Dawn in Eclipse Bay

chapter 4

“I love what you’ve done with the guest rooms,” Lillian said. “Very spacious and airy.” She opened the French doors of the corner suite and stepped out onto the balcony. “Fabulous views, too. “

Her sister, Hannah, glanced around the suite with satisfaction and then followed Lillian outside into the chilly evening.

“It wasn’t cheap getting plumbing into all of the rooms,” she said. “And installing balcony doors in each one was a major project but I think it will be worth it. Considering what we plan to charge for an overnight stay here at Dreamscape, Rafe and I have to be able to provide our guests with privacy and a sense of luxury.”

Lillian wrapped one hand around the railing. “You and Rafe are going to do it, aren’t you? You’re going to make this inn and restaurant idea work.”

Hannah looked amused. “You had doubts?”

“No, not really. You’re both so committed to making a success of this venture that I knew you couldn’t fail.”

“We owe it all to Great-Aunt Isabel.” Hannah smiled. “Although I must admit that when I first learned that she had left a half-interest in Dreamscape to Rafe in her will, I didn’t feel quite so grateful.”

Lillian looked out across the bay. Night was closing in rapidly. The wind was picking up, bringing with it the unmistakable scent of rain off the sea. Another storm was approaching. She had always loved this time of year here on the rugged Oregon coast. The stark contrasts of the season appealed to the artist in her. The dark, blustery storms drove away the summer tourists, leaving the town to the locals.

The shops on the pier and the handful of small, casual eateries geared down for the long, quiet months. In summer the establishments were crowded with vacationers from Portland and Seattle. But when you went out to dinner in winter, you usually knew the folks sitting at the next table. If you didn’t recognize them, they were probably students at nearby Chamberlain College or visitors attending a seminar at the Eclipse Bay Policy Studies Institute. The think tank and the school were both located on the hillside overlooking the tiny town.

When they blew ashore, the wind-driven rains of winter churned the waters of the bay, created boiling cauldrons in the coves and lashed the weather-beaten cottages on the cliffs. The squalls were often separated by periods of bright, chilly sunlight and crisp, intensely clear air. There was an energy in winter that was very different from the moody, atmospheric, fog-bound summers, she thought.

The evening was still clear. From her perch on the balcony she could see straight across the curving expanse of the semi-circular bay to where a cluster of lights marked the location of the small town and the marina. Another string of lights identified the pier.

The sweeping arc of Bayview Drive followed the edge of the rocky beach. The road started just outside of town near Hidden Cove, which marked the northern tip of the bay. It linked the tiny community to the beach houses and cottages scattered loosely about on the bluffs. It continued past her parents’ summer place and beyond Dreamscape, to terminate at Sundown Point, the bay’s southern boundary.

It was a familiar landscape, Lillian reflected, one she had known all of her life. She had not spent a lot of time here in recent years, but that did not affect the strong sense of connection that had swept through her earlier this afternoon when she drove into town.

For three generations Hartes had been a part of this community. Their roots went deep here; as deep as those of the Madison men.

She hugged herself against the brisk night air. “Aunt Isabel knew all along that you and Rafe were meant for each other.”

“If that’s true, she was certainly the only one who knew it.” Hannah shook her head. “Personally, I think it’s far more likely that she just hoped to goodness we were meant for each other. It was her dream to resolve the feud. She saw Rafe and me as Romeo and Juliet with the right ending. She left us Dreamscape in an effort to make her fantasy of reconnecting the Hartes and the Madisons come true.”

“Either way, it worked out for you and Rafe.”

“Maybe she had a touch of your gift for matchmaking,” Hannah said lightly. “Could be it runs in the family.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Okay, Lil, what’s going on here? Don’t get me wrong, I’m delighted to see you. I think it’s great that you’ve decided to take some time off from work. But this is your sister, Hannah, remember? I know you haven’t given me the whole story.”

There was no point trying to evade the questions, Lillian thought. Hannah knew her too well. They had always been close even though they were different in so many ways. Hannah was nearly two years younger but she had always been the more levelheaded and goal-oriented of the two. Hannah was the one who had always known where she was going; at least that had been the general opinion in the Harte family until she had stunned everyone by announcing that she intended to marry Rafe Madison and turn Dreamscape into an inn.

True to form, however, even that uncharacteristically wild decision had turned out to be a sound one. It was obvious that Rafe and Hannah were happy together and that they would make a success of the inn.

“I closed Private Arrangements,” Lillian said.

Hannah looked bemused. “For a few days? A couple of weeks? A month?”

“For good.”

Hannah took a long moment to absorb and process that announcement.

Then she gave a low, soft, tuneless whistle.

“Oh, my,” she said.

“I know.”

“Just when Mom and Dad were getting used to the idea of you being a professional matchmaker.”

“I’m not sure they would ever have come around completely, anyway.” Lillian sighed. “They still have a hard time telling their friends what I do for a living. In their minds my matchmaking enterprise was always a little suspect. Not nearly as respectable as that wedding consultant agency you owned before you decided to go into the inn business.”

“Okay, I’ll agree that Mom and Dad thought the whole thing was a little flaky, but you weresuccessful. They couldn’t deny that. You have an impressive list of clients. All those new, wealthy software folks love the idea of computerized matchmaking. You were turning a serious profit and that counts for a lot in this family.”

“If Mom and Dad think matchmaking is flaky, I can’t wait to hear what they’ll say about my next career move.”

“Well?” Hannah tilted her head slightly. “Don’t keep me in suspense.”

“It’s a long story.”

“I want to hear every word of it.” Hannah paused when a set of headlights turned into the drive that led toward Dreamscape. “But I’m afraid the tale will have to wait. Here comes dinner.”

The low growl of a powerful, finely tuned engine rumbled in the gathering night. Lillian watched the sleek Porsche prowl down the drive.

The vehicle came to a halt near the inn’s main entrance. The engine went silent. The door on the driver’s side opened. Hannah’s husband, Rafe, got out, moving with the easy masculine grace that characterized all the Madison males.

A dapper salt-and-pepper Schnauzer jumped out of the open car door after him. The dog paused and looked up toward the balcony.

“Hello, Winston,” Lillian called down. “You’re as handsome as ever.”

Winston bounced a little in refined appreciation of what he obviously considered no more than his due. Then he trotted briskly up the steps and disappeared under the overhanging roof.

Rafe retrieved two grocery sacks from the interior of the car.

“About time you guys got home,” Hannah said to him. “We were starting to wonder if the two of you had stopped off at the Total Eclipse for a beer and a fast game of pool.”

Rafe nudged the door of the Porsche closed and looked up. He gave Hannah and Lillian the patented Madison smile, all rakish charm and a promise of trouble to come.

“Sorry we’re a little late,” he said. “Ran into an old pal who just happened to show up in town late this afternoon. I invited him for dinner. Hope you don’t mind.”

“Who is he?” Hannah asked curiously.

“Just some guy I know.”

Rafe turned to look back toward the far end of the drive. Lillian followed his gaze and saw a second set of headlights coming toward the inn.

A dark-green Jaguar glided down the drive and stopped next to the Porsche.

A sudden premonition sizzled through Lillian. She gripped the railing very tightly and leaned forward to get a better look.

“No,” she muttered. “Surely he wouldn’t-”

Hannah glanced at her in surprise. “What’s wrong?”

Before Lillian could answer the Jag’s door opened. Gabe climbed out. His gaze went straight to the balcony.

“Hello, Lillian,” he said much too easily. “I see you got invited to dinner, too. Isn’t this an amazing coincidence?”

“There are no coincidences,” Lillian said darkly.

“I’ve heard that.”

She was intensely aware of Rafe and Hannah watching the little scene. They both looked amused and intrigued. “What are you doing here? And don’t try to tell me that you just decided to take a mini-vacation this weekend.”

“One thing you should know about me.” Gabe walked around the front of the Jag, making for the front steps. “I never do anything on a whim. You’re probably thinking of Rafe, here. He’s been known to get a little wild and crazy at times.”

“Hey, don’t look at me,” Rafe said quickly. “I’m a married man now. I’ve settled down. I only get wild and crazy with Hannah.” He gazed up at the balcony. “Isn’t that right, honey?”

“If you know what’s good for you, it is,” Hannah said. There was warmth and laughter in the words.

Gabe stopped at the foot of the steps and looked at Lillian. “You didn’t really believe that I was going to let you skip out on me, did you?”

She dug her fingers into the rail. “I offered to repay your money.”

“I don’t want a refund. I want what I paid for.”

“I don’t believe this,” Lillian said.

Rafe paused, one booted foot on the bottom step, and gave his brother an inquiring look. “What’s this all about? Sounds interesting.”

“She owes me a date,” Gabe explained. “I paid for six. I only got five.”

“That is not true,” Lillian said loudly.

“It is true,” Gabe assured Rafe and Hannah. “I’ve got a signed contract to prove it.”

Aware of Rafe’s and Hannah’s thinly veiled amusement, Lillian felt called upon to defend herself. “He lied on the questionnaire.”

“You’re just saying that to cover up the fact that you did such a lousy job of matching me. Bottom line here is that I’ve got another date coming.”

“Lots of luck,” she shot back. “Nobody gets any more dates from Private Arrangements. The company is out of business. You’ll have to get your last date somewhere else.”

Gabe started up the steps. “Nobody takes my money and leaves town without delivering the goods.”

“For crying out loud.” Lillian leaned a little farther out over the rail. “This is ridiculous. You can’t possibly be serious about one lousy date.”

“When it comes to business, I’m always serious.” He disappeared into the house.

“That’s my brother for you,” Rafe said, mockingly apologetic. “Could have written the book on how not to get screwed in a business deal. He fixates, you know?”

Before Lillian could tell him what she thought about Gabe’s business style, Rafe, too, vanished beneath the overhang.

“Well,” Hannah said thoughtfully. “This is an interesting turn of events.”

“This isn’t interesting, it’s seriously aberrant behavior.” Lillian continued to look uneasily over the railing into the now-empty drive. “You think maybe Gabe’s gone a little nuts or something in the years since he left Eclipse Bay? Maybe the stress of building his business empire has been too much for him.”

“I don’t think it’s the empire building that’s making him act weird,” Hannah said. “I think it’s the fact that he’s a Madison.”

“I was afraid you were going to say that.”

“Something tells me there’s more to this story than your failure to live up to your end of a business contract.”

“Believe it or not, things started out fairly normally when Gabe signed up with Private Arrangements. I had stopped taking new clients but he seemed serious and determined. I figured okay, he’s not exactly an oldfriend of the family, but he certainly qualifies as a longtime acquaintance, and weare sort of connected because of you and Rafe and all. I thought, what the heck? I still had the names of several nice women in my files.”

“What went wrong?”

“What can I say?” Lillian held out both hands, palms up. “Gabe became the client from hell.”

“We’ve got no choice but to move out for at least three weeks,” Hannah said an hour later. She passed a large ceramic bowl across the table to Lillian. “The Willis brothers have sent us straight into remodel hell. It was bad enough when they were doing the plumbing.”

“They kept shutting off the water without warning and we had to cope with a stack of bathroom fixtures in the front hall for ages,” Rafe said. “I started having nightmares featuring endless mazes of gleaming porcelain commodes.”

“We keep assuring each other that we’re lucky to have the full attention of the Willis brothers,” Hannah said. “There’s a new wing being built up at the institute and we were worried for a while that the folks up there would lure Torrance and Walter away. Fortunately they called in outside contractors.”

“We made it through the endless commodes phase,” Rafe concluded, “but there’s no way we can live here while they refinish the wood floors and paint the rooms.”

“I can see the problem.” Lillian gripped the bowl in one hand and served herself a large helping of Rafe’s dill-and-yogurt-laced cucumber salad. “The dust and fumes would be bad for Winston.”

“Wouldn’t do us much good, either,” Rafe said dryly. “Besides, we need a vacation before we open for business. We’re going down to California to tour some wineries in the Napa Valley. It will be a good opportunity to finalize my selections for the wine list that we’ll be using in the restaurant.”

“Another astounding coincidence.” Gabe dipped the edge of a wedge of sourdough bread into the fragrant curried potato stew on his plate. “I’ve decided to take some time off, myself.”

Rafe raised a brow. “Good idea. About time you grabbed a few days off. It’s been a while since you got out of your office.”

“So they tell me,” Gabe said noncommittally.

Lillian stilled. “You’re going to be here in Eclipse Bay for three or four days? That’s all?”

Rafe chuckled. “Don’t worry, Lillian, he won’t loiter long in the vicinity, if that’s what’s worrying you. He can stay at Mitchell’s place for a couple of days, at least until Mitchell gets back from Hawaii. But after that he’ll be on borrowed time. I can safely predict that after forty-eight hours the two of them will be at each other’s throat.”

“Really? Just two days?”

“Sure. Take it from me. Mitchell will start in with his usual lectures, telling Gabe how he’s become too obsessed with M.C. Gabe will tell him where to get off. Next thing you know, Gabe will be packing his bags.”

Lillian allowed herself to relax. Rafe had a point. Everyone knew that the three Madison men were notoriously stubborn and hardheaded. The trait no doubt made it next to impossible for any two or more of them to share a house for an extended period of time.

“You’re right.” Gabe raised one shoulder in easy acquiescence to Rafe’s prediction. “A day or two of sharing a house with Mitchell would be about all I could take.”

Rafe winked at Lillian. “Told you so.”

“Lately he’s been getting worse with the lectures, if you can believe it,” Gabe continued. He shook his head sadly. “In hindsight, giving him a computer was a major mistake.”

“Are you kidding?” Rafe chuckled. “He loves that thing. Took to it like a duck to water.”

“He’s got an aptitude for it, all right,” Gabe said. “But he’s not using it the way I thought he would.”

Lillian paused, her fork in midair. “How did you expect him to use it?”

“For good, wholesome, educational purposes. I figured he’d wile away many happy hours checking out senior porn sites. Instead, he’s gotten into the habit of e-mailing me every day.”

Rafe grinned. “Bet I can guess the content of those e-mail notes.”

“They cover a variety of topics but they all come down to his opinion of how I’m running my business and my personal life.”

Lillian cleared her throat. “I take it he doesn’t approve of how you’re handling either one?”

The strong emotion in Gabe’s voice startled her. Whatever was going on between Gabe and his grandfather was more than just annoying to Gabe. It was generating some real pain.

“No,” he said quietly. “He doesn’t approve.”

“I’m sorry if you were planning to stay with us,” Hannah said gently. “As you can see, things are a mess. No one can be in here while the floors are being redone.”

“I know.” Gabe added some of Rafe’s homemade tomato chutney to his curry.

Rafe watched him expectantly. “So, how long, exactly, do you think you’ll stay with Mitchell?”

“I won’t be staying with him at all.” Gabe waited a beat. “I rented the old Buckley place.”

“For how long?” Lillian asked warily.

“A month.”

There was a moment of acute shock.

“You’re actually going to take off an entire month?” Hannah asked in disbelief.

“I’ll have to make a couple of trips back to town for some events that I couldn’t scrub from my calendar,” Gabe said. “I’m scheduled to deliver the introduction at a banquet to honor one of my former college professors, for instance. But otherwise I don’t see any reason why I can’t handle anything that might come up at Madison Commercial from here. I brought my computer and my fax machine and there’s always the phone.”

“I don’t believe it,” Lillian said flatly. “Something weird is going on here.”

“She’s right,” Rafe said. “This is weird. I don’t care how good you are at telecommuting. You’ll have withdrawal symptoms, probably get the shakes or something if you try to stay away from your office for a whole month.”

Gabe said nothing, just kept eating curry.

“Damn.” Rafe looked intrigued now. “You’re serious about this, aren’t you?”

A sardonic look gleamed in Gabe’s eyes. “You’ve known me all of your life. Ever known me when I wasn’t serious?”

“No, can’t say that I have.”

An ominous sensation drifted through Lillian. She studied Gabe more closely. Something dangerous moved beneath the cool, controlled surface he presented to the world.

“This isn’t about getting your sixth date out of Private Arrangements, is it?” she asked. “You were just teasing me with that nonsense. You’re here because you really do want to get away for a while.”

Gabe shrugged again but he did not argue the point.

Hannah turned to Gabe. “Is everything okay at Madison Commercial?” she asked hesitantly.

Lillian was startled by her question. She understood Hannah’s concern. Anyone who knew anything about Gabe, even indirectly, was aware of how much the company meant to him. Impending trouble at Madison Commercial would certainly account for odd behavior on his part.

But she was very sure that if there were a problem with his business he would be living at his office twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week while he worked to fix it. He would not take a month off and head for the coast in the face of impending disaster.

“Things are fine at M.C.” Gabe ate more curry.

“But?” Rafe prompted.

Gabe swallowed, put down his fork and leaned back in his chair.

“But, nothing,” he said. “I need a little time to concentrate on something else, that’s all. I hate to admit it, but Mitchell might have a point. Maybe I have been a little too focused on business for the past few years.”

“Burnout,” Lillian said quietly.

They all looked at her. Gabe and Rafe had the baffled, blank expressions that were common to the male of the species when psychological explanations for behavior were offered. But Hannah nodded in immediate agreement.

“Yes, of course,” she said. “Makes sense. Lil’s right. Sounds like burnout.”

“Sounds like psychobabble to me,” Gabe said. “What’s this about burnout?”

“Think about it,” Lillian said patiently. “You’ve expended an enormous amount of physical and mental energy on Madison Commercial for years. It’s no secret that you’ve driven yourself very hard to make your company successful. That kind of intense focus over a long period of time takes its toll.”

“How would you know?” he asked. The words were spoken in deceptively silky tones. “From what you’ve told me about your checkered job history, you haven’t stuck with anything long enough to burn out on it.”

The blatant rudeness crackled in the solarium like sheet lightning. To Hannah and Rafe, the sharp retort must have appeared to come out of nowhere.

Afraid that Rafe was going to say something to his brother that was probably better left unsaid, Lillian moved to defuse the situation.

“You’re right about my job history,” she said to Gabe. “Guess some of us are just born to be free spirits. Funny, isn’t it?”

“What’s funny about it?” Gabe asked.

“Most people would have assumed that you would have been the one who wound up with the spotty employment record.”

“Because I’m a Madison?”

“Yes.” She gave him a steely smile. “Whereas I am a stable, steady, long-range planning Harte.” She turned to the others. “I suggested to Gabe that he might want to hire me into an executive position at Madison Commercial, but he declined on the basis of my erratic résumé.”

Gabe rested an arm along the back of his chair. He did not take his eyes off Lillian. “That wasn’t the reason I said I wouldn’t hire you.”

“What was the reason?” Hannah asked curiously.

“She pointed out that within a very short time she would probably be trying to tell me how to run my company. I said if that happened, I’d have to fire her. We both agreed there was no point even starting down that road, given the foregone conclusion.”

“As you can see,” Lillian said, “the decision not to hire me at M.C. was mutual. The last thing I need is another short-term position on my résumé.”

The tension that had cloaked the dining room lightened, as she had hoped. Hannah took her cue and shifted deftly to the new topic.

“But you are looking for a new job, I take it, now that you’ve closed Private Arrangements?” she asked.

“Well, no,” Lillian said.

“You’re going to apply for unemployment? That’d be a first for a Harte,” Gabe mused.

“I’m not going on unemployment.”

Rafe raised one brow. “Accepting a position with Harte Investments?”

“Never in a million years. It’s not just that I can’t work for my father. The main problem is that I’m not the corporate type.”

Gabe sat forward and folded his arms on the table. “Okay, I’ll bite. What are you going to do next?”

“Paint.”

“You’ve always painted,” Hannah replied.

“I’m going to do it full time now. I’m turning pro.”

All three of them contemplated her as if she had just announced that she intended to go to work in a carnival sideshow.

Hannah groaned. “Please don’t tell me that you’ve closed Private Arrangements so that you can devote yourself to art.”

“I’ve closed Private Arrangements so that I can devote myself to art.”

“Mom and Dad are going to have a fit.” Hannah flopped back in her chair. “To say nothing of Granddad.”

“I know,” Lillian said.

Rafe reached for the coffeepot. “Got any reason to think you can make a living painting?”

“I’ll find out soon enough whether it will work. Octavia Brightwell is going to put on a show of my work in her Portland gallery in a few weeks.”

Rafe smiled wryly. “I’d give you the standard advice about not quitting your day job. But I guess it’s too late.”

“Much too late,” she agreed.

Gabe stood at the rail of the inn’s broad front porch and watched the taillights of Lillian’s car disappear down the drive. Rafe leaned against a nearby post. Winston was stretched out at the top of the steps, his paws dangling over the edge, ears and nose angled to take in the sounds and scents of the night. Hannah had disappeared back into the warmth of the kitchen.

“If you’re going to be here in Eclipse Bay for a whole month, maybe I’d better fill you in on some of the local news,” Rafe said after a while.

“Save your breath. I’m not real interested in gossip.”

“This concerns Marilyn Thornley.”

Gabe took a moment to rummage around in his memory for some images of the woman he had dated for a time in those first years after college. She had been Marilyn Caldwell in those days, the daughter of one of the wealthiest men in the region. The Caldwells’ home was in Portland but, like the Hartes, they had always kept a second home in Eclipse Bay. They also had a third in Palm Springs.

Marilyn had excellent instincts when it came to selecting winners. Gabe knew that while she had viewed him as having long-term potential, Trevor Thornley had looked like more of a sure thing. She had taken a long, hard look at the two men and chosen to cast her lot with Thornley.

There had been no hard feelings on his part, Gabe reflected. He certainly couldn’t fault her decision. It had been a sensible, businesslike move. Trevor had been on the fast track in the political world. It was obvious even back then that he had the charisma, the glibness and the looks required to grab and hold the media’s and the public’s attention. It was clear that, barring some major disaster, he would go far, maybe all the way to Washington, D.C. All he required was money. Lots of it. Marilyn’s family had supplied the missing commodity. Everyone had agreed that it made sense to invest in a son-in-law who was on his way to becoming a major political powerhouse.

There had been an unexpected bonus for Thornley in the arrangement. Marilyn had proven to be a brilliant campaign strategist. With the help of the politically astute staff of the Eclipse Bay Policy Studies Institute, she had orchestrated every step of Trevor’s career. Under her guidance, he had moved up steadily through the political ranks. Last fall, he had announced that he was making a bid for the U.S. Senate.

To everyone’s surprise, he had pulled out of the race shortly before Thanksgiving. The only explanation Gabe had seen in the papers was the ubiquitouspersonal reasons.

“What about Marilyn?” Gabe asked.

“Haven’t you heard? She and Thornley have filed for divorce. She moved into her folks’ summer place here in town last month. She’s got an office at the institute.”

“A staff position?”

Rafe shook his head. “She’s getting set to launch her own career in politics.”

“Huh. Doesn’t surprise me. She was born for politics.”

“Yeah. Just one problem.”

“What’s that?” Gabe asked.

“Word is she burned through a big pile of her family’s money financing Thornley’s career. Apparently her folks have declined to invest any more cash in politics for a while. Rumor has it they won’t be backing her. At least not until she’s proven that she can win.”

“In other words, she needs money.”

“Yeah. Lots and lots of it,” Rafe said knowingly. “I mention this because it occurs to me that you have what she wants. Expect you’ll be hearing from her as soon as she learns that you’re back in town.”

“Thanks for the heads-up. But don’t worry about it. One thing I can spot real quick is a woman who’s after my money.”

Rafe looked out over the dark bay. “The two of you were once an item.”

“That was a long time ago.”

“Sure.” Rafe shoved his hands into his front pockets. “Consider yourself forewarned.”

“Okay.”

There was another pause. Gabe could feel his brother shifting mental gears.

“You really rented the old Buckley place for an entire month?” Rafe asked after a while.

“Yes.”

“Got to admit, it does seem a little uncharacteristic for you to do something like that. You think maybe Lillian is right? You burned out or something?”

“Madisons don’t do burnout. You ever heard of a Madison burning out?”

Rafe thought about that. “No. Heard of one or two exploding. Couple have imploded. Of course you’ve got your occasional cases of spontaneous combustion in the family. But never heard of any burnout.”

“Right.”

“What’s with you and Lillian, anyway?”

“What makes you think there’s anything between us?”

“I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not the most sensitive, intuitive, perceptive guy around.”

“Course not. You’re a Madison.”

“But even I could see that every time you looked at Lillian tonight you had the same expression you get when you’ve got a major deal going down at Madison Commercial.”

“Like you said, you’re not real sensitive, intuitive, or perceptive.”

“I’m not real stupid, either,” Rafe reminded him. “I’ve never seen that particular look when you were with any other woman.”

“Lillian’s not a business deal.”

“Hold on to that thought, because I’ve got a hunch that if you treat her like you would an M.C. investment you’re gonna have some serious problems.”

Gabe looked at Winston. “My brother, the advice columnist.”

Winston cocked his head and looked intelligent. It was an expression he did very well.

Rafe contemplated the empty drive. “Always figured you’d go off the rails someday.”

“Being a Madison and all.”

“Probably inevitable. Question of genetic destiny or something. You know, I’m a little sorry Hannah and Winston and I are leaving town tomorrow. Would have been interesting to see it.”

“What?”

“The train wreck.”