Trouble in Sudden Falls: A Sudden Falls Romance (26 page)

Rogan didn’t believe him and the pleasure he’d felt at Eli’s invitation to go running washed away. “I’m gonna head back,” he said, unwilling to let Eli see how much his lack of trust hurt. He turned on his heel and began tracing their steps toward home.

“Rogan, hold up!” Rogan pretended he hadn’t heard. He could hear Eli’s footsteps falling farther and farther behind as Rogan increased his speed again and again until he was sprinting. Finally, Eli’s footfalls faded to silence and he was left with the sound of his own running shoes pounding against the pavement.

“Hi, there,” Eli said as Maddie opened her front door.

“Since when do you knock?” She took in the long lines of his body as it lounged against the frame of her door. She wondered what it would take to make him come in and bare those long lines to her view.

“The door was locked. Since when do the citizens of Sudden Falls lock their doors during the day?”

“I'm a safety girl.” She tried to keep her voice light. The truth of the matter was that since the vandalism at the store, she hadn’t felt particularly safe anywhere in town, including the house where she’d grown up.

Especially since the alarm at the store had gone off three times since it was installed on Friday. So far, it had only been a loose connection in one of the doors, but the constant blaring sirens were starting to make her feel persecuted.

In fact, the last time she’d felt safe was the night she’d spent in Eli’s arms. She considered throwing herself back into them at that moment.

"Julia Roberts,
Pretty Woman.
"

Maddie finally pried her eyes off Eli’s body and looked up into his smiling face and immediately suspected from the deepened creases at the sides of his mouth and the haunted look in his eyes something was the matter.

She’d been about to make a joke about him having won the bet and hijacking her car, but she thought better of it. “What is it?”

Maybe he regretted Thursday night. She sighed.

He stepped forward, backing her into the house before closing the door behind him. She turned to head to the kitchen when Eli grabbed her by the wrist, leaned back against the closed door and pulled her into the cradle of his body. Maddie laced her arms around his waist, realizing regret wasn’t his problem. Maybe he’d missed her.

When his arms tightened almost painfully around her and he buried her head in the curve of her neck she knew that whatever was wrong was serious.

She ran her fingertips over his back. “Talk to me. What’s going on?”

“Rogan hates me.”

“Why?”

“If I knew, then I’d be able to fix it.”

“What makes you sure?”

“He’s not speaking to me.”

“He’s a teenager. It’s in the handbook that they have to stop speaking to their parents at least once a week.”

He chuckled a little against her neck and she reached up and stroked his hair, hoping to provide whatever comfort she could.

“What can I do?” she asked, pulling back so she could see his face.

“Can I get you to take Rogan to pick up the dog? I’m pretty sure he’s not going to be willing to ask me, and that kid’s stubborn enough to carry his hundred-and-twenty-five-pound dog home.”

“Done. I’ll go over and offer as soon as you leave.”

“Thanks.”

“Anything else?”

“This is good,” he said, pulling her close once again. His lips met hers for a tender kiss.

\whisper Tinkas: I’ve been gold farming. I’ve got enough we can buy a little house. What do you think?

Tinkas: Is that a proposition? ;)

DarkWizard: Do you want it to be?

Tinkas: …

DarkWizard: Of course, you’d have to actually tell me where you lived if we were going to move in together.

Tinkas: What does it matter? It’s not like I’m going to be allowed to meet you IRL.

DarkWizard: Why not?

Tinkas: Parental prohibition.

DarkWizard: Yeah. I got some of that too. My father totally pissed me off today.

Tinkas: How so?

DarkWizard: He’s a control freak. I’ve done everything he’s asked since moving here. Cleaned up my act. I get good grades. Nothing is ever good enough.

Tinkas: I’m familiar with the syndrome. ~rolls eyes~

A knock at Rogan’s door had him looking up from his computer screen. Maddie stood in the doorway, a tentative smile on her face.

“Hey, Rogan. How’s it going?”

He shrugged. “Fine, I guess.” He glanced back when a beep told him Tinkas had sent another instant message.

Tinkas: Are we going to play or what?

“Can I finish this up?” he indicated the screen with his pointer finger.

“Sure.”

DarkWizard: Got company. Catch u l8r?

Tinkas agreed and he exited the game before turning his full attention on Maddie. “What do you need?”

“Your dad said you might need a ride to pick up Fluffy.”

“Why can’t Eli?”

One corner of her mouth twitched slightly. “He’s under the impression you hate him and would rather carry your dog home on your back.”

“I never said that.”

She shrugged. “You guys are still feeling each other out, I suspect. He was trying to make things easier on you. So how about it? Mind a ride in a vintage Mustang? It might not be in my possession for much longer.”

Rogan looked up in alarm. “You’re not going to sell that sweet ride, are you?”

“Absolutely not. I kinda lost a bet to your dad, though. The stakes were he got unlimited use of my car if he won.”

“And you let him win?”

Maddie chuckled. “Apparently.”

“What was the bet?”

Maddie’s face turned red. “Uh—”

“You don’t have to tell me.” Rogan immediately guessed it involved something embarrassing and he let her off the hook. First, he liked her and didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable. Second, he decided if it had to do with sex, he really,
really
didn’t want to know.

“Thanks.” Her relief was obvious. “Ready to go get Fluffy?”

“Sure.” Rogan turned to shut his computer down then followed Maddie down the stairs.

Someone on the sidewalk said “Hi” as they pulled out and Maddie waved.

“Geez. What is it with this town? Does everyone know everyone else?”

“Yup,” she said, then winked. “I know what you’re thinking, ‘cause right now I’m thinking the same thing. Actually, I’ve been thinking it ever since I got here: Why-oh-why didn’t I take the
blue
pill?”

Rogan couldn’t help but grin and feel included for once. “Joe Pantoliano,
The Matrix
. That’s my favorite movie.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” He shrugged. “I think it’s probably a big fave of lots of gamers. There’s a quest, a lot of characters, good vs evil.”

“Explain the gaming thing to me. I’ve never gotten into it.”

“The role-playing games—the big ones like
League of Legends
or
WoW
—kind of come with their own community. It’s not about killing this monster or getting game money. You have to play as a team in order to advance. So you join a guild—which is a group of other people playing the same game on the same team as you. And you play with those guys—and girls—all the time. They become like family almost.”

“Except that you never have to meet them in real life,” she said, taking a turn onto Main Street from Oakwood Avenue.

“There is someone in my guild that I’d love to meet in real life, but she refuses to.”

“What’s her name?”

“Tinkas.”

“What name did her mother give her?”

Yet another thing she wouldn’t tell him. “I have no idea.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, I know. I kinda have an imaginary girlfriend,” he said, laughing ruefully.

“What about real girls?”

“I’m not very good with real girls,” he admitted. He could see why Eli liked her. She was easy to talk to. “I’m taking this girl—Amy—from school to the Spring Formal… but her mom hates me, so I doubt we’ll start dating or anything. She’s nice though.”

“Nice, huh?” she asked as they pulled up to the vet clinic right beside her antique store.

His face flushed. He’d said too much. Clearing his throat, he put all his concentration on getting out of the car.

“Too nice, really. I’d still rather meet Tinkas. We’ve been hanging out online for a couple of years. She’s way different than Amy.”

“She looks like she’s ready to go home,” Maddie said, as Fluffy jumped up on Rogan to lick his face.

“Down, girl.” He dropped to his knees to give Fluffy a serious scratch behind her ears and to give her tongue unfettered access to his face. “You’ll rip out your stitches.”

Maddie shuddered at the tongue bath, but Rogan looked happier than she’d seen him in days and she couldn’t help but to reach out and give him a scratch between his shoulder blades as he rose. “Ready?” Eli had taken care of the bill earlier that afternoon, so they were free to go.

He nodded as he hooked Fluffy’s leash to her collar. “Yeah. I’d like to get home before dark so I can take her for a bit of a walk.” Fluffy trotted along beside him, clearly exactly where she wanted to be. “Hey Maddie?” He stopped her when they hit the sidewalk.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for bringing me. I really appreciate it.”

“Anytime.” She opened the door to the car and slid the front bucket seat forward for the dog to get in the back.

A blaring siren from the antique store next door had Maddie cursing under her breath.

“What is the point of installing a flippin’ alarm if it goes off every three seconds?” She turned to Rogan. “Stay with the car. I’ll be right back as soon as I turn off the alarm.”

A truck came barreling around the side of the antique store, tires squealing against the asphalt. She didn’t see who drove, and they were gone before she could process anything. “Stay here.”

He nodded and she trotted around to the back side of the store to find the honorable Mayor Watson trying to jimmy the cellar doors to the basement back into place.

She cleared her throat.

Mayor Watson turned toward her, the blood draining from his face. “Oh, hell.” He collapsed to a seated position on the now-closed cellar doors.

“Can I help you with something?” she asked mildly.

He fiddled with the padlock still in his hands. “I don’t suppose we can simply forget this happened?”

Since the level of embarrassment he seemed to be feeling rivaled the level of embarrassment she’d met at his hands during the council meeting, she didn’t feel compelled to cut him down quickly.

“Depends,” she said.

“On?”

“What you’re doing here.”

He hesitated and she folded her arms across her chest and waited for him to answer.

“Can I count on your discretion?”

She knew immediately that he was somehow connected to the stuff in the basement. She nodded. “What people do in the privacy of their own homes is their own business.” She felt a grin tug at the corner of her mouth. “I suppose that goes for what people do within the privacy of my store’s basement as well.”

He breathed an obvious sign of relief.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to call the police or tell the town.”