An Informal Arrangement (Informal Romance Book 2), page 17
“So the folks told you about their religious experience, huh?”
She nodded and resisted the urge to fling her hands in the air and demand a do-over.
“You look about as shocked as I felt when my big sis came home from college for a weekend and wouldn’t stop preaching to me about Jesus.”
“How long has this been going on?”
Sasha shrugged. “Haley started talking about it a year or so ago. At first I thought she’d been taken over by brain-eating aliens. Every time I talked to her, she preached. Eventually I didn’t want to talk to her anymore.”
Maddie stared. Where was the rancor? “You’re okay with it now?”
A teenage flip of the hair. “She got it together after a while and apologized, went on and on about how she was so excited by the change in her that she wanted me to have it, too, and she hadn’t realized how obnoxious she was. She backed off and talked to me about regular stuff again. She’s almost like the old Haley now.”
“Almost?”
Sasha gave a disinterested eye roll. “Oh, you know. She still prays and brings a Bible with her when she comes home to visit, and maybe she’s happier with herself than she used to be, but she’s still basically the same.”
“And your folks?”
“Started going to church a couple months ago. Like out of the blue, you know? Made me go with them. Dad was going to tell you. He drove over to see you, but he bought you bacon instead. Like that makes sense.”
It did, but this wasn’t the time to say so.
Sasha continued as though she had no need to breathe. “He was all scratched up, too. Maybe he should have given Fishy the bacon instead of you. Anyway, when Mom questioned him, he told her he hadn’t said anything to you yet. You remember what Dad always says about interrogation, right?”
“It’s all about the timing.” Maddie sighed. Tom had never planned to hide it from her, and she couldn’t blame him for her absence these past weeks. She’d thrown herself into caring for Holden to the exclusion of all else. Besides, even if he and Mirabeth wanted to keep it a secret, they had the right. “I’m acting like a spoiled brat.”
Sasha grinned and flipped her hair back over her shoulders again. “Nah. I got the corner on that. I’m the baby of the family, remember? My entire life is dedicated to being a diva and throwing tantrums.”
Silence settled between them for a minute before Maddie asked, “Are they happy?”
“Mom and Dad? Yeah. They’re nicer, too. Not that they were mean before or anything, but they’re more patient. They don’t snap as much. When Dad gets home from work, instead of talking about all the bad things people did that day, he talks about some of the good stuff now. That’s new. I kind of like it, but I’ll deny ever saying so.”
Maddie held up her hand and parted her fingers Vulcan style. “Scout’s honor.”
The two giggled. “So, you gonna run away or eat lunch?”
A groan escaped. “I suppose I need to apologize for running out.”
“Anything to get at Mom’s burgers, right?”
The girl was only half wrong.
“By the way, Dad likes Holden.”
“Huh?”
“I’m as surprised as you. He’s hated every guy you ever dated.”
“We’re not dating.”
Sasha laughed. “That’s probably why he likes him, then.”
The two linked arms and walked back into the house.
“Oh, gross. They’ve been doing more of that, too.”
Maddie looked up. Tom and Mirabeth were still on the back patio, wound together in a hug. The couple wasn’t kissing, but she could think of only one word to describe the embrace: intimate.
As Maddie pulled into the parking lot at her apartment, her cell phone rang. The area code was unfamiliar, but she went ahead and answered it. “Hello?”
“Let’s do lunch.” Lauren didn’t bother with niceties.
Maddie glowered at her phone. A venomous snake might have been more welcome at this point. “L-lunch?”
“I thought we should get together for some girl talk, but you’ll need to pick me up.”
“Is Holden all right?” What did his sister want with her?
“Oh, he’s fine. To be honest, he doesn’t know I’m calling. He’d get all brotherly on me and tell me to stay out of his business. You’ve done so much to help him, though, and I’d like to properly thank you.”
“Um, okay. But he’s not supposed to be left alone.”
“I’ll make sure Miles is here. They’ll spend the whole day doing architect stuff and won’t even know I’m gone.”
Maddie searched the recesses of her mind but couldn’t come up with a valid excuse to beg off. “Does tomorrow work?”
“Tomorrow is perfect. I look forward to seeing you. Just text me when you’re coming, and I’ll pop out the door and meet you out front. Otherwise he might try to invite himself along, and girl talk isn’t nearly as fun with my baby brother listening to every word.”
Lauren hung up before she could say anything else.
What just happened? Knowing the conservative bent of Holden’s family, Maddie wondered if she would be facing an inquisition.
Maddie pulled up to the curb and bit her lower lip as Lauren darted across the lawn and dove into her car. “He knows I’m up to something. Hit it.” Her voice faded into a mutter. “So much for Miles keeping him busy.”
Holden came through the front door, his eyebrows drawn together and a frown marring his face. Her foot on the accelerator weighed down by guilt, Maddie drove away.
Lauren’s phone immediately started buzzing, and Maddie couldn’t help but wonder if Holden was the only normal person in the family.
“Yes.”
Maddie’s eyebrows shot up. “I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”
Her passenger laughed. “You didn’t say anything out loud, but the question was on your face, so I thought I could answer it for you. Yes, our family is strange, and yes, I lied to my brother and told him I was going out to check the mail.” She paused for just a second before continuing. “Oh, and yes, I’m going to ignore his texts, and he’ll be waiting for us with a big frown when you bring me back. It won’t hurt my feelings at all if you push me out at the end of the driveway and take off before he can get to the car.”
The day kept getting weirder and weirder… “So, uh, where would you like to eat?”
Lauren shook her head. “You pick. I’ll be happy with whatever you choose.”
Maddie gave half her concentration to her driving. The other half was dedicated to dreading the meal ahead.
Maddie pulled into one of her favorite diners. “They serve the best soul food around.”
Lauren quirked an eyebrow. “What’s soul food?”
Maddie chucked. “Food that’s good for your soul, but not your body. Chitlins, jowl, chicken liver — all the comfort foods from down South.” Despite her secret delight at Lauren’s waning face, she took pity on the woman. “The fried chicken is melt-in-your mouth delicious, and the pork chops are so good you’d sell your grandmother to get a single bite.”
“Is there salad on the menu?”
“The only things green on this menu are the beans and the collards.”
“You don’t strike me as a Southerner.”
Maddie grinned. “When it comes to the food, I’m all in. Come on, you’ll like it. You may end up so full you can’t eat for another three days, but if you’re going to grill me about Holden, then the least you can do is allow me my guilty pleasure.”
They walked through the front door, and a waitress and cook behind the counter waved and called out a welcome. A narrow walkway separated the brown Formica front counter from the well-used grill, stove, and oven. Watching the waitress tending the counter and the cook preparing the meals maneuver around each other was a bit like watching a Vaudeville dance act.
Maddie picked a table in the back corner where the light blazing through the front windows didn’t reach. She’d never tested her theory, but she couldn’t help but wonder if it was the mustard-colored walls that swallowed the light or the airborne haze created by the deep fryer. Either way, taking an out-of-the-way seat in the back corner seemed best. Maddie’s gut told her this wouldn’t be a quick lunch. As she sat down, she pulled out her phone to check it. She had close to half a dozen texts.
What are you doing with my sister?
She put you up to this, didn’t she?
Where are you two?
What’s going on?
The last one was longer. I can’t do anything about this, but she’s going to question you about my health. I need to warn you, though. Sometimes she asks inappropriate questions.
Maddie stared at the screen. Inappropriate? What was that supposed to mean? What kinds of things did his sister like to ask?
An apron-clad waiter stopped by, and she ordered on autopilot. “I want a chop, cole slaw, and green beans, and smother that chop with gravy. Oh, and tea.”
Then she nodded to Lauren, prompting her to order. “I’ll have a fish filet and the greens, please. With tea also.”
The waiter wasn’t more than two steps away from their table when Holden’s sister jumped straight over small talk and dove into the deep end. “My baby brother says that if you hadn’t agreed to stay with him, he’d still be in rehab.”
“I’m sure he would have gotten out by now.”
Lauren shook her head. “Not the way he tells it. Says he pretty much gave up, figured he would die in that place. Did he tell you he blocked us from getting any information?”
Maddie squinted. Being in the middle of a family squabble didn’t appeal.
“Those forms where you list who else can talk to the doctor and get information about you? He specifically excluded all of us so he could hide from us how bad things were. Holden says he almost died.”
“I’m not allowed to speak with you about your brother’s care in the hospital. I could lose my license.”
“Then tell me about rehab.”
“Hasn’t he told you everything?” Or at least everything he wanted her to know.
The woman in question pulled a napkin from the table’s dispenser and began folding it. “I just want to know that my brother is going to be okay, that he’s not buffaloing me.”
The waiter set their drinks down. “Did you want buffalo wings? I can add them to your order.”
Lauren averted her eyes and shook her head while Maddie laughed.
“I’m just messin’ with you, ma’am. You look about as comfortable as a frog next to a jar of bar-be-q sauce.”
He left, and the brunette whispered, “What was that supposed to mean?”
“You ever had bar-b-cued frog legs?”
The horror on Lauren’s face was answer enough. The none-too-delicate shudder that quaked through her frame confirmed it.
Reptile-hating Maddie had never brought herself to try them either, but she wasn’t going to let Holden’s sister know that. “You don’t seem at ease here.”
The Midwesterner searched the diner with her eyes. “It’s not the restaurant. I’ve felt out of place since I got off the plane.”
“Nobody here is going to bite you. Unless you bathed in grease or gravy this morning. Then all bets are off.”
Lauren reached for her tea and took a gulp. Her eyes widened, and her face turned as red as a pickled beet before she forced the drink down. Once she got her breath and regained her composure, she inspected the contents of her glass. “What is that?”
“Tea. Mine’s okay. Does yours taste funny?”
“Funny? It’s flavored sugar!” Holden’s sister stuck her tongue out and crossed her eyes in the effort to examine her insulted taste buds. Then she tucked the offended muscle back behind her teeth. “I think my tongue’s been crystalized. There was enough sugar in that to turn a slab of bacon into a dessert.”
Maddie shook her head. “Around here, when you order tea, that’s what you get. If you want it unsweet, you have to say so. Fail to specify, and you’ll end up with sweet tea 98% of the time.”
Then, as if the whole beverage complaint had been nothing more than a distraction to trick Maddie into letting her guard down, Lauren launched back into her interrogation. “Are you and my brother sleeping together?”
Ah. So that’s what inappropriate sounded like. “I thought you were interested in Holden’s health?”
“We’ll get back to that. For now, answer the question.”
“None of your business.”
Lauren’s eyes turned into saucers, and Maddie relented. She could walk away at the end of lunch without a care, but she didn’t need to make a mess for Holden in the process. “My personal life is not your concern, but no, we’re not.”
“Is he ever going to fully recover from everything?”
That was a question she could handle. “Your brother is strong and healthy. He will continue to improve as long as he does what his doctors and therapists tell him, but the likelihood of his ever reaching the full mobility and pain-free life he had before are slim.”
Having unfolded the napkin, Lauren started folding it again in a different direction. “It’s difficult to see him so weak. Every move he makes is slow, and I want to jump ahead of him and do things for him. He gets testy when I do, though, so I’m trying not to help him.”
“Holden’s come a long way and has worked hard every single day to get where he is now. Treat him as though he’s crippled, and you strip him of all the sweat and determination he’s put into his recovery. You rob him of his success. Every single thing he does for himself is a victory, and you need to allow him that. A lesser man never would have made it out of the wheelchair.”
Lauren paled and sat back in her seat. Her voice was a hoarse whisper. “He might have been an invalid?”
A snort of impatience escaped before Maddie could stop it. “A wheelchair doesn’t make someone an invalid, but yeah, a third of the people who get what he had never walk again, and many of those people end up needing around-the-clock care the rest of their lives.”
Blinking slowly, Holden’s sister unfolded the napkin again and began working new creases into it. “I’m not blessed with your medical knowledge, so I may sound insensitive, but this is my brother we’re talking about. The next time our family sees him, they’re going to be devastated. No matter what I go back and tell them, they won’t be prepared for how grueling it is for him to walk or the grimaces when he’s in pain. It’ll break their hearts.”
Worry tried to dig its claws in. “How bad is it? Is he back to using his walker?”
Lauren waved her hand dismissively. “Just a cane, and he tells me it’s better than before, but I’m used to playing flag football with him. This is just… hard. What do I tell my family?”
“You tell them it’s a wonder he has any mobility below the waist. Standing on his own two feet, regardless of how labored it seems to you, is a miracle to him, and how dare anybody minimize everything he’s gone through to get this far.”
Lauren’s eyes widened. Thankfully, the waiter picked that moment to deliver their meals. The easy cajoling of his previous visit to their table was absent, but the fragrant steam rising from their platters more than filled the void. After Maddie thanked him for their food, he put a finger to his lips and told them in a stage whisper, “You might want to keep it down a bit. I don’t know who this guy is y’all are fightin’ over, but he’s lucky to have two such fine lookin’ women arguing about him.”
Turning, she caught a glimpse of the other diners before they all averted their eyes. Heat climbed up her neck and into her cheeks. “Swell.”
This time it was Lauren’s turn to laugh. “We’re a pair, huh?”
Maddie’s mouth twisted into a wry grin.
“Is it okay if I bless the meal?”
Used to mealtime prayer from her weeks with Holden, she bowed her head.
“Dear Lord, thank you for this chance to spend time with Maddie, and thank you for all she’s done to aid my brother. Please help her, protect her, and keep her close to Your heart. Amen.”
The woman, a clear fidgeter, abandoned the multi-creased napkin to pick up her knife and fork. After one taste, she groaned. “This might be the best fish I’ve ever eaten.”
Thankful the third degree was over, she sighed and cut into her pork chop. She was about to put the first morsel into her mouth when Lauren spoke again.
“My baby brother likes you more than he should.”
Maddie set her silverware down before taking the bite. “Will you please just say what you came here to say and get it over with?”
Her lunch companion brandished a fork that looked like it had been around since the 1970s. “Eat. I’m not lecturing. This is a friendly conversation.”
“It doesn’t feel friendly.”
With a shrug, Lauren said, “You don’t know me very well. Trust me, if I’m unhappy about something, you won’t be left in doubt.”
“Holden is a good man.” Maddie picked up her fork again and took the bite.
“Of course he is, and he has feelings for you, so my question is, what are your plans?”
“He has religious convictions, and I’m not going to mess with those.”
“My baby brother’s not like anyone else in our family.”
“How so?”
“Don’t get me wrong. I love my family. They’re wonderful people, every single one of them. Holden’s different, though. He never completely fit in. He looks like us, so we know he wasn’t a stray that Mom and Dad took in, but his ideas were always too big for our small town. From the time he was in kindergarten and told the teacher his favorite color was vermilion, I knew he was destined for something more than the rest of us.”
“He doesn’t think he’s better than anyone else.”
Lauren closed her eyes as she took another bite of fish. Once she swallowed, she picked up the conversation. “Of course not. Because he’s not any better than us. Just different. Some people march to the beat of their own drum. Holden marches to a dog whistle — an instrument none of the rest of us can hear.”
