Beyond Broken (The Bay Boys #3) (14 page)

“Oh, no.
 
I’m—I’m still a student actually.”

“Oh!
 
What’s your major?”

Maddie figured Kate assumed she was still in college and she smiled.
 
“I’m in grad school actually.
 
I’m getting my Masters in Museum Studies.”

“That’s impressive,” Kate praised, a thoughtful, excited expression morphing her features.
 
“I’ll have to pick your brain sometime if you don’t mind.
 
A character in my novel is a curator and there’s only so much research you can do online before you need the real thing.”

“I’m not a curator quite yet, but I can try my best,” Maddie promised.

“Great, we’ll have to do coffee sometime.”

“Maddie needs to start working,” Caleb cut in quickly before the two women could launch into a discussion about what Kate’s novel was about.

“Why, we just got here, Caleb,” Luke said.
 
Maddie got the distinct impression that he was baiting Caleb in some way.

“
Uninvited
,” Caleb said.

Luke sighed.
 
“Oh, how you wound me, honey buns.
 
How long have we been friends again?”

“Too long,” Caleb grumbled under his breath.
 
“Now get out.
 
I’ll see you on Saturday night.”

Luke pointed a finger, “You better be there.
 
I reserved the table already.”
 
He turned his gaze on Maddie.
 
“Why don’t you come along with us?
 
We’re going to McTeague’s on Polk.
 
Kate can pick your brain then.”

“I’ll be down the street that night actually,” she started.
 
“At Hemlock Tavern.
 
But thanks for asking.
 
I’m sure you guys will have fun.”

Kyra had called her on Sunday.
 
Apparently, she’d met a guy in her building who had a cute friend and they were all going out on a double date that night.
 
Maddie was a little nervous about it and she knew Kyra set something up to take her mind off Caleb.
 
Especially after his humiliating rejection, which she’d told Kyra about, crying, once she got home that disastrous day.

“Hot date?” Luke asked, wriggling his eyebrows.

Maddie was all too aware that Caleb was standing right next to her.
 
She laughed, a little uncomfortably.
 
“Something like that.”

Her answer only seemed to please Luke more.
 
“Well then, I hope you have a good time.
 
Maybe we’ll run into you, who knows.”
 
He glanced at Caleb and grinned.
 
“We’ll let you two get back to work.
 
See you Saturday.”

Maddie exchanged numbers with Kate right before they left with the promise to do coffee sometime next week.
 
Maddie watched them pull out of the parking lot, still clutching her cookie plate like it was some lifeline.
 
Caleb remained quiet next to her.
 
When she turned to him, he gave her a dark look, his lips pressed tight, eyes angry.

She almost wanted to throw her hands up in the air and yell, “What could I have possibly done now?”
 
But she didn’t.
 
Instead, she didn’t say anything, because she knew she hadn’t done anything wrong and he was just in one of his moods.
 
She turned to the office stairs, setting the cookies down for Brian and Peter on her way, and started the climb in her heels.

Once in the office, like always, she got to work and tried not to look at Caleb at all, but failed.
 
By the time that she left, she realized that they’d only spoken a handful of words to one another.
 
She told herself that it was probably for the best.

THIRTEEN

What the fuck is wrong with me?
Caleb thought the next evening, all too aware that Maddie was studiously doing her best to completely ignore his presence and wondering why it bothered him so damn much.
 
This was what he
wanted
.
 
This was why he’d lashed out at her, to keep her at arm’s length.

Caleb’s uncle had always called him fickle, no matter how steadfast he tried to be.
 
His rising restlessness only proved it.

And his fucking jealousy.
 
Jesus.
 
When Maddie told Luke she had a date the night before, he’d wanted to punch something.
 
He hadn’t been prepared for the unexpected burn deep in his gut.
 
He felt like he was struggling against a force he knew would eventually consume him.
 
He was beginning to wonder why he
should
deny the inevitable.

Because whenever he thought about Maddie, she
was
inevitable.
 
That scared the shit out of him.
 
How could one woman, who’d crashed into his life a week ago, have this much hold over him?
 
They barely knew each other.
 
Every exchange between them had ended in insult or hurt.
 
Yet, something about her was magnetic.
 
She wasn’t the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, but there was something honest and open about her that Caleb craved.
 
Something naive that he wanted to corrupt.
 
Something innocent that he wanted to seize.

If she was smart, she’d run and never look back.

He had to remind himself more and more often that she didn’t need him in her life.
 
She had a good future.
 
She was a student with bright ambition.
 
Caleb imagined that she came from a loving family, despite the tragedy of her father’s sudden death.
 
She probably had a handful of good, close friends.
 
She probably had a cat or a goldfish or read before she went to bed or cooked a homemade meal each night.
 
She didn’t need someone like him.
 
He’d fuck everything up.

So why couldn’t he keep his eyes off her?
 
He didn’t know why he continued to allow her to work in the same office as him, since he got nothing fucking done when she was here.
 
There was a perfectly good office downstairs for when customers came in.
 
Why didn’t he set her up there?

You know why
, he thought, as his treacherous gaze sought her across the office.

Maddie’s eyes were focused on the screen of the laptop.
 
A stack of papers, receipts, and invoices sat next to her.
 
She would nibble on her lip every few moments, looking so damned adorable that Caleb clutched at the edge of his desk so he wouldn’t get up and do something he would regret later.

For a brief moment, their eyes met and Caleb immediately looked away, swallowing hard.
 
He wondered what prick was taking her out on Saturday and wondered why he loathed the faceless, nameless man as much as he did.

He stared at the screen of his computer.
 
And then opened up his email, telling himself that he
needed
to do something and he had hundreds of emails to sort through.
 
He resolved not to look in Maddie’s direction for the rest of the night.

Twenty minutes later, when he couldn’t concentrate on emails any longer, his eyes strayed to his desk phone and realized he hadn’t checked the voicemail today.
 
He dialed it up and sat for five minutes, listening to client requests for restorations and making notes.
 
But the last voicemail made his blood run cold.

“Mr. Montgomery, my name is Carl Riggs.
 
I’m sorry to inform you that Stella Montgomery has passed away.
 
You’re listed as a beneficiary in her last will and testament and the reading will take place next week.
 
Please call me at your earliest convenience.
 
I’m so sorry for your loss.”

The lawyer left his phone number and a few other details, but Caleb wasn’t listening.
 
Stella Montgomery, his uncle’s ex-wife, Caleb’s aunt, the woman he hated most in the world, was dead.

Before Caleb could fully process that fact, he was shaking.
 
With relief, fury, and dark memories.

Fuck, fuck, fuck
.
 
Not now.
 
God, not now.

He pressed his trembling palms into his jeans, clenching the tight material between his fingers.
 
Frantically, his eyes sought Maddie, needing something to ground him.

He felt like he was sixteen again and helpless.
 
He felt like he was in his dark bedroom and he watched, heart pounding, as the door slowly swung open.

*
   
*
   
*

“Caleb?” Maddie asked before she realized it, slowly rising from her chair.
 
She’d happened to glance up at him and what she saw frightened her.
 
Caleb was pale, a sheen of sweat on his forehead despite the coolness of the office.
 
His lips were pressed tight, his eyes glazed.
 
He shook his head, but then let it collapse into his palms until his face was shielded.

“Fuck,” she heard him whisper.
 
“
Fuck
.”

“Caleb, what is it?” she asked with a little more urgency.
 
“Are you sick?”

“No,” he said, his voice raspy.
 
“It’ll pass.
 
I—”

But then he cut himself off, shooting up from his desk with an angry, pained curse, and heading towards the office door.
 
Baffled and more than a little concerned, Maddie watched as he escaped, his footsteps falling hard and unsteady on the metal staircase outside the door.
 
After a brief moment of deliberation, she abandoned her work and went after him.

The garage downstairs was quiet.
 
Brian and Peter had already left; the doors were already closed for the night.
 
But Maddie spotted Caleb slip out of a door on the far left side of the garage.
 
She followed.

The door led to a small concrete patio outside and it appeared to be a break area for the employees.
 
It was pitch black out and the light that should’ve illuminated the small space was broken, cobwebs weaving up the sides.

After Maddie’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, she spotted Caleb crouched down in a corner, his back to the wall of the building, his head in his hands.

Maddie’s heart was pounding and she took a few tentative steps towards him.
 
“Caleb, what in the—”

“Just go back inside,” he snarled, his voice rough and angry.
 
But underneath, Maddie thought she detected confusion or hurt, so she continued to approach.

“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s wrong.
 
Should I call someone?”

“
No
,” he bit out.
 
“Just leave me the fuck alone.”

Maddie couldn’t tell if he was in physical pain or if he was having some kind of panic attack.
 
If either was true, she had no idea what she could do for him, but one thing was for sure: she wouldn’t leave him alone, no matter how much he tried to make her.

So, she crouched down in front of him and reached out to touch his shoulder, slowly, as though he was a wild animal in need of taming.
 
“Caleb.”

He flinched at her touch and finally showed his face.
 
He was still pale and he was shaking.
 
His hands trembled as he pushed her hand away.
 
“Don’t touch me,” he said hoarsely, but his tone lacked its usual viciousness.
 
It was panicked.

“Caleb,” Maddie whispered.
 
“How can I help you?”

“Please don’t touch me.”

“Okay, I won’t.
 
I promise,” she said slowly.
 
She planted her palms on the cold concrete.
 
“I’ll keep them right here.”

He drew in a shuddering breath, looking down at her hands.
 
Even through the darkness, Maddie could perceive how frantic his eyes looked.
 
Something in her ached when she looked at them and suddenly, she knew what this was about.
 
At least, she thought she did.
 
And if she was right, all she wanted to do was hold him.

Caleb’s breaths were coming out fast, like he couldn’t get enough air.
 
Maddie wondered if anyone had seen him like this.
 
And in the back of her mind, she knew that he’d resent her even more once this was over.
 
He would think this was a weakness, one that no one should know about.

But for now, she wanted to do everything she could to help him.
 
He’d helped her, all those years ago, even if he didn’t remember.
 
Not just when her father died, but once more, when she’d made a fool of herself in front of the entire school cafeteria.
 
He’d been the only one to come to her aid then and she wanted to repay his kindness in full, even if he didn’t want it.

“Can I do anything?” she whispered.

“No,” he croaked.

So, Maddie simply stayed with him.
 
Caleb looked at her for a while, their eyes connected, not saying anything at all, and Maddie stared right back.
 
It wasn’t uncomfortable, not in the least.
 
It was simply…acceptance.

Maddie didn’t know how much time passed, but eventually, Caleb’s breaths shallowed and the trembling slowed.

“Do you want me to get you something to eat?
 
Or maybe some water?” she asked, quietly, almost afraid to break the lengthy silence between them.