Madeline Mann Read Online Free PDF Page A

picked up a crayon, put it in his mouth, and placed his diapered bottom heavily on the small of Noah's back.
    “Ow!” Noah yelled.
    “Honey, take those crayons and paper to the table or Cal will have them for lunch. Here, Mommy will clear a spot for you. Did Madeline give you those? Oh, look at the pretty book!” She jogged to the table, where the remains of our lunch sat, giving off an aroma. As she cleared, she considered my question.
    “I've thought about it, Madeline. But the thing is, Logan has taken…vacations before. He feels sometimes like he needs a mental health day, or whatever. So if he's, uh—resting—I'd hate to embarrass him with the police. But you never know. Yes, Cally, Mommy will cut up some chicken for you.”
    Cal had spotted the food and was now standing precariously at the foot of the table like a little beggar.
    “Wouldn't he call you?” I asked.
    “Not necessarily.” Her face reddened. “He feels guilty, and then he doesn't want to face me. We've had arguments about it, but…and the thing is, there are people I could ask for help—some neighbors, my family, you know. But this is an uncomfortable situation. I really don't want people asking me where he is or why I'm having trouble focusing on my daily… reality.”
    I considered her for a moment. “Isn't it your turn to take a mental health day, Jamie?”
    She rubbed at her eyes, then grabbed a rag and wiped a corner of the table so that Noah could sit down with his supplies. Once he was established, she began cutting up some chicken for her other son. Finally she responded.
    “You know Logan. When you describe him to people, he sounds like this incredible pig, but when you're with him…”
    “He's a pig with charisma,” I said hotly. “Where does he normally go on these vacations?”
    “Here and there. Once he stayed at the Hilton in Chicago. Another time he went to his dad's cabin in Michigan. This really gorgeous place. He took me there a couple times, and Noah's been there. Cal has never seen it. Maybe he's with Quinn, but he's never done that before.”
    “Can we call his dad?”
    “The phone seems to be out of order, or maybe it's off the hook. And Logan left his cell phone here. I don't know what's going on. His dad makes the cabin available, because he lives at his girlfriend's place most of the time, and the cabin is basically empty for the use of Logan and his brother. I could call his dad, but it's just too humiliating to tell him I can't locate Logan, and could he see if Logan's vacationing out there, you know? But I can't drive all the way out there just to see. Noah's got school, and Cal takes two naps a day, and—”
    “Did he leave any money with you?” I asked.
    Jamie flushed again. “What's in my checking account. I still have to pay some bills, but I should have some left. Then I'll run out to the store. I know I look totally poverty-stricken here, but I'm really not.”
    I shrugged, then lied. “Luckily, Fritz tells me the band got paid for their last gig, and Logan never picked up his share. I'll see that Fritz brings it by today.” The amount I had in mind Fritz probably wouldn't wish to part with, but Jamie didn't have to know.
    Her relief was almost palpable. “Oh, thank God. You hate to keep borrowing from your parents, you know?”
    Oh, I knew.
    “I'll get out of your hair, Jamie, but…” Cal, that wandering boy, had returned from the table with a piece of chicken in his mouth and another in his fist, and was now crawling into my lap. He began to play with my necklace with his free hand, wearing an expression of pudgy concentration. His thistledown hair fluttered every time I exhaled. Then he looked me full in the face and smiled, revealing chewed-up chicken and eight little teeth. I felt a pleasant, warm sensation in my midsection.
    “Why don't you give me the address of the cabin? I'm supposed to do a travel article for the paper, so maybe I can write it on, uh…”
    “Saugatuck,” she