The streets were slick from rain as Madeline maneuvered them with the finesse of a seasoned local. Her hands gripped the wheel a little tighter than usual and her feet held just enough tension as she prepared to apply the right amount of pressure to the brakes when needed to keep her from skidding across the slippery asphalt pavement.
The first rains of the year were always a little trickier to navigate than at any other time. Months of traffic during the dry months had left the roads with tiny droplets of oil and when mixed with the fresh rains created slippery patches slyly awaiting its first victim to send hydroplaning into another car like balls on a billiards table.
The red taillights of the car in front of her made her quickly tense up as she slammed on the brakes, hoping she wouldn’t go careening into another direction she didn’t want to go; the sudden change in speed made everything lunge forward. Instinctively, her right hand made that protective gesture to hold her packages in the passenger seat in place like a mother protecting a small child. She took her eyes off the road for a fraction of a second to make sure that her precious cargo was still safely in tact and to check the rearview mirror to make sure the car behind her was also able to stop.
A second later, the car ahead was moving again and she carefully moved her foot to the accelerator, moving forward once more, though slowly this time. Subconsciously, her hand moved a strand of lightly graying brown hair from in front of her eyes and she cursed slightly under her breath. Usually, she would be in deep meditation as she took to the roads, relishing in the freedom of time away from the bakery and a little solitude, but today traffic seemed a little more intense than usual.
Maybe it’s me , she thought, that is a little more tense than usual . Her bakery had been doing quite well since that crazy fiasco with Emma Larson had finally been settled last year. The news of Emma’s death had rocked the small town of Rockcrest Cove; it took quite a while for the incessant chatter to finally settle down and people to return to their tedious, mundane lives. Granted, it had been a very stressful time for Maddie; imagine being accused of something so heinous, but it also boosted her reputation in the eyes of the quaint little town. Her business excelled in ways she would have never imagined.
She turned the wheel and the car slipped quietly from the busy main thoroughfare to the quieter, more suburban streets of town.
This part of town was just a little more “posh” than where she lived and certainly had more class than the area where her bakery was located. You could tell that the cobblestone roadways were not used to a lot of traffic crossing them and the long and winding driveways that lead up to the grand estate houses harkened back to a gentler time than what Rockcrest Cove had seen lately.
Maddie glanced down at the paper taped to her dashboard and followed the directions carefully to the street she was looking for. Right turn here, two blocks and then a left, then a quick right. She leaned into the steering wheel as if the few extra inches would help her to see the street signs a little better. Three minutes later, she pulled into the driveway of a beautiful Victorian house, complete with the grand wraparound porch with rocking chairs set out on the veranda. Even in the rain, you can still smell the hint of paint in the air that told her that the white building with Kelly green trim had only recently been completed. The new residents were in the process of remodeling their home and were planning on being a part of this community for many more years.
The rain had eased up and was now a fine mist that made Maddie sit in the car for a minute. She took a quick glance in the mirror to check her hair and made a quiet sign of exasperation. She made an ineffectual attempt to pat down her mossy brown hair as