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“Okay, I—” Maddie paused midsentence. “Looks like someone vandalized the water tower again. I thought Clark had given up.”
Ge
rtie came up beside her, looking up at the tower. “That’s not Clark’s handiwork. Read it.”
Maddie narrowed her eyes to squint at the letters. It was over three blocks away and hard to read at such a distance, but once it came into focus, her heart stuttered in her chest.
Emmett
L?ves
Maddie
She gasped, her hand covering her mouth. “Gertie, does that say what I think it says?”
Gertie grinned. “It does. And look, the culprit is still up there.”
To the side, Maddie could see a dark figure against the white background. It was impossible. There was no way Emmett would climb to the top of the water tower to do that. He’d been petrified the day they went up there. He spent the whole afternoon crouching down and clinging to the railing for dear life. She thought she’d never get him back down the ladder.
“Wait,” Maddie said, running into the back room and finding the binoculars where she’d stashed them. She returned to the window and looked up at the water tower with enhanced eyes. Emmett was standing there, waving in her direction. She didn’t think it could be true, but there he was. He’d climbed that water tower for her. After everything she’d said, and all the horrible accusations she’d made.
“You’re right, Gertie. I think you can handle things.” Maddie frantically fidgeted with the bow on her apron, anxious to shed it before she ran out of the shop.
Gertie finally stepped in to help her with the last knot. She snatched away the apron. “Go get ’em, tiger.”
Maddie ran to the door and stopped short. “How do I look?”
“You look fine. Go!”
Maddie threw open the door and started running toward the water tower. She waved at Emmett, shouting his name as she dashed across the lawn of the courthouse. She was about to cross Main Street when a car stopped short at the intersection.
Not just any car. Sheriff Todd’s car. Maddie halted in the crosswalk so he could go on by, but he didn’t budge. Then the door opened and the sheriff got out. Uh-oh.
“Miss Chamberlain?”
Maddie looked anxiously from the sheriff to the water tower. “Yes, Sheriff Todd?”
He sighed and closed the gap between them. “I hate to do this, but I’ve got to.”
Maddie stiffened. “Hate to do what?” That’s when she saw the handcuffs come out. “Oh no. Sheriff Todd, please, you don’t understand.”
“I understand. I understand that you didn’t show up for all your required service and you’re in contempt. Why didn’t you complete your sentence, Maddie? Judge Griffin doesn’t mess around. There’s a warrant out for your arrest. I’ve deliberately not sought you out in the hopes you’d get it cleared up before I ran across you. But here you are, and I can’t ignore it any longer. I’ve got to take you to the station and book you for failure to appear.”
He reached for her wrist. “You have the right to remain silent . . .” he began.
Maddie couldn’t fight it. It would just make things worse. But why now? Why when she was about to rush into Emmett’s arms and make everything better. She looked up longingly at the water tower. Emmett wasn’t standing there any longer. The moment had passed. The sheriff finished her Miranda warning.
“Do you understand these rights as I’ve explained them to you?”
“Yes,” she said reluctantly as he hustled her toward his car. He opened the back door and helped her inside. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” she shouted at the Fates as he slammed the door.
“Nope,” the sheriff said as he climbed in the driver’s seat and started toward the station. “I never kid about warrants.”
Emmett’s plan was going perfectly. He watched the bakery anxiously from his perch. His heart leapt into his throat as Maddie came running from her shop, waving her hands. It’d worked. She would forgive him. She was in love with him, too. All he had to do was meet her at the bottom of the water tower and tell her he was sorry and everything would work out.
Then the cop car stopped in Maddie’s path. Emmett clutched the railing, watching anxiously as Sheriff Todd talked to Maddie, then led her to the car in handcuffs.
Okay, so the plan wasn’t going perfectly. He needed to get down. Now.
