Bluestone Song (8 page)

“I’ll talk to Linda,” Beth said again, and
turned to get back to work.

Maddox had come in then, and chaos had
reigned for the next few hours. She hadn’t even seen Dale in the
crowd. Her head pounded with her own thoughts and the music of the
man who kept her emotions tumbling.

But she’d brought home three times the money
she usually did.

Had she made a mistake leaving Quinn’s for
the casino? No, of course she hadn’t. Maddox would be moving on
soon. It was nice to see how he was bringing people to town,
bringing people into Quinn’s. All of Bluestone seemed busier,
happier. But would it last?

Maddox stood on the deck of the lake house
he’d rented and looked out over Bluestone Lake. The fifth-wheel was
nice, but he wanted something roomier. Something more permanent.
Stairs led from the deck to a green lawn that met up with the
lapping waves. A dock extended a bit beyond that, into water deep
enough for the fishing boat he’d rented. Behind him, the lake house
boasted a master bedroom with its own access to the deck, a
glassed-in shower, a claw-foot tub, a state-of-the-art kitchen, and
a loft. The whole front of the place was glass, and the rest was
log.

A perfect place to spend the summer.

Except—was he really ready to stay here all
summer? He had the big show on the Fourth of July in Texas, and a
few smaller venues out west. But this place pulled at him, wanted
to hold him here.

Beth pulled at him. Maybe if he had a place
to stay, to make his home, she’d let him get close once again.
She’d let him into her life, though from where he stood, this
seemed like the worst time to try, with her distracted by money and
jobs and her nephew. And there was the doctor boyfriend, who wasn’t
much of a boyfriend, if you asked Maddox. The man could be making
her life easier, and where was he? He was probably a better man
than Maddox, minding his own business the way Beth liked it, but
that wasn’t love.

He didn’t know if what he felt was, either.
The fact that he hadn’t been in a relationship since he’d quit
drinking scared the hell out of him. And the one he’d been in
before that, with Jessie, who had her own personal self-destruct
button, had been hell on earth. The possibility for mistakes was
enormous. But if he didn’t try, he’d never know. He hadn’t even
wanted to try before he saw Beth again.

He hadn’t been to an AA meeting in a while.
He wasn’t sure he wanted to seek one out up here—he always worried
about his privacy. But maybe he should call his sponsor. Anthony
was about fifteen years older than him, eight years sober, and had
survived the darkest days with his marriage intact. He’d been the
first to warn Maddox about getting involved, and he’d probably have
something to say about Maddox getting involved with someone who had
so much on her own plate.

Maddox took a deep breath and drew his cell
phone out of his pocket. Better to hear it from the horse’s mouth
than try to figure out what Anthony would say.

“Where are you?” Anthony said by way of
greeting.

“Bluestone Lake.”

“Running away?”

Like he expected anything other than
bluntness from Anthony. When they’d met, Maddox had been pretty
damned arrogant. Yes, he was a drunk, but he was also a star and
he’d come to expect certain treatment from people he’d met—awe or
deference or at least respect. Anthony had given him none of those
things, had said what was on his mind. Nothing had changed in the
last two years.

“Gathering my thoughts,” Maddox said.

Anthony grunted.

“Going to stay here a while. I rented a
house. Going to do some fishing. You should come up.”

“God knows I couldn’t sit still long enough
to catch anything.”

That was true. Anthony drank a hell of a lot
of coffee, and jittered more than anyone Maddox had ever met.

“Did you call me to give me your whereabouts,
or do you have something on your mind?”

As often as he’d gone to Anthony for help,
Maddox was taken aback by the man’s bluntness. “I have something on
my mind.”

“You going to make me guess?”

“A woman I used to know, used to date. She
still lives here.”

“Still making me guess, Bradley?”

“I—she—it’s been a long time since I’ve been
with someone.”

“You asking my permission to get laid?
Because you’ve done that without my permission before.”

“Yeah, not—only that.”

“What, date her?”

“Yeah. It’s been a while.”

“This is someone you dated in the past?”

“Yeah, when I was a teenager, before I left
for Nashville.”

“Let me tell you something about revisiting
the past. It doesn’t mean you can change who you became.”

“What?” Maddox hadn’t expected Anthony to be
overly enthusiastic, but he wasn’t sure what the older man
meant.

“I mean, you go back to someone who knew you
before. Who knew you before you were drunk Maddox. You can’t change
that you became a drunk by going back in time.”

“I’m not—” He started to protest. Was he?

“She’s familiar, she’s from a happy time in
your life. You can’t recreate it, son.”

“She might—it might be good for me. She needs
help.”

“And you’re the one to do that? I don’t think
you’re in that place, Maddox.”

“But if I do help her, won’t it help me?”

“So what’s your motivation here, Maddox? When
you figure that out, call me back.”

Maddox looked at the phone a long moment
after the call ended. Anthony had been right almost every time
before. But something in Maddox wanted to prove him wrong this
time. He was ready to take a chance, step out on his own.

Word about Maddox renting the Barclay place
spread quickly throughout Bluestone. Beth heard it when she was
walking out of the grocery store. She had no idea what it meant. So
he was tired of staying in the RV—though she knew how roomy it was,
and rumor had it that it even had its own washer and dryer. Or he
wanted a better view of the lake, or more privacy. It had nothing
to do with her. He certainly had enough money to do with as he
wished.

She only wished that knowing he was staying
in town didn’t give her a thrill.

He hunted her down before her shift and
followed her to the back where she stashed her purse. She blocked
him from following her into the office, so he stood in the
doorway.

“I’m staying until July.”

“I heard.” She kept her gaze averted as she
locked her purse into the bottom drawer of Quinn’s desk.

He blew out an impatient breath, as if he was
expecting another reaction. “So you don’t have to go work at the
casino. We can get you decent enough tips here.”

She straightened and glared at him across
Quinn’s desk. She had to keep her temper up so she didn’t think
about how delicious he looked standing there. She couldn’t afford
that weakness. “What is it to you whether or not I work at the
casino?”

“Because I saw you crying when you walked out
of Quinn’s office the other day. I know you don’t want to drive an
hour a day to work in that hole, no matter what money can be
made.”

His derision of the place and his assertion
of her weakness put her back up higher. “I wasn’t crying.”

He crimped his lips to show what he thought
of that declaration. “Trying hard not to. You forget how well I
know you, Beth.”

She raised her chin. He didn’t know her
anymore. Maybe he thought he did, but he was wrong. He hadn’t been
here through all the changes she’d had to go through. “It’s already
done. Tomorrow’s my last night here.”

“And Trinity? Is she babysitting for
you?”

Her gaze sharpened. “You knew about that,
too? I swear, the men in this town are worse than a bunch of old
ladies.”

He shifted in the doorway. “Hell, if I
thought it would help, I’d babysit.”

“No. Thank you.” Just what she needed, more
contact with Maddox, seeing how adept he was at handling Jonas,
watching how he soothed the baby, the strong caring for the
weak.

“I’m good with kids.”

She’d witnessed that for herself. She moved
around the desk. She needed to get out on the floor, but he hadn’t
moved out of the doorway. “Trinity will be just fine, thanks.”

“If you change your mind.”

The way he was looking at her, that knowing
half-smile, the crinkled eyes. “I won’t.” She walked into the
ladies’ room and closed the door in his face.

Trinity checked the clock when she heard the
key in the lock of Beth’s front door. Almost four p.m. She was
wiped—who knew one little baby could take more energy than a school
full of children? Beth had left around one to go around the lake to
the casino for some orientation, and Trinity had had her bridal
magazines packed in her tote since two, and was looking forward to
going home and taking a nap.

She stood and waited for the door to open,
arms folded. “You’re late,” she said when Linda waltzed in.

“Not that late,” Linda said, putting her book
bag down on the table, her mouth in a stubborn line.

“Summer school is out at two. Almost two
hours ago.”

“I had to walk home.”

“Which took maybe ten minutes without stops.”
She edged closer, wanting to see if she could smell alcohol on
Linda’s breath. She couldn’t, but thought she got whiff of men’s
cologne.

Linda shrugged and dropped onto the couch
facing the TV, avoiding Trinity. “So I made some stops.” As if an
afterthought, she looked up. “Is Jonas asleep?”

“He should be waking up soon.” Trinity sat on
the chair across from the couch and leaned forward to look in the
girl’s face. “Let’s get one thing clear. I’m doing this as a favor,
but I’m not going to be a sucker. I’ll babysit until two-thirty for
free. After that, I’m going to charge you. I think the going rate
is eight dollars an hour.”

“I don’t have any money,” the girl said
petulantly.

“I don’t care. You made this choice to keep
this baby. He’s your responsibility, not your sister’s. She may
give you leeway, but I’m not going to.”

Linda flung herself against the back of the
couch. “God, who knew you were such a bitch?”

Trinity drew back a little. “You go on
believing that. I’m doing this as a favor to your sister, not to
you. But I’m not going to take any garbage from a spoiled little
girl who can’t follow through on her promises.”

“Spoiled?” Linda sat up at that. “You’ve seen
this place. Does this look like I’m spoiled to you?”

“It looks like your sister has done a damned
good job providing for you. You should be grateful.” Trinity stood
and picked up her purse from the end table. “I’ll be back at eight
tomorrow.”

Beth did her best to avoid eye contact with
anyone at the bar that night, her last night at Quinn’s. Her
emotions were too raw. She knew she needed to do this, but it
didn’t feel like the right thing to do. And though Maddox had only
been in town a few days, already his music, his rough, soothing
voice, was part of this place that she was leaving. Just hearing
his songs made her heart ache.

Okay, enough. She wasn’t moving to the other
side of the lake. She was just leaving a job she loved for a job
she hated to keep her father from coming back here, and to keep her
sister’s baby. Yeah, nothing to feel sorry for herself about there.
She cleared another table and turned, almost crashing into Dale,
who stood in her path with his hands on his hips.

“I had to hear about you leaving Quinn’s from
Quinn?”

She huffed out a breath. “Well, you haven’t
been around and I don’t exactly have time to go looking for
you.”

“Don’t have time or won’t make time? You’ve
been avoiding me ever since that kiss, Beth.”

She ducked her head. She had, that was true.
“You want everything to change, and I just can’t deal with it right
now.”

“If it changes, I can help you. That’s what
couples do. They help each other.”

She blew out a breath. “I’m a waitress,
you’re a doctor. How can I possibly help you?”

His shoulders eased and a half-smile teased
his lips. He scooped her hair back from her face, tilting her head
up so he could look into her eyes. “By loving me, Beth.”

She wanted to. He was a good man, gentle, he
let her have the space she needed, never meddled, but…Her heart
squeezed as she looked into his eyes and wished she could see
something different.

“I just can’t figure it all out right now,
Dale. I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

Wow. She’d heard of someone being crushed
before, but she’d never seen it in action. His face slackened and
he stepped back, pain in his brown eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she said, reaching out to him
with one hand, but someone bumped into her tray and she withdrew
her hand to steady it. When she looked up, Dale was gone.

And Maddox Bradley was watching her through
the crowd.

When she walked out of Quinn’s at two thirty,
Maddox was waiting by the rail of the porch, his cap tucked into
his back pocket, his hair flipping up all over.

“What are you doing here?”

“Waiting to walk you home.”

“I already told you. I like being by
myself.”

“Not tonight.” He motioned for her to precede
him down the steps.

“Why not? You have more meddling
planned?”

“What are you talking about?”

She held out her cell phone, screen first, to
show him missed calls from both her brothers. “You want to tell me
why they’re calling me now when they haven’t called me in
months?”

“Months? Now that’s just shameful.” He tucked
his hands in his jean pockets and matched her step for step down
the wooden planks to the parking lot.

“Maddox. What did you do?”

He shrugged and worked to keep his balance on
the shifting gravel. “I called to let them know they needed to
check in.”