Three Days of Rain (8 page)

Lily’s curiosity was peaked. What on earth could someone do that was so awful? She was lucky enough in her life to be surrounded by good people, good friends, and a solid family. Maybe she was naïve in matters of heartbreak and disrespect. “I am sure she had her reasons, whatever she did.”

“Lily, listen to me. Madison Olsen did everything she did for selfish reasons. She never once thought of anyone but herself. She never once did anything to better herself or the lives of those around her. She broke a boy I’ve known since he was in his mama’s belly. No one deserves what she did. And
that
is all I have to say on the matter. Tread lightly, Lily. Just tread lightly. That boy’s hurtin’ a whole lot.”

“All right. I’ll figure it out. Thanks for talking to me about it.”

Billy stood up, adjusted his pants over his soft belly. “Anytime. Listen, you hungry?”

“Sure, I could go for something.”

“All right, then. I’ll tell Randy to whip you up something. He’s on a roll today with the creative crap. That boy fried tomatoes and made a salad out of it. Who would've thought of sticking fried tomatoes with lettuce and that mozzarella cheese? It’s good, but what a strange way of cookin’, huh?”

“Actually, that sounds kinda good. Have him make one for me.”

“No problem, Lil. I’ll send Marta over with a beer. You look like you could use one.”

“Thanks, Billy.”

Billy walked to the kitchen and placed Lily’s order before retreating back to his office. He knew his niece wouldn’t listen. She was too caring to allow someone to walk around empty. She was just the opposite of Madison, and he walked around with guilt over the fact that he never told anyone what Maddie had done...

***

It was a busy Thursday night, busier than usual and Maddie was twenty minutes late. She was always late anymore. Billy toyed with the idea of firing her but, truth be told, she hustled when she was there. She turned tables like no one else. And besides, he liked her family. He figured she was going through something, so he gave her a little time and space. Maybe he’d ask Jake what was going on. He knew she had been in the hospital not too long ago and he knew why. He just hoped she wasn’t falling back into that pit.

It had just about hit the hour mark from the time her shift started when she hurried in. Billy’s first thought was that she looked like hell. Her normally-shiny blonde hair was disheveled and greasy. Her skin was tinged with gray and her uniform was dirty. Not at all like Maddie. Even when she was going through trouble, she always took pride in her appearance. With her propensity for drama, often her looks were all she had going for her. After all, she wasn’t the nicest person you’d ever meet.

Serving up a beer to a customer at the bar, Billy yelled over to her, “You’re late.”

“I know, Billy. I’m sorry. Just had to take care of something.”

“You coulda called. I was about to call the house to see where you were.”

“I said I was sorry, Billy. What do you want me to do? Give you my first born?”

Snippy,
he thought. At least she usually faked pleasantries.

“We’re a little backed up. Those three booths just sat down. Go and take care of them, would ya’?”

“In a minute. I have to use the bathroom first.”

“You couldn’t have done that before you got here? I’m swamped here.”

“How ’bout I piss in a beer mug and serve it up? You want me to do that? Didn’t think so. Now, let me pee.”

She hurried off to the bathroom. Billy wasn’t in the mood to deal with her shit today. Maybe he’d just send her home. Then, he’d take care of the booths. Later, he’d have to talk to her.

Quite a bit of time had passed and Maddie still wasn’t back from the bathroom. He dropped his towel on the bar and headed towards the back. He lightly knocked on the women’s door. No answer.

“Maddie? You in there?”

No answer. He jiggled the doorknob but it was locked.

“Madison! Open this door!”

When she didn’t answer, he grabbed keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door. Madison was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall. She looked dazed.

“Maddie! Are you alright?”

She rolled her head back and looked at him with glassy eyes. Something was definitely wrong. He kneeled down beside her. An empty syringe lay next to her and her arm was tied with rubber tubing.

“What did you do?”

She didn’t respond verbally. Instead, mascara-tinged tears streamed down her face. Billy picked her up and brought her back to his office. He laid her down on the couch he kept there for those busy nights he wasn’t able to make it home. After covering her with a blanket, he called her father. No use bothering Jake with this. He was already beat down from the last time she did this.

“John, It’s Billy.”

“Hey, Billy. What’s up?”

“You need to come down here.”

“What? Why? What’s happened?”

“Maddie’s on something.”

“On
something
? You mean, on drugs, don’t you?”

“Yeah. Yeah. She’s in my office right now, sleeping it off.”

“Did you call Jake?”

“No. I didn’t call Jake.”

“Okay. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Don’t tell anyone.”

“I understand. See you soon.”

Billy clicked off and looked at the girl with confusion and pity. Grabbing the chair from his desk, he and rolled it over to the couch and sat next to her, stroking her hair and trying to think of ways he could help.

Through the open window of his office, he heard John pull in and park behind the bar near the kitchen entrance. When he walked into the office, the look on the man’s face said everything.

John picked up his daughter, gave the Billy his keys, and was grateful he knew to follow and open the car door. John placed Maddie in the back seat, leaving the blanket wrapped around her. The two men didn’t say anything to each other. They didn’t need to. This was becoming too much of a usual occurrence.

Billy never told anyone about the incident, least of all, Jake. When Jake called that night looking for her, Billy just told him she wasn’t feeling well and had gone home with her parents. It wasn’t exactly a lie but it wasn’t exactly the truth either. And Billy hated that.

***

Billy shoved away the bad memories, got up from his desk, and walked back to the kitchen to pick up Lily’s order. If anyone could snap Jake out of this, it was her. He just hoped it wasn’t too late—that Jake wasn’t too far gone.

CHAPTER 10

Jake was in the backyard, working on replacing the flooring of his back deck. He’d ripped it up almost a year ago and all that was left were the concrete footings. For some reason, today he felt like he needed to accomplish something. So he went to the lumberyard and bought the materials he’d need to finish it. What used to be a standard ten by ten space off his kitchen was now going to become something more. He had great ideas for his new deck. Nothing too fancy, just different. Besides, he thought, it was high time he did something that mattered now, instead of reliving what mattered then.

He’d measured everything out, drawn up a rough plan, and now was busy starting on the frame. Since he’d left Lily this morning, he felt antsy, restless. He picked up a pizza and a six-pack on his way home from the store and went to work. For six hours now, he hadn’t thought about Maddie. He’d been too busy replaying the conversation he’d had with Lily. He was still no closer to figuring her out than he was before. At least when he thought about
her
, he didn’t close himself off and fall into memories. At least with Lily, he really had no memories, good or bad, to trip on.

The sun was still a few hours from going down, so Jake figured he’d keep working until either darkness or exhaustion set in.

He was in the garage he’d turned into a workspace cutting planks for the floor when Lily walked in, six-pack and sandwiches in hand.

She watched him for a few minutes. He was unaware of her presence and she didn’t want to scare him. He was working the circular saw like a pro. After a minute or two of watching him, she turned on her heel and walked out.

She went over to the deck he was building. It looked really nice. It wasn’t close to being finished, but she could see where he was going and what his plan for it was. She appreciated someone who could create something with their hands. Her parents had always hired contractors and Lily never understood why. Wouldn’t it be more satisfying if they’d done the work themselves? She looked at the deck and smiled.

Lily thought her parents were amazing people. Her father was a doctor and her mother stayed at home. Lily had grown up in an upper-middle class neighborhood, had lots of friends, and never wanted for anything. When her parents had wanted to send her to a private school, she balked until they allowed her to attend the public school. It was a decision she appreciated. Her parents trusted her, mostly because she never gave them any real trouble. Sure, she drank at a few parties, brought home the occasional boy, and got into a little mischief now and then. Like all teenagers, she had gone through a short “you’ll never understand me” phase. But all in all she’d been a good kid.

There were things in this life she wanted to experience. She’d never consider herself sheltered but she probably was. It wasn’t jealousy she felt over the fact that Jake could build his own deck. It was more of an I-want-to-do-that-too.

When Jake walked out of the makeshift workshop, he noticed Lily standing with her back to him. She was running her hands over the wood that he’d framed. She looked different than before. Her hair was down and curly. Strands got caught up in the slight breeze, reminding him of a willow tree. Her jeans were simple but tight enough to highlight her legs and rear. She was wearing a simple pale-purple T-shirt that highlighted the red in her hair. When she turned around, he saw that the neckline plunged just a little and gave a hint of what was just below the opening. She looked freshly scrubbed and beautiful and, for a moment, when the breeze picked up, he smelled lavender. Their eyes met and neither one moved. She just smiled. The ice surrounding Jake’s heart melted, just a little.

“Hi.”

“Hey.”

“The deck looks good so far. How long have you been working on it?”

“About a year.”

“Really?”

“Well, I tore it down last year and decided today that I should probably get it done, so I went to the store, bought the stuff, and went to work. Hey, you want a beer? I have some pizza left over from lunch, if you’re hungry.”

She turned from him and bent down. When she turned back she was carrying a six-pack and a bag.

“I asked Uncle Billy what kind of beer you drank, and I had him make you one of those crab cake sandwiches. I hope you don’t mind. They were supposed to be sort of a peace offering.”

She looked down when she said this, and the annoyance he’d felt earlier today disappeared. When he didn’t say anything, she put the items on a makeshift table.

“Well, I just wanted to say I’m sorry for before. It wasn’t really my business. I’ll let you get back to work. See ya later, Jake.”

“Wait. Aren’t you gonna eat with me?”

“I ate earlier. I had to run home and shower so your sandwich is probably cold. I had to get the smell of food out of my hair, ya know?”

“Yeah. Well thanks.”

“No problem. And Jake? I really am sorry if I made you mad.”

She was halfway down the driveway when he called out, “Lily! At least have a beer with me. I haven’t talked to anyone all day. Well, since this morning. I could use a break.”

She turned and looked at him. “Sure. I could hang for a beer.”

He took the six-pack she’d brought into the house and put it in the fridge. Grabbing two cold ones, he popped the tops off and walked back outside. He had no idea why he asked her to stay. He certainly hadn’t planned to. “Here you go. Thanks for the sandwich. I’m getting a little sick of cold pizza, to be honest.”

“Anytime. I haven’t seen you in the bar lately, so I figured you’d need something. Presumptuous, I know, but that’s me.”

Jake dug into the brown paper bag. “Aw, you brought me cole slaw, too?”

She laughed. “Yeah, Uncle Billy wouldn’t let me leave without it. I think it’s a peace offering from him, too. There should be a plastic fork in there.”

While he ate, he talked between bites. “So, Lily Burns, you grew up in Connecticut?”

“Yup. Lived there my whole life. Well, except for when I went to college. Spent four years of undergrad in Pennsylvania and lived in New York for graduate school. But I’ve never really been out of the Northeast.”

“Not even to come down here?”

“Nope. My dad and Uncle Billy don’t get along. Something about money. It kills my mom.”

“Money and family is always a bad combination, I guess.”

“I guess so. My dad’s proud and when Billy loaned my mom some money, he flipped. Made her give it back. I don’t even know why she needed it. I got scholarships to Penn State and we had enough money, minus a small student loan, to pay for graduate school. Grown-up problems, I call them.”

Jake laughed and pointed his fork at her. “I hate to be the one to tell you, but you’re a grown up now, too.”

Taking a long pull from her beer, she thought about how grown-up she actually was. “Huh. Never really thought of myself as a grown-up but then again, I never really had to fend for myself until now.”

She told him about where she grew up, about her parents, about college. He asked a lot of questions.

“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

“Nope. Just me. My parents tried and tried but they couldn’t get pregnant. Then, when my mom was forty, I surprised them. Is Danny your only sibling?”

“Yeah. He’s two years older. He’s married with kids. He was my best friend growing up.”

“Was?”

“Still is, I guess. He’s a good guy.”

“He seems like it. I saw him today. We didn’t talk much, I just took his order, but he seemed nice.”

“Was he with the wife and kids?”

“Not unless the wife and kids are an older man that looks just like him. Your father, I presume?”

“Yeah. Probably Dad. They were probably hatching up another plan to fix me.”