chapter six
“Where’s Maddie?” Diana asked her children as they finished unpacking groceries. Everyone had guessed at where things went, considering all the cupboards were nearly bare.
“Probably dodging kitchen duty,” Isaac said simply. His initial bitterness toward the girl had subdued greatly since the hospital. Perhaps it was because he had found it hard to hold a grudge against someone his entire family seemed to like and who had opened her house to a strange family. Or perhaps is was something else . . .
Unconsciously, Zac touched his cheek. “I haven’t seen her for an hour at least,” he said.
Avery spoke up. “She’s in the back yard sleeping,” she informed her mother.
“Sleeping?” Diana asked doubtfully.
“Yes, she’s sleeping,” Avie insisted. “Want me to go wake her?”
Diana considered this. After a moment, she nodded. “You had probably better. With her fair skin, she probably burns easily.”
Avery nodded and rushed into the back room. After a minute of prying at the sliding glass door, she was outside. “Maddie,” she said, shaking the older blond girl slightly. “Wake up, Maddie.”
Slowly, Maddie stirred and focused on Avie’s face. “Hey,” she said with a smile. “How long was I out?”
Avie shrugged. “I dunno,” she said. “But my mom said you should probably come inside before you burn.”
“Your mom’s right,” Maddie agreed. Standing up, she asked, “Are your dad and Jessie back yet?”
“Yep,” the little girl replied, scurrying into the house.
Maddie stretched and crossed over the threshold, closing the glass door behind her. She walked into the kitchen and was astounded to see Diana . . . cooking. She was preparing steaks at the kitchen counter and smiled as Maddie entered the room.
“Have a nice nap?” she asked pleasantly.
Maddie grinned. “Yeah. It’s been a long day,” she said. After a quick look around the room, she asked, “Where’s Jessie?”
Diana motioned to the stairs. “Isaac just carried her up. She said she wanted to play some computer games.”
“Okay. Thanks.” Maddie scaled the stairs and walked over to the computer.
As Diana had said, Jessie was there, and Isaac was standing behind her. She already had a program pulled up. But it didn’t look like a game file . . .
“ ‘Therapy: Day One’,” Jessie read aloud. “ ‘After I started having the dreams, Mommy and Daddy said I had to start seeing a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist says the dreams are because of -’ ”
“What are you doing?” Maddie demanded.
Jessie spun around in the computer chair. “I’m reading,” she said slowly. “I was going to play a game, but -”
Maddie quickly walked over to the keyboard and closed out of the program. “Please don’t read that,” she said quietly.
Nodding solemnly, Jessie said, “Okay. I won’t.” With that, she started searching the desktop for a game to play.
Letting out a shuddering breath, Maddie walked away from the computer and leaned up against a wall. Isaac followed her.
“She didn’t mean anything by it,” he said softly. “And, I told her she could open it anyway, so I’m sorry.” It actually seemed to pain Isaac to say the words, but regardless, he continued. “Besides, it seemed like the beginning to a really good story.”
Maddie managed a wry smile. “Well, it’s not really a story,” she muttered.
Before Isaac could ask what the file was if not a story, Zac’s voice floated up the stairs. “Maddie!” he called. “Where did you say those video games were?”
Quickly, Maddie made her way past Isaac and ran down the stairs. “In the back room,” she told Zac, who was standing in the kitchen. “They’re kind of hidden.”
The two of them walked into the through the kitchen and Maddie led the way to the television in the corner. She opened one side of the wooden entertainment center’s doors and pulled the game system out. “Here you go,” she said. “And the games are in that drawer right there.”
Zac grinned. “Thanks,” he said, opening the drawer she had indicated and digging through it.
Maddie shook her head slightly and sat down on the couch. Rarely did she ever play video games; she was no good at them no matter how hard she tried. Instead, she often watched as Trevor played them hour after hour . . .
“Oh, bad move,” Taylor said, walking into the back room and sitting down next to Maddie. “Now we’ll never get Zac to leave.”
She smiled. “That wouldn’t be so bad. Zac’s a sweetheart,” she confided.
Tay glanced at her sideways. “Isn’t he a little young for you?”
Maddie grinned. “Anyway,” she said, changing the subject, “why are you guys here? In town, I mean.”
He shrugged. “Some promo stuff and maybe some recording. Nothing really solid,” he told her.
“Oh,” Maddie said with a nod. “How long are you planning on staying?”
Again, he shrugged. “I’m not sure exactly. Two days, a week. I dunno. Why?”
“No reason,” Maddie told him. “None at all.”