Page 31 of Trouble
9
Maddox
Lyla didn’t call me.
I had a less than restful night of sleep, my dreams punctuated by visions of me and Lyla in a cute little cottage with a white picket fence being chased by Andre as the big bad wolf. Didn’t take a dream therapist to work out what it was all about.
When my alarm finally went off, I’d been about to drop off and resented the harsh wake-up call. I rolled over in bed and groaned. While the pain in my ribs had definitely lessened, it was still there. I was going to need a shit-ton of Advil to get me through the day.
Mondays at the garage were a mixed bag. Mostly there would be easy jobs from regulars, often there would be a couple of emergencies, where people had issues over the weekend and needed an immediate fix. Whatever this Monday held for me, I hoped it would be busy enough to keep my mind off Lyla.
Aunt Penny had fixed my favorite breakfast, pancakes with bacon and maple syrup, and coffee. I gave her a hug, remembering her sage words the previous evening.
“Figured you’d need something to perk you up today.” She looked at me, brushing her fingers over my bruised face. “Do you need to see the doctor?”
I shook my head. “Nope, it’ll heal. I’ll take some painkillers though.” I didn’t want to see the doctor. The pain was a constant reminder of what I’d lost over the past couple of days. I felt I deserved it.
She went to the cupboard to find some and handed me a packet. “Be careful you don’t take too many,” she chided, as if forgetting I was a grown man.
“Promise.” I grinned and sat at the table, before demolishing my breakfast in record time.
Bolstered by good food, good coffee and a couple of pills, I felt a lot better than I did when I first work up. On the way to the garage, I decided to pop into the coffee shop to pick up something for lunch as well as a couple of treats for Ric and Bryan. As I was about to be landing a whole lot more work on their shoulders, I figured a little sweetener wouldn’t go amiss.
I hadn’t banked on running into Ianthe and almost high-tailed it out of the shop when I saw her.
She wasn’t about to let me get away that easily though. “Maddox Riley!” Her voice thundered across the room and heads swiveled to look at me.
I forced a weak smile and shifted uncomfortably. It seemed my private life was about to be shared with the current population sipping their morning coffee and nibbling on their muffins.
“You know Lyla’s in bits?” Ianthe approached me, taking in the state of my face. “Woah, she mentioned Andre laid into you, but I hadn’t realized what a job he’d done.”
“I called her last night. I wanted to talk to her.”
“We were going to go to the bar, but she bailed. I haven’t spoken her this morning yet. We’re going to Monday Madness at the bar tonight though. God knows, she needs cheering up and if karaoke and cheap drinks won’t do it, I don’t know what will.”
“Was she okay?”
Ianthe put her hands on her hips, her lip curling up slightly. “What do you think? The two of youfinallyget it together after all these years and then you turn your back on her?”
I rubbed my jaw. “It’s complicated.”
“Is it Maddox? Is it really that complicated? Do you love her or not?”
Ianthe was even more direct than Aunt Penny. It was disconcerting and revelatory at the same time.
“Andre won’t accept us.”
She waggled a finger at me. “Who gives a fuck about Andre? Are you going to be sleeping with him for the rest of your life? Or regretting not sleeping with Lyla, because of him?” It was clear how Ianthe felt about the subject.
I could sense the assembled audience holding their collective breath as they waited for me to respond. Here and now wasn’t the time and place to express my thoughts and feelings.
“Sorry to disappoint you, folks,” I addressed the watching crowd. “You’ll have to wait for the next episode in the Maddox and Lyla soap opera, that’s if the season hasn’t already finished.” There were disgruntled mutterings as the punters went back to their own conversations and, more than likely, less interesting lives. “Now, can I get some muffins to take away?”
By the time I arrived at the garage, Bryan had already opened up and was working on a simple oil change. His head popped out from under the hood when he heard me come in.
“Maddox! That car, buddy. Where did you get it?” His eyes sparkled with excitement.
My gaze fell on the MG Midget. The whole reason I’d gotten into this mess in the first place. I squeezed my eyes closed, trying not to picture Lyla.
