A Chance At Redemption (Madison Square Book 3)

by Samatha Harris

  He didn’t look up, just flipped through the last of the mail and set it down on the counter. “The usual. Stanhope’s being stubborn as ever.” He smiled and took the mug from her hand.

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  He shrugged and turned, taking a sip from his mug. His eyes went wide when he spotted me.

  “Look, Daddy,” Mia said. “Gwen came to play with me. Can she spend the night? Please,” she begged, dancing on the balls of her feet as she dragged out the word.

  Allison stepped in. “We’ll see, sweetheart,” she said, ushering Mia out of the kitchen. “Why don’t you go upstairs and put your stuff away?”

  “But…” she whined.

  “But nothing, hop to,” Allison said as she shooed Mia up the stairs.

  Allison reached for her coffee mug. “I’ll leave you two to talk.” Rising on her tip toes, she pressed a kiss to Dad’s cheek. He gave her a small smile and she headed toward the patio, shooting me a wink as she left.

  When she was gone, an awkward silence fell over the two of us, and I looked down into my mug not knowing where to start.

  “Everything okay, Gwendolyn?” he asked.

  I shook my head and fought back the painful knot of emotion that caught in my throat.

  Dad took a step toward me, concern flooding his face. “Did something happen?”

  “I screwed up,” I whimpered, my voice barely audible, but he heard me and nodded his understanding. “I’m so sorry,” I said as the tears flooded out.

  Dad stepped toward me and wrapped his arms around me, letting me cry into his chest, ruining his favorite Ralph Lauren shirt. He pressed a kiss to the top of my head and rubbed my back.

  After a while, I pulled away, leaned back, and looked up at him as he framed my face in his hands. “What happened?”

  “I ruined everything. Liam hates me and now I’m jobless and homeless…again.” I blubbered, taking the handkerchief he offered to wipe my face. “I know you don’t want me here, but I had nowhere else to go.”

  “I never said I didn’t want you here, Gwen. I only want what’s best for you and what you needed was some tough love.”

  I nodded. “You were right. I needed to figure out my own life.”

  His expression morphed into mild shock and it felt like a punch to the gut. A little reminder of what a brat I was and how much I’d taken advantage of him over the years.

  I took a deep breath, and he smiled, wiping a tear from my eye.

  “You’ll get through this,” he said. “Regardless of your path, you’re stronger than you think you are, Gwendolyn.”

  I gave him a sad smile and looked out the French doors where Allison sat with her coffee, pretending not to watch us.

  “She’s kind of great, you know,” I told him.

  He laughed. “I know. I’ve been trying to tell you that for years.”

  ***

  I spent the rest of the afternoon on the floor playing Barbies with Mia. She was a ball of energy. I couldn’t keep up with her on a good day let alone while battling this mind fuck of a hangover.

  The doorbell rang and Mia hopped up and flew toward the door before I could even get up. “I’ll get it,” she called as she raced through the foyer.

  “No, Mia,” I called after her. “Wait for me, kid.”

  Hot on her heels, I turned the corner and froze.

  Max stood just outside the door smiling down at Mia.

  “Who are you?” she asked.

  “I’m Max,” he said, bending down to her level. “Who are you?”

  “Mia.”

  He held out his hand to her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Princess Mia.”

  She giggled and took his hand. “That’s what Gwen calls me.”

  Max looked up at me from where he crouched beside her. “I’m sure she does.”

  “What are you doing here?” I asked him.

  Max got to his feet and sighed. “Dalia said you might be here.”

  I narrowed my eyes and folded my arms across my chest. He shoved his hands nervously into his jeans and looked up at me from under a thick curtain of lashes. That’s when I noticed the deep purple bruise forming on his cheek.

  “Oh my God,” I said as I reached for his arm and pulled him inside. “What happened?” I ran my fingers along the tender flesh of his cheek and he flinched beneath my touch.

  “I went to The Den looking for you and ran into a friend of yours.”

  “Liam did this?”

  “Liam?” he asked. “All I did was ask where you were and some old guy sucker punched me.”

  “Wait, what?”

  “You ran out so fast yesterday that you left your bag at my place and when I told the bartender, that dude looked pissed. Next thing I know, I’m flat on my back and some old guy is standing over me telling me to get out.”

  I shook my head. “Floyd.”

  Max ran a hand through his hair. “Here’s your stuff,” he said, exhaling a long breath.

  “Thanks.” I took my purse from him and clutched it to my chest. Seeing Max had set Liam off and Floyd took him out. I was having a hard time wrapping my head around that image.

  “Listen, Gwen,” Max said. “About the other night. There’s something you should know.”

  Chapter 28

  Liam

  “Fuck,” Drew said, staring down at the phone in his hand.

  “What?” I asked, looking up from the cards in my hand.

  “My cousin’s kid has strep,” he muttered.

  “Sucks,” David said, shaking his head as he adjusted his hand.

  “Yeah, now we’re down an usher.”

  David shook his head, disapproval clear on his face. “The kids got strep throat and you’re worried about an usher.”

  “Have you seen Red lately?” Drew asked. “She’s beyond stressed. Now I have to tell her that we lost an usher. She’s gonna lose it.”

  Sean shifted his cards. “Too bad you don’t know anyone else who could do it. Like maybe a good friend who, I don’t know, happens to be a bartender.”

  I looked up at him and narrowed my eyes.

  Drew looked over at me, his face hopeful, and I sighed. “Fine.”

  “Thanks, man. You’ll be saving my ass,” Drew said.

  David clapped me on the shoulder. “Great. This way if one of the bartenders craps out, you’ll have a spare.”

  I brushed his hand off my shoulders as Sean laughed. “Real funny, asshole.”

  David shrugged his response and tossed his chips into the center of the table.

  “How you doing, man? Any cold feet?” David asked, tossing his chips into the pile.

  “Nope,” he said, “but I’ll be glad when all this wedding shit is over and we can get to the honeymoon part.”

  Sean laughed. “Alex been holding out on you?”

  Drew sighed and tossed his bet into the pile. “She’s got this idea in her head that waiting until after the wedding will make it special.”

  David chuckled to himself and nodded. “Yeah, Millie pulled that shit on me, too.”

  “To make matters worse, her bridesmaids got her these little white shorts that say Mrs. Collins across the back. She’s been walking around the house in these tight little shorts, with my name splashed across her ass. I swear to God the woman is trying to kill me.”

  We all burst out laughing. “It’s not funny,” Drew said, adjusting himself under the table. “I’m in pain. I don’t know how I’m gonna make it until the honeymoon.”

  “Just pull her into the coat closet after the ceremony. That’s what I did,” David said.

  We all turned to face him, eyes wide with shock. David and Millie are so adult. So put together and responsible. It was a little weird to think about them going at it in the coat closet at their own wedding.

  Drew laughed. “I guess that explains the stupid grin he wore all night.”

  David shrugged. “That was part of it.”

  Sean dropped his hand to David’s shoulde
r. “I have a whole new respect for you, Dave.”

  David just laughed and went back to his cards.

  “I don’t think I’ll get the chance to bang my wife in a closet,” Sean said.

  Drew, David, and I looked up at him, wearing matching confused expressions.

  “What do you mean?” Drew said. “There something you need to tell us?”

  Sean shrugged. “Madison doesn’t want to get married.”

  “You asked her?” I was pissed he hadn’t mentioned this to me before.

  “No, but we talked about it. She said she doesn’t want to get married again…ever.”

  “And you’re okay with that?” David asked.

  Sean threw his cards down on the table and ran his hand over his face. “Fuck, man, I don’t know. I get where she’s coming from. If I’d been married to someone like her ex, then I’d probably give up on the whole thing too, but this is us. We’re different. I’m different.”

  “Do you want to marry her?” I asked.

  “I mean, I’ve thought about it, yeah. She’s my world,” he said, looking a little sad.

  “Have you told her what you want?” David asked him.

  Sean shook his head.

  “You got to talk to her, man. If this is something you want, she needs to know.”

  “Goddamn it!” Sean said. “I’m doing it again. I’m the fucking chick.”

  Drew chuckled.

  “Son of a bitch, why does this keep happening to me?” Sean asked. “I’m sitting here bitching because my girlfriend doesn’t want to get married.”

  Sean stood up, knocking his chair over in the process. “Quick,” he said. “Someone punch me in the stomach.”

  “Sit down, man,” I said. “She’ll come around.”

  “I don’t know, she seemed pretty adamant.” Sean righted his chair and took his seat.

  “She hasn’t really been exposed to the best examples of married life. I mean, our parents for one. They fucking hate each other.”

  Sean nodded his agreement.

  “Give it time,” I said.

  “Marriage advice from the only single guy at the table,” Drew said.

  My jaw tensed and Drew realized his mistake. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…”

  “It’s fine,” I said, tossing my cards on the table. I got to my feet and took one last swig from my beer.

  “You leaving?” David asked.

  “Yeah,” I said. “Got to get back to the bar.”

  “Come on, man, don’t go,” Drew said.

  “I have to get back. I’ll see you Saturday.”

  Sean and David waved goodbye and Drew watched me leave, guilt flooding his face.

  This week had been hell. Images of Gwen kissing that guy filled my head the second I closed my eyes. I was running on anger, Red Bull, and zero sleep, but I had to keep going, keep moving forward. If I stopped for even one second, the loss of her would consume me and I would lose my mind for sure. Now, the only way to move on was to focus on my work.

  ***

  The next day I took advantage of a lull to rotate the bottles in the beer fridge, when the bell above the door jingled.

  “Be with you in a sec,” I called over my shoulder as I finished with the last couple bottles.

  I turned around and locked eyes with Gwen’s stepmother. “Mrs. Stevens,” I said. “What are you doing here?”

  “Please call me Allison,” she said, taking a seat on the stool in front of me.

  “Can I get you something?”

  “White wine,” she said. I nodded and pulled a bottle from the fridge to pour her a glass and set it on the bar between us.

  “Thank you.” She smiled, but didn’t touch the glass.

  “So what brings you here?”

  “I was hoping to talk to you, actually.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “About what?’

  “About Gwen,” she said.

  “Oh.” I dropped my head at the sound of her name.

  “She’s been staying with us,” she said. “I thought you would like to know she’s okay.”

  I leaned against the back bar, my hands gripping the edge so tight my knuckles turned white. I nodded. “Good to know.”

  “She’s a wreck, Liam.” Allison said. “She misses you.”

  “No disrespect to you, ma’am, but she should’ve thought about that before she decided to fu…to cheat.”

  “That’s just it,” she said. “She didn’t cheat.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “I saw her. I saw her in that club with some guy’s tongue down her throat. I may not have finished law school, but there is some pretty good evidence to the contrary.”

  “There is an explanation, if you are willing to hear her out.”

  “What explanation could there possibly be?” I said, my voice louder than I intended. Allison shrank back a bit at my outburst and I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down.

  “I know you’re trying to help, but this is not something I can easily forgive.”

  She nodded her head. “She loves you, Liam. Just give her the chance to explain. I think you owe it to yourself to hear her out.”

  “Thanks for coming, but I don’t…”

  Alison held up her hand, stopping me mid-sentence. “Just think about it.”

  I nodded.

  She smiled and reached into her purse, handing me a twenty. I waved it away. “Please,” I said. “It’s on me.”

  She nodded and smiled as she got up from her stool and headed toward the door. When she reached the door, she turned and took a long look around the room. “This is a nice place, Liam,” she said. “You should be proud of what you’ve done here.”

  “Thanks,” I said.

  She smiled and disappeared out the door.

  I watched her walk up the street and get into her car. Then I turned to Floyd, who watched me from the end of the bar, shaking his head.

  “What?” I asked him.

  “You’re a damn fool,” he said.

  “What?”

  “You heard me,” the old man said, turning his attention back to the game.

  “And why is that? Because I’m not going to let her walk all over me?”

  “No,” he said. “Because you’ve found the love of your life and you’re going to let her slip through your fingers ’cause of your damn pride.”

  “My pride?” I asked. “You were here, Floyd. You knocked the guy out.”

  The old man turned and looked me dead in the eye. “Maybe I ought to knock some sense into you too, kid. Then maybe you’ll realize that a girl like that doesn’t come around every day.”

  Having made his point, Floyd turned his attention back to the TV and took a long drink from his beer. Maybe the old man was right. A woman like Gwen comes along once in a lifetime if you’re lucky, but I just wasn’t sure if I had it in me to forgive her.

  Chapter 29

  Gwen

  My phone rang on the nightstand beside my head. I groaned and fumbled around, trying to feel for the damn thing to put a stop to that infernal racket.

  Finally, I grabbed it and brought it to my face, cracking open one eye to read the screen without even lifting my head from the pillow.

  I didn’t recognize the number, but my curiosity won out and I slid my finger across the screen to answer.

  “Hello.”

  “Gwen, good, I’m glad I got you.”

  I frowned. “Who is this?” I asked.

  “Alex.”

  “Alex? How did you get my number?”

  “An old company directory. Anyway, listen, I need a favor.”

  “From me?”

  “Yes, from you.”

  “What is it?”

  “Well, the walkthrough for the permit is today. I was hoping that you would come.”

  “Isn’t today your rehearsal?”

  “Yes,” she said. “The walkthrough is right before.”

  “And you want me to be there? At your wedding rehearsal?”

&nb
sp; “I figured it will go a lot smoother with the permit guy if you were there. I mean, you are the reason he agreed to do this in the first place.”

  “Okay,” I sighed as I threw back the covers and dragged myself from the bed.

  “Great,” Alex said. I could hear the tension in her voice and I felt bad for being so difficult about this. I did offer to help her with the permit issue, even if it was for Liam. I needed to see it through.

  “I’ll see you at six p.m. sharp,” she said.

  “See you then.”

  “Thanks, Gwen.”

  “No problem.”

  ***

  Madison Square was a cute little neighborhood not far from The Den. The wedding had taken over the entire park. Vendors were already setting up tents and chairs for tomorrow’s festivities, and the little square was a flurry of activity as flowers were arranged and elegant white chairs were set up in a half circle around the center of the square.

  I made my way toward the tent where Millie and Alex were waiting. Alex’s face lit up when she saw me. The look of relief in her eyes made me more than a little uneasy. I never thought I’d see the day when Alex McCabe would be happy to see me.

  “You’re here,” she sang.

  “Yep, I’m here.” My smile was forced and awkward. “Let’s get this show on the road. Where’s…?”

  “Gwendolyn,” a familiar voice called from behind me.

  I turned and instantly relaxed at the sight of that cheesy grin. “Uncle Frankie.”

  He smiled and held his arms open wide as I stepped into them, letting the comforting scent of Old Spice wash over me.

  Uncle Frankie was one of my favorite people. He and Dad have been friends my entire life. He was the best man at both of his weddings and like a second father to me.

  Frank stepped back, holding me at arm’s-length as he looked me over. Once I’d met with his approval, he smiled, his thick black mustache curling up a little at the corners, reminded me of a carnival barker.

  “How you doin’ kid?” he asked.

  “I’m okay. I’m staying with Dad for a while.”

  “I heard. You’ll be back on your feet in no time.” He ruffled my hair like he did when I was little.