Chase waited on Maddy to turn her Jeep aroundfirst and head down the hill. He followed Maddy down the road backto town at a respectful distance. He had no idea what he was goingto do. It was already clear that life with Aiden, Frank, and Laurawould settle in a companionable routine. He was incredibly gratefulthey had accepted him back into the fold so completely.
Which he would completely destroy if heallowed his libido to take over and fulfill his very active, verynaked fantasies of wild, incredible sex with Maddy. What a way toquickly lose their trust. Not exactly something they could reallykeep secret. That sort of thing was hard to keep quiet in a townlike this.
6
The night's breeze had brought in some raincloudsthat hung around the coast for the next week. Disturbing thepleasant serenity that had settled over the quaint town, the sunmade another showing the following Friday morning, inviting amassive influx of tourists. The day could be consideredunseasonably warm, but the gentle sea breeze kept the temperatureperfect for a day at the beach.
Maddy finished up her daily patrol with afinal check along the beach. Really, you never knew what troublecould be brewing along the beach on such a beautiful day. She’densured all was well in the busy areas of town before finishing theday at her favorite spot. The day had been amazingly peaceful. Nottoo many calls or disturbances, despite the crowds.
Maddy took advantage and stopped into FlotsamAntiques as she strolled back towards the station. The bellsjingled to herald her arrival as she entered the store. Maddyinhaled deeply, loving the scent of old leather and wood furniture,with a fresh citrus, almost minty scent. Not a hint of must. Theowner was quite particular about that. The store was filled withantiques of all shapes and sizes, irresistible treasures for anyonewho may stop in.
Payson Roberts: owner, proprietor, manager,accountant, and number one sales agent, and also Maddy's bestfriend, was finalizing a sale with a happy young family. Maddypaused to watch her friend crouching down to a chipper young girlin a sunny yellow dress, "I can't wait to hear what you decide tostore in your new dresser. This dresser was once owned by a younggirl just like you, nearly 100 years ago, and I'm sure she filledit with pretty dresses just like the one you're wearing."
The little girl beamed at the attention andsmoothed the front of her dress. The family thanked Payson and saidtheir goodbyes. Payson was dressed in her own soft blue cottonsundress and had clearly bonded with the young girl right off.Payson was a natural with people, old and young alike. Maddy enviedPayson's extroversion.
As she walked across the shop to greet herfriend, Maddy was distracted as she ran a hand along the dresser,admiring its fine craftmanship. "I’ve had my eye on this for weeks.If I can't have it, I'm glad that sweet little girl will get tohave it. It is a bit too dainty and wouldn't have fit in with therest of my furniture anyway."
Payson grinned at her friend, flipping herpin-straight auburn hair from her face. "I told you, you don't haveroom for another dresser anyway. Natalie will help me deliver it totheir place tomorrow, so you won't have to pine over it muchlonger." Payson had a tough time sharing responsibility withanyone, so hiring Natalie part time as adelivery-driver-slash-emergency-sales-helper had been a big move.It had been helpful for Maddy as well, as she had often foundherself as the involuntary volunteer delivery assistantotherwise.
"Town is hopping. Are you making goodsales?”
“It’s been great. I’ve met my sales goals forthe entire month in the past 48 hours.” Payson beamed, lookingaround at the inventory gaps that had begun to show, as her stockdepleted with all the sales.
“Maybe you’ll bring in enough this weekend togo on a real vacation, or at least take an occasional day off.Natalie is great, have you considered hiring her on full time?"
"I really want to ask her, but I doubt shewould want to work in a shop full time. She’s always game to comein and help when I’m overwhelmed; I don’t want to push her toofar." Natalie had moved to the area a few months ago and had stayedpretty quiet. She had seen the Help Wanted sign Payson had hung inthe window and signed on to help Payson a few hours per week. Therest of the time, Natalie sequestered herself in her large studioapartment when she wasn’t driving all over the coast. She was aspectacular photographer and sold a lot of her work at the localgallery.
Rumor had it, she and a few other localartists were doing so well, the gallery was planning to renovatethe old chapel in a major expansion project. Natalie’s latestproject was a photographic journal of lighthouses down the coast.She mostly kept to herself but did agree to come out with Maddy andPayson for an occasional girl’s night. At first, Maddy had thoughtshe was pretentious, but she realized later she was just incrediblyshy.
Maddy looked around at the shop her friendhad lovingly filled with a collection of small and large antiques.As the name implied, she had a unique section filled with shipwreckfinds near the front window. When Payson moved in two years ago,shortly before Maddy had moved back to town, locals had doubtedthat an antique store would succeed in the small tourist town.
But Payson had known what she was doing andhad built a thriving business. She'd come with some impressiveconnections she had developed from her previous job in Boston, soher stock was always filled with new and interesting pieces. Nostranger to the modern antique trade, she also rocked a greatwebsite and contracted with several online retailers. Even in thecold, blustery winter months, she stayed busy. Antique trinketswere a hit with the tourists looking for fun souvenirs, but shealso carried high-end antique furniture, art, and jewelry.
Payson leaned across the old-style buffetthat she had converted into a checkout counter. Her long hairslipped down her shoulders and rested next to her elbows on thecounter. Waggling her eyebrows at Maddy, Payson changed thesubject, "I saw your old friend, Chase Anderson, is back in town.Says he's renting a place in that beautiful old brick-houseneighborhood on the hill. He bought that sturdy farmhouse tableyou'd been coveting. That is one sexy man. A killer body and thosedeep, stormy-blue eyes. And, obviously, great taste infurniture."
Maddy felt a rare wave of jealousy. What wasthat all about? Payson was beyond ready for a serious relationship,unlike Maddy. Despite going through some bad relationships as well,Payson was still convinced that true love was just waiting for herto find it. Not that she'd had any luck in the past few years, butshe was out there and trying.
Maddy tucked away her feelings and would besupportive if her friend was interested. She deserved somehappiness with a good guy. And Maddy wasn’t interested anyway, notin anyone. "What did you think? Did you turn on some of that Paysonflirty-charm?"
Payson flipped her straight hair dramaticallyand put on her sauciest face. "That man looked desperate for a goodlay, so I closed up shop and showed him a good time. I was finallyable to fulfill my fantasy of being taken behind the counter."Payson gestured with her arms spread wide and firmly gripping thecounter, then paused just long enough to gauge her friend'sreaction.
She reached across the counter and smackedher friend playfully on the arm, "Maddy, you dope! First off, yes,he's damn sexy, but the chemistry just wasn't there. He clearlyfelt the same way, sending no signals my way. Secondly, and moreimportantly, I know you’ve had your eyes on him since before youeven hit puberty. So, tell me, didyouturn on that Maddyflirty-charm?"
And Maddy's cheeks were officially burningred. Dang pale skin gave her away every time. "Fine, I may continueto try to lie to myself, but apparently I can't hide anything fromyou. No, I did not turn on the Maddy flirty charm," she vehementlydenied. Then she remembered getting caught ogling. "Well, maybe Idid. Just a little."
"Do tell!" Payson leaned across the counterand raised her eyebrows.
And, the blush spread down her neck. "Chasewas at my mom's retirement party, but I haven't seen him since. Imay have complemented his ass. But that's it. Mostly. Besides, Ican't pursue Chase. He's my brother's best friend and my dad'sprotégé. I'm not good at this stuff anyway. Two very failedattempts at relationships. I'm officially done. Maybe I'll try sexagain… maybe… but I just don’t want to put myself out thereagain."
"You're so damn stubborn – which usually Ilove about you. But, in this case, you're only hurting yourself.Other men aren't like Dylan. The other guy, what was his name?Kent? Your rebound attempt. He doesn’t even count. You wentstraight for an incredibly boring dud – that I suspect you weren’teven attracted to – to compensate for your awful experience withDylan. How long did you spend with him?” Payson ranted, still notletting Maddy answer, her finger raised to motion that she wasn’tfinished, “You spent like three months going on a very rare datebefore you even let him touch you. And, as I don’t think you werethe least bit attracted, of course you didn’t enjoy yourself. And,I’m not sure he knew what a clitoris even is…”
“Hey, I’ll have you know that he was verysweet, and I wasn’t not attracted, just not… well… yeah, he was atotal dud. I should never have told you about him anyway.” Maddypaced, restless.
“You know and trust Chase. You know yourfamily loves him and would love for the two of you to be happytogether. And, most importantly, you’re undeniably attracted tohim." Payson was fired up on her friend's behalf.
"He's hurt me before, pushing me away when heand Aiden started skipping classes, staying out all night, tryingto buy a ticket straight to jail." Maddy fired back, becomingdefensive.
"Maddy, you both went through some awfulstuff back then. I know you're scared; you have PTSD. Some seriousrelationship PTSD, thanks to Dylan. Both you and Chase ran far awayto escape your demons. Now, you're both back. Come on Buffy, killthat demon by moving on. Don’t let Dylan continue to hold thatpower over you." Payson's eyes softened as her fire fizzled,bringing it down a notch for Maddy’s sake.
