Christmas in Magnolia Cove (11 page)

Madison was in her element that afternoon as she pointed the movers in all directions. She bought all new furniture with most of her savings so that she could decorate the place in period style.

“I want the settee over here in the corner,” she said, pointing to an area of the sitting room off the foyer.

“What in the world is a settee?” Samantha asked, walking up behind her.

“Oh, hey sis… A settee is a small sofa with a back and arms. See? Isn’t it gorgeous?” Madison asked admiring it from a few feet back.

“It is. This place is really coming together. The construction crew has done a great job, and I can see your decorating touch all around here.”

“I am so looking forward to opening it for Christmas. Just another week to go before we open on the tenth. Are you going to the Harvest Festival on Saturday?” Madison asked.

“Probably not. Are you?” Samantha asked.

“I have a date,” Madison said with a smile.

“With whom?” Samantha asked as she helped Madison unpack pillows that had arrived in a box.

“Wyatt Reed.”

Samantha dropped the box on the floor in shock. “You cannot be serious!”

“Shh… Hold your voice down. He’s around here somewhere. He owns the construction company. How do you know him?” Madison asked.

“Brooks told me he was one of the ones who bullied you. Why would you go on a date with him?” Samantha asked putting her hands on her hips.

“Because he is a good man, Samantha. And I realized that we shouldn’t all be judged by how stupid we were in high school.” Madison continued working on setting up the sitting room for Christmas. She started putting together a small Christmas tree she’d bought for the open house.

“Maddie, I don’t want to see you get hurt,” Samantha said putting her hand on her shoulder.

“I know. But, I am okay. I promise. This is a good thing for me, Sam,” she said giving her a hug.

“If he hurts you, I will hurt him,” she said with that sisterly protective streak that Madison had missed over the years.

***

At six o’clock, Madison found herself impatiently pacing the floor waiting for Wyatt to arrive. Her heart was pounding, and her stomach was flipping and flopping. She wasn’t sure why she was so much more nervous going on a date with him than she had been making out in his bed.

“Waiting for your date?” Diane said as she hugged her from behind.

“Yes, ma’m,” Madison said with a grin.

“Well, you look excited,” she said.

“I am, Mom. I haven’t been on a first date in a long time,” she said.

“Samantha told me who he is…” Diane said.

“Jeez, nothing is a secret in this town!” Madison said shaking her head.

“It’s okay, Maddie. I think what you are doing is wonderful. If you were able to forgive this man for what he did to you way back then, I support you on that.” Her mother always knew just what to say.

Moments later, Madison heard Wyatt’s truck approaching. He parked and jumped out to greet her, carrying a bouquet of yellow roses for her. She was stunned. How had he known that yellow was her favorite color?
 

“Hi,” he said smiling as he walked up the front steps. “These are for you,” he said handing her the flowers.

“Thank you. They are beautiful,” she said smelling them.  “Wyatt, this is my mother, Diane,” Madison said pointing at her Mom standing beside her.

“Nice to meet you,” he said reaching out and shaking her hand.

“Nice to meet you too, Wyatt,” Diane said with a grin. “Have a fun time, you two…” she said with a smirk as she walked back into the house.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Absolutely,” Madison said as she started to walk down the stairs. Of course, being Wyatt, he scooped her up and carried her himself as she cackled with laughter all the way to the truck.

***

The town square was decorated like something out of a movie. Madison had been to the Harvest Festival dozens of times in her life, but it seemed more vibrant and alive this time. Maybe that was because she was sharing it with someone she enjoyed being with. Or, maybe it was because she was starting over, and everything looked new.

Her real estate closing had finally come and gone at the end of November, and now she was going into December owning the Granger place and starting a new business. With Wyatt on her arm, she felt safe and excited about the future.

“Are you going to rename the house?” Wyatt asked as they walked toward the square.

“I hadn’t really thought about it, actually. I’ve always called it the Granger house,” she said. “But, yeah, I just might rename it. I mean, I am all about new things right now,” she said as she stopped and rose up on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek.

Wyatt smiled down at her and tipped her chin up with his hand. He planted a sweet kiss on her lips, interlocked his arm with hers and walked forward toward the square.

“You want some hot apple cider?” he asked her when they got into the crowd of people.

“Sure. But hurry back because I think they are going to light the Christmas tree as soon as the sun goes down,” she said.

Wyatt pushed past a few people to get in line for cider while Madison walked around looking at the crafts that were on display from local artists. As she perused some beautiful Christmas wreaths, she looked up and saw a familiar face talking to Wyatt across the square - Kim Dixon.

What was she doing there?

“Hey, girl!” Jennifer said as she came up behind Madison.

“Oh, hey…” Madison said trying not to take her eyes off Wyatt. She hadn’t told anyone except her family about her budding relationship with the handsome rehabber, so she tried to look disinterested as she continued to stare at him.

“What are you looking at?” Jennifer asked as she peeked over Madison’s shoulder.

“Is that Kim Dixon over there?”

“Yeah, she’s in town visiting family for a few weeks. I see she’s talking to Wyatt Reed. Those two were quite an item in high school. Maybe she’s planning a quick booty call while she’s in town,” Jennifer laughed. Madison did not think that was funny.

As she watched Kim talking to Wyatt, she could see her touching his arm, and then she hugged him and kissed his cheek. She put her hand on his cheek and was talking to him like they were the most intimate of friends. Madison decided not to stick around any longer to watch the love scene.

“Jen, I will see you later, okay?” she said as she quickly walked up the sidewalk toward the Granger house. Had Wyatt betrayed her right there in front of her face? Was he really who she thought he was? Visions of Connor having sex with the blond skank flashed through her head. Was she reliving that all over again with Wyatt? Why did she let her guard down?

***

“Oh, Wyatt, I don’t see what the big deal is,” Kim said, rolling her eyes as she applied lip gloss right in the middle of the Harvest Festival.

“The big deal is that you lied to me and caused this poor girl to be bullied for years. Her father died right in the middle of that, and you didn’t even let up then, Kim!”

“She was a weirdo! I mean, who cares about all of this now? I came to town hoping to see you so we could have a little fun, Wy…” Kim said, flinging her thick blond hair around.

“I don’t want to have any fun with you, Kim. What I want from you is an apology for Madison Carter.” Wyatt was serious, and he was angry. What had he seen in this vapid girl?

“Are you freaking serious? I’m not apologizing for anything, Wyatt. Now, do you want to hook up or not?” He couldn’t believe how cold and unemotional Kim was.

“Now, you listen to me,” he said grabbing her arm. “You may be some Hollywood star, but to me you’re still just slutty little Kim Dixon from Magnolia Cove. You will apologize to her or else I will make sure that the public gets to know a lot more about the real Kim.”

“Are you threatening me?” she asked, looking at him with anger in her eyes.

“I am promising you. This time, you will do the right thing, or I will leak a few things to the media that I am quite sure you don’t want your adoring fans to know. Understand?” Wyatt towered over her and didn’t loosen his grip. Kim was way too vain to say no to him. She didn’t want the public to know some of her escapades as a young adult.

“Fine. Where is she?” she relented. Wyatt looked around, dragging Kim with him all the while. He couldn’t find Madison, but he did see Jennifer.

“Jennifer? Have you seen Madison?” he asked, walking up behind her.

“Actually, I was talking to her a few minutes ago, and she disappeared. She saw you talking to Kim, and then she said she had to go. She went that way… maybe to the house?” Jennifer said pointing up the sidewalk.

“Let’s go,” he demanded as he pulled Kim up the sidewalk with him.

Madison walked around the dark hallways of the Granger home. She stood by the window in the sitting room and stared at the lights and activity bustling in the town square. How could she have been so foolish to believe that Wyatt Reed had changed and wanted her now? Of course he wanted the beautiful and famous Kim Dixon. She always got what she wanted. She convinced naive young boys to make Madison’s life miserable for years.

She started to imagine Wyatt in bed with Kim right now. They’d probably sneaked to his house for a quickie. Who wouldn’t want to be with a Hollywood star?

“Madison?” she heard Wyatt’s voice booming from the foyer. Did he really think she was so stupid to believe that he wanted to be with her? She was quiet as she crouched behind the settee in the sitting room. She didn’t want him to see her. “Madison, are you here?” Unfortunately, the musty
smell behind the settee caused her allergies to kick up and she sneezed. She made a note to herself to clean around those old baseboards again.

“Damn it!” she said under her breath. The light clicked on.

“I can see you, Maddie,” he said with a gruff chuckle. Slowly, she rose up from behind the small sofa and looked at him. Her face was white as a ghost as she saw Kim standing beside him. Had they come here to rub it in her face just like Connor did?

“What do you want?” she asked remaining behind the settee.

“I ran into Kim at the festival…”

“Yes, I am aware of that. I figured you two would be having sex about right now.” Shock shot across Wyatt’s face as her words rang through his head.

“Excuse me?” Wyatt said, gritting his teeth.

“I saw you two ‘talking’. Looked to me like some things never change,” Madison said.