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“I’m here safe and sound,” she said when she got through to him.
“And how is Mattie?”
“Maddie. She’s still in a coma. She may not come out of it, or she could recover with no harmful side effects. The doctor wasn’t sure. I’d think they’d know more than that.” She felt frustrated at the lack of a definitive prognosis.
“If she’s in a coma, she doesn’t know you’re there,” Stephen said.
“No. But the doctor said maybe a familiar voice would help her wake up. I talked with her the entire time I was allowed in to see her. Now I have to wait another hour or two before I can visit again. Stupid rules,” she added in frustration.
“I’m sure the hospital has rules for a purpose.”
“I don’t want to be logical,” Eliza said. “I’m frustrated, cranky and scared.”
“Honey, you said she was in her sixties. It may be her time to go.”
“Gee, you’re a world of support. Sixty is not that old!” She shouldn’t blame Stephen for his pragmatic view. In other circumstances, she’d probably agree with him. But with Maddie, she didn’t want pragmatism; she wanted hope.
“What do you want me to do, paint a pretty picture that has no relation to reality?” he asked gently.
“No.” Stephen was much too realistic for that. He was an attorney; he dealt in facts.
“I just hate the thought of her dying. I should have done more over the years. I owe her a lot.”
“She was paid by the state to take care of you,” he reasoned.
“But she did a lot more than just feed me and give me a warm bed. I guess it’s too much to expect you to appreciate that.” As soon as the words were out, Eliza regretted them.
“I think you’d better wait and call me once you’ve had a good night’s sleep.” Stephen hung up.
Eliza clicked off the phone. She wished she could tell him being cranky didn’t have anything to do with lack of sleep. She feared things were spinning out of control and she hated that.
She bit into her bagel. She needed all the energy she could get to make it through the next few hours.
If there was no change in Maddie’s condition by night, she’d have to check into a motel to get some sleep, or collapse in sheer exhaustion. Worry took as great a toll as hard work.
She fervently hoped Maddie would regain consciousness soon. It had been less than twenty-four hours since she’d learned of Maddie’s stroke and she was already going crazy. How did people stand it when loved ones remained in a coma for weeks on end?
Eliza sipped her latte, her eye caught by a tall man in uniform, hat held in hand, striding into the cafeteria. He looked to be in his early thirties, dark hair and dark eyes. His gait was long and firm and he was heading toward her table.
Eliza’s instincts went on full alert. Was he coming to talk to her?
He stopped at the end of the table. “Sheriff Samuel Witt. Are you Eliza Shaw?”
“Yes.” She gestured to the chair opposite and the sheriff sat down, placing his hat on the seat next to him. He was nothing like the sheriff who had held office when she lived in Maraville.
“The nurse upstairs told me you might be here. I’m the person who responded to the call and got Maddie to the hospital.”
“I’m one of the foster children she raised. I just read about her condition last night in the paper and got here as soon as I could.”
“Do you live nearby?” he asked.
“Boston.”
“You get the Maraville Bugle in Boston?” His incredulous look was almost amusing.
She nodded. “A bit of home.” She felt foolish once she said it. Stephen had laughed at her sentimentality. How must it seem to a tough cop?
“Who found her?” she asked, realizing she knew no details beyond the bare facts reported in the paper.
“Henry Vetter had an appointment with her that afternoon. He waited for a while after knocking on the back door. Her car was in the driveway. When she didn’t answer, he tried the knob. Found it unlocked and Maddie at the bottom of the cellar stairs. We don’t know how long it was between the time she fell and the time she was discovered. It could have been several minutes or several hours. The doctors suspect it hadn’t been too long, however. The emergency medical team diagnosed a stroke and took appropriate action.”
“Who’s Henry Vetter?”
“Hank’s a handyman around town. Maddie wanted him to do some cleanup in the yard.”
“Hank? Tall and painfully thin? No hair?” Eliza remembered the man. He’d had a crush on Maddie way back when, though Maddie had done nothing to encourage him. Eliza remembered the jokes she and the other girls had shared at the thought of Maddie having him as a boyfriend.
“One and the same,” Sam confirmed. “You know him?”
“He used to come around and help out when I lived at the house on Poppin Hill. I thought he was ancient back then, I can’t believe he’s still working.”
“Hank’s about sixty-six now,” Sam said. “But he looks older. Probably looked ancient to a teenager.”
“I guess.”
“I’m surprised you came,” Sam said.
“Why?”
“I’ve only been in town for a couple of years, but even I’ve heard about the situation that got you pulled from the foster home. I wouldn’t think there’d be much love lost between you girls and Maddie.”
“Maddie never hurt any of us. Jo blamed her at first, but later when she tried to explain and tell the truth, no one would listen.”
And the accusations Cade and his mother had made about Eliza hadn’t helped the situation, either.
“Seems Sheriff Halstead thought he had enough evidence to get you girls removed from the home,” Sam said.
“Jo’s accusation never even got as far as an arrest.” Eliza hadn’t found that out until she’d made contact with Maddie a couple of years ago. “The fallout resulted in the three of us girls being yanked from the only home we knew and separated from each other. Maddie never did anything but take good care of us.”
“Going out to see the house?” he asked, ignoring her passionate conviction.
“I may.” She wondered if she really wanted to see the old place. There were so many memories. Would stirring them up do any good or only open old wounds?
CHAPTER THREE
IT WAS LATE AFTERNOON by the time Eliza turned onto the once-familiar white crushed-shell driveway at the house on Poppin Hill. Visiting the place had been a spur-of-the-moment decision. Once it was made, it hadn’t taken her long to drive from the motel where she’d checked in. Every mile had been crowded with memories.
Driving down Main Street, she’d seen the courthouse where she and April had been taken for questioning the morning after Jo had spun her outlandish story. And where Sheriff Halstead had interrogated her about Cade’s sister, Chelsea Bennett, only hours later.
The old theater was still in business on the next block, a new Disney film showing. No multi-theater complexes for Maraville.
The five-and-dime was gone. A video store flourished in its place. Looking down Center Street, she’d caught a glimpse of the old brick high school. Memories swept through her at the familiar sights and sounds.
The sultry weather zapped her energy. She should have changed into something more suitable for Mississippi in late April than the sophisticated suit that had been perfect for Boston, but she’d been too impatient to take the time to change once she’d checked into the motel. She’d wanted to see the house. Not stay in it. Not spend a lot of time there, but see it.
The crushed shells crunched beneath the tires as she drove the short distance up the hill to the back of the house. Huge oaks lined the winding drive, leaves drooping in the afternoon heat. The familiar gray Spanish moss dripped from the branches in ghostly decoration.
A battered pickup truck and a sleek sedan were parked at the top of the hill, bumpers almost touching the detached garage.
She pulled her rental car in beside the truck and stopped, staring at the house. Little had changed. She could almost imagine Maddie coming to the back steps to yell at her for being late. Or see Jo sneaking off behind Maddie’s back.
The house had been painted in the intervening years. The curtains replaced. The Victorian architecture still looked out of place in a state more used to antebellum homes along the river. Yet its familiarity tugged. A mingling of delight and sorrow filled Eliza. She took a breath. Could she go in?
The sloping yard was a riot of colors. Flowers grew haphazardly in beds adjacent to the house, around the old oak that shaded the front lawn and in scattered sections along the edges of the grass.
Maddie’s doing, Eliza knew. Maddie had always loved beautiful flowers.
After her second visit to see Maddie, the doctor had told Eliza he’d have the hospital call her cell phone immediately if there was any change in Maddie’s condition—either way—and he’d urged her to go get some rest. But the sheriff’s question had niggled at her, and she had to finally admit she was anxious to visit the house on Poppin Hill, her home for twelve years.
Eliza climbed from the car and headed for the back door. It stood open, the screen door standing guard against insects. Obviously the owners of the vehicles were inside.
She stepped in and listened, her eyes scanning the room. The linoleum flooring was worn and faded, having been installed long before she’d first arrived.
The counters were still narrow—never providing enough room when preparing meals for four. The refrigerator looked newer than she remembered, as did the range. But the cabinets needed to be painted. And the window over the sink still looked as if it couldn’t be budged. She would have expected Maddie to have had that fixed.
It was a huge old house and must have taken an enormous amount of upkeep. No money for extras— that had always been a problem when Eliza had lived here.
The sound of angry masculine voices came from the front of the house. Hesitating only a moment, Eliza headed in that direction.
“Hello?” she called. As she walked through the dining room, memories assailed her. The faded wallpaper hadn’t been changed, the rose pattern ancient even years ago. The huge table was surrounded by a dozen chairs. They’d eaten every dinner there, and often had guests on Sunday.
Maddie had done her best to teach the girls manners, from the proper fork to use to how to converse with visitors.
The voices grew silent. Eliza continued toward the living room. She stopped in the wide doorway. Two men turned to look at her.
She only glanced at the man on the left before her eyes latched on to the one person in the world she’d never thought to see again.
Cade Bennett.
She shivered and stepped back, remembering the hateful words he’d flung at her the last time she’d seen him. He had blamed her for his sister’s death. Nothing Eliza had said had made a difference. He had called her a liar and, worse, a murderer. He’d been upset, but there had been a kernel of truth in his accusations. Eliza had been the one to tell Chelsea her boyfriend was seeing someone else. Eliza had known Cade’s sister was unstable, but she’d done it out of spite for the hateful things Chelsea had said to her. That didn’t excuse her, Eliza knew, and she still carried a certain amount of guilt even after all these years. It had also made her very careful about what she said to others.
The older man spoke. “Who are you and what are you doing here?”
She looked at him, recognizing the town banker, Allen McLennon. He had aged over the years, but was still a fine-looking man. He’d been dating Maddie the last Eliza had seen him. When Maddie had been accused of abusing her charges, had he stopped seeing her? Maddie had never mentioned him in any of her letters. Eliza hadn’t thought about him in all these years. She’d have to ask Maddie what had happened, when she was better.
“I’m Eliza Shaw. I used to live here. I’m in town for a few days and came by to see the place.” Much as she wanted to focus on the banker, her eyes were drawn back to Cade.
He was as tall as she remembered, lean and muscular. He wore faded jeans, work boots and an attitude that didn’t quit. The chambray shirt emphasized the width of his shoulders. His dark hair was worn a little long and looked thick and wavy. Dark eyes clearly displayed the anger that simmered. Twelve years hadn’t softened him at all, it seemed. If anything, he looked harder than ever.
Eliza felt a shiver of trepidation. Tilting her head slightly, she glared at him. She was not some sixteen-year-old anymore, needing approval and acceptance. If he couldn’t handle her being here, that was his problem, not hers.
“Vultures circling the kill?” Cade suggested.
Eliza’s temper flared, but the intervening years had taught her well. She kept it under control.
“I came as soon as I learned about Maddie. I’ve already been to see her. What’s going on here?” She glanced around at the old living room, wondering what the two men were doing.
It was Allen who answered. “The bank has a loan against the property which is in arrears. Cade and I were discussing the next step. Just because you once lived here doesn’t give you any rights. This meeting is private.”
“What’s it about?” Eliza asked.
“Foreclosure and sale of the property,” Cade replied. “Which I will fight in every way possible.” He glared at Allen McLennon.
“You can’t sell Maddie’s house,” Eliza protested. “She needs it to come back to when she’s out of the hospital.”
“Allen’s the one talking about selling,” Cade said. “I’m trying to talk some sense into the man.”
The two men glanced at each other. Eliza’s suspicions rose. “What’s the real issue?”
“The bank holds a note,” Allen explained tersely. “Maddie took out a loan and put the house up as collateral. If the note isn’t paid up, we have no choice but to force a sale to recoup our loss. Cade is interested in buying the property. However, there are other companies making offers. I suggest it should go to the highest bidder.”
Eliza glared at Cade. “You can’t buy Maddie’s home.”
“If she can’t meet the payments, the place goes on the block. Why shouldn’t I be the one to buy it?”
“But—” If the house was sold, did it really matter who bought it? For some reason, Eliza didn’t want it to be Cade.
The mere thought of the house being sold startled her. Somehow she had thought it would always be here, waiting for her and April and Jo to return someday.
“Why the concern? What fond memories could you possibly have of this place?” Cade asked.
The strain of the past twenty-four hours finally caught up with her. She’d had the day from hell yesterday, topped off by terrible news about Maddie. Then a fitful night’s sleep, followed by the rushed trip to New Orleans and the drive to Maraville. Suddenly it was all too much.
“Doesn’t sound to me like I’m the vulture here. Maddie will get well and return home. You two stop fighting over her property. It will remain with her!” She turned and headed back through the hall to the stairs. She quickly climbed the steps and made her way to the room that had been hers.
Pausing in the doorway, she stared in disbelief. Nothing seemed to have changed. There was her bulletin board on the wall, faded pictures and pages held with thumbtacks. The blue gingham coverlet still covered her bed. The dresser looked as if it hadn’t been touched in a dozen years. But the room was tidy and clean. There was no dust anywhere.
She heard a phone ring. Moments later footsteps sounded on the stairs. Eliza wasn’t surprised to see it was Cade.
“If you can do anything to help Maddie save her house, do it now, or get out,” he told her bluntly. “Allen’s planning to force the sale. He said the bank will ask a steep price because of all the land. I hope I can meet it. But if it goes to auction, it’s anyone’s guess.”
“Then why don’t you pay off the loan and give Maddie a chance to get back on her feet?” Eliza asked, doubting Cade really wanted to help. He probably wanted an inside track to getting the house and land. Property values weren’t as high in Mississippi as Massachusetts, but the twenty-five acres Maddie owned had to be worth a lot.
“Eliza, Maddie Oglethorpe has been in a coma for almost a week. She’s unlikely to wake up, and even if she does, she’ll probably have to live in an assisted-care home the rest of her life. Whatever happens, I think it’s certain she’s not coming back here. If that’s the case, then I mean to have the house, and the property.”
He glanced around the room and looked at her. “Was this your room?”
Eliza nodded, moving into the room. She lightly touched the bed. It brought a flood of memories.
