“You’re my sister,” Ashleigh continued. “And sisters support each other. They don’t go sneaking around and lie to each other, and do God knows what else. After everything I’ve done for you, you turned around and stab me in the heart.”
“I know there’s history between you and Gray,” Maddie said, her voice tentative. “But it all happened a long time ago. Can’t you let bygones be bygones?”
“It’s not about me and Gray. It’s about me and you. What’s going to happen when Gray goes back to L.A.? Are you going with him?”
“I don’t know. We haven’t talked about that.”
“So you’d leave?” Ashleigh asked, her voice rising an octave. “You’d walk away from mom and me? And from Carter and Grace? You’d break their hearts.”
“I’d never want to hurt anybody. And I’m not planning on going anywhere right now.”
“So you’re going to have a long distance relationship?” Ashleigh’s laugh was short and humorless. “You really think a virile man like Gray would settle for that? You’re crazy, Maddie. He’ll end up hurting you the way he hurt me. The way you were hurt when you went to New York.”
Maddie’s chest tightened at her sister’s words. “He won’t hurt me,” she whispered.
“That’s what I thought, too. All those times he held me in his arms and told me we were forever.” Ashleigh’s eyes sparkled with tears. “He made me promises, and then he broke them. You saw what he did to me. You saw how much I hurt. And you’re hurting me again by being with him.”
“I don’t want to hurt you,” Maddie told her. She reached out, tried to take Ashleigh’s hand, but her sister pulled away. “You have Michael. And Grace and Carter. If things hadn’t ended with you and Gray the way they did, you wouldn’t be their mom.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Ashleigh insisted. “You’re my sister. You’re supposed to be on my side. Always.”
“I am. I am on your side.”
“Then end it with Gray. Let him go back to L.A. and we’ll go back to the way things were. We were happy, Maddie. We all were. I have my family. You have mom and your music and the diner. It works for us. Don’t let Gray ruin it.”
Maddie blinked. “It worked for you. I’m not sure it did for me. It feels like I’ve been living in the dark for so long. Then Gray came along and let the light in. I don’t want to go back to who I was. I like my life better this way.”
“Oh for god’s sake. The next thing you’ll be telling me is that you love him.”
Maddie swallowed hard.
“You don’t love him, do you?” Ashleigh asked, her narrowed eyes boring into Maddie’s. “Tell me you’re not in love with Gray Hartson.”
Maddie’s thoughts were full of him. Of the softness of his eyes whenever he spoke to her. The heat in his hands whenever he touched her bare skin. And those kisses. Those teasing, heartbreaking kisses. They filled her soul in a way she’d never experienced before.
“I have feelings for him,” she admitted.
Ashleigh shook her head. “Does he know what happened at Ansell?”
“I haven’t told him yet.”
“Then those feelings you have mean nothing. If you don’t feel safe enough to tell him everything about you then it’s just pretend, isn’t it?” Ashleigh leaned forward, her voice urgent. “If you can’t rely on him to be there for you, what’s the point? And you can’t rely on him, Maddie. The way I couldn’t rely on him. He’ll use you up and toss you aside, and I don’t know if you’ll recover from that a second time.” She folded her arms across her chest. “And if you think I’ll be there to help you when he leaves you, you’re wrong. I saved you once, but I won’t do it again.”
There was hurt in Ashleigh’s eyes, and it killed Maddie to see it. “I’m so grateful for everything you’ve done for me,” she said, her heart aching. “And I’ve done everything I can to pay you back. I’ve been there for you, too. Supported you when you had Carter and Grace. Taken care of mom so you didn’t have to worry.” Maddie took a deep breath in. “But I can’t do this for you. I can’t give up my one chance at hap
piness.”
Ashleigh’s expression was tight. “If you want to throw your family away for some guy we all know is bad for you, go ahead. But I won’t be here to watch it. Nor will Carter and Grace.” She unfolded her arms and turned on her heel, her blonde hair swinging behind her as she stomped across the room. Her stiletto heels banged against the wooden floor. Wrenching the door open, she turned back to Maddie, her eyes tight and dark. “I hope you’re happy,” she told her. “Because you’ve just broken my heart.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Your sister’s a bitch. That’s all there is to it.” Laura crossed her legs, her bare toes skimming the water rising and falling against the harbor wall. She and Maddie were sitting on the old flagstones, their jeans rolled up, their shoes and socks placed carefully beside them. It had been warm today, enough for this Friday’s Chairs to be full to bursting with townsfolk. Behind them, they could hear the rumble of gossip from the adults clustered in circles, and the shouts of the children as they played makeshift football games.
“She’s right, though. Family should come first.” Maddie traced a circle in the water with her toes, watching as it disappeared. “I upset her.”
“Over a guy she used to date when she was a teenager?” Laura said, shaking her auburn curls. “That was a decade ago. They were kids. Jeez, if I wasn’t allowed to date any guy one of my family or friends used to crush on, I would’ve been a spinster for the rest of my life.” She raised an eyebrow.
“Oh shut up.” Maddie nudged her with her shoulder. “Guys used to cluster around you like flies before you got married.”