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“Mrs White says lots of things,” she retorted and immediately felt thirteen again.
“Maddie.” Her mother fixed her with a look. “What’s going on?”
Maddie swallowed and lifted her chin. She’d stood up to her mother before and she would again. She’d spent too long being cautious around her after the wedding disaster. It had been easy for her mother to remind her she had known that Steele boy was no good for her but she wouldn’t let her do it again.
“I’m seeing him, Mum. He loves me.”
She shook her head and released an audible breath. “You’re really going to give him another chance?”
“Yes.” She scanned the dispersing crowds for him and spotted him helping a child out of one of the rides. A smile curved her lips. “Yes, I am.”
“Maddie...”
She turned her attention reluctantly back to her mother.
“Don’t you think it’s a little strange that he’s interested now that you’ve won all that money?”
“No, of course not. I haven’t even told him about it yet, though I really—”
“What does he even do? I’ve asked everyone and no one knows.”
“He writes books, Mum.” She folded her arms. “Look, I know you never liked him but I’m a grown woman. I’m not going to have you make these decisions for me.”
“Writers are always poor,” she muttered. “Maddie, think carefully. He could know. Wasn’t he good friends with Ryan? Or what if Nikki said something? You know she’s not great at keeping secrets.”
“Mother...”
“I don’t want to see you being taken advantage of.”
Maddie pressed her fingers to her temples. Did she really think Sawyer was capable of feigning interest in her because of her money? And if he was so poor, how could he afford to do fix the house? Though she supposed he’d must have inherited some money from his father.
But still...
“I need to think, Mum. I’ll see you later.” She gave her a quick hug. As frustrating as she was, she knew her mother only wanted the best for her. “I’m glad you had a good holiday.”
Before she could protest, Maddie turned on her heel and marched off. Nikki would see to packing up the stall. She couldn’t think properly with her mother putting doubts in her mind. She needed time to figure out exactly what she wanted from Sawyer. And she knew exactly the place to go.
Chapter Thirteen
Sawyer glanced up to see Maddie hurry away from her mother. He frowned. Where was she going and what had her mother said to her? He could hardly keep her away from the woman but he had known as soon as he’d spotted her that she’d make trouble. As far as parents went, she might not be as bad as his own father but she’d always stopped Maddie from taking chances.
As he knew well. That woman had been one of the many reasons he’d done a runner. But not this time.
He strode over and stopped in front of Mrs Green.
“What did you say to her?”
The woman—an attractive, older version of Maddie—lifted a brow. “It’s good to see you too, Sawyer. I’m sorry we couldn’t attend the funeral. We couldn’t cut our plans short.”
He didn’t give a damn that neither she nor her husband had been there. In fact, he was grateful. He strongly suspected if Maddie’s mother had been here while he’d be trying to win her back, he might not have succeeded. He’d always hated the controlling influence she had over her. She was one of the reasons Maddie worked so hard to do everything right.
“What did you say, Lynda?” He tried not to hiss out the words, tried to pretend he wasn’t terrified that her mother had just swanned in and destroyed everything he’d been working for.
Damn it. Today should have been perfect. He’d have gone down on one knee in front of the whole town and proved once and for all that he was deadly serious about Maddie and no nosey locals could make him change his mind.
Lynda gave him a cool look. “I only want the best for my daughter.”
“What if the best isn’t what you think it is?”
