Search Me(4)

“Morning!” I called, as I breezed into Maudie’s office.

“Morning sweetheart! Ready to get back into the saddle?”

I laughed. “As ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.”

After taking a giant swig of coffee, she said, “Why don’t you get started on stacking some jams and jellies? You always know just the right way to work a display.”

“Okay, sounds good.”

I spent the next hour sorting the jam aisle to get ready for the newest shipment. By ten a.m., the store had come alive with customers and most of the day shift. Maudie made her way back over to survey my progress. “Looking good.”

“Thanks.”

“Did you have breakfast?”

“I ate a granola bar on the way in. Why?”

“Oh, I just saw Eula taking out a pan of her legendary fried apple pies and thought you might be hungry.”

Giggling, I shook my head at her. “You’re a bad influence. Besides, it’s not even time for my break yet.”

She gave me a wink. “It’s all right. I’ll smooth it over with your boss.”

A curly blond haired guy I’d never seen before poked his head up the aisle. With his gaze fixed on the clipboard in front of him, he shouted, “Hey Maudie, that shipment of backordered jam just came in from the Duluth plant!” He glanced up, and at the sight of me, flushed. “Sorry, I didn’t realize you were talking to someone.”

Maudie smiled. “It’s quite all right, Drew. This is one of my foster grandchildren, Lane. She’ll be working with us this summer.”

Drew made his way towards us. He thrust out his hand and gave me a bright smile that accented his dimples. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“N-Nice to m-meet you too.” Somehow I always became a complete and total idiot around members of the opposite sex…especially those who I thought were cute. And Drew, with his lanky figure, curly hair that fell over his forehead, and glasses, was seriously cute…well, in a nerdy kinda way.

Our hands stayed glued together until Maudie cleared her throat. Drew gave a quick shake of his head. “Yeah, um, I better get to unpacking the crates.” He started back to the storeroom, but then he turned back around. “Nice meetin’ you, Lane.”

“Nice to meet you, too.”

When we heard the sound of the storeroom door close, Maudie nudged me playfully. “I think you two were quite smitten with each other.”

“Oh please!”

“After your break-up, I think a summer fling is just what you need.”

My stomach momentarily clenched at the mention of my ‘breakup’. It had been five months since I broke up with my Eli, my boyfriend of two years. Even though I had been the one to end it, I was still a little gun-shy about a new guy. If I were really honest with myself, it wasn’t Eli who had me gun-shy—it was a glaring mistake from my past that made me unable to give all of my heart to any other guy.

With a nudge, Maudie brought me out of my thoughts. “Of course, if you’re not totally sold on Mr. Drew Lancaster, then there might be someone else to spark your interest.”

Since I was afraid of her matchmaking skills, I protested, “But I’m here for work, not for romance.”

Waggling her eyebrows, Maudie asked, “And why not kill two birds with one stone?”

I groaned. Deep down, a part of me really was ready for a new relationship. But between school and my intense ballet schedule, there never seemed to be lot of time for dating. There was also the fact that most of the time, the only guys I could actually talk to without becoming a stammering, blushing fool wore tights and stage make-up and weren’t exactly attracted to the opposite sex. It also didn’t help that I went to an all girls’ college either.

Maudie linked her arm through mine. “Now speaking of romance, do I have a surprise for you.”

I wrinkled my nose as we strolled down an aisle. “You know I hate surprises.”

“Fine then. Guess what hunky blast from your past just finished his tour in the Army and is back home?”

I froze right in front of a display of Miss Maudie’s Apple Crisps. An overwhelming wave of nausea crashed over me. Oh no. Please tell me no. This couldn’t be happening. My glaring teenage mistake couldn’t be coming front and center in my life again.

Maudie grabbed my hand in hers. “Lane, you look positively green. Don’t tell me you’re not happy at the thought of seeing Maddox again?”

Oh God, she had said his name. My past had come back to haunt me in the worst possible way—trapped for the summer with the guy I hated most in the world. I guess hated really wasn’t a strong enough word—loathed and despised probably came closer to how I truly felt about Maddox Diaz.

I’d known him since I was seven, and he was ten. His dad was killed in some Special Ops mission in the Army, sending his already fragile mom into full alcoholism. It wasn’t long before she lost custody of him and his older sister. With all of Maddox’s father’s family in Puerto Rico and his mother’s family unwilling to take them, they pinged around to several different foster homes until Maudie took them in, just like she had my dad. But since Maddox was ten and his sister, Neely, was twelve, they were never adopted. Instead, they just stayed with Maudie. Although she and her husband would have formally adopted them, Maddox’s mother had been institutionalized and labeled incapable of being of sound mind for signing legal documents like adoption papers.