The Girl Who Came Back

Alone on the front grounds a few minutes later, she quickly dialed Stephen’s number.

“Hello, Eliza. I tried calling you just now.”

“I know, Stephen. I was in the hospital and couldn’t take the call. What’s up?”

“I wanted to see how you’re doing. How’s Maddie? Any change in her condition?”

“Maddie’s still in a coma. I don’t think the future looks all that good. The longer she’s in the coma, the less likely it is she’ll recover.” Eliza didn’t like thinking about that.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I know that’s disappointing. Is there anything you can do?”

“Not really. Be with her, I guess.”

“Do you know yet when you’ll be returning home? I’ll be disappointed if you can’t make it here this weekend.”

“I was only planning to come out for part of Saturday and Sunday,” Eliza reminded him. Why did she feel so cantankerous? She should be happy to hear from Stephen. “If I can’t make it, you’ll still have a good time.”

Her mood had to do with coming home to Maraville. Not coming home, she corrected herself. Coming back to visit. Maraville wasn’t home.

“I can fly down to join you if you need me,” he said.

He was sweet to offer. “Thank you, but there’s nothing you could do. Maraville is a sleepy southern town which hasn’t changed much since I left. As soon as I know more about Maddie’s prognosis, I’ll have a better idea when I’ll be heading back.” Much as she would like to see him, she knew he wouldn’t fit in here. And then she’d feel responsible for entertaining him.

“Call me tomorrow,” he said.

“I will.”

She clicked off the phone when he hung up. She should also check in with her boss, she realized.

Cade strode from the hospital.

“No change,” he said, not breaking his stride.

“Cade, wait,” she called as he moved past her.

He stopped and turned to look at her.

“Tell me about the loan,” she said.

“I don’t know the particulars, only that Maddie was having difficulties lately. She mentioned it once when we were talking.”

“When you two were planning that home for unwed teens?”

He raised an eyebrow. “What did she tell you about that?”

“Nothing. I heard it from Betsy.”

“I thought we had a deal going, but if Allen sells the property, it’ll change things.”

“But you plan to buy it.”

“If I can. But to recoup the costs, I’d have to develop at least part of the property. The house is going to take a lot of renovation to make it suitable for group living. If I have to purchase it outright on top of renovations, I’ll have to find the money somewhere.”

“What do you mean, develop the property?”

“Build some houses to raise cash.”

Eliza thought of the woods and meadow area in the twenty-five acres Maddie owned. As children, April, Jo and she had played freely there, their imaginations transforming the forest and fields into magical kingdoms.

“What are you talking about?” she asked. “Who would buy houses here?”

“Maraville is becoming a popular bedroom community of New Orleans. Lots of new houses are going up. Maddie’s land is prime. I could build a development there that would cover the costs of buying the property and funding the home I want to establish.”

“How could you?” Eliza was outraged at the thought.

Cade shrugged. “There’s a consortium trying to buy up property around here for an exclusive golf and country club. Maddie’s twenty-five acres would be prime land for that. It’s them or me, and I’d rather it be me.”

“The property is too hilly,” Eliza protested. “It’d make a lousy golf course.”

“But the house would make a terrific country club, and some of the back acreage could be leveled enough for a golf course. I met a lot of opposition with my proposal. Allen would love nothing better than to see it permanently squashed.”

“A home for unwed teens. Was Maddie planning to go on living in the house?”

“She was going to run the place,” Cade told her. “I guess her stroke puts an end to that idea.”

“After losing her foster care license?” Surely they hadn’t forgotten that, Eliza thought. “Who would let her?”

“It’s a long story. In the meantime, I hope Allen won’t try to push things through just because she’s in a coma.”

“They were seeing each other just before I left. I guess the romance died,” she added, almost to herself.

“They stopped seeing each other the same time you girls left,” Cade told her. “Guess he couldn’t risk being associated with a child abuser.”

Anger flared in Eliza. “Maddie never abused anyone and you know it.”

CHAPTER FOUR

CADE WATCHED ELIZA WALK AWAY, back into the lit lobby. She’d changed in the years since he’d last seen her. She was tall and slim and carried herself with an air of assurance that had been lacking that last afternoon when she’d come to see him. She’d been with Shell Montegue all day, then had tracked down Cade with some cock-and-bull story about Chelsea lying. He’d never heard the real story from his sister; she’d been dead the next time he’d seen her. If Eliza had told him about Chelsea’s call earlier, he might have saved his sister.

Or if she’d kept quiet about Eddie seeing Darcy. Maybe he could have told Chelsea in a way that would have been less traumatic for her. But how could Eddie’s cheating not be a shock when Chelsea had been pregnant with his baby?

He’d never forgive Eliza for telling his sister.

For a moment, the past caught up with him. He remembered the times they’d shared, the plans they’d made. His feelings for Eliza had been so intense. He’d never experienced anything close to them in all the years they’d been apart.

He turned and headed for his car. He had hours of work still ahead and no time to reminisce. Somehow he had to make sure Allen didn’t jerk the property out from under Maddie and him. The proposed home for teens was too important to him. He was counting on its completion to bring some kind of healing to his life. Nothing else had worked.

Cade drove the short distance to the old house his mother had owned, which he’d inherited after her death. Pulling into the driveway, he tried to ignore the dilapidated state it was in. The place was in need of major repairs, repainting and some kind of landscaping. Hard to believe the owner was a successful builder. He should do something about it.