Page 17 of The Glass Dolphin

Maddy blinked, because her brain could only hold so much, and it already operated at maximum capacity.

He nodded toward a bucket that lay on its side only a few paces away. “Careful as you come this way. Look.” Aaron took the steps, and Maddy gingerly went with him.

The bucket lay there, but letters had been painted on the side of it.No more tourism.

She blinked again, and another moment of her life began. “What does that mean?”

“Clint—Officer Harmon—took photos of all of them.” Aaron took out his phone and started swiping. Maddy’s eyes once again shook with the want of trying to see so much, so fast.

Keep the cove small, one read.

Stop building, another said.

This land is sacred, read a third.

No more tourismflashed by.

The cove is big enough.

Keep our small town small.

Aaron lifted his eyes to Maddy’s. “We have the man in custody, and he claims he’s the front man for a large group of concerned individuals in the cove.”

“Who…what?” Maddy asked. “Think The Glass Dolphin is the reason why their island community is…what? Growing?”

Aaron tucked his phone away. “I don’t know,” he said. “But it’s almost Christmas, and we won’t have the glass you need to get this fixed before then.” He sighed, and Maddy felt it move through her whole soul.

She suddenly didn’t want to be in this restaurant. She’d loved working here. She’d found the space open and airy and beautiful, the ocean just beyond the back wall of windows inviting and playful.

Now, everything felt tainted. Scary. Dangerous.

Maddy walked away from Aaron, her fingers already dialing Ben. “Hey, baby,” he said, his voice a bit groggy. “You’re up early.”

He had no idea, and Maddy could explain everything to him later. “Ben,” she said. “We’re still leaving the cove today, but I might have to work a little while we’re gone.”

“What’s happened?” he asked as a media van pulled into the parking lot. Maddy didn’t want to be here. She didn’t want to be interviewed, and she glanced over to Robin and Alice. They flanked her and all three of them got into Robin’s van, and she clicked the locks closed.

“It’ll be on the news soon,” Maddy said. “But The Glass Dolphin was vandalized overnight, and it’s going to have to close until after the New Year.”

This wasn’t her restaurant, and while she was invested in it, she had to be able to walk away. She had plans with her fiancé, her father, and her family. Teresa would have to talk to the police, the reporters, and the general contractors.

This wasn’t Maddy’s problem to fix. “I’ll see you at my house soon?” she asked, her voice wavering again.

“Yeah, of course,” he said. “I’ve got the news on. You’re okay?”

“I’m okay,” she whispered, but she met Robin’s eyes in the rearview mirror, and they both knew it was a lie. “I’ll see you soon.” She ended the call before she could cry, and then she looked out the window, seeing a bucket come flying through it, shattering it, breaking into someone’s dreams and crashing them to splinters.

Maddy pressed her eyes closed. “We should go.”

“Yes.” Robin cleared her throat and got the van backing up. “Where to?”

“The ferry,” Maddy said. “I’m meeting Ben in a couple of hours for our holiday trip.” She spoke almost in a robotic voice, and she didn’t like that. She noted that both Robin and Alice accompanied her on the ferry, though they both lived on Diamond Island. They took her all the way to the front door of her house, where they each hugged her.

Maddy nodded to them and said, “Thank you,” in a quiet voice before she slipped inside and locked the door behind her. She’d deal with work when she had to, and she spent the next hour making sure everyone knew she’d be off the cove, who to call, and what to do.

Then she packed her bag and waited for her gorgeous fiancé to arrive, to whisk her away from all this madness.

ChapterEight

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