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Emmett wrapped his arm around her waist and tugged her close. “It does. And it’ll keep all those wild hoodlums from staying out drinking late and keeping you up at night.”
Maddie blushed nearly as red as her cape. “Yes, well, that was the original intent when I started this, but I think it’s something fun for folks in town to do. My grandmother’s always lecturing us on the importance of fostering community spirit.”
“Well, there’s plenty of community spirit tonight. Look, there goes a ghost right there.”
Maddie laughed and swatted him on the arm as the tiny ghost walked by. “Very funny. Looks like the kids are coming out of the library, so it’s time to start handing out candy.”
So far, the night was going splendidly. When the Trunk or Treat ended, the families with small children dissipated, but a decent crowd remained for the movie. The lawn outside the library was a sea of chairs and blankets. Some people were in costume, likely heading on to the party at Woody’s when the film was over. Others, like Bert Swenson and Vera Reynolds, were just dressed warm for a fall evening outside.
Maddie smiled when she saw the curly white hair of Miss Dotty sticking up over the chair beside Vera. She was holding the hand of the older gentleman beside her that had to be Dick, the man she’d had her eye on. It looked like her new hairdo and senior-center brunch plans had paid off.
All the cookies had been handed out. Every single one had gone into the hands of a potential customer. It felt great to be a part of something that got her involved in the community and helped to grow her business at the same time.
It was all part of the new phase of life she was starting. Apologizing to Pepper was just one step of many. She would do the same when Ivy returned for the holidays. From there, she had a whole community to befriend. She’d spent too long worried about how the bakery looked rather than how best to bring customers into it. She hoped this helped her seem like the friendly, approachable woman she wanted to be, instead of the snobby, too-good-for-everyone woman people seemed to think she was.
Alice walked to the front of the crowd and raised her hands to get everyone’s attention. “I’d like to thank everyone for coming out here tonight. When Maddie Chamberlain came to me with the idea of showing movies in the square, I knew it was the perfect activity for our community. It was late in the year, but we wanted to try it out and see how everyone liked it. Hopefully, you’ll be joining us for more of these events next summer.”
The crowd applauded. Maddie moved to the side of the crowd where Emmett was leaning against a tree. He had to leave before the movie was over to open Woody’s and prepare for the party. She planned to make an appearance, but if her extended yawns were any indication, she’d be asleep soon. She clung to his side and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
“We’d like to thank Madelyn’s Bakery and Tea House for sponsoring tonight’s event. I hope all of you got one of those tasty cookies. Be sure not to throw away the tag, because it’s good for a dollar off a future purchase at the bakery. And now, ladies and gentleman, I present Frankenstein!”
Alice slipped into the darkness to another round of applause. Lydia flipped the switch on the projector and cued up the DVD. The opening credits of Frankenstein began, the spooky mood music filling the air in the square. But then . . . something went wrong.
The projector flickered and went dark. When the light came back on, there was a different video playing. A home movie of sorts. Maddie squinted at the screen, recognizing her brother Grant and Logan Anthony.
“I wish you’d drop this wall you’ve put up and let us try,” Grant’s voice projected through the speakers. “Let me try to be a brother to you. It might not be as terrible as you imagine.”
“Why do you care?” Logan asked. “I’m your father’s bastard. Why would you want anything to do with me, or want me involved with your family at all? Is this all just to make Pepper happy?”
Alice came running through the crowd to intervene while a noticeably calm Lydia watched with interest as the clip continued to play. Maddie just stood there, utterly confused. Did Grant just say Logan was his brother? Not just his future brother-in-law, but that he was Norman’s bastard? That meant he was . . . her heart nearly came to a stop in her chest. He was her brother, too.
A gasp went up and a rumble of voices sounded in the crowd. Maddie looked over in time to see Grant get up from his seat and march straight toward Lydia. “You meddling bitch!” he shouted. “Why are you on a mission to hurt everyone in my family?”
Grant’s shouts were echoed by the video of him still playing on the screen. “Circumstances be damned, you’re my brother. I want to have a relationship with you. We’re family, and family is important to me.”
The film turned off. Lydia abandoned her post, casually walking out of the square before Grant could reach her. Emmett held Maddie tightly, but she tugged away from his grasp. She couldn’t breathe.
“Ladies and gentleman,” Alice announced. “We’ve had some minor technical difficulties. Please give us a moment and we’ll get the film going again.”
Someone from the crowd approached the laptop and helped Alice, but Maddie wasn’t concerned about the movie any longer. Her gaze met Grant’s across the lawn. There was panic in his eyes, a red flush of anger mottling his skin. It was all true; she could tell.
“Let’s get out of here,” Emmett suggested, and all Maddie could do was nod. She wanted out, badly. People were still talking, looking up at Maddie and pointing as they did. She couldn’t take it any longer. She took Emmett’s hand and let him lead her to the sidewalk just as the sounds of Frankenstein returned to the square.
She thought she’d feel better once she was inside the safety of the closed bar, but it didn’t help. She climbed onto one of the barstools and dropped her fac
e into her hands. She wanted to cry, scream, and hit something all at once.
“He lied,” she said at last with a sad shake of her head. “He knew the truth and he lied.”
“Who?” Emmett asked with a frown.
“Grant. He’s Mr. Honesty, yet he kept this from all of us. Or at least from me. I don’t know if anyone else knows about Logan, but that’s kind of a big deal. We have a brother we never knew about. A brother! Pepper’s brother at that,” she added. It would take her a long time to wrap her head around all of this. Her universe was shifting in a direction she’d never anticipated. She was just getting used to the idea of Pepper as her sister-in-law. Logan as her half brother? She couldn’t even imagine it.
Emmett leaned on the counter and pinned her with his gaze. “Is Grant really the one you should be upset with? I don’t know for sure, but I’m thinking he probably found out because of his relationship with Pepper. In his situation, secrecy was probably the best policy if her family didn’t want it getting out.”
Maddie thought about his words for a moment and realized he was right. The person she needed to be angry with was her daddy. Daddy . . . the one who spoiled her mercilessly. Who let her get away with murder. The same Daddy who bought her the bakery, who gave her a Mercedes for graduation, who paid for pastry school in Paris. He was her rock, the one she ran to when things went wrong. Even though she knew, rationally, that he was at fault, it wasn’t her knee-jerk reaction to blame him for anything. She was a daddy’s girl.
“Maybe he didn’t know,” she said with a hopeful tone. “It’s possible that Logan’s mother never told my father that she was having his baby. That happens a lot, right?”
