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“Caleb? What’s wrong?” Madison said, coming to stand next to him. Her smile had vanished as worry settled in like a dark cloud over her head.
“You should have never brought Joelle here without my permission. What part of that don’t you understand?” Worry had pushed his anger over the edge.
“Daddy, you rode Star. Let me go see her. Will you take me for a ride?” Joelle asked, not in the least bit interested in his conversation with Madison.
“Yes, honey, I rode Star here because Daddy was worried about you, and it was the fastest way to get to the lake.” He set Joelle down. “You can go say hi to the Star but keep a safe distance please. I’ll be there in a minute, and we can ride back to the house together.”
“Yay. I didn’t want to leave the lake cause we were having so much fun. But I want to ride Star.” Joelle’s smile was like a ray of sunshine. Warm and wonderful.
Caleb turned back to Madison. He wasn’t the only one unhappy with the current situation, judging by her expression and the firm set of her jaw.
“The part I don’t understand is that you hired me as Joelle’s nanny, and not once did you tell me I needed permission to do things with her. And you permitted her to ride in the car with me before. What is your problem?”
“Did you know it’s about to storm? There’s a thirty percent chance of a pop-up thunderstorm in the area. Joelle could catch a cold, or worse, be struck by lightning.” He glanced up at the sky, but so far, the weather pattern was holding with only a few white clouds rolling overhead.
“Which means there’s a seventy percent chance we won’t have one. Yes, I’m aware of the weather and keeping a close watch on it. I prefer to see life from a positive view and adjust when needed. Otherwise, chances of something happening can ruin your fun every time.”
“Not good enough. What if you were swimming and lightning struck? They say it can travel ten miles.”
“The minute there was any evidence of a storm, we would have left. Look around, Caleb. Lots of people have the same idea and are enjoying the gift of a beautiful day.” She stepped back to allow him to see just how many people were still frolicking in the water and playing on the beach.
“They can make their own decisions,” Caleb snapped.
“It’s important to find happiness and joy in all that you do. You can’t stop living and that’s what you’re trying to do. I think this is more about your overprotective tendencies.”
Caleb was stunned by the direct hit of criticism. “What does it matter? Joelle is my daughter. And we won’t have to worry about your decision-making moving forward because you’re fired.” The spur-of-the-moment decision slipped out before he could think it through. He hoped he hadn’t just made a colossal mistake, because the sickening feeling that filled him told him otherwise.
Madison stood stock still, her eyes wide and blazing. “You’re firing me because I brought her to the lake? Wow. Didn’t see this coming. But it certainly makes things easier for me to leave.”
Caleb nodded. “I agree. Perhaps this is best for everyone concerned.”
She had no intention of letting him know his lack of trust hurt her deeply. But it was better to find out now than later. It would seem Caleb was incapable of change and letting go of the past. Which meant they could never have had a future. “Well, okay then. Nice to see you riding Star, even if the reason wasn’t a good catalyst.” Madison would do her best to part on better terms, for Joelle’s sake.
“I did what I had to do,” Caleb said, not backing down.
“I see. Since you promised Joelle a ride back, I’ll haul our picnic supplies to the car. Then I’ll coordinate dropping off the car when my mother can pick me up,” she said, not wanting anything more from the odious man.
“I don’t mind giving you a ride home after,” he conceded.
Madison shook her head, unwilling to accept anything from him. “That’s okay. It’s better this way.” Tossing his words back at him gave her a sense of satisfaction, even if only for a few seconds.
“Whatever you want.” Caleb turned and started walking away.
Madison remembered what she’d discovered about Bigsby’s. It was information Caleb needed to know, and she wouldn’t leave him in the lurch. After she told him, what he did with the information was all on him. The man was in charge of his destiny and didn’t want her help. “One more thing,” she said, closing the distance between them.
Caleb stopped and turned, one eyebrow quirked upward in his odd questioning way.
“Last night when I left, I accidentally ended up with a stack of your ledgers with my photo album. And when I found myself restless, I settled in to go over them again to see if there was anything else we might have missed.” They both knew why she would have been restless. Her thoughts all centered on Caleb and the kiss, not that any of that mattered at this point.
“Go on,” he said, noncommittally.
“Remember when we were at the store the other day?”
Caleb nodded.
“When I was walking around, I never noticed a BOGO display. And then last night, when I was checking over the numbers, a strange but nasty coincidence occurred to me. The decline in profits exactly matches the BOGOP entries.Every time.”
Caleb frowned, glancing back at Joelle. He crossed his arms over his chest as he let out a deep breath. “And what do you think your discovery means?”
