***
Maddox knocked on her door the next morning. She was too distracted by the sight of the ring on her finger to manage studying much, though she was doing her best to learn the confusing, medical prefixes and suffixes for her terminology class. At this rate, and with him around, she’d never pass her upcoming exam.
She opened the door only to find herself bundled into his arms and thoroughly held.
“Good morning,” he said into her neck. He suspended her against him the way a dancer in a routine might, staring up at her with complete satisfaction.
“Good morning,” she said with a grin.
“I had a thought.” He lowered her to stand on her feet. “And you don’t have to—I mean, it doesn’t have to be more than, well—I mean, we are married.”
She chewed her bottom lip. “You’re cute when you’re tongue-tied.”
Color flushed his cheeks, but he didn’t release her. “I’m just saying, I miss you.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. You know, you’re all the way in here. And I’m all the way in my room.”
He indicated its direction with his head. In a house as large as his, it did seem like there was a league between them.
“I just wondered if you might want to share my room with me. Like we did in Paris. It doesn’t have to be anything more than that. Not unless you want it to be.”
“Maddox.” She didn’t know what to say.
He was right—they were man and wife. Would it be so bad? The truth was, she missed him too. She was having a harder and harder time concentrating on school or answering Suzie’s texts or dealing with anything else but him.
“You don’t have to answer now. Just think about it, okay?” He kissed her, and she melted on the spot. “Anyway, I wanted to let you know, I’ve got to head into Wonderland today. Do you want to come with me?”
The offer tempted her, but it wasn’t enough to brush aside her pressing exam that was just a few more days away.
“I’d better not,” she said. “I’ve got a test soon, and I’ll never pass this class if I don’t get some studying done.”
This time, he did the pouty lip.
“Better be careful with that,” she said, tiptoeing up to kiss him.
“Get your studies done,” he said. “I’ll see you for dinner tonight, okay?”
She was becoming more and more of a puddle the longer he stayed. “Okay. I’ll miss you.”
He grinned and was gone.
Adelie settled in. She forced her mind to focus, though she couldn’t stop thinking about his offer. Had he really asked her to share a room with him? She didn’t want to consider all the implications, so she did her best to concentrate.
After lunch, she relocated to the expansive front room, eager to soak in its comfortable arrangement of furniture and the sun spattering through the massive windows. Music helped her concentrate, and she was so caught up in terms and phrases, she almost missed the doorbell’s ring.
Adelie glanced up. Kirk was nowhere in sight, so she laid down her books and made her way to the door, opening it without a thought. Chances were, it was Maddox with a bouquet of flowers or some other crazy, romantic gesture. That seemed like the kind of thing he might do.
It wasn’t Maddox. A perky blonde woman Adelie recognized—carrying a microphone and backed by a cameraman—beamed at her.
“Hey, there. It’s Adelie, right?” She jutted out her hand. “Wendy Hendricks. You may remember, we met the day you found Mr. Hatter’s rabbit.”
“I—yes, I remember.” The unpleasant memory was a splash against a newly finished watercolor. In an instant, the happy, swirling, comforting image she’d painted for herself in her mind began to muddy and ebb into an incomprehensible mash.
Adelie wanted to retreat, to shut the door. Was Wendy recording her now? How had she gotten past security? Did Maddox arrange this?
Wendy lowered her hand. “Some rumors have flown recently, between you and Mr. Hatter, and I thought I’d see if I could ask you a few questions.”
Rumors. Had word of their marriage leaked? Or maybe it was their trip to Paris.
“I’d rather not.” Adelie motioned, trying to figure out a nice way to uninvite this woman from the doorstep. While she was married to Maddox, this still didn’t seem like her house. Could she demand she leave?
“Oh my gosh, is that a ring?” Wendy flagged her cameraman. “Miss Carroll, are the rumors true? Did you and Mr. Hatter get married?”
“I’m not answering anything. Sorry.” Adelie nearly succeeded at closing the door before a separate hand shot out.
“Come on, that’s no way to treat this nice lady.”
The woman Adelie had only seen on Maddox’s phone strutted up from behind Wendy. She wore a skin-tight, floral dress that cut short at the thigh, and the tallest heels Adelie had ever seen. Her dark hair fell in thick waves past her shoulders.
Adelie’s defenses went onto high alert. Ever since her childhood, she’d had a sense about unsafe people, and Ruby triggered every one of her reservations in an instant. Her pushy manner. Her quick movement toward Adelie and lack of respect for Adelie’s obvious discomfort.
Like Wendy, Ruby jutted out a hand in Adelie’s direction. Against her better judgment, Adelie shook it.
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Ruby, and Maddsy told me all about you.”
Maddsy?
Adelie’s old anxieties trickled back in. The way her head blanked out. The way her pulse skyrocketed. The way she felt as though she’d been struck.
“I think you should go.” Adelie’s voice was weak. Too weak.
Ruby waved her off while beckoning Wendy and her cameraman on, into Maddox’s foyer.
“We’ll be fast friends,” Ruby said. “Just like Wendy and me here. She just wants to ask you a few questions. No big deal, right?”
Flashbacks of the grocery store blanched Adelie’s vision. She couldn’t let this happen—she’d come here for safety, not to be cornered once more. She had to grow a backbone sometime. Maddox had
