Her face, only inches from his, turned pink. If she was angry or embarrassed, he didn’t know, but he didn’t much care. He’d already failed her once this trip. He wasn’t going to do it again.
“I can walk,” she told him, a stubborn tilt to her jaw.
“Maybe. But I’m still going to carry you.”
Her nostrils flared. Okay, so she was angry. “I don’t need your help.”
“You almost drowned,” he pointed out, his own ire rising. “And your feet look like they’ve been through a meat processor.”
Hannah arrived with a mug of steaming tea that Madelyn took from her gratefully.
“We could have saved you from so much pain if you’d said something,” Chance continued.
Madison took a careful sip of the tea instead of responding. He wanted to hug her close and shake her all at the same time.
“We should have given her some wool socks for the hike.” Hannah looked as contrite as he felt.
“I know,” Chance said through a tight jaw.
“I’ll grab the first aid kit and meet you at her room.” They all knew to steer clear when Chance was in this mood and let it work itself out.
Madelyn tried to wiggle out of his grip, but Chance didn’t relinquish his hold. “Do you really want to walk on those feet? Just let me help you for once, okay?” To his surprise, she nodded. He stood with her and turned to Rog. “Can you grab her bag and find the keys to her cabin?”
Rog grabbed it and ran to open the door.
“You’re making this a bigger deal than it needs to be,” Madelyn said quietly. Almost embarrassed.
“Yeah, well, you’re not making it a big enough deal, so I guess we’re even.”
“Why are you so mad at me?” she said.
“I’m not.” He softened his grip on her. As he did, her spine relaxed and she leaned into him. “I’m angry at myself for not realizing you were in pain.”
She let out a weary sigh. “I’m used to doing everything myself, Chance. It’s not a habit I can turn off easily.”
They made it to the cabin and he reluctantly set her down on the bed, missing the feel of her body against his. Hannah arrived with the first aid kit and handed it to him.
He sat on the edge of the bed and took Madelyn’s foot in his hand.
She yanked it back. “I’ll do it.”
He frowned. “Madelyn—”
Hannah butted into the conversation before he could berate Madelyn again. “Let him do it. He’ll be all angry-bear if you don’t, and we still have a few things we need to film tonight.”
Madelyn looked from him to Rog to Hannah—who both stood in the doorway with their arms folded—and shook her head while staring at the ceiling. “Fine,” she said. “But I’d like to get changed first.”
“You’ll let us back in the room if we leave?”
“I promise,” she said, pushing him off the bed.
Hannah and Rog followed him out and they stood in the doorway while they waited for Madelyn to change. “Why don’t you get the next shot ready and I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes.”
“Okay.” Rog jogged off, Hannah following a little slower, casting a worried glance back at him. The door opened, and Madelyn stepped back so he could come into the room. She wore a pair of flannel pajama pants and a huge sports T-shirt that looked big enough to have belonged to someone twice her size. Her ex-husband, maybe? Nope. Not going there.
She sat on the bed, her legs stretched out in front of her, and Chance stood by her feet, the first aid kit already opened. She appeared so young, so vulnerable sitting there, waiting for his help.
The air in the room felt more strained now that it was just the two of them. Alone.
He took her right foot first and gently placed the ointment on it, then covered the broken blisters with bandages. He did the same with her other foot, her breathing shallow as he ran his fingers gently across her heel when he was done.
“Does that feel better?” he asked.
She nodded, but still wouldn’t look at him. He dug through the kit for a couple of painkillers and a water bottle. “Are you going to be okay?” he asked, already knowing what her answer would be.
“Yes.” She paused. Then, “Thank you.”
He grinned. “See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
She rolled her eyes, but a glimmer of a smile appeared, just as he’d hoped. He spotted her shoes in the corner and went to grab them to see how bad they really were.
A crawling spider caught his eye, only inches from his hand. “Agh!” He jumped back and shook his hand as though the spider had crawled on him.
“What’s wrong?” Madelyn asked, scooting quickly to the end of the bed.
He folded his arms, the picture of nonchalance. “Nothing.”
“You screamed for no reason.”
“I didn’t scream,” he said. He scrubbed a hand across his chin. “I, uh, coughed.”
She slowly raised an eyebrow.
“So.” He rocked back on his heels, giving in to the urge to make sure the spider was still in the corner. “If you’re good …”
She followed his gaze. “It’s the spider, isn’t it!”
“No,” he scoffed, backing slowing toward the door. “I’m going let you rest.”
“Okay,” she said with a gleam in her eye and a too-sweet smile. “Would you mind smashing the spider on your way out? I’d rather not have it crawling around while I’m sleeping.”
“I don’t know, Madelyn. Smash the spider? Seems inhumane to me. I mean, I’m already being called out for the sharks. Don’t need the spider lovers coming after me too.”
“Then cradle it in your hands and carry it to safety.” Yeah, that was definitely a mischievous gleam in her eye.
He cleared his throat, put his hand on the door. “I’d rather not.”
“You’re afraid of it!”
“I’m Chance Risk. I’m not afraid of anything.”
“Except spiders.”
She looked at him expectantly, and finally he shrugged. “Can you blame me? They’re creepy little devils.”
She laughed, and for that sound alone, he could sacrifice a little dignity. “How did I not know this about you?”
“I’m a really good actor.”
She laughed even harder, warming him up on the inside.
He twisted the handle and opened the door before he did something dumber than admitting he was afraid of spiders. Something that involved his lips on Madelyn’s tempting mouth. “Good night.”
She smiled, biting her lip in a way that nearly made him groan, and he closed the door quickly to escape the attraction unsettling him even more than the spider.
Chapter Fourteen
Madelyn awoke, every muscle screaming in pain. The sun streamed through the gauzy cabin curtains, creating a perfect atmosphere for her to stay halfway in the dream she’d been in, Chance holding her close. She groaned and threw a pillow over her face. At least her feet felt a little better, even if her mind was spinning out of control.
She had a few minutes before she had to meet everyone, and it was going to take every second for her to maneuver her body out of bed and get dressed. So she could do the reverse of yesterday. The same awful hike, only uphill.
A hike she had no idea how she was going to accomplish. But she would, just like she always did.
Hannah had dropped off a pair of wool socks the night before after Chance left. She hadn’t been exactly friendly with Madelyn, but not quite as offish as she’d been the first night they met, either. Madelyn couldn’t blame her; she deserved the cold shoulder for leaving Chance the way she had eight years before.
It only took ten minutes to get ready, and although squeezing her feet back into her shoes had been torture, Hannah’s socks really were a godsend.
She opened the door to an overwhelmingly loud beating noise. The scent of stirred-up dirt filled the air and she glanced up at the descending helicopter. It landed less than a quarter mile away on a
landing pad behind the main lodge. Madelyn hiked her heavy pack higher on her shoulder.
Rog jogged up to her, a huge smile on his face. “Come on, we don’t want to miss it.”
“Miss what?” she asked, trying to keep pace with his long-legged stride.
“Our ride,” he said, lifting his camera. They turned the corner and saw Chance and Hannah already standing near the open helicopter doors, talking to the pilot. Chance caught sight of them and waved them closer.
“You got this for me, didn’t you?” she yelled at Chance over the sound of the beating propellers. The wind whipped her hair wildly around her face. Chance reached out and gently brushed her hair behind her ear, his fingers lingering a second on the sensitive skin near her neck. She swallowed thickly, her heart pounding in rhythm with the thwump, thwump of the helicopter.
“We wanted a different view on the way out! Great aerial shots!” he shouted over the noise. The pilot tapped his shoulder and Chance turned to speak with him. Madelyn stood locked in place as tears pricked her eyes. She’d almost forgotten what it was like to be taken care of.
But she couldn’t get used to it.
This wasn’t her real life. Chance was kind of like Havasupai, in a way. An oasis in the middle of the desert. Unexpected, beautiful, and dangerous, but not hers for longer than a brief moment in time.
Rising MyChannel star Chance Risk knows that his team members aren’t just his closest friends but the key to his success …
Madelyn read through her article again for the fourth time. She’d done a spotlight on Chance, Hannah, and Rog—leaving Kim out as requested—talking about how they’d each started working for Chance and how their relationship was more like family. After a few technical details about planning each adventure, she’d finished it off with a hint of what fans could expect from the Havasupai episode. It was good. Informative.
She pressed send before she could obsess about it anymore. Chance would let her know if he approved of it or not, but there was no reason he shouldn’t. She’d painted him and his team in a great light, and if Hannah let Verity use one of her pictures of Chance, then she was set.
The doorbell rang, and then rang again and again. She stood and stretched out her back. She’d finished the article just in time.
She’d arrived home yesterday evening and gone straight to bed, but at four a.m., unable to get Chance off of her mind, she was up again. It was intense, the way he looked at her. How it felt to be in his arms. The warmth that had filled her at the knowledge that he’d called down a helicopter just for her. But at the same time, it frightened her. Was this how her mom felt every time she found a new man to help her? It was heady. Intoxicating. And dangerously addictive.
The doorbell rang again, and she rushed to open the door. Oliver leaped into her arms, holding her tight around the neck. She closed her eyes and breathed him in. She loved his tight, full-body hugs. If only he could stay like this forever.
“I’m glad you’re home,” he said into her hair.
“Me too.” She glanced at Jason, who tossed Oliver’s bag onto the couch. “How was it?”
“We had a great time, didn’t we, bud?”
Oliver pulled back and nodded, his eyes wide and solemn. “I got to spend the night at Grandma Stewart’s. She had some friends over.”
Madelyn turned to Jason. “Get a gig?” She tried to sound calmer than she felt. Jason knew she hated it when Oliver spent the night at his mom’s house. Madelyn’s mom was needy, but Jason’s mom started drinking once the sun went down. And having friends over could mean anything from a group of girlfriends coming over to watch a movie to one of her male admirers.
“It was a huge deal, Mads. I had to do it, and your mom had a headache.”
“She had friends over, Jason.” She tried to keep her voice calm for Oliver’s sake, but the accusation leaked out anyway.
“They let me watch their movie with them,” Oliver told her.
“Oh, what movie was it?”
“Clown Killer.”
“Really?” she said to Jason.
“He’s fine,” Jason insisted. But when Madelyn looked closely at Oliver, she saw dark circles under his eyes, like he hadn’t slept well. She knew Jason was a good father—at least that was what she chanted to herself all the time—but his gigs always came before everything. Even if it meant putting their son in a situation Madelyn disliked.
“It was just a movie. Don’t be mad.” He gave her his charming stage smile, but it had no effect on her anymore. “Come on. You should be all happy, just getting back from vacation. How was your weekend with Chance Risk?”
“Painful,” she said, feeling the ache all the way to her bones.
He sighed as if being in her presence was the painful thing. “Of course you couldn’t just relax and enjoy the experience. What was I thinking?” She knew he wanted her to be enthusiastic about this great adventure he was jealous of, but she was too physically and emotionally worn out for enthusiasm.
“You were with Chance Risk?” Oliver asked his eyes wide.
“I was. We went for a hike.”
“That’s so cool!” He jumped up and down, holding on to her arm. “Are you friends? Are you going to be on the show? Did you talk about me?”
Madelyn laughed. Oliver was enthusiastic enough for the two of them. “I did talk about you,” she said. “How could I not? You’re the best kid I know.”
He smiled, proud, and Madelyn’s heart filled to the brim.
“You’re good keeping him this weekend?” Jason asked. He was playing in a festival he’d been looking forward to for months.
“Of course. I’m the planner, remember?” Her wry tone was probably lost on him.
“Thanks, Mads. Come here, bud.” He knelt down and gave Oliver a huge hug. “I’ll see you soon.”
Jason left, and Madelyn took Oliver’s hand. “Guess what we get to do today?”
“What?”
“Get your stitches out.”
He frowned. “Is it going to hurt?”
“Nope.” She looked him up and down, still in his pajamas. “Take your bag to your room and get dressed first, okay?”
She had a whirlwind morning of running errands while Oliver was at school, then taking him to get his stitches out. One of the stitch knots got caught in his hair, and the doctor had to tug hard to pull it out. Oliver cried, but it was such a quiet, stoic cry, it broke her heart.
“Can we have ice cream?” he asked, his cheeks still streaked with tears.
She didn’t have the heart to tell him no, even though she’d just looked at the account and knew they had five dollars left to last until she got paid on Friday. As long as nothing unexpected happened, they should be fine.
She took him to McDonald’s and let him order an ice cream cone.
“Mom?” he asked, studying his cone before taking each lick. “Do clowns really kill people?”
She could strangle her ex-mother-in-law. Madelyn and Oliver had a long talk about real fears and fake fears, and then he ran off to play in the fun zone.
“We have to leave in about fifteen minutes,” she called out. She had to drop him off at the babysitter’s and do her shift at the diner. Her phone beeped. It was a text from her babysitter, and somehow she’d missed an email from Chance. She clicked on the text first.
I’m sick. Can’t babysit tonight. Sooo sorry.
Madelyn read through it a few more times, her stress rising. Madelyn had to work. Since she’d taken the weekend off, they were in an even tighter financial place than usual. She didn’t want to, but she had to call her mom.
She answered before the first ring even finished. “I’m so glad you called!” The television blared in the background—a game show from the sound of the ringing bells. “My washer is broken again. Can you come look at it?”
Thank heavens for MyChannel, where Madelyn had learned to fix a dryer, a garbage disposal, and a dishwasher, and how to pick the lock on her mom’s car door for when she locked
her keys inside for the millionth time. “I’ve got to work tonight. Can you watch Oliver, and I’ll look at it after?”
“You never come over any more just to spend time with me. It’s always because you need something.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, biting her tongue so hard she could hardly speak. It was the same tired accusation from her mom—who wanted Madelyn to be at her beck and call at all times with a good attitude, while she gave her grief for every rare favor Madelyn asked. But it had always been the two of them; between all the relationships and moves, they had each other, and Madelyn knew her mom loved her. “Please?”
Her mom’s tone softened. “Okay. But you need to bring Chance Risk by sometime so I can thank him in person.”
And thus it began. “I thanked him for you.”
“The carpet cleaners did the whole house, Madelyn. Even the tile. My grout is a light tan. Who knew?”
“That’s really nice.” And must have cost a fortune. “We’ll be over in a few minutes.”
Madelyn ignored Chance’s email for a little while longer, gathering Oliver and dropping him off at her mom’s house before rushing to the diner. Her entire day had felt like one massive rush from one place to another. She tied her apron on and peeked out into the dining room. It was packed, which meant more tips. She worked a solid four hours straight, not sitting down for a second. Finally there was a lull in the dinner crowd, and Madelyn made her way to the break room.
Linda handed her a full cup of her own special concoction of Coke, chocolate syrup, and other mysterious ingredients that may have included pepper and vanilla. Madelyn didn’t have the heart to tell Linda how much she hated the taste. “Drink this. You look like you need it.”
“Thank you.” Madelyn sat on a cushioned chair in the break room and sipped slowly on the Coke until Linda left. She finally got the courage to pull out her phone to read Chance’s email.
It’s good, but not there yet. We’ve still got two more adventures to get it perfect. Next trip is planned for this weekend. Everything you need should be waiting at your apartment.
She groaned. There was no way she could ask her mom to watch Oliver again this weekend. And Jason’s mom with the R-rated movies was completely off-limits too.
Take a Chance on Me_A My Heart Channel Romance Page 9