The Girl Who Came Back

The house was old, with many rooms, all of them high-ceilinged and spacious. There was even a third story, which Maddie had never used. The once-white Priscilla curtains on her own high windows drooped, the starch long ago leached out.

She felt sad that the bedroom she’d occupied for so long looked tired and lifeless. She had never expected that Maddie would have kept it exactly the same. Why had she? In case Eliza returned?

They’d all been told that last day that they would not be coming back to live with Maddie. Eliza had believed Social Services. Hadn’t her foster mother? She wondered how Maddie had dealt with their departure. They’d never discussed that in their recent letters.

“Don’t let me keep you from anything,” she said, studiously avoiding looking at Cade. Her heart pounded, and memories crowded her mind. They had been high-school sweethearts. As close as two young people could be, spending every waking moment outside of school together.

At one point, Eliza had suggested they run off and get married. Cade had refused. Had her love been stronger? Or had it been one-sided? After Chelsea had died, Cade had wanted nothing to do with her. He blamed her for his sister’s death. Sometimes Eliza wondered if he was right.

As an adult, she knew no one was responsible for another person’s suicide. Still, telling Chelsea of her boyfriend’s betrayal had been more than the teenager could deal with. The guilt had faded over the years. Now it surged back as strong as ever.

“You’re not keeping me from anything. Can’t do much more today. I’m making sure nothing happens to the house.” He leaned negligently against the door-frame.

“I’m not here to damage the house or steal anything, just to walk through,” she said. Even if he wrongly blamed her for Chelsea’s death, he had to know she wasn’t a vandal. Those last days in Maraville remained crystal clear in her memory. Chelsea’s death wasn’t the only problem between them. There was the lack of trust and the uncertainty of where she’d ever stood with him.

But she would never do anything to harm Maddie or her property. Cade knew that. Why was he baiting her?

“What happened to April and Jo?” he asked. “Never figured any of you would come back.

The hard tone was unfamiliar. Eliza remembered his easygoing southern drawl. She’d loved to listen to him when they’d been dating. He didn’t sound like the same person she remembered.

“Well, that proves you don’t know everything, doesn’t it?” she retorted. She didn’t need to explain herself to him.

“You sounded like Jo there. You used to act like Miss Prim and Proper Goody Two-shoes in public.”

She ignored the comment. She had tried to be proper in public. But it was the time she spent with Cade that she remembered most, and then she had been most improper.

“But not in private,” he said, as if reading her thoughts.

Eliza glared at him. She would never admit it to him, but she felt uncomfortable knowing he remembered everything she did about their time together. Had Chelsea lied about his involvement with Marlise? Or had saying she lied been the lie? Eliza and Cade had never discussed that. The police had arrived before they’d gotten to the subject uppermost in Eliza’s mind that night so long ago.

“April sure didn’t worry about looking proper,” he continued when she didn’t speak. “As I remember, she worked her way through the football team.”

“She did not!” He was deliberately trying to provoke her. Eliza knew it and tried to keep her temper under control. Cade had always known how to rile her. But she wasn’t a besotted teenager anymore.

He nodded, giving that damn smile again. “Oh, yes she did. She was the neediest girl I ever knew. But banging every boy in high school wasn’t the way to get what she wanted.”

“I suppose you have firsthand knowledge,” she said, hoping to call his bluff. He didn’t know her at all, much less April. If he had, he could never have accused her of the things he had. Or April.

“Jo was in trouble more than anyone else I knew,” Cade said. “Yet she escaped jail. At least while living here. Is she doing time now?”

Eliza shook her head, not willing to admit she didn’t know exactly what Jo was doing. But it couldn’t be time in prison. Jo had been high-spirited and rebellious because of her mother. But she’d never do something that would land her in jail. At least Eliza hoped not.

She met Cade’s gaze, refusing to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was getting to her. Tilting her chin defiantly, she said nothing.

“Too bad Jo caused the breakup of your foster family.”

That was too much for Eliza.

“Too bad the adults in charge didn’t believe her when she finally told the truth,” she snapped back. “April and I swore Maddie had never hurt any of us, but would anyone listen to us? No. They moved everyone out so fast we never had a chance—” She closed her mouth. She was not going there.

“Chance to mess up more lives like you did mine?” he prodded.

“Never mind. I’ve seen and said enough.” She headed for the door. She hoped he moved before she reached it because she wasn’t up to pushing him out of the way. She was not going to go over old ground with Cade Bennett. If she never saw him again, it would suit her fine.

Eliza remembered her frantic efforts to convince everyone that Maddie had not harmed Jo. Eliza had repeated her argument a hundred times. To Sheriff Halstead. To Edith Harper, Maddie’s best friend, when she’d helped a stunned Eliza pack for the trip to Biloxi. To the new foster parents who had taken her on.

Being removed from Maraville had been a terrible blow to Eliza. But she couldn’t change the past. She’d survived. Hardships survived made one stronger, she remembered Maddie saying more than once. Living on her own in Boston had shown her she could cope with whatever came her way. Better than cope—succeed.

“I’ll be spending most of my time at the hospital until Maddie recovers. I’m staying at the motel in town. I’d suggest you and Mr. McLennon wait for her to recover before making any plans about her property.”

She’d make sure she kept her distance from Cade. He knew he made her uneasy, and seemed to relish the knowledge. She was not responsible for Chelsea’s death. She had told him about the call; it wasn’t her fault Chelsea had overdosed and died. And Cade saying it was didn’t make it so.

Cade’s narrowed gaze held hers for a long moment before he stepped aside and let her leave the room.

Without another word, she returned to her car, shaken. After twelve years, she had thought she’d be immune to the man. She was wrong.

A half hour later, showered and dressed in cooler clothes, Eliza stood by the window of her motel room, feeling refreshed. She idly watched some children play in the park across the street. How they had the energy to run around in the heat was beyond her. Yet she remembered days when she and April and Jo had played on the grounds of the house on Poppin Hill—spraying each other with the hose, sliding on the wet grass. Or lying beneath the huge old oak, talking and laughing.

Eliza gazed at the children, wishing she could be as carefree as they were right now. She turned away, determined to do what she could to find out more about the situation with Maddie’s house. How could Maddie be in danger of losing it? What would it take to bring the arrearage current? Eliza didn’t have a lot of savings, but she had some. It had taken years to accumulate what she had. Dare she give it all away? On the other hand, Maddie needed help if she was in danger of losing it. Eliza owed her. Or maybe she could locate April and Jo.

If they were together again, could they recapture the closeness they’d once had? Eliza thought it unlikely. Too much time had passed. They’d made new lives, had different experiences. Still, she’d love to see them both again. She yearned for that special feeling of belonging that she’d taken for granted as a young teenager.

Even with Stephen and his family, she didn’t feel the same bond. Being married to him would change that, she hoped.

She slipped on sandals and headed for the nearest restaurant. She’d eat dinner and get back to the hospital to see if there’d been any change in Maddie’s condition. She was losing her optimism after her last visit, but the nurse had tried to encourage her.

One of the best things about Maraville was its size, Eliza thought as she strolled along the sidewalk. She could walk almost everywhere.

A few moments later she was standing in the blessedly cool café, grateful that the restaurant wasn’t any farther away. She’d forgotten how heavy the air could be here. She glanced around.

Ruby’s Café was a haunt from the old days. Many afternoons Eliza and her friends had shared milk shakes and fries, sometimes splurging on juicy burgers with the works. She almost expected to see the place full of high-school kids.

The café was comfortably full, but given the hour, there were few teenagers. The hostess seated her near the front and Eliza scanned the menu. Maybe she’d give in to nostalgia and have a hamburger with the works.

“Eliza Shaw?”

She looked up into the smiling face of Betsy Fellows, a former classmate.

“Betsy?”

“I wasn’t sure it was you. Look at you with that sleek hairstyle and slim figure. Wow, you look great!”

Eliza laughed, standing to hug her high-school friend.

“I can’t believe you recognized me. How are you?” How cool to run into Betsy her first night here, Eliza thought. If she stayed in town long enough, she’d look up a few other classmates. Those she wanted to see, she qualified, thinking of Cade.

“Doing great. Waiting tables as you can see. How long are you in town? Let’s get together and catch up.”