Once Upon A Half-Time 2(115)
“Because you won’t tell me. Let me be a part of this.”
Her arms crossed, but it only perked her chest up. “A part of what? This town? This nightmare?”
I tensed. “What nightmare?”
“All of this. Granddad is sick. We lost all the money from the insurance because of him.”
“His medical bills?”
“His gambling, Maddox.” She covered her mouth with a hitched breath. “Don’t tell anyone. Please. They know, but everyone is pretending it’s the medical bills. I didn’t even know he took the money until most of it was gone—”
“Hey.” I shrugged. “I know Matthias. He taught me everything I knew about electrical work…and enough about the horses at the track. I’d never say a damn thing.”
“We have nothing to rebuild. I lost everything. My shop. My future.” Her lip trembled. “You.”
“You didn’t lose me.”
“I lost you first.”
“Bullshit. I was always there for you. I loved you. Still do, Sweets. Why the hell did you push me away? Why didn’t you come to visit me? Give me a single fucking word while I was in prison?”
She didn’t answer.
And then I knew.
Sure as hell, like someone punched me in the gut and kicked me in the balls just to be sure I was down for the count.
“You think I did it.”
Josie’s eyes widened. She didn’t have to say shit. The shock stole my erection, shriveled my pride.
“You think I burned your fucking store down?”
She panicked, unable to speak, rushing for me when I turned for the door.
“Son of a bitch.” I nearly kicked the kitchen table. Figured that’d scare her more. I settled for slamming a palm against the wall. She jumped.
And a cascade of papers fell from her table.
The way she flinched, I’d have thought they were images of her as a centerfold. I batted her hand away, bending down to grab the oversize sheets of paper, an arm span wide.
“Maddox—”
“What are these?” I knew electrical plans, but these were general building construction blueprints. “Are these…for a rebuild?”
“It’s a long story…”
No, it wasn’t. It was a very short story, and I got it as soon as I saw the dates stamped on the fucking plans.
“These were created before the fire,” I said.
“I know, it’s—”
“Nolan Rhys.” I spat the name on the corner of the documents. “He had an engineer draw up plans for your store a week before the fire?”
Josie stilled. She tried to avoid my gaze. “The night of the fire he offered to buy the property from me. I don’t remember much after the dinner.”
“Why?”
“It was…I don’t know. Fuzzy. I must have hit my head in the shop.”
“What do you remember?”
“Maddox—”
My voice hardened. “What do you remember?”
She sighed, shrugging her shoulders. “Nolan wanted to take me to dinner to offer on the property. We ate, I told him unequivocally no, he ordered a drink just to show we had no bad feelings, and then…I got the call. I think. I know I went to the shop, and I know you pulled me out, but I can’t remember anything clearly after the drink or before the hospital.”
That fucking bastard.
It wasn’t the fire that stole her memory—it was Nolan and whatever the hell he put in her wine.
She had no idea, and no one at the hospital thought to check…
Fuck!
Had it not been for the fire, Josie would have spent the night passed out on his mattress.
And then I would have been put in jail for murder.
“What?” She bit her lip. She pulled the plans from my hand before I tore them to shreds. “Maddox, of course I knew you were innocent. You’d never hurt me, no matter what the town says. I know you. I trust you. I—”
She silenced, but those unspoken words weren’t enough to ease the churning, gut-aching rage that threatened to rend through my sanity.
Nolan.
This confirmed it. No more hunches. No more suspicions.
He wanted her. He nearly stole her. And, when she refused him, he destroyed her store, her life, her future. And he framed me for it.
She knew it too. Hell, only one reason she would have those plans. She stepped away from me, her eyes wide with hesitance.
“Nolan Rhys torched your shop?” I asked.
She swallowed. “I’m going to prove that he did.”
“And then what?”
“I’m going to put him in jail.”
That wasn’t enough. It wouldn’t be enough. I turned, stalking to the door.
Josie called for me to stay. Her hands wrapped over my bicep, pulling me back. “What are you going to do?”