Dragon Warrior (Midnight Bay) (12 page)

“I fell off the porch.”

“Who slapped you, Maddy?”

Maddy stared at herself in the mirror, eyeing the faded bruise near her hairline, and then walked over and plopped down onto her bed. “Okay, but I don’t want this getting back to Mom. Promise me she won’t find out.”

“I promise,” Eve said, sitting on the bed beside her.

Maddy wrapped her arm around Eve. “You are my very best friend in the whole world, you know that? And I’m sorry for not telling you, but I . . .” She took her arm away and shrugged. “But I was embarrassed that my snotty little brother got the best of me.”

“
Rick
hit you?”

Maddy nodded. “It happened when he came home one night three sheets to the wind. I’d been sitting in the kitchen in the dark waiting for him, getting madder with each hour that went by. And when I heard him drive in and went outside in time to see him stumble out of his truck, I decided I’d had enough.”

“And the two of you got into a fight?”

“I stood blocking the door and said he wasn’t coming into the house in the condition he was in. I told him I was sick and tired of his staying out until three in the morning at least four nights a week, stumbling upstairs and falling into bed, and then sleeping all day. And yeah, I guess you could say it turned into a fight. He got all belligerent, said some nasty things, and tried to shove his way past me.” She took a shuddering breath. “I said some nasty things back and grabbed his arm to stop him from going inside.”

She lifted her hand to her cheek. “I don’t think he intended to hit me; he just lashed out trying to make me let go of him. But his hand caught me on the side of my face, and it felt as if my head exploded. I staggered back, groping for the porch railing, but I missed and fell down the steps.”

“Was he at least sorry he hit you?” Eve asked.

Maddy gaped at her. “He was drunk. And since I was no longer blocking the door, he stumbled into the house and went to bed.”

Eve took hold of her hand. “Maddy, why didn’t you tell us Rick was getting out of control? Kenzie could have talked to him for you.”

Maddy stood up, walked to the mirror, and started dabbing concealer on what was left of her bruise. “Rick is my problem, not yours and Kenzie’s. I’m dealing with it.” She sighed. “He only started drinking in the last couple of months, really; before then it was just occasional high school parties. But once he graduated, he suddenly stopped working on old man Henderson’s fishing boat and started staying out several nights a week and coming home drunk. It’s been getting worse the closer he gets to leaving for college. I think he’s sort of scared, you know? But he’ll relax once he adjusts.” She smiled sheepishly. “Then again, maybe I’m the one who should relax—I never should have confronted him like that.”

“Don’t you dare make this sound like it’s your fault! Did he at least apologize?”

“No, because I think when he saw my face and that I was limping, he was too ashamed to say anything. He still goes out most nights, but he hasn’t come home falling-down drunk since.”

“He’s the one who needs a good slap in the face,” Eve hissed, coming to stand beside her. “He hit you, and then he pretends it never even happened.”

“He’s just a kid, Eve.”

“He’s almost
twenty
. If he’s big enough to flatten his sister, he should be man enough to apologize. And he should be working instead of sleeping all day.”

“He helps out on the docks once in a while for gas and spending money.”

“He should be contributing to the household.”

“I’m handling it,” Maddy growled, tossing the makeup onto the vanity, only to be instantly contrite. “I’m sorry. I know you’re just trying to help.”

“Because I love you. And because it’s killing me to see you running around with a huge smile on your face all the time, when you’re barely holding it together inside. When was the last time you did something just for yourself?” Eve gestured at her head. “You have what’s-her-name at the nursing home cut your hair because you won’t even take the time to drive to Oak Harbor and go to a real salon.”

“Elvira is a good stylist.”

“And the only new outfit I’ve seen you buy in the six months since I moved back is a new set of scrubs for work.”

“Oh, please,” Maddy said, rolling her eyes. “You’ve been watching too many Oprah shows. I do not have martyr’s syndrome; I just don’t have time to do my nails and put cucumbers on my eyes and sip mint juleps.”

She took a step back when Eve’s expression suddenly turned . . . scary.

“But as of tonight,” Eve said, dragging her toward the hall, “everything changes. You are going on a date with a handsome, hairy-armed man, and you’re going to forget about everything except having fun.”

Maddy tried resisting, but she might as well have tried pulling a freight train to a stop. “Slow down, dammit; I’m not ready to have fun with William. You said it yourself that he’s too much man for me. He’s going to eat me up!”

“God, I hope so.” Eve sneered, dragging her down the stairs. She stopped at the bottom, gave her a quick inspection, and wagged her finger at her. “Honest to God, if you’re wearing your panties when you get home tonight, I will never speak to you again,” she whispered—throwing Maddy’s own damning words from two months ago right back in her face. Eve undid the top button of Maddy’s blouse. “The minute you get to the restaurant, you order a drink and chug it down,” she continued. “But only
one
drink, just to relax. And then be very specific when you order your food,” she added deadpan, “or you’ll find yourself eating lobster until it’s coming out your ears.”

“Anything else?” Maddy drawled, fighting a smile.

Eve spread Maddy’s collar to expose more of her hiked-up cleavage and then grabbed her hand to lead her toward the kitchen. “You do the driving tonight.”

“I can’t drive if I’m drinking.”

“
One
drink. But trust me, if you drank an entire fifth, you’d still be safer than letting William drive. Here’s your date,” she said when William stood up from the table where he’d been talking to Sarah.

“Wow, Mom, you look pretty,” Sarah said, sounding more surprised than complimentary. She suddenly frowned. “Isn’t that your Thanksgiving skirt? How come you’re wearing it tonight? It looks hot.”

Maddy knew the girl was talking about the temperature and not her sex appeal. And hadn’t she just had this discussion with Eve? She didn’t care what Eve thought; William had threatened to spank her if he ever caught her in short shorts again, and she wasn’t taking any chances by wearing a short skirt.

Apparently, Killkenny wasn’t a leg man.

“The weather report said we might have showers tonight, and my other dresses would have been too cold.”
And really too short
, she silently added.

Okay, time to make eye contact, she decided, and see if she could keep from throwing up. She looked at William, only of course her eyes went directly to his arms first, and yup, his cuffs were rolled almost up to his elbows.

“I picked these myself, for the prettiest lass around,” he said, holding out a fistful of . . . good Lord, he’d picked
goldenrod
off the side of the road!

Maddy reached for them, but in a mirror image of Eve’s first date with Kenzie, Eve plucked them out of her hand. “Okay, you two,” she said, herding them toward the door. “Sarah and I are going to make popcorn and watch
Harry Potter
until Mom and Patricia get back from Bingo.”

William stopped on the porch and turned to them. “When I was with Trace this afternoon, he told me that every Wednesday, there’s something called ladies’ night at the bars in Ellsworth,” he said. “Would ye prefer to go there instead of the restaurant?”

“No!” both Maddy and Eve yelped at once.

“I mean, I’m really quite hungry,” Maddy said more demurely. “And we can have a drink with our meal if you’d like. Unless . . . unless you want to go dancing?”

“No,” William said quickly, though he didn’t shout it like they had. “I mean, that is, unless you want to?”

“No,” Maddy said. “I prefer Rhapsody in Oak Harbor.”

William started to take her arm, but Eve took hold of
his
arm and stopped him, and Maddy saw her friend glare directly into his eyes. William sighed heavily, reached into his pants pocket, and took out his truck keys.

He handed them to Maddy. “I thought you might like to drive this evening,” he said, smiling tightly. “So I can concentrate on learning the road signs. I’ve been told there’s also a set of traffic lights in Oak Harbor.”

The tight knot in Maddy’s belly suddenly eased, and she all but skipped down the stairs to the shiny new, fire-engine-red pickup truck Eve had driven William and Mabel over in earlier. The plan, apparently, was that Maddy would drive William home and keep his truck to use, and Eve would take her car when Mabel got back from Bingo.

“Okay, Willy,” Maddy said, climbing into the driver’s seat. “But it’s also your job to watch for flying moose.”

Christ’s blood, he hated feeling out of his element. And Kenzie reciting to him a list as long as his arm about the rules of dating had confused William more than helped. What was it with this century, that there were so many blasted rules?

In his homeland, when a man found a lass who was willing, they got straight to business. And if they both felt they’d had a good time, they continued on together until one or both of them found someone else they fancied more.

And permanent unions were always political, not for love.

Love was a woman’s notion, anyway, invented to make her feel secure enough to have bairns. Whereas in this century, people got married and never had children, often staying together even if the woman was barren.

After finally winding down from explaining modern courtship in the barn late this afternoon, Kenzie had suddenly handed William a box of little packets. William had ripped open one of the packets, unrolled the little disk, and stared at the thin tube in confusion. That is until he realized
what
in hell it was, and exactly
how
he was supposed to use it. That’s when he’d started cursing.

Kenzie had walked out of the barn laughing, tossing a final warning over his shoulder that Eve had promised to run William through with a sword if he knocked up her very best friend.

William frowned out through the windshield, trying to remember some of the things Mabel had suggested he talk to Maddy about. “They’ve set the foundation for my house,” he said, grabbing the door handle when she turned out of the driveway and brought the truck up to speed rather quickly.

“Already?” she asked. “So, did you set it in the sheltered cove like Samuel suggested or up on the bluff where Elbridge thought it should go?”

“I wished to place it far out on the point, where it would be surrounded by water on three sides. Charlotte and Lois liked that spot, because every room would have a good view, but the men persuaded me that the storms called nor’easters would likely sweep it away. And they said it would cost a small fortune to heat, and that I’d constantly be washing the salt spray off the windows.”

“So, where are you building it?”

“High up on the bluff where Elbridge suggested. Everyone seemed happy with the decision by the time we left.”

“What kind of house are you building? A New England Cape or something with a more modern design?”

“It’s going to be more like an Irish keep.”

“You mean, like a castle?”

“Nay, it won’t be that big. It will have only eight bedrooms.”

“Eight!” she said, glancing over at him. “That’s a pretty big bachelor pad. It’s going to take a year to build a house that size.”

William slowly started to relax and finally let go of the door handle. Maddy appeared to be quite a good driver, as she sped through the winding road much as he liked to do, only she didn’t let the tires stray onto the gravel. He needed more practice, he guessed, because it seemed if he moved the steering wheel only a wee bit, the damn truck would bolt for the ditch.

“Robbie MacBain found a good local carpenter for me,” he told her, “and the gentleman agreed to hire more men so I can be moved in by next spring. Was that a Stop sign?” he asked, looking over his right shoulder as a signpost went rushing by.

“No, it said Yield. It was a triangle, not a hexagon.”

He relaxed and faced front again. “I have a question to ask ye, Maddy.”

“About driving?” she asked, slowing the truck down slightly.

“Nay, I like your driving. And soon you’ll be riding a horse the same way. The question I have is about dating. Is it common practice for a woman to ask a man out on a date?” He looked over when she didn’t answer and saw that her cheeks had turned a soft pink. “I only ask because Hiram made a comment about young women today are always chasing after anything in pants.”

She still said nothing, though her cheeks did darken. She slowed the truck rather abruptly, bringing it to a full stop right beside a red sign that said Stop, then turned right and shot off again.

“Hiram then went on to say the affliction seems to be contagious, as even the older women like Lois and Charlotte have started being quite forward. So, is a lass asking out a man common practice or not?”

“Hiram is ninety-one years old,” she finally said. “When he started dating, women had just won the right to vote.”

“So is that a yes?”

He heard her sigh. “It’s a sometimes, okay? Sometimes women ask men out, because if we have to wait for
them
to ask
us
out, it might never happen.”

“I was going to ask you out,” he said softly.

She slowed the truck again and blinked over at him. “You were?” She snapped her eyes back to the road, and the truck resumed its speed.

William suddenly decided that modern society could take all of its blasted rules and shove them. “I was thinking that after dinner, we might drive to Dragon Cove and I could show you my house.”

Maddy glanced over at him, her gaze straying to his watch again before she looked back at the road. “I . . . I think I’d like that.”

And that’s when William knew that no matter what century it was, certain things between a man and a woman would never, ever change.