by Sara Noble
Maddie fumed. That was the last thing she wanted to hear.
Melissa could see the tears welling in her friend’s eyes. “Maddie, stop. You don’t need to get yourself upset. I just don’t want to see you get disappointed. One heartbreak this year is enough.” She hugged her and then went back to helping customers at the counter.
Maddie retreated into a trance, thinking deeply about the night before. She daydreamed about kissing Connor during the rainstorm and him holding her in his strong arms. She closed her eyes and saw the hungry look in his alluring dark eyes and felt the way his lips swept up and down her neck and shoulders. It was the most romantic night of her life thus far.
After the fog in her mind had cleared, and the initial breakfast rushed had ceased, Maddie ducked into the break room to check her cell phone for missed calls. The screen flashed with a new text message. The swarm of butterflies whirled in her stomach; Connor’s name scrolled across the top in block letters.
‘Hey, gorgeous. I’m leaving town in a bit. I just wanted to tell you that I had a great time last night. I hope you’re not busy later cause I’ll be calling. Talk to you soon.’
Maddie’s heart fluttered. She wanted so badly to call him right then, but realized after glancing at her watch that his flight was about to board. After hesitating for a moment, she replied back to his message.
‘I had fun, too. Can’t wait to talk later. Have a safe trip!’
“I miss him already,” Maddie said aloud to the empty break room. The feelings were beginning to bubble over and soon she’d want to scream about her infatuation to the world. But she also knew that what she was getting herself into was very, very wrong. She was turning into a hypocrite. A wicked, sinful vision of Billy and his redheaded fling flashed before her and tears welled in her eyes once again. Taking a deep breath, she straightened her stance, cleared her throat, and then walked back out to the espresso bar while swallowing her self-pity all the way down.
The remainder of the day went by too slow according to Maddie’s standards. She found herself acting clumsy and forgetful. She messed up many orders and spilled a whole pitcher of sweet tea on the floor.
“Oh, you’ve got it bad,” said Melissa while Maddie mopped the ground. She leaned against the counter and folded her arms across her chest.
“Stop teasing me. Anyway, I thought you didn’t care,” Maddie said.
“Oh, I do care. I care if you get hurt again, ‘cause then you’ll be all mopey and I’ll have to hear you complain about him, just like you did with Billy. It took months for you to shut up about him.”
Maddie froze. “This isn’t like Billy. Connor is nothing like Billy.” She glared at her friend with contempt.
“Both were involved with other women,” Melissa retorted.
A pang of guilt poked at Maddie and her expression fell. She knew Melissa was right. It was never good when a third party was involved.
At least this time I know about the other girl.
***
That night Maddie anxiously waited for Connor’s call. Every time the phone rang, she jumped and raced to answer it. She also nervously drummed her fingers on the dining room table during dinner. Her parents eyed her suspiciously, sensing that something was up.
“What’s wrong, Madelyn? You’ve barely touched your food,” Grace asked while trading glances with Hank.
Maddie poked at her pork chops. They looked, smelled, and tasted bland. “I’m just not that hungry tonight. I ate a lot of scones at work today.”
“You gonna tell us about your adventure with Connor yesterday?” Hank asked. He chewed his food noisily, which annoyed Maddie. She nearly gagged when she spotted a piece of potato hanging from the sandy whiskers of his mustache.
Maddie closed her eyes and pictured Connor holding her hand and promising he wouldn’t forget her. She remembered the way he smelled and how his lips tasted. He should be calling any minute.
“Maddie?” Hank asked again. Her eyes fluttered open and she was embarrassed that she was caught in her fantasy.
“Oh,” Maddie said, flustered. “We just rode around the track in a car, but not his normal car. Then he showed me some stuff in the garage. That’s it. I had fun.”
“But you were out so late,” Grace mentioned. A look of concern knit its way through her brow.
“We grabbed a bite to eat after he drove me back to town. It was no big deal.” Actually, it was amazing, Maddie thought. She recalled walking through the park and the moments leading up to their first kiss. Her body tingled in all the right places, which made her shudder with a momentary twinge of passion. She blushed while her family watched her reaction.
Grace smiled at her daughter. “It sounds like you had a pretty special time. Not everyone gets to hang out with Connor Gray.” She winked at Maddie, which worried her. It meant that Grace knew more than she was leading on.
“Yeah, I know. It was just like when we were kids. He doesn’t seem like a big time, famous person to me.” She stood up and cleared her plate and decided to wait for his call in her room, away from her parents’ curiosities. She even considered a cold shower, but didn’t want to risk missing his call.
“Patty said Connor’s been talking nonstop about you,” Grace called out as Maddie left the room.
Maddie stopped in her tracks.
“What did he say?” Maddie asked as she pivoted around. Her heart was pounding and she swore her eyeballs were about to pop out of their sockets.
Grace wiped her mouth and cleared her throat. “Well,” she began, “Patty had mentioned that he went on and on about your interest in the cars. He kept saying how much he really enjoyed spending time with you.”
“Really?” Maddie was intrigued enough and wanted to hear more. She sat back down at the table.
“Yes. It sounds like he’s really enjoyed being back home. Patty said they’re going to try to come out more often.”
Maddie smiled. Her heart sped up even faster and thumped wildly in her chest. “What else did Connor say?”
“Well, that’s all she told me. Are you and Connor going to keep in touch?”
Maddie nodded. “We exchanged numbers and email addresses. He’s going to keep me updated about the races and stuff like that. He might send some pictures of one of his new cars.” Her mother didn’t need to know the nitty-gritty of their newfound fondness of each other. There was definitely, no way she would mention her and Connor’s make-out session the night before.
“Maybe he’ll send us some tickets to another race,” piped in Hank.
Maddie tried to sound offended. “Daddy, we can’t ask him to do that! It would be rude.”
Hank shrugged. “I ain’t gonna turn him down if he offers.”
“Well, you’re not using my friendship with Connor to get free race tickets. Talk to your friends Patty and Jim before you come scrounging from me.” Maddie slid out of the chair and proceeded to head upstairs. She could hear her folks whispering while they still sat in the dining room. They’re probably planning my wedding and what to name the grandkids, she joked to herself. Although, it wasn’t a bad image as she pictured what her life would be like if her and Connor got serious.
Maddie flipped on her light and read a book while she continued to wait for Connor’s call. Soon it was dark and she could feel herself getting tired. She had not gotten a wink of sleep the night before and had gone into work at seven that morning. She knew it wouldn’t be long and her eyes would be closed for the night. The temptation to sleep took over once her heavy head hit the pillow and her eyelids slipped down.
Not long after she drifted off, the phone rang. It startled Maddie awake and she fumbled to answer before it went to her voicemail.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Maddie,” said that famous, charming voice.
She sat straight up in her bed and daintily cleared her throat. “Hey, Connor.”
“Were you sleeping? I’m sorry if I woke you up.”
“No, no. I was just reading. How�
��s it going? Did you make it to Chicago okay?”
“Yeah. The flight was kind of rough. Glad to be back on land. How was work?”
Maddie yawned. “Exhausting. I spilled iced tea all over my uniform. I got yelled at by some pissed off soccer moms. Overall, it was okay.”
Connor laughed. “Sounds exciting.”
“Not really.” Maddie was surprised that he was interested in her ordinary life. “So, what are your plans for the week?” She wanted to keep the conversation going; her goal was to keep him on the phone as long as possible. She had a hankering to hear his voice and would have been perfectly content staying up throughout the night and fighting off the exhaustion just to talk to him.
“Well, we have qualifying and practice and then, of course, the races over the weekend.”
“Are you running in both series this week?”
“Yep. Keep your fingers crossed that I win, okay.”
Maddie smiled. “I wouldn’t cheer for anyone else,” she answered sweetly.
It was quiet for a few seconds. The fear of not knowing his thoughts tore at her mind. She wanted him to tell her he was on his way back to Jacksonville to be with her. Then she scolded herself for wishing for something that would be a long shot. He probably only wanted to talk about his car.
“I miss you already,” Connor admitted. Maddie let the words soak into her mind and warm her heart. She longed to be in his arms again and was ready to take things to the next level. All that fantasizing perked her up and put her in a flirtatious mood.
“What do you miss about me?” Maddie asked coyly.
Connor sighed, long and heavy. “I miss your lips, your smooth skin, your smile,” he said slowly. “I miss the way your eyelashes flutter when you’re telling a story. I miss sitting close to you and holding your hand.”
A sizzling fire roared in her chest; her skin tingled from head to toe. God, does he know how to make a girl crazy.
“I miss you, too,” Maddie whispered into the phone. She worried about her parents listening in on the conversation from behind the closed door.
“I want to see you again,” Connor said.
“How? When?” Maddie asked fervently. Her heart was pumping wildly and it took every ounce of her strength not to fly up off of her bed and dance around her dark bedroom.
“I’ll fly you out for a weekend. Which ever race you want.”
Maddie’s eyes widened. He wasn’t kidding when he mentioned he liked to spoil his friends and family, she thought. His generous offer was almost overwhelming. She had a hard enough time getting a good-looking guy to buy her a beer at her favorite pub. Her excitement lasted for all of five seconds; she frowned when she pictured Makaela getting in the way of her and Connor spending time together.
“What about Makaela?” Maddie asked sourly.
“She’s going out of the country soon. Probably for the rest of the summer.”
The excitement began to build again. “Why?”
“Her mother is from Sweden. They usually travel back there every year. So she won’t be around.”
Maddie wanted to ask if Connor had made up his mind about his relationship, but she refrained. She knew he would take care of it when he was ready.
“Okay, well what races are coming up?”
“How about Indy in a couple of weeks? You will love that track!”
“Sounds good. Tomorrow I’ll look up the hotels in the area.”
Connor interjected. “No, don’t worry about that. You’ll stay with me.”
The idea floated around in Maddie’s head for a beautiful moment. The thought of staying with Connor, alone in a room somewhere, fascinated her. She envisioned strawberries and champagne, lacy lingerie, a bubble bath…
Then her little fantasy was flushed down the drain.
“What if someone sees us together?”
Connor had a plan. “I have that all worked out. We always get a block of rooms for the crew at a hotel. You can have your own room. No one will think anything of it.”
Maddie was impressed. “Wow, okay. You’ll have to let me know the cost so I can reimburse you.”
“This is my treat, Maddie. Let me splurge on you a little. You know I like to do that.”
Maddie blushed. It’s been so long since anyone had treated her so nice. “Okay. At least let me take you to dinner one night while we’re there.”
Connor laughed. “Okay. Then it’s all set. I’ll send you a plane ticket and I’ll get you a security clearance so you can sit with the crew during the race.”
“Really? I get to sit up in the box?”
“Yeah, of course! My mom will be there, too. She’s going to be thrilled that you’re coming. She really likes you, Maddie.”
A little part of Maddie relaxed. “I think Patty and my mom have been talking behind our backs. They’re probably conspiring something.”
“Why do you say that?”
“They’re reporting back to each other. Whatever you say to Patty gets back to Grace and then to me.”
“Well, I’ll have to make sure I don’t say anything too personal,” Connor laughed. “I’m sure my mom loves the fact that we’re hanging out. She can’t stand Makaela. I bet she’ll encourage me to dump her.”
I wish you would, Maddie thought to herself.
“Connor, thank you so much, for everything. You’ve really made my summer exciting.”
“You’re welcome and you’ve made my life very interesting, as well. Don’t worry; I’m going to take care of everything.”
“You’re so sweet.”
“Mmmm…that reminds me of how sweet you tasted last night. Listen, I can’t wait to see you, but I gotta go. I’ll call you tomorrow after practice, okay?”
“Okay. Night, Connor.”
“Good night, Maddie.”
***
Maddie waited a few days before she told her parents about her to trip to see Connor. She was worried about it for many reasons. First, she knew they would want to escort her since they loved treating her like a baby. Also, she didn’t feel like having to explain her newfound relationship with Connor. Even Maddie herself wasn’t sure how to classify the status of it and she still felt a little guilty for getting involved with him before he breaks up with Makaela. Her parents would certainly sense that something was going on, especially when they hear she was going to be in Indianapolis for four days and not just to see the race. And last, she just didn’t like discussing any part of her personal life with them. She had always been a private person and felt it was nobody’s business how she spent her time. Eventually, Maddie decided there was no way of getting around it. She could lie and tell them she would be going to a beach house with Melissa for a volleyball competition, but it was possible that she could end up on TV during the race. She was going to be sitting in the pits with the crew, after all. She could just imagine all the drama that would ensue when her daddy saw her there.
Maddie sat cross-legged on the living room couch eating a bowl of cereal. It was early Saturday morning, her only day off that week, and she decided to spend it doing absolutely nothing. Her long shifts at the coffee house had completely exhausted her. She had picked up a few extra hours to compensate for the time she would be missing when she goes to Indianapolis. She didn’t mind since she would be spending hours with Connor, quite possibly in his bed.
Grace came down the stairs not much longer after Maddie had woken up. “Hey honey, you’re up early. What’s going on?” she wondered aloud as she tightened the knot on her bathrobe.
Maddie crunched her cereal loudly. “I was hungry,” she answered with a mouth full of food. A trickle of milk slid down her chin.
“I can see that,” her mother noted. Grace pulled open the drapes to let the sunshine in the room. A warm, golden ray filtered across Maddie’s face. “So, what’s on the agenda today? Want to go shopping with me?”
That’s actually a good idea, Maddie thought. She needed a few things for her trip. Although, the fancy panties and itty-b
itty nightgowns will have to be bought another time.
“Where you going?” Maddie asked, still shoving cereal in her mouth.
“Probably to the mall and the home improvement store. Your father doesn’t want to come with me, says his back is out again.”
“Okay, I’ll go with you.” It was hard to turn down a shopping trip when she was feeling so elated.
A few hours later, the two drove down to the mall near the coast. It was another hot and humid day in July, with no signs of it giving up. Sweat collected on the back of Maddie’s neck, despite the air conditioner blowing on full blast. It feels like the earth’s core out here, she thought while fanning herself with a rolled up magazine.
Maddie felt courageous and decided it was time to tell her mother about the trip. It would be better to do it then since her father was nowhere near to tease her about it.
“So, Mom; I need to tell you something.” Maddie took a big gulp of air. “I’m going out of town next week.”
“Oh, where ya going?” Graced asked curiously. She kept her eyes on the road but acted very interested.
“I’m going to Indianapolis to see the race.” Maddie held her breath and awaited the impending series of questions she knew her mother would ask.
Grace arched her eyebrows. “Really? Does this have anything to do with Connor?”
“Well, yes actually. He invited me to go and I need a vacation.”
A giant smile turned up Grace’s lips. “How exciting! Your father is going to be so jealous. He’s always wanted to see a race at another track.”
A pang of guilt stabbed at Maddie’s side. She felt bad about leaving her parents behind. They loved racing the most, after all. “Why don’t I see if you and Daddy can come? I’m sure Patty wouldn’t mind grabbing a few extra tickets.”
Grace shook her head. “No, no, no. You know he hates to fly. Besides, this is your trip.” She nudged Maddie with her elbow.
Maddie’s face filled with fire. “Oh, my gosh,” she whispered and covered her face with her hands. It was at that moment she realized that her mother already knew.