Page 47 of Something Old

Gwen laughed as if, in addition to stating the obvious, Madeline was also hilarious.

“Let me guess. Kelsey.”

Gwen shrugged. “I don’t even know how I know, exactly. Sometimes, especially if you’ve lived here a long time, Greenridge is just . . . pretty small, you know? Also, he came by the shop to talk to you when I was there once. Remember? We chatted for a bit.”

“Oh, right. I’d forgotten that too.”

“So?”

Madeline cocked her head. “So what?”

“Are. You. Going. To. Call. Grant?” Gwen asked with good-humored exasperation.

“Ever? For sure. Right now? About this? Only if I can’t solve it on my own.”

Gwen nodded. “Got it.”

When they returned to the shop, Gwen helped her clean up the worst of the mess around the broken seal and stuff the pipe. Madeline suspected the toilet should be drained or something, but she didn’t know how. That, too, would be something she had to leave for whoever she got to do the repairs. She hung an out-of-order sign on the bathroom door. It wasn’t really an issue customer-wise. She rarely had people ask to use it—but how was she going to work all day without going pee?

“You could hang a ‘back in five minutes’ sign and dart over to your house,” Gwen suggested, but they both knew it wasn’t ideal.

It was nearing 8:00 when Gwen looked at her smartwatch and practically leaped toward the door. “I’m so sorry. I have to jet.”

Have to jet. Gwen’s old-fashioned slang killed her, and Madeline’s mood temporarily lifted. “No worries, Cinderella. I’m used to your quick departures.”

“Cinderella? More like the pumpkin, I think.”

Madeline saw her to the door. “I’m so glad you stopped by. You don’t even know how much I appreciated your help with my chaotic life tonight.”

Gwen patted Madeline’s arm. “I was happy to help—and next time, there will be no crises. We’ll swill tea and wrap parcels so you can bring in the big bucks.”

Madeline scrunched her nose. “If the latter’s going to be a thing, forget pumpkin. I’m going to need you to become a fairy godmother.”

Gwen chuckled again, and Madeline figured that was a silver lining in the day’s bad luck. At least she’d made Gwen, who often seemed so stressed, laugh a time or two.

She didn’t bother to turn the lights out right away, thinking she’d better tackle a few more of the online purchases before she called it a night. Boots, however, decided she needed a bit of cat time first. She happily complied with his bossy demands for a head rub and back scratch. His loud purr was as effective as baby aspirin for preventing heart attacks, she was sure, and as he rumbled away, she started putting the day in perspective. There was, after all, a way she could free up a little bit of cash—even if it would be excruciatingly hard for her.

The thought was interrupted by a knock at the door. For some unexplainable reason, Madeline shivered, and her mind shouted, “Don’t answer that.”

How she wished she’d listened.

Chapter 25

“I can’t. I just can’t—” The whispery voice on the phone shuddered to a halt, and Grant’s whole body tensed. He’d been happily sketching away, even as he’d hit the talk button with his free hand. On high alert now, he dropped his pencil and got to his feet. “Madeline? Is that you? Are you okay?”

“I am. Yes. It’s me. I am okay. Yes.” Instead of reassuring him, the oddly worded line had the absolute reverse effect.

“I’m coming right now. Don’t hang up.”

It was no good. Madeline was already disconnected, but hell, it wasn’t like he wouldn’t be able to find her.

He hit the shop first and was right. All the lights were blazing, despite, he checked his watch, it being almost 9:00 p.m. Her being there this time of night wasn’t unusual, but all the lights? That was a change.

Grant took the porch stairs two at a time, grabbed the doorknob, and was about to knock with his other hand—but the knob turned. He was in. The door was unlocked this late after closing? An itchy anxiousness crawled over him.

“Madeline?”

“In here,” she croaked, and he breathed a little easier.