Page 52 of Mountain Dreams

“I wasn’t the one who called it off,” Maddie said, still reeling from her family’s reaction.

“Wyatt’s a damn fool,” Brian huffed.

Liz patted his hand again. “When did this happen?”

“About a week ago.”

“Why’d you wait so long to tell us?” Debbie asked.

“I needed time to process it. Plus, I know how busy you all are.”

“We’re never too busy for you,” Sara said sweetly.

“How are you coping?” Liz asked.

Maddie had thought the first part of her news would be the most difficult, but now she wondered if she’d gotten it backward.

“Are you still living with Wyatt?” Debbie asked, scrunching up her nose.

“No.”

“Where are you staying?” Liz asked.

She took a deep breath. “You guys remember Cody Sawyer, right?”

Everyone went silent, and when she glanced around the table, she saw wide eyes staring back at her, except for Brian’s, which were narrowed.

“Of course we remember Cody,” Liz said. “We just saw him at your engagement party.”

“Who could forget him?” Debbie said and wiggled her brows.

Sara swatted Debbie’s arm, but she was smiling as she did so.

“The Sawyers own a resort, right?” Brian asked, getting right down to business.

Maddie nodded. “He and his brother, Jax, run it. They also have a sister, Dakota, but she lives in Knoxville.”

“I remember when their parents died in that horrible car accident,” Liz said.

Later, Maddie would think Liz seemed more saddened by that than by the wedding being called off.

“Cody lives in a cabin on the resort property, and I’m staying there temporarily. There’s an apartment in the basement, and I’m paying rent.” She’d added that detail to appease her dad, who seemed disturbed about her “shacking up” with Cody.

“How sweet of him to take you in,” Debbie said, grinning.

“We’re friends,” Maddie said sternly, reminding herself as well as her family.

“You could have moved back home,” Brian said.

“Or stayed with one of us,” Sara said, motioning to herself and Debbie.

“Thanks, but you two have a full house already,” Maddie said.

“What about us?” said Liz. “We have two empty bedrooms.”

How could Maddie explain without hurting their feelings that her pride had prevented her from coming home? “This is only temporary, until I find an apartment.”

“Is there something else we can do for you?” asked Sara.