Page 54 of The Cinnamon Spice Inn (Maple Falls #1)

FORTY-SEVEN

MADISON

Madison knew the one person who might have answers was her dad.

Gram had meant well, trying to explain how things were back then. And part of Madison understood it. She really did. But another part couldn’t shake the feeling that her dad should have trusted her enough to tell her the truth.

He should have told her when she first came home that the inn was no longer theirs. The truth left a knot in her chest. It was a tangled ball of gratitude, guilt, and grief that she didn’t know how to process.

When she walked inside, Madison stopped and stared at the empty lobby. There used to be so much life here. Even if Barry spent most of his shift asleep behind the front desk, feet propped up and snoozing soundly.

Madison thought again about the Plated offer and realized she’d have enough money to keep Barry on staff and hire some new workers who might not mind working. Barry was as iconic to the inn as her mom’s cinnamon rolls. It would feel good to have everyone here—back home.

Home. The word felt hollow with the realization that all this wasn’t theirs anymore.

Madison found George out back, refilling Honey and Biscuit’s water trough. Cocoa was nearby, chewing lazily on a stick.

“You want some fresh water?” he asked as the Highland cows ambled over. “Just be patient. There’s a good lass. I’m almost done,” he continued to say.

Madison’s boots crunched on the gravel as she walked over, arms crossed, hugging herself. The sun was warm, but she still felt cold. She tried to clear her throat, but when her dad turned and smiled, the tears welled up before she could stop them.

George wiped his hands on a rag. “Madison, what’s wrong?” He stepped forward, ready to help his daughter in any way she needed.

“Why didn’t you tell me about the inn—about the sale?” Madison blurted out before she could stop herself.

George looked away and Madison instantly felt guilty. “I’m sorry, I was just blindsided by it, and I want to understand.”

George looked up and met his daughter’s eyes. “I almost did, the other night.”

Madison nodded, remembering their conversation.

“But then I’d already talked to the mayor. Told him I planned on buying it back. No idea how, but it felt like the right thing to do.”

Cocoa stood up and padded over to Madison, tail wagging low. Madison gave her a half-hearted scratch behind the ears as her dad sighed and stared out at the trees like he was searching for an answer.

“I was hoping you’d never have to find out. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“What happened? I thought back then the inn was doing okay.” Madison thought back to her senior year of high school and how it seemed like they were booked every weekend.

Or maybe they weren’t, and she just hadn’t paid any attention.

She’d been too busy going off with her friends, living life as a teenager without a care in the world.

Maybe she should’ve paid more attention.

George rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding her eyes. “It wasn’t overnight. People stopped coming. Folks take trips to fancy resorts now, not old inns like ours. And when you got into college, we knew we couldn’t afford both—running this place and giving you the future you deserved.”

Cocoa trotted over to George and leaned against his leg. George kept going. “Then your mom got sick. Everything piled up at once. We did what we thought we had to.” Her dad looked away, hands on his hips. Madison saw that he was fighting to hold it together. It made her tears fall fresh.

“You should’ve told me. I could’ve taken out loans or tried for more scholarships. You guys shouldn’t have made that decision without me.”

“Oh now, you were still just a kid. Your mom and I wanted you to live your dream. We didn’t want you stuck here fixing leaky pipes, never knowing what else was out there.”

Both of them fell quiet. Madison couldn’t help but notice how much older, how much more tired her dad looked now compared to when she was in college. He looked exhausted, and despite her frustration, despite the hurt at being left out, sympathy won out.

They stood there quietly for a moment, listening to the trees sway and the faint sound of a distant chainsaw from another property.

Cocoa scratched at her dad’s pant leg for him to pick her up. He did so without a second thought. As he scratched her ears, he said, “The town’s always been here for us. Maybe too much sometimes.”

“Do you regret it, selling the inn?” Madison asked softly.

George looked down at Cocoa, as if he couldn’t say the words to his daughter. “Only when I realized I might lose this place—and you—forever.”

At that, he did look up and met her eyes. Madison saw so much love in his expression, but there was sadness too. So much so that Madison’s heart broke right in half. And she knew she’d do whatever it took to get the inn back in their family’s name.

No matter what.