Three Days of Rain (7 page)

“I thought they did, too, sweetie. At least, I hoped they did.”

“John Olsen! What a terrible thing to say!”

“I know it is. I know it is.”

The nearest hospital was two towns over, about a forty minute drive. John managed to make it in twenty-five, running every red light and pushing the Volvo to its limit. He pulled into the emergency parking lot about the same time as Danny and Andy Morgan.

“Do you know what happened?” he asked Danny.

Danny shook his head. “All I know is Sheriff Finlay called me and told me Maddie was being taken to the hospital by ambulance and we needed to come right away. Didn’t he call you too?”

“No. Jake called and said something happened.”

Andy Morgan was silent as they walked towards the emergency room doors. John knew he was trying hard not to imagine the worst. He knew that even though Jake had broken it off with that Maddie, they were too intertwined to leave each other alone for long. John, like many others, wondered when Jake was going to wake up and realize she was no good for him. He suspected that Andy felt the same way. Jake was a good kid and Maddie was just...well, not.

It had to be hard raising the two boys after his wife died. Jenny Morgan had been a good woman and John shuddered when he thought about what she’d say about Jake and Maddie’s relationship.

John was the first one through the door. He scanned quickly for Jake. Instead he found the sheriff talking to one of the nurses.

“Finlay! What happened?”

Sheriff Finlay turned to look at him with somber eyes and noticed Abby, Danny, and Andy standing beside him. Dropping his head, he walked slowly toward them.

Finlay was tall and skinny. In high school they’d called him “Bean Pole Finlay.” He didn’t seem to mind too much, though. Back then, he was the fastest kid on the track team, and he still held the county record for cross-country. Now, forty years later, he was sheriff of the small town he grew up in. He’d been able to watch his friends settle down and have kids and watched those kids grow up.

“Why don’t we all sit down?”

Abby’s voice was weary. “I don’t want to sit down. I want to know what happened to my daughter.”

Andy spoke up. “And I want to know what Jake has to do with any of this. Is he in trouble?”

“No, no. Jake isn’t in any trouble. It’s Maddie. You see, it seems she got high on something, we don’t know what yet—”

“Oh my God, John! She OD’d!”

Finlay interrupted, “No, Abby. She didn’t. It seems she got high and broke into Jake’s house. He was woken up by the sound of breaking glass. When he went to investigate, he found Maddie sitting on the floor of the bathroom. She had broken the mirror.”

“What? But why? I don’t understand.”

“Well, John, it seems that she was quite upset about their break-up and she wanted to talk to Jake about it. She’d called earlier and he says he hung up on her. She wasn’t happy with the way that call ended, apparently, so she decided to break into Jake’s, like I said before.” He hesitated. “I’m sorry to say that Maddie tried to kill herself tonight.”

Abby sank onto the nearest chair and placed her head between her knees. John sat beside her and rubbed her back. Neither had any words to share.

Danny stepped up to ferret out the information from Finlay.

“When you say ‘tried to kill herself’ you mean with drugs or pills or something?”

“No, Danny. She told Jake everything was his fault and then proceeded to slit her wrists right in front of him. Jake jumped on top of her to stop her but she’d already done the damage. He got all cut up in the process, too, what with all the glass on the floor.

“She’s being admitted now, Jake’s with her. I gotta tell you, I ain’t never seen Jakey so upset. I think he believed her when she told him she did it because of him. He won’t leave her side. I’ll go get someone to show you to her room.” Finlay stopped and turned back around to look into four shocked faces. “I really am sorry.”

***

“Mr. Olsen, you okay?”

John looked up to find Jake standing in front of him.

“You okay?” Jake repeated.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. Must’ve lost track of time.”

John had lost track of two hours, Jake noticed. He wasn’t terribly concerned though. He knew exactly what and who had taken the minutes from him. Unfortunately, they were all haunted.

“I finished the second boat. If you’d like, I can come back and do the third tomorrow. But right now, I am beat.”

Still recovering from his thoughts, John shook his head. “You don’t need to do that, Jake. I’ll have some of the guys do it on Monday. No need to waste your entire weekend here. You go home and take some time for yourself.”

“Okay, but you’re sure you’re all right?”

“I’m about as okay as you are, Jake.”

John walked away from him and disappeared into the building. Jake walked back to his truck, threw his bag in the bed, and headed home.

CHAPTER 8

The next morning, Jake awoke more refreshed than he had in a long time. For the first time in two years, Maddie hadn’t haunted his dreams. She was still there, he knew. She just had given him the night off and, for that, he was grateful.

He began his day as usual with a few stretches and push-ups. As he laced up his sneakers, he thought of Lily. A small smile played on his lips. Despite himself, he enjoyed her company, even if she was a pain in the ass. No. That wasn’t fair. She wasn’t really a pain in the ass. She was just someone he wasn’t prepared for. Not that anything would ever develop. From what he’d heard, she was only in town through the end of the summer. Still, it was nice to have a friend who knew nothing of his past, of his pain.

He opened the door of his house only to find Lily stretching in the front yard, this time in a sports bra and bright yellow running shorts. A braid replaced the loose ponytail from yesterday and he couldn’t help but look at her appreciatively.

“Hey! Since yesterday wasn’t a total disaster, I figured you wouldn’t mind a running partner today. Look, I even brought my iPod so we can run in silence!”

She’s crazy,
he thought as he smiled to himself. “I guess I wouldn’t mind if you tagged along.”

“Well, thanks for the invitation.”

“I thought you invited yourself.”

“Same, same. You didn’t say no, now did you?”

She had the best smile. Her teeth were just a little bit crooked and her summer skin glowed golden. And her eyes. To Jake, her eyes looked like the deepest warmth he’d ever seen. And as he noticed all of this, the tiny something in his stomach got a little tighter. “No. I guess I didn’t. You all stretched?”

“Yup. I got here about fifteen minutes ago. I figured I’d get a head start.”

“How’d you know I’d run today?”

“I didn’t. I just thought I’d take the chance.”

“And what if I didn’t?”

“Who knows? Look, you wanna sit here and debate about the what-ifs all day or do you wanna put a hurtin’ on those muscles?”

“You’re crazy. Let’s go.”

This time, Jake didn’t try to push her. Instead, he settled into a comfortable rhythm right next to her. Their footfalls fell together, their strides matched, and the atmosphere was more relaxed. Whoever this girl was, he was happy to have her around, even if she was just a running partner.

When they finished running on the beach, instead of heading right home, they sat at the edge of the surf and watched as gulls dove for fish and dolphins played in the water. The morning sun hadn’t yet hit debilitating temperatures and the early day’s breeze offered comfort.

Her shoulder bumped his, playfully. “So, I’ve been doing a little background checking on you.”

Jake was intrigued. “On me?”

“Yup. I got a few tidbits here and there but I’m too much of a stranger to really get anyone to talk to me. Even Uncle Billy tells me to leave it alone.”

Jake picked up a shell and threw it into the sea. “Maybe you should take his advice.”

“Maybe. Or maybe I should ask you.”

“You may not want to know the answers.”

“True, but I’m willing to take my chances. You interest me, Jacob Morgan.”

“I’m not that interesting.”

“Sure you are. For example, I know you gave up a college scholarship when your mom died. I know you work with your dad, and your brother, Danny. I know you live alone and don’t have many real friends.”

“I have friends.”

“Of course, you do, but no one you’ve let in. No one you’d consider a—oh, I don’t know—a best friend.”

“A best friend? I’m a guy. I don’t need a best friend.”

“Maybe not. But I’m willing to bet you haven’t talked much to anyone lately. I’d bet no one knows all your demons.”

She was getting awfully close. Too close, for Jake’s taste, so he figured he’d switch the conversation around to her.

“What about you? What are you doing here? Don’t
you
have any friends?”

“Sure, I do. I just finished grad school, and I decided to hang with Uncle Billy this summer on my way to Atlanta. I have a few friends down there, and I’m planning on sharing an apartment with a college roommate. I already have an internship lined up.”

“So you’re in transition?”

“I guess you could say that.”

“And that makes you, what? Twenty-two, twenty-three?”

“Try twenty-five. I took a year between undergrad and grad. That’s not much younger than you, you know.”

Jake didn’t say anything. Instead, he stared at the surf, watching the waves roll in and pull back out. He studied how the water crashed onto itself, over and over again, like it didn’t realize it was just repeating itself. Kind of like his relationship with Madison. Sure, things changed, evolved, but in the end all they kept doing was repeating the same behaviors again and again. Nothing had ever changed no matter how much he’d wanted it to.

“Hello? Hello? Lily snapped her fingers in front of his face to grab his attention. Earth to Jake.” He looked at her and she noticed his eyes were somewhere else. Sure he was looking directly at her but he was lost for a minute. “So, you wanna tell me who she was?”

That brought him back real quick. Time to deflect. “Who
who
was?”

“I don’t know. I figure it must be a girl who keeps you so lost.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I don’t? I don’t know, Jake. You seem awfully defensive.”

“And you’re awfully nosey.” He stood and shook the sand off his clothes. “Look, I gotta go.”

“Wait, don’t go. We don’t have to talk about that.”

“Too late. You know, I had a nice time until you went all private eye on me. Thanks for the run.”

He jogged off and she sat there, not watching him leave. Instead, she too stared at the waves and noticed the repetitive manner in which the ocean moved. Over and over, the water crashed down on itself and then began again. Looking for a new ending? Or a new beginning?

CHAPTER 9

Lily was counting out her tips at the end of her shift when Billy came and sat down across from her in the booth. She barely looked up as he dropped a bowl of pretzels on the table. “Hey, Billy.”

“How you doing, Lil? You have everything you need?”

“Yeah. Of course. Business seems to be going well. At least the tips are good.”

She finished counting and put the money in her apron. She reached for the glass of water in front of her, stared at a bowl of pretzels, and debated about getting something to eat.

“Yeah. Yeah. Business has always been steady,” Billy agreed. “Mostly townsfolk, some tourists from up the road. How was your run this morning?”

“Good. It’s nice to breathe in the sea air. Makes me feel, I don’t know, energized.”

“How’s Jake?”

She looked at him for a minute before answering. She knew he had told her to keep her distance, as he had told Jake to stay away from her. She couldn’t figure out why, but she knew for Billy to become so protective there had to be a good reason, even if she didn’t listen to his advice.

Giving in to the rumble in her belly, she reached for a pretzel. “What’s the deal with you and Jake? Why can’t I talk to him?”

“Jake’s a good kid.”

“He’s twenty-eight. Hardly a kid.”

His laugh was forced. “Well, when you’ve been around as long as me, anyone under thirty is a kid.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“Look, like a said, Jake’s a good kid. He’s just had some issues dealing with his past. I don’t think he’d be good for anyone right now, and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Why would I get hurt? It’s not like he and I are gonna start dating. I’m leaving at the end of August, anyway. That would give us two months to develop something. Not gonna happen.”

“You’re a smart girl. Jake’s just haunted, for lack of a better word, by the memories of a girl who took his heart and tossed it into the ocean. He walks around like a shell of who he once was. I can see it in his eyes, and until he learns to deal with it, he’s not gonna be able to move forward. Like I said, he wouldn’t be good for you. He’s not even good for himself.”

“I don’t understand. What did she do that was so horrible?”

“You should ask him that.”

She took a large gulp of water. “I did.”

Billy lifted an eyebrow at her. “And?”

Lily shrugged her shoulders. “He got a little mad and walked away.”

“Well, there you go. He doesn’t want to talk about it.”

“But if he’s hurting that bad, doesn’t he need to?”

Billy leaned back in the booth, his eyes clouded over. “Sure he does, Lily. But you can’t make someone talk about something they don’t want to.”

“I just want to be his friend. He looks so sad. No. Not sad. Something else. Like he’s empty.”

“Lily, if you want to be his friend. Go right ahead. You’re old enough and smart enough to make your own decisions. Just be careful. He has a history of snapping.”

“Snapping? Like you think he would hurt me, like physically?” Lily didn’t think that sounded at all like the Jake she barely knew. But that was the key word—barely.

“Oh goodness, no. At least I don’t think so. But I gotta tell you, I am sure Maddie pushed him to the point where he sure as hell wanted to hurt her. She was sneaky. She was a liar and she was no good for anyone. It’s a shame, too. She comes from a good family, and she was one of the prettiest things I ever saw. What she did to him, however, was unforgiveable, if you ask me.”