Page 208 of No Headlines Please

I recalled the hurt in Maisie's eyes and all of the trouble with Tessa. Even now, my stuff was still in storage. My clothes. My furniture. My pots and pans. I'd been living like a vagabond for months when I hadn't needed to.

Suddenly, I felt like crying – tears of relief that I could finally put this behind me and tears of frustration that I'd lost so much for such a stupid reason.

I was still processing it when Maddox looked to the guy and asked, "So where's the apology?"

He blinked. "She already got it."

Maddox's voice hardened. "No."

"No, what?"

"You're gonna have to do better than that. A lot better. We've got half a mile left."

The guy turned and glanced at the horses. "So?"

"So if you're smart, you'll be apologizing the rest of the way."

Oddly enough, Brian did – apologizing up and down in so many ways that by the time the carriage stopped, I almost felt bad for the guy.

Almost.

But not quite.

Brian got out first, but Cal stuck around a moment longer, leaning in close to Maddox to say, "Hey, we got a hit on that other thing."

Maddox froze. "Where?"

Cal shot me a glance. "You want me to say now? Or text you later?"

"Screw later," Maddox said. "Tell me now."

With something like a smile, Cal said, "Oak Hollow."

Maddox's mouth tightened. "I knew it."

"Yup. You called it, alright."

I looked from one man to the other. Called what?

I wanted to ask, but it seemed rude and intrusive. And besides, I was still processing too much on my own.

Cal lowered his voice. "So, you want Plan A? Or Plan B?"

Maddox's gaze shifted briefly in my direction. And then he looked back to Cal. "B."

Cal nodded. "Good."

Maddox said, "And Cal?"

"Yeah?"

Maddox's tone was all business. "The sooner the better."

77

Dibs on Delaney

Maddox