Page 27

Chapter Twenty-Six

“Freedom,” I sang, tapping the dashboard of Beau’s truck like it was a drum.

“Freedom,” I sang a little louder, keeping the beat with my fingers.

“Freedom,” I sang really loud, stretching the word out in an off-key falsetto, drumming like I was Travis Barker.

Beau looked over at me. “You do realize there are other words to that song, right? It starts with ‘I won’t let you down, I won’t give you up.’ Pretty solid lyrics, Maddie.”

Naturally, I ignored him.

“Freedom,” I sang with even more conviction, like George Michael himself had taken over my body…minus the talent.

Beau started to laugh. I liked that about him. He thought I was funny, and he didn’t tell me I sounded like a sack full of cats yowling, like my family did.

“Happy to get out of your house, huh?” he teased.

“So much happier than you can ever imagine. I’m freeee!”

He laughed some more.

“What are you going to do after you drop me off at Down Home Diner?” I asked.

“I’m going to go for a run with Kai. Then I’ve got a few calls to make to my team.”

I shifted in my seat so I could see him clearly. “Damn, Beau. I didn’t even think about it. You’re late going back to Camp Pendleton. Isn’t your boss, I mean your captain, mad?”

“Down girl, I’m not AWOL. I have his permission to be here. He gave me extra time after the whole ‘my girlfriend was kidnapped’ thing.”

I bit my lip and turned all my attention to him. “Yeah, but for how long?”

He let out a long breath. “Why don’t we save that conversation for when I get you home?”

“Beau, I don’t think I can wait that long. It’s kind of like I have the Sword of Damocles hanging over my head. I’d prefer to know when it’s going to drop.”

He reached over and grabbed my hand.

“It’s going to be okay, Maddie. We’ll figure something out. I promise.”

How could he sound so calm?

How could I be such an idiot? It was like I’d had my head in the sand since I’d woken up in the hospital.

“Maddie?” He squeezed my hand.

“Hmmm?”

“We’re going to work something out. I promise.”

“You can’t make that promise,” I whispered.

“Yes, I can. Now we have ten more minutes until we reach the diner. Why don’t you pick up my phone out of the console? I’ve got the Bluetooth set up with the SUV. Download “Freedom” from iTunes and you can sing along to it. Isn’t it good that they upgraded me to this Escalade after I bitched about the Camry? The sound system is fantastic.”

“Are you trying to placate me?”

“Absolutely.”

Soon George Michael’s voice filled the SUV. As I sang along with the chorus, I started to feel a little better.

* * *

As I was walking up to the diner, I got a text from Ruby telling me she was going to be half an hour late. The supplier for Java Jolt arrived late, and she needed to make sure they got their entire order.

It was one o’clock, and the diner closed at three. I hated that our time was going to be cut short. There was no one in line when I entered, which had been my plan. I had hoped to miss the lunch crowd.

“Maddie!” Little Grandma cried out. “Come give me some sugar.”

I grinned. Little Grandma slipped off her stool by the hostess stand and held out her arms for me. I bent down and gave her a big hug. I didn’t hold her too tight, because she was over a hundred years old. But she grabbed onto me pretty good.

“I prayed they’d find you, Maddie Girl.”

I frowned. “But how did you know I was taken?”

“I knew.”

I shook my head. Nobody ever questioned Little Grandma.

“Ruby was supposed to meet me now?—”

Little Grandma patted my hand. “I know, honey, that dratted supplier was late to our place here, and Java Jolt was his next stop. Lettie!” she called out to her granddaughter.

“We have a four-top ready for you by the window,” Lettie called back from across the restaurant. That didn’t bother any of the residents of Jasper Creek who were finishing up their lunches.

I matched Little Grandma’s steps as we walked to the table near the window. She sat down slowly, and Lettie came over putting a cup of tea in front of her before asking me what I would like to drink.

“Lemonade please.”

“Coming right up.”

“I am so glad we get this time to talk, Maddie,” Little Grandma said, starting off the conversation.

“I am, too. I always love our talks.” And I did. We had our granny, but she lived a couple of hours outside of Jasper Creek. Little Grandma was always a constant in our lives when we were growing up. For me especially. I was often lost in my books, and I seemed to take things harder than a lot of the older kids in my family. The yelling, the screaming, the abuse. I never showed it on the outside, but Little Grandma knew. She found me in the library, and would take me into the stacks and sit there with me and put her arm around me. Giving me quiet solace.

“I hear tell that you were unimaginably brave during your captivity.”

I laughed. “Someone has been feeding you tall tales. I was scared to death. A little bit pissed-off, but most of the time, petrified.”

“You were somehow able to text all of your sisters, weren’t you?”

“I guess.”

Lettie plopped a lemonade in front of me, along with a BLT. She put a perfectly baked biscuit with butter and marmalade in front of Little Grandma.

“Mom put extra mayo and bacon on your sandwich, Maddie, just the way you like it.”

“That was fast.”

“She gave you Harvey’s. He’s going to have to wait a little bit longer,” Lettie whispered. The three of us giggled.

“Poor Harvey. Is there a cinnamon roll left over from breakfast?” Little Grandma asked.

“I’m sure there’s a couple, but I was hoping to give them to Maddie so she could take them home to Beau.”

“Oh. That’s a grand idea,” Little Grandma complimented her granddaughter. “Give Harvey a free side of macaroni salad. He’ll like that.”

“Will do,” Lettie smiled and walked away.

Little Grandma took a sip of her tea while I took a bite of my sandwich. Why did everything taste better here than when I made it at home? While I chewed, Little Grandma started talking.

“You know, Maddie Girl, being humble is a good thing, but you don’t always need to hide your light under a bushel. You are a remarkable young woman. Beau is right to be ass over teakettle in love with you.”

I felt myself blushing. “Did you just say ass?” I teased.

“Don’t try to waylay me, Missy. You get my point, now, don’t you?”

My shoulders slumped. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Now tell me, do you need to talk to a professional about what happened to you?”

That was another thing I loved about this woman. She might be over one-hundred years old, but she was definitely up with the times.

“I’m one-hundred percent fine. The doctor gave me a clean bill of health. I feel great.”

“So emotionally you’re okay?” she asked me, as she raised one white eyebrow.

“Absolutely.” I smiled. I took a bite of my sandwich.

“Well, you’d know. In a sense, you are the professional, being a social worker and all.” She broke off a piece of her biscuit and buttered it. “I’m glad to hear there are no residual effects.”

Shit .

I thought about how I wasn’t letting Beau see me naked.

Little Grandma must have seen me hesitate.

“Is there something on your mind?” she asked gently.

“Normally it’s Trenda I’d talk to…”

“But?”

“She feels so guilty because they mistook me for her. I can’t tell her anything about what happened.”

“Honey, can you tell me?” the older woman asked quietly.

I looked around the room, and I realized there were no occupied tables close to us. I slowly nodded.

“It’s really no big deal. I mean, nothing terrible happened to me.”

“You were dragged away from Trenda’s house. You needed emergency surgery. You almost died. Bad things happened to you, Maddie.”

“I mean, they didn’t really abuse me, you know?”

“Define abuse, Sweetpea.”

God, she’s talking to me like I talk to the kids that I deal with in my job.

Shit! I’m sounding like them too!

My eyes went wide.

Little Grandma gave me a wry grin. “Had an epiphany, did you?”

“I was punched and slapped. Not so much different from the stuff that happened if you weren’t quick enough to get out of the way of dear old Dad.”

The smile on Little Grandma’s face was wiped clean. “That man needs to rot in hell.”

“I won’t disagree with you, especially after what he did to Piper.”

“Do you want to talk about what else happened?” she asked in a solemn voice.

I nodded. “I think I need to.” I bit my lower lip. My hands were clenched in my lap. “You know my job, right?”

She nodded.

“So, I’ve seen some really bad things, but I also know that sometimes even small things can mess with you. So, I guess I’m messed up.”

“You never have to apologize for your emotions, Maddie. We’ve discussed this. How you feel is how you feel. You’re entitled to your feelings.”

I let out a breath, and some of the knots in my stomach seemed to ease.

“There were two of us in the house where the two men were. I mean two women,” I explained, looking down at my sandwich. “Only, Lana wasn’t a captive. She was kind of one of the men’s girlfriend.”

Little Grandma nodded. Encouraging me to go on.

“She was out of her mind. I don’t know if it was drugs or what. She begged her boyfriend. He was a biker. She begged him to let her live at his motorcycle compound. He said he would make her a prostitute, but she didn’t care.”

Little Grandma sucked in a deep breath, but when I looked up at her, her face looked calm.

“I asked her to help me, and we’d both escape. She said vile things and said she wouldn’t. She said she loved Grizz.” I looked down at my sandwich again. “It was sick. She was sick.” I stopped talking.

“And then what happened?”

“Grizz threatened to rape me.”

“Aw, Maddie Girl.”

“But he didn’t. Not even close,” I rushed to assure her.

“Yes, Sweetpea, but you had to be scared.”

“I really was scared when they forced me to cook dinner. I saw what they were doing to Lana out in the open.” I felt a tear dripping down my face. “I decided not to think about it. So, I didn’t. But deep down, in my heart, and in my gut. I was scared.”

“Give me your hands.” Little Grandma put her hands on the table, palms up. I clutched them.

“And now, Maddie?”

“It’s stupid,” I whispered.

“We agreed. Nothing’s stupid, remember?”

“I’ve been feeling dirty. Like somehow this did touch me.”

She squeezed my hands, and we stared at one another. Suddenly, my stomach growled. Loudly.

I giggled. Then Little Grandma giggled.

“How are you feeling now, besides hungry?”

My eyes widened, and my shoulders totally relaxed. I wasn’t feeling dirty anymore.

Beau was in for one wild night.

“I’m feeling better,” I said slowly. “I’m feeling lighter.” I grinned. “You should bottle your wisdom and sell it as Little Grandma’s Cure-All Elixir.”

“Enough with your sass. Eat your lunch.”