen, intending
to relieve her father. She’d taken about ten steps when the phone rang again.
“I’ve got it,” she yelled. She returned to the kitchen, wondering if Percy was
somehow going to pretend that he’d gotten disconnected by mistake.

“Hello,” she said.

“You don’t sound all that happy.”

“Carol! I didn’t think it would
be you. How is Mrs. Muldoon?”

“Much better. Travis is going to
stay a couple more days, but I’m coming home tonight. Are your parents still
there?”

“Yes.”

“No wonder you sounded cranky
when you picked up the phone.”

“Percy Monaghan just hung up on
me. That would make you cranky too.”

“I know I’ve been gone for a few days,
but shouldn’t it be the other way around?”

“You would think. Anyway, I’m
thrilled to hear you’re coming home and even happier that Mrs. Muldoon is doing
better.”

“Hey, thank your father for us.”

She really needed more coffee.
Her brain wasn’t keeping up. “What does my father have to do with it?”

“I guess he went to medical
school with one of the top guys at the hospital in Memphis. Anyway, he must
have called him and told him about Travis’s mom. We got treated like kings and
queens. Travis really appreciated it.”

“He never said anything.” When
would her father stop surprising her?

“I’ve got to go. They’re calling
my plane. I’ll see you bright and early.”

Maddie hung up the telephone and
once again went to find her parents. “I just talked to Carol. Mrs. Muldoon is
doing much better.”

Frances looked up from art
projects. “When’s Carol coming home, darling?”

“Actually, she’ll be here
tomorrow.”

Her mother’s spine stiffened, and
she looked at her husband. “I suppose this means that you’ll be headed back.”

Peter Sinclair nodded. “I’m
teaching a two-day seminar this weekend. In any event, I would have needed to
leave no later than tomorrow night. If I can get an early start, I could use
the prep time.”

“Prep time?” Frances raised an eyebrow.
“Is that what they’re calling it these days?”

Maddie bit her tongue.
Two
steps forward, three steps back.
It was a really bad dance. Feet were
getting tangled with mean tongues and big attitudes.

Her father let it pass without
comment. “Our reservations are for seven. I thought, if you agree, we might
have a drink in the bar first.”