Sweetheart Cottage (Cranberry Bay #1) (14 page)

Across the room, Rylee gazed into Bryan’s eyes. He didn’t hear or see anyone else in the room. Immediately, he stepped toward the door as Raisin bounded away from Lauren and toward the kitchen. Lauren screamed and ran after Raisin.

“Whoa!” Sawyer called out. He grabbed his daughter’s sleeve as she flew by the dining room table. “Get the dog under control.”

“Sorry. I’ll get Raisin.” Rylee’s cheeks flushed bright pink as she rushed into the room and collided with Bryan. Her body slowed, moving into his as if they had always belonged together. He reached out his arm and wrapped her lightly around her waist, and steadying her. “It’s okay.” He looked down at her and smiled. “Happy Thanksgiving.”

“Happy Thanksgiving.” Rylee’s eyes sparkled at him and made him feel he could do anything.

Rebecca stepped into the room from the kitchen. She wiped her hands on her apron. Her cheeks blushed pink as she stepped forward and extended her hand to Jeff. “Welcome home to Cranberry Bay. We’re so glad you could join us.”

“Come on.” Bryan placed his hand on Rylee’s lower back. “I’ll show you where to place the bread.” He guided Rylee into the kitchen, where Lisa engulfed Rylee in a large hug. She pulled the last apron from the hook by the counter. “Your apron for the festivities.”

Rylee thanked Lisa and placed the apron around over her head. Bryan stepped up and took the ties from her. Their fingers met, and he caressed her palm and inner wrists without saying a word.

“Come on you two.” Lisa nudged Bryan. “This is a working kitchen. We’ve got a Thanksgiving meal to serve before everything gets too cold.” She turned around and stirred a pot full of steaming mashed potatoes.

Bryan flushed at his sister’s comments and, touching Rylee’s shoulder, moved to the stove to pull out the turkey. In minutes, the countertop was filled with cranberries in a rich deep red sauce, steaming mashed potatoes, and a rich green salad. The turkey gleamed on the stove top with rich buttery sauces coating the skin. The family quickly formed a line, well-practiced by many Thanksgivings together. Plates were filled, and everyone moved into the dining room, where great laughter followed over Lauren’s festive turkey place cards and her arrangement of seating. Bryan was secretly thrilled to find himself seated next to Rylee.

Once everyone took their seats, Rebecca stood at the head of the table. She’d taken off her apron and wore a simple, black dress. It was the same dress she’d worn on holidays for as long as Bryan could remember.

Rebecca raised her glass in a toast. “On Thanksgiving, we have always had the tradition to go around the room and say one thing we are grateful for. I’d like to continue that tradition by saying that I am very grateful to have all of you home this year.” She looked to the end of the table and smiled at Lisa and Maddie. Tears filled her eyes, and she quickly sat down and took a long drink of her white wine.

Seated to the left of Mom, Sawyer stood and raised his glass. “I am also especially grateful to have all of the family here. Especially my daughter, Lauren.” He smiled at Lauren who grinned back at him. “But,” he paused. “I am very grateful this year to have just landed a new commercial contract to build a set of three new buildings on the far edge of town.”

Applause filled the room as Rebecca said, “How wonderful! This will mean new jobs in Cranberry Bay.”

“Yes,” Sawyer straightened his shoulders. “It’s a commercial deal for a set of popular stores and will bring more options to this area, including the beach towns as well as Cranberry Bay.”

“But what about our local Cranberry Bay stores?” Bryan asked and frowned. “How will these new big chain stores impact them?”

“It won’t be a problem,” Sawyer said smoothly. “The stores going into the new development will not compete directly with ours. The people of Cranberry Bay will still shop our smaller, local stores because it will be more convenient than driving twenty minutes south. But the addition of these stores will allow for a greater choice of goods without needing to go into Portland.”

“Mmmm…” Bryan muttered, not convinced at Sawyer’s words but also not wanting to squash the new development and jobs for Cranberry Bay.

“I have news too,” Adam raised his glass and stood. “I have been awarded a large state grant to improve the trail system around the mountains. The grant will allow us to put in new pathways, including a couple new campgrounds. One can be developed into a place for school groups and summer camps.”

Rebecca’s eyes shone. “What wonderful news! The library will want to be a part of a children’s camp. We can offer activities to the kids and books for them to read while they are at camp.”

Lisa smiled at Rylee and stood up. “I am going to be working with Katie as the new marketing manager for both her shop and a new idea we are working on.” She winked at Rylee. “But I can’t say anything more than that.”

“Does this mean you’re staying?” Rebecca asked her daughter hopefully.

Bryan reached over and took Rylee’s hand. He squeezed. He wanted her to know he hoped she was staying too.

“Yes.” Lisa glanced at Maddie. “At least for awhile.”

Bryan looked around the table at all his siblings and their successes; each one in his or her own way was trying to help support Cranberry Bay and bring new life back to the town.

Suddenly, Lauren jumped to her feet. “I am grateful for Rylee and…” she looked around the room and spied Raisin, lying with his head between his paws and staring up at the turkey on the table “Raisin!”

The whole table exploded into laughter as Rylee’s Dad stood and cleared his throat. “I guess I am next. I am grateful,” he said, raising his glass, “to old friends who open their hearts and their homes to me. And…” he looked down the table at Rylee, “for my daughter.”

Rylee’s ears flushed pink, but a grin crossed her face, and light shone from her eyes. Her father sat and patted her shoulder. “You’re next baby girl.”

Slowly, Rylee stood. Her voice shook as she said, “I am also grateful for friends who open their hearts and homes at Thanksgiving, and for those who help me work on the cottages.” She smiled down the table at Maddie and raised her glass. “I am grateful to Maddie.”

Maddie’s face flushed with the compliment. She pushed back her chair and stood with her back straight and tall. “I am grateful to people who give me a second chance.”

The connection between Maddie and Rylee was clear. In a flash of insight, Bryan realized how much Rylee had done by simply allowing Maddie to be with her, day after day, never asking any questions, never asking what had happened to lead her to Cranberry Bay. Instead, she had just accepted her and opened her heart and let her into her life.

“Bryan,” his mother said. “We skipped you, but I think you’re the last person to speak.”

Bryan stood slowly. He looked around the table at his siblings, nieces, mother, Rylee’s Dad, and his eyes finally stopped at Rylee. “I am grateful,” he said simply, “for Rylee.”

Rylee’s ears flushed and the light shone in her smile. Bryan raised his glass to her as a solid knowing filled his heart. He loved Rylee, and he couldn’t participate in the bet. He cared too much about her. He couldn’t allow her to be used as a pawn. It would break her heart if she ever found out, and that was the last thing he wanted to happen. As soon as possible, he’d tell Sawyer the bet was off. He’d win the City Council’s approval on his own volition and not his brother’s. Then, after he had proved himself to the town, he would tell Rylee how much he still loved her.

The scent of evergreen drifted from the candle burning at the front counter of the New Leaf Sewing Shop. Rylee cut and measured yards of fabric for a line of customers while Lisa replaced the cloth bolts on shelves. Festive white holiday lights hung from the outside windows and cast their glow into the dark evening of the long Thanksgiving holiday shopping weekend. After a busy day, both Sasha and Ivy had finally shut their shop doors and sought comfort in the sewing shop. Both women leaned over different ends of the long table in the back of the shop and pinned their apron patterns.

Katie sorted through misplaced patterns at the file cabinet. Dark circles rimmed her eyes, but a cheerful smile broke across her face as she glanced up at the groups of shoppers walking among the fabric. There had been a steady trail of customers for the past two days, and Katie had been kept hopping with requests for holiday fabric, sign-ups for December ornament-making classes, and gift certificates.

Lisa stepped up to the counter and ran her hands through her hair. “Beth Dawson was in the shop earlier today. She asked me about our proposed vintage market.” Lisa frowned. “I think we could have a problem with getting the City Council’s full approval. Councilwoman Beth Dawson is head of the annual Craft Fair hosted at the high school. It’s been her baby for years. She sees our vintage market as competing with her project.”

“Beth Dawson?” Rylee placed a bolt of fabric in a metal bin on the edge of the counter. “She sells coffee at the highway rest stop stand?”

“Yes.” Katie shut the file cabinet drawer. “She runs the Cranberry Bay Youth Program. The craft show is the biggest fund-raiser of the year for the kids.”

“I met her when I stopped at the rest stop on my drive into Cranberry Bay,” Rylee said. That afternoon seemed so long ago. So much had happened in the last month: friendship and laughter with the sewing circle, mentoring Maddie, repairs on her grandmother’s home, her father appearing on her doorstep, and Bryan. Rylee flushed, thinking about Bryan and the way he looked at her yesterday, saying her name and announcing to everyone that he was grateful to her.

“We’re going to have to come up with a plan to talk to her about our idea,” Lisa said. “We don’t want Beth to think we’re competing with the Craft Fair, and we want her to support our idea.”

“What if we combine her market with ours? We could invite the crafters from her market to exhibit at ours,” Rylee suggested.

“You’re right,” Ivy said, her voice a little garbled by the pin she held lightly between her teeth. Ivy removed the pin from her mouth and slipped it into the place on the holiday apron fabric. “I don’t see why we couldn’t all work together.”

“Because…” Sasha said slowly as her eyes blazed at Ivy. “I am the one who sells the goodies from the bakery. We can’t have all these little homemade wrapped brownies and cookies that Beth always has at her fair.” Sasha cut firmly into her fabric. “Beth doesn’t even have a permit to sell food at the Craft Fair. But everyone turns a blind eye because she’s on every committee in town and no one wants to cross her.”

“But if we don’t have Beth on board,” Katie said. “Our vintage market proposal will not pass the council. We won’t get a permit.”

“I don’t even think the council looks at the proposals,” Sasha said. “They rely on Beth, who is not always right.”

Ivy grimaced. “No. She’s not. The time she ruled not to allow anything to be on the sidewalks of Main Street about killed all of our business that summer. The tourists stop because of the brightly colored flowerpots and sidewalk displays. But Beth decided those decorations made the street look junky and tacky. I lost about thirty percent of my walk-in business that season, as did every store along Main Street. Of course, the council never mentioned it, and the next year sidewalk displays were back.”

“There has to be a way to work with her,” Rylee said. “Why don’t I go talk to her? I could take her a small check for her youth fund-raiser and that might sweeten the deal.”

“Good luck.” Sasha muttered under her breath as she stabbed her pattern with a pin. The tissue crinkled under the force. “It’ll take more than a check to change Beth Dawson.”

A woman carrying an armful of fabric bolts and sewing notions placed her items on the counter and motioned to Katie. Katie excused herself and strode toward the front of the shop. Her blonde hair, pulled into a ponytail, bounced on her shoulder and made her look like a perky teenage clerk instead of the owner of the shop.

Rylee’s cell phone rang and she scooped it out of her bag, which was hanging from the back of a chair. Her heart leapt as Cranberry Bay Police Department scrolled across the caller ID. “Excuse me,” she mumbled and hurried quickly toward the backdoor leading to the outside.

“Hello,” Rylee said breathlessly. She expected to hear Dad’s voice pleading for her to bail him out of jail.

Instead, a deep male voice that she didn’t recognize spoke. “Rylee Harper?”

“Yes,” Rylee stepped behind a large shelf of spring fabrics at the back of the shop. “This is she.”

“This is Officer Robert Anderson at the Cranberry Bay Police Department. I have a young lady with me who would like to speak to you.”

“Rylee!” Maddie’s voice screeched in her ear.

“Maddie. Are you all right? What happened?”

Maddie’s sobs filled the phone as Rylee tried to understand the girl’s jumbled words.

“Hold on,” Rylee said, feeling very out of her league with Maddie. “I’m at the sewing shop. Your Mom is here too. I’ll go get her.”

“No.” Maddie wailed, her voice filling the small phone.

Rylee moved it away from her ear.

“Please. Can you come?”

“I can come to the station,” Rylee said. “But I’m not your legal guardian. I won’t be able to sign anything to release you.”

“Please,” Maddie cried. “Just come.”

Rylee pocketed her phone. Thankfully, Lisa was working at the cutting counter and helping a woman chose between two green fabrics. Rylee vowed to call Lisa as soon as she found out what was going on with Maddie.

“I need to go,” Rylee said to Ivy. “Where is Sasha?”

“She left to pick up Tyler at her sister’s beach place. Tyler called, and I guess there was a fight between the boys over some game. Tyler lost and wanted to go home.” Ivy peered closely at her. “Is everything okay?”

“It’s Maddie,” Rylee lowered her voice. “She’s at the police station.”

“The police station!” Ivy’s voice raised an octave.

“Shh…” Rylee placed her fingers to her lips, “she doesn’t want me to tell Lisa. She said she only wanted to see me. I’ll try to convince her to call Lisa as soon as I can. I don’t know what has happened, but she was very upset.”

Ivy nodded and pursed her lips. “Do you want someone to go with you?”

“It’s okay,” Rylee said, shaking her head. She fingered the strap of her cloth bag that she’d tossed over her shoulder. Her heart beat fast. Police stations had never been a good thing for her.

Rylee waved to Katie and headed out the back door. A light rain fell on the empty sidewalks, and Rylee pulled up her hood. Holiday lights from the shop windows glowed. Except for Lisa’s sewing shop and the tavern, all of the stores had closed for the day.

Rylee quickened her pace to a half-run. She headed toward the small brick building on the edge of town. As she rounded the corner, she crashed into Bryan, who carried two cups of hot coffee.

“Whoa!” Bryan placed his hand on her lower arm. He smiled into her eyes and sent her heart cascading in her chest. “I was just coming to see you. But you’re off somewhere in a hurry. Is everything okay?”

“The police station,” Rylee said.

“The police station!” Bryan lowered his voice. “Is it your father?”

“No,” Rylee said. Bryan was family. Maddie may not want her mother to know, but she was going to tell Bryan. “It’s Maddie.”

“Maddie!” Bryan straightened. An unreadable, dark expression crossed his face. “Why is Maddie at the police station?”

“I don’t know.” Rylee twisted her hands and bit her lip. “She called me, but she wanted to talk to me.”

“Let’s go.” Bryan picked up her hand. Together, the two strode toward the police station. Their steps on the wet pavement matched.

Relief filled Rylee’s body as Bryan walked by her side. Supporting her. Police stations brought back too many memories of the times she had sat in hard plastic chairs and waited with her mother to bail Dad out of jail. Or the times she’d gone by herself, pocketing fistfuls of cash from her waitress job. She kept cash in a mason jar under her bed, knowing she’d need it to help Dad. And it was always a matter of when, not if. To make sure there was enough in the jar, she shopped the used clothing stores and bought whatever was on sale. She always pocketed the rest in her emergency fund jar.

The front of the brick building that housed both town hall and the police station was dark. But Bryan guided her to the side. He pulled open the glass doors with Cranberry Bay Police stenciled across the glass pane in black letters. Rylee stepped inside a small office. File cabinets jammed the corners, and a computer sat on a desk. In the back of the room, sitting on a green chair, Maddie huddled under a blue blanket. Rylee stepped quickly toward her.

A tall man, wearing a blue police uniform, touched her arm. “Ma’am, can I help you?”

“It’s okay, Rob,” Bryan said. “We’re here to see my niece, Maddie Franks.”

Maddie lifted her eyes from the floor. Relief shone in her eyes at the sight of Rylee. But her gaze quickly darkened as she swung her head to face Bryan. Maddie scowled.

“Why did you bring him? I asked for you.” Maddie buried herself deeper into the blanket. She dropped her gaze to the tiled floor.

“We bumped into each other on the street,” Rylee said, kneeling beside her. “Bryan wanted to come, and…” Rylee paused, “I wanted him here.” She turned and looked up at Bryan, standing beside her, and smiled gratefully into his eyes. He lightly placed his hand on her right shoulder and squeezed.

“Maddie,” Officer Rob Anderson said. “Do you want to talk first or shall I?”

“Tell us what is going on,” Bryan said firmly.

Maddie kicked her foot from under the blanket. She hooked it to the edge of the chair and didn’t say a word.

Rylee placed her hand on Maddie’s arm. A slight tremble filled Maddie’s small form.

“Whatever it is,” Rylee said carefully, “we won’t judge you. We just want to find out what happened.”

“I stole something,” Maddie said without lifting her eyes from the floor. “And now I’m going to jail.”

“What?” Rylee straightened and looked at the officer. “Is that true?”

“Tell her the rest,” Anderson said.

Maddie raised her eyes and stared straight at Rylee. “I stole something from your house.”

“What?” Why?” Rylee couldn’t imagine what Maddie would steal from her grandmother’s home. She’d helped Rylee pack up everything from old clothing to jewelry to kitchen items. If there was something she wanted, she could have easily asked her.

Maddie shifted her gaze and stared at a distant spot on the wall. A door opened and another officer walked in. He held Raisin on a rope leash. The dog lurched toward Rylee. Rylee grasped Raisin as he lunged at her in a bundle of wiggles and joy.

“Raisin!” Rylee exclaimed. “How did you get here?” She looked up at the officer. “Did he escape?”

The officer shook his head and nodded toward Maddie.

The room spun underneath Rylee. Raisin. Maddie tried to steal Raisin. The one thing she had depended on. Raisin, with his brown eyes and wagging tail, who was always glad to see her. He was always eager to go for a walk or a run or play with a ball.

Anderson cleared his throat. “Maddie is waiting to find out if you’re going to press charges against her.”

Rylee adjusted the rope leash into her left hand. Raisin leaned against her body. Every part of her screamed that she should press charges against Maddie. Maddie had tried to take her most prized possession, the one thing she’d never be able to replace if something happened. But she looked down at Maddie’s slumped shoulders. Compassion filled Rylee’s heart. Something was wrong. Why would Maddie try to steal Raisin? Did Maddie want to steal Raisin to harm the dog? Was there another side to Maddie that she didn’t see? A low ache filled Rylee’s gut, and she tried to steady her emotions.

“I need to know why. Why would you steal Raisin from me?”

“Because,” Maddie looked up at her with tears shining in her eyes, “I didn’t want you to leave like my Dad.” Sobs wracked the girl’s body, and she turned away from Rylee, pulling the blanket around her shoulders. Behind Maddie, Bryan stood quietly.

A torrent of emotion gripped Rylee as she tried to process Maddie’s raw words. Slowly, Rylee steadied herself and said, “But Maddie, I’m not leaving.”

“But you will.” Maddie said, sobbing. “You are done with the cottage project, and you will leave. I took Raisin because I wanted you to feel like I do when everyone I love leaves me.”

Straightening, Rylee looked at Bryan as a pained, dark expression filled his face. Rylee’s chest constricted. She’d left him ten years ago. He had just proposed to her, and she had left without saying good-bye and had never contacted him again. She had ignored his phone calls, until he stopped calling.