Every part of Madi tensed. Her shoulders, her jaw, her fists. Her heart. Good customer service and good manners became just words in her head. Loraine Wilson continued to smile. There was a pointedness to it. An edge. Sharper than she’d expect from the wife of a rich businessman from Portland.
Loraine was intentionally trying to rile her up.
Why?
Was she that bored? Was she that unhappy in her own life that she had to tear down others?
“Hey, Madi! Could I steal you for a second? I have a question about tonight’s dinner.”
Bless her heart, Jenna appeared at Madi’s other elbow like a guardian angel. She gave her a squeeze that brought Madi out of her angry haze and back to reality.
“Sure, let’s talk.” Madi pointed a small nod and an even smaller smile at Loraine. “Just keep following the path. If you’ll excuse me a moment.” The woman seemed put out that the conversation was ending and let her husband, Nathan, who had been trailing behind them deep in his business call, walk alongside her.
Madi and Jenna waited until there were a few feet between them and started walking again.
“That was uncalled-for,” Jenna said in a harsh whisper. “Want me to go get the van?”
Madi didn’t mean what she said next but her heart was hurting. And she was sure that Loraine had done that on purpose.
“Forget the van. I’d like results faster than that.”
Jenna’s expression softened. She put her arm around her friend. They walked the rest of the way to the creek without saying a word.
The pain in Madi’s chest only grew once she dipped her feet into the cool, crisp water.
Madi felt no joy in it.
And that was Loraine’s fault, too.
* * *
THE DAY CRAWLED into night. After showing the guests the creek, Madi busied herself with chores around the inn. For the first time since opening Hidden Hills, she skipped dinner with the guests. Not that it was required of her or even asked, yet she had thought it was a nice touch. Tonight she couldn’t stomach sitting there and pretending everything was all right.
It wasn’t.
Even before Loraine showed up.
It had been almost five months since Madi had found out she was pregnant. In that time a lot of things had gone right and wrong. The inn had hit its stride for a few months and made Madi money rather than just breaking even. She threw herself into work and welcomed the distraction that kept her thoughts away from the fact that Julian Mercer was nowhere to be found.
The number he’d given her was disconnected. The emails she’d sent bounced back. His social media existed but wasn’t active. They’d spent two amazing, surprising and magical days together that had turned into a week. One blissful week she had never imagined would be as great as it had been. Yet the moment Julian’s SUV had disappeared down the road on his way out, it was like the man had vanished completely.
Since then the burn of anger and embarrassment had cooled. The drive to be the best parent she could be had taken its place. Along with what she had thought was acceptance. Never seeing the father of her unborn child again was a harsh reality, sure, but what had she really expected? What they’d had was, to her, once-in-a-lifetime hot, but once in a lifetime nonetheless. Julian had been a ship passing in the night. A momentary escape.
Though that had been her decision, hadn’t it?
Could she be mad at him for being radio silent after she’d been the one who said their week together was all they should have?
Madi ran her hand over her naked belly. The water from the bath had never been that warm. Now it was cold. She was only fooling herself. Almost every single time she felt her stomach she thought about Julian. Where was the mountain of a man who had rocked her world? She felt an emptiness that let Madi know she hadn’t accepted anything. At least, not with any enthusiasm.
The music that had been playing from her phone lowered. A rhythmic sequence of beeps filled the bathroom as a call came through. Jenna’s name scrolled along the screen. Madi wasn’t about to ignore her friend, even if she’d asked not to be disturbed.
Madi sloshed water out of the tub and with wet fingers answered the phone.
“Hello?”
“Sorry to mess up your quiet night,” Jenna said, diving in. “But, uh, I have Nathan here with me right now and—” There was a rustling sound as she must have moved away from the man. She lowered her voice as she continued. “He wants to know if you and Loraine are done talking.”
Madi gave her reflection in the mirror over the sink a dubious look before grabbing her towel to dry off.
“Come again?”
“Right? That’s what I was thinking when he asked but he said that you called Loraine an hour ago and asked her to come up to your room. He tried calling her to come to dinner but the phone went straight to voice mail. He didn’t want to come up there because he didn’t know the rules.”
Madi felt her eyebrows fly high.
“Why would I do any of that? I wanted to not be disturbed because of Loraine. She was two seconds out from getting popped in the face.”
“Nathan seems adamant.”
Madi sighed.
“Tell him to go ahead and call Loraine again. She was probably just tying up the phone line with her gardener complaining about life.”
Jenna repeated the suggestion while Madi bent down awkwardly. She felt around for the drain plug and shouldered the phone. When a song started blaring from the next room she nearly dropped both.
“What in the world?”
“What?” Jenna asked, voice still low.
Madi pulled the drain plug up and placed it on the counter. She shook her hand off and looked at the door separating her from the small living area. A weird knot started to tighten in Madi’s stomach. She slipped into her robe.
“What’s going on, Madi?”
“I think Loraine might really be in my living room,” she whispered. “A phone is going off.”
Jenna said something, but for the life of her, Madi couldn’t pay attention to what it was. Her focus narrowed to pinpoint precision. She opened the door, ready to confront the woman who was still managing to ruin her day, but found it empty. Or, at least, no one was around.
A cell phone continued to play music from the coffee table. It wasn’t the only thing out of place. A shotgun sat next to it. Madi’s blood ran cold.
“That’s Dad’s.”
“What’s going on, Madi?”
Madi felt like she was falling down some wild
