Letters From Al by Pieper, Kathleen (ebook audio reader TXT) 📕

Maddy felt about Larry and she allowed this to happen anyway. A wave of shock and determination set upon Maddy and a whole lot of self-confidence at how to handle it.

Skip rolled his eyes and Buffy poked him but Maddy saw it and it only furthered her anger. Looking around blithely, Marie seemed impervious to the daggers Maddy eyes were shooting at her.

"No FOR SALE signs up yet? Or did you unload it already? I wish you would have waited so I could help. I know more about real estate than you do." Larry Preston said bluntly. His suave demeanor and slick talk had changed Maddy's opinion before, evidently he thought he could do it again.

"It’s what you keep telling me, Larry, about everything. Come on. Why don't we go in and have some lunch everyone." Maddy changed the subject. Opening the door, she stepped back for her guests. Larry smiled disarmingly as he passed, and Marie tripped after him on his heels like a puppy. Maddy yanked her friend back on the porch.

"What do you mean bringing him along? I can't believe you did this! I told you we broke up. He's acting like nothing has changed. Did you give him the ring and note?"

"Of course I did. It didn’t seem to matter. Oh, Maddy, lighten up. You know what Larry's like when he gets a challenge. So, you say you're not engaged to the guy anymore, he thinks you still are. You both have to agree. It's not like you're strangers."

"You bet I know him. That's why I broke the engagement. And the emphasis is on we're not engaged anymore. I don't want to be around him. I don't want him here. How could you be so thoughtless?" Maddy's whisper was now a hiss, but Marie simply shrugged and went inside.

While Skip, Buffy and Larry went on a tour of the house, Maddy prepared lunch.

"Maddy, Larry's still in love with you. He isn't seeing anyone else." Marie pouted as she helped make sandwiches.

"Yes, as opposed to when we were really engaged and he was still seeing other women. I understood that perfectly."

"Well, he's like a lost soul. I gave him the ring and your note but he keeps calling to talk. I think he's really sorry, Maddy. He wants you back."

"You have got to be kidding. Larry's only looking out for Larry."

Usually when Marie gave her that puppy-dog look, Maddy would melt and give in. Not this time.

"This is the same man who is working with my relatives against me to get control of my parent's estate. This is the guy who was seeing other women when we were supposed to be engaged, who proposed just to get me to follow along with what he wanted." Her hands trembled as she reached for dinner plates, her fury mounting at both Marie and Larry.

"Oh, Maddy, give him a chance, why don't you." Marie acted as if she were the one in the wrong. "I know he's kind of bossy once in a while, but he knows he made a mistake. We had a long talk on the drive up and you'd be surprised how much he loves you."

"Oh, I'm surprised. Surprised you don't know me any better. My relatives probably threatened his job if he didn't get me back." Maddy said sarcastically.

"Well, that's what I get for trying to fix things. So sue me." Turning on her heel, she flounced past Larry who was standing in the doorway. "Maybe you can get through to her, Larry. I couldn't."

Larry slouched almost gracefully leaning in the doorway, listening. His black hair was windblown and fell casually across his fore head. Icy blue eyes in a slim, angular face appraised her silently. There was no doubt he was a handsome man and he knew it.

"You know Marie is always for the underdog." He looked at Marie's retreating form patronizingly.

"Are you the underdog or me?" Maddy kept busy.

"Ouch, that hurt. Hey, I know this must be a bit awkward, but it isn't over just because you say it is. We are still engaged." Suddenly he was standing right behind her, his hands on each of her arms.

"No, we aren't, and awkward is putting it mildly." Maddy shook his hands loose and pushed past him to get something out of the refrigerator. "You seem to forget I left your ring back in Chicago with a note that I know you got. That was the night before I left. So, we've been officially unengaged for weeks now. I'm sure you can find a girl to give it to, one of many you've been seeing. Or, better yet, ask one of my uncles what to do. You're good at that, too. I just can't believe you'd come all this way and expect to be welcome."

"I know. I got your silly little note. If you don't like the ring, we can get another. Is that it? That's easy enough to fix. But as far as my job, it has nothing to do with it. That's a cold way of looking at it, Maddy. After what we've been through together, the help I gave you. It's just a fight, all couples fight. We make up, and we go on. I can't help what my secretary said. Apparently she has a crush on me.”

“Apparently.” Maddy wasn’t convinced and she wasn’t fooled.

“As for dealing with your uncles, we did not plan on disposing of your inheritance. They have helped me with my career. I thought I could help us by investing anything wisely. I didn't think it would hurt anything. Maybe it would help straighten things out between us. Give us a chance to get ahead. Buy the house you’ve always wanted, have a nice, comfortable life together."

"You couldn't have been more wrong, Larry. It was bad enough you were plotting behind my back with my uncles, now you want me to believe you weren't seeing anyone else?" Maddy slammed the pickle jar down on the table.

"My, my, this isn't