ESCAPE INTO ROMANCE- 4 Book Bundle

by Patrice Wilton

  Maddi thumped her soggy pillow in disgust. She was so fed up with hurting and crying her heart out night after sleepless night. Now, daytime too. Ever since she’d found out about Tami, David’s dental hygienist girlfriend, her tears were like a faucet she couldn’t turn off.

  Her stomach started to churn so she massaged it gently, hoping to soothe the ache. But she knew it was more than bitterness that soured her tummy. Anger, love, and hate were battling it out inside, and until a winner was declared she’d get no peace.

  What was that? That creaking noise coming up the stairs? Her heart thudded in alarm and she sat up enough to peek over her duvet, calling out, “Who’s there?”

  “Maddi, it’s me.”

  Barbara. Why was she barging in to her bedroom uninvited? She wasn’t welcome. She should mind her own damn business.

  “What are you doing here? How did you get in?” Maddi grumbled and threw a pillow at the door.

  Barbara ducked the pillow and sauntered into the room, picking up underwear and socks and assorted clothes along the way. “Get out of bed, you lazy slug.” She threw the clothes in a hamper in the walk-in closet. “Look at you. Look at this mess. It’s a disgrace. I can’t believe you’re lying here in bed in the middle of the day. I won’t have it.” Barbara shook Maddi, who was trying to slide under the covers. “I won’t.”

  “Go away. You’ve come to lecture me and I’m not in the mood. Besides, how did you get in?”

  “Duh. How’d you think? I know perfectly well where you keep the spare key.” Barbara plopped herself down on the side of the bed. “You look like hell,” she said matter-of-factly.

  “Thanks. Now I feel a whole lot better.” Maddi shot her friend a glance out of bloodshot eyes and sniffed. Damn her. Prissy little bitch. Dressed in a chic suit as though she’d come straight from a society luncheon, which she probably had. Why couldn’t she look normal, just for once?

  As Barbara leaned forward, her smooth chestnut hair fell straight, past her high cheekbones, down to her shoulders. She wore her favorite scent, a touch of Joy.

  “Why’d you come? I didn’t answer the phone and I didn’t answer the door. That must have told you something.”

  “Yeah, that you’re stupid.” Barbara felt something hard under her butt. She tugged at the comforter and found a half empty bottle of Absolut. She waved it in Maddi’s face.

  “Now you’re going to tell me you’re drinking in the afternoon?”

  “No, I’m not going to tell you anything. It’s none of your business. Besides,” she added defensively, “it helps me sleep. And don’t look at me like that. This bottle has lasted me all week, and it’s still half full.”

  “It’s also half empty, and that’s the part that worries me.” Barbara took Maddi’s small round face in the palms of her hands and wiped away the trickle of tears. “Look, how long have we been friends? Twenty years or more? You look out for me, and I look out for you. That’s what we do. So maybe you needed a drink to sleep, but no more. Promise me.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Maddi muttered and tried to pull the duvet back over her head. A streak of sunlight had found a way through the half closed drapes and scored a direct hit into her bloodshot eyes. Probably on purpose, she thought. Everything else in the world was against her, and now the sun was shooting beams into her bedroom window to blind her.

  Barbara ripped the duvet off the bed. “I’m not leaving until you get out of bed. You need a shower. Want me to pick you up and throw you in?”

  “You wouldn’t dare.”

  “Oh, wouldn’t I.” Barbara was five-feet-ten and about thirty pounds heavier than Maddi, so she definitely favored the odds if it came down to a fight.

  Maddi glanced at the clock radio beside her bed. “Okay,” she sighed. “I’ll get up because if I don’t you’ll probably beat me up.”

  “Someone has to beat some sense into you.”

  She closed her eyes for a second so she wouldn’t cry. Then she nodded. “I guess you’re right. I shouldn’t be in bed at four in the afternoon, but I have my reasons, and you think you know everything, but you don’t…” her voice broke, “you don’t know anything.”

  “What don’t I know, honey?” Barbara skimmed fingers through Maddi’s wispy, honey-blonde hair, combing it back from her face, and gently pinched her chin. “You can sit down and tell me everything after you shower.”

  “I’ll clean up a little while you get ready, love. Take your time. You’ll feel better.” Barbara stripped the bed as she talked. A large penis-shaped voodoo doll fell onto the carpet. Bending down, she picked it up and took a closer look.

  “My, my, my. What do we have here? It has a face penned on that probably represents your loser husband, and has needles stuck into it. Are you practicing a little witchcraft, my dear?”

  “Just amusing myself, okay?”

  Barbara howled and propped the silly looking vibrator up against the bedside lamp. “Okay. Whatever. Works for me.”

  Maddi tossed her head, turning haughtily away from her laughing friend and the ridiculous vibrator. She padded barefoot into the bathroom, closed the door and turned on the shower.

  She let her nightgown fall to her feet, kicked it aside and was about to step in when she caught sight of a figure in the steamy mirror. She barely recognized herself. Pelvic bones protruded, and her skin looked sickly and sagged like an old woman’s. Peering closely, she noticed two black hollows where her eyes used to be. Dead eyes. Where, oh where, did the sparkle go?

  Stepping under the full blast of the showerhead, she let the warmth of the water seep into her skin, slowly melting away the worst of the hurt, sliding it from her shell of a body to slither down the drain. A dull ache remained, but she’d just have to get used to it, because nothing would ever fix it; nothing would ever be the same again.

  * * *

  Barbara knew her way around Maddi’s kitchen almost as well as she did her own. She put the kettle on for a pot of tea then searched the cupboards and refrigerator for something nutritious to go with it. But it looked as if Maddi hadn’t been eating or at least shopping for a while. Sticking her head in the freezer she found a half-eaten quiche, and was about to pop it in the oven when she noticed the greenish tinge of mold on the bottom. She tossed it into the garbage and sat down to wait.

  Waiting for Maddi was a habit as natural as breathing. She’d probably spent a year of her life waiting for her friend, if she counted every half-hour she’d been late over a period of twenty-four years.

  Two decades of friendship, giddy little secrets, and joy and laughter and tears.

  She’d been celebrating her twelfth birthday the day she met her hero, a pint-sized dynamo named Maddi. Not only were all her classmates invited, but boys as well. Since she attended an all girls private school this was quite a big event, the first mixed party for her sixth grade.

  She was the youngest of four children, an accident, whatever that meant. For her, it meant having the house mostly to herself. It was an enormous six-bedroom home in Bedminster, New Jersey, with riding stables, a tennis court, and an Olympic size pool. Maddi’s mother, Anne Harris, was their cleaning lady.

  Barbara didn’t know Maddi, but her mother had told Anne to bring her to the party, which in her opinion had been a huge mistake. Maddi didn’t know her friends and right away she didn’t fit in. She’d come dressed up while everyone else was in Levis or skimpy shorts.

  Barbara’s father let some of the kids take turns riding her horse, Abigail, over the small jumps in the show ring, while others played tennis or fooled around in the pool. Not only did Maddi not ride or play tennis, she didn’t even have a swimsuit.

  After everyone had eaten and the mess cleared up, most of the kids ended up in the pool. It was late afternoon, the adults were all inside, and this cute boy she had a crush on gave her a birthday kiss. The other kids started to shout, “French kiss, give her a French kiss.”

  He looked around and grinned. “Your parents are in the house. Come
on. Just one.”

  Barbara hadn’t known what a French kiss was until he stuck his tongue down her throat. She shoved him away from her, and wiped her mouth. “That was so gross, Billy.”

  “Hey, Billy. You’re gross, man!” someone shouted.

  Billy grabbed Barbara by the bra strap of her two-piece swimsuit. “Take it back, or I’m pulling this down.”

  Being bigger than he was, she reached for his head and dunked him.

  He came up sputtering and called her a fucking C word that she’d never heard before. She slapped him, and he slapped her back. And suddenly her party wasn’t fun anymore. She started to cry and all the boys started making fun of her, and none of her friends did anything to help.

  She felt a pat on her head and looked up. Maddi stood on the edge of the pool. She handed her a towel and told the boy to get out of the pool.

  Billy laughed and said, “Who’s going to make me?”

  And little five-foot Maddi said, “I am.”

  She balled her fist and let him have it as hard as she could. Blood spurted from his nose. Everybody started freaking out at the blood in the pool.

  Billy grabbed the towel to stop the gushing blood. “My nose. You broke my fucking nose.”

  Maddi answered, “You’d better stop swearing, Billy, or I’ll have to punch you again.” She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. “And don’t be putting those hands and that tongue where they don’t belong.”

  Everyone hooted with laughter, and the girls cheered Maddi on. She stood like a prizefighter, fists in the air, feet clinging to the slippery edge. “Apologize for hitting her. Boys aren’t supposed to hit girls.”

  Billy said something about how girls weren’t supposed to go around breaking people’s noses. Then, seeing Maddi’s fist heading for his face, he’d mumbled an apology.

  Barbara climbed out of the pool and threw Billy’s clothes in. Then, laughing, she and Maddi had gone upstairs to get into dry clothes. Barbara rewarded Maddi with her new Levis and Lacoste top. Arm in arm the two walked downstairs, and Barbara introduced her to the cool group as her new best friend.

  It was an unlikely friendship between two girls with so little in common, but day-by-day, and year-by-year, it strengthened and flourished.

  * * *

  Barbara heard the sound of footsteps coming down the staircase and called out, “Don’t you have any groceries, girl?”

  “Sure. In the pantry.”

  She looked and shook her head. There was an open box of Total, the raisin bran variety, three tins of Star-Kist solid white tuna, some crackers, a jar of honey, a box of lasagna noodles, and a selection of herbal teas. Finally, after digging around a bit, she found a box of granola bars and placed two on a napkin in front of Maddi.

  “You need to eat. Snack on these while you tell me what the scumbag has done now. Later we’ll go out for dinner.” She poured the teas, sniffing the milk before putting it on the table. “I was hoping I might talk you into accompanying me to the opera tonight. As usual, we have tickets and now Bill can’t make it.”

  “I’m sorry, Barb. You know how I love it when you call and I get to fill in, but just not tonight. Dinner, okay, but I’m in no mood for an Opera. More like crying the blues.” She picked up one of the granola bars, broke off a piece, and put it back down.

  Barbara gave her a stern look. “Don’t you dare. You look so nice I won’t have it spoilt by tears.” She’d been pleased to see Maddi enter the kitchen, face made up, hair freshly washed, wearing navy slacks and a light blue cashmere sweater, and her fine gold jewelry.

  “Don’t worry. It was just a figure of speech.”

  “Good. Now shoot. What happened?” She leaned over to pat Maddi’s hand and lowered her voice in empathy. “What has the rotten bastard gone and done?”

  Maddi took a sip of herbal tea before pushing it aside. Her eyes started to blur. “Nicole called me this morning,” she mumbled, “fuming because her dad wants her to work all summer. She wants to join her sister and friends in the Hamptons for the first two weeks in August.”

  “Can’t blame her,” Barbara stated. “It was something you did as a family for years. So, why won’t David let her?”

  Barbara knew how hard this second divorce was for the two girls. They’d been eight and ten when he left their mother to marry Maddi. Old enough to witness her heartache, but young enough to blame themselves. They had grown to love Maddi and didn’t like to see her pain anymore than they had their mom’s.

  “Autumn is working as a cocktail waitress in a ritzy bar up there,” Maddi explained, “so she’s paying her own way. Nicole’s been helping the tennis pro here at the country club, and makes peanuts. She planned to quit at the end of July and join her sister. Now her father’s pleading poverty and won’t give her spending money.”

  She picked at her fingernails, which already looked like a weed-whacker had gotten to them. “This is the kicker. She said the only reason he can’t afford it was because of the baby. And so I asked, what baby?”

  Before Barbara could express her shock, Maddi continued. “Nicole thought I knew. But as always, the wife is the last to know. She’s four months pregnant. That little tramp, Tami, is having my baby!” Her voice cracked, “You know how desperately I wanted our own. For five years I tried and tried, and cried my heart out every month when my period came. I did everything possible but nothing worked.”

  “I remember. I kept telling you to relax and go about your life and just let it happen. The doctors told you nothing was wrong, that it was probably stress.”

  “We did in-vetro three times. Our love life suffered of course, because I was so focused on having a baby. David got fed up with the whole process and tried to discourage me.” Maddi blew her nose. “Then along comes Tami and she gets pregnant right away. It’s not fair.”

  Barbara stood up behind Maddi and folded her in her arms. It took a minute before she could speak. “Oh, Sweetie, I’m so sorry. You should have called. I’d have come over right away.”

  “I know, but I couldn’t. I had to be alone.” Maddi swallowed hard and dabbed at her eyes. “When the girls were growing up we had them every weekend, but after they left, the house seemed so empty. I tried to fill my time by teaching dance part-time and working a couple of mornings in a day-care, but seeing all those adorable little children only made it ten times worse. David wanted me to quit and travel with him. I probably should have but I kept hoping I could convince him to adopt. At his insistence, I saw a doctor who put me on Prozac.” She hit the table with her fist. “I didn’t want any damn pills. I wanted a baby.”

  “Well, think of it this way. David didn’t. Now he’s screwed. So much for his dreams of sailing around the world. Instead, he’ll be home changing diapers.” Barbara cleared the table, loading the cups in the dishwasher. “So, girlfriend, instead of crying, you should be laughing your head off.” She ruffled Maddi’s hair. “Come on. Face it. If you want a baby bad enough you could probably still adopt and raise the child on your own. Many women do.”

  “I’m so confused right now, I can’t think straight.”

  “You have plenty of time to figure it out. And I know you’ll be good at anything you put your mind to.”

  “I can’t go back to the dance studio every day and see all those beautiful babies. It would kill me. I need a change, something entirely different, but I’m not even computer savvy.” Maddi got up and began to wipe down the kitchen counter in agitation. “The other day I tried to dig up some information for the accountant and couldn’t get in. I was blocked.”

  Barbara raised her eyebrows. “You think David did something?”

  “Well, both my attorney and the accountant are concerned about the missing files. They think he might have moved our assets around, perhaps out of the country.”

  “That son of a bitch.”

  Maddi nodded. “I don’t have any proof yet, just a suspicion. When I called and asked him about the password, he made up some flimsy excuse a
bout changing it regularly because of, quote, “sensitive tax information”.

  “You should contact a computer expert to search for those disappearing files. It does sound fishy.”

  Maddi squeezed her eyes closed and bit her bottom lip. “I just can’t believe he’d do this to me. It doesn’t seem possible.”

  “Six months ago none of us would have believed David capable of such deceit. Now the proof is in the pudding.”

  “Some pudding. It feels more like quick sand pulling me under.” Maddi responded to a nudge against her thigh and absently scratched the head that’d licked her. She’d rescued the old St. Bernard from an animal shelter years ago, and the dog was besotted with her. Napoleon was also politely telling her he was hungry.

  She got his dog food out and put it in his bowl, then hand fed him a couple of milk-bone treats. He was a sloppy, hairy old thing, but the entire family loved him dearly.

  “Do you mind if I play around with the computer?” Barbara asked. “If he’s hidden anything, we’ll find it, one way or another.”

  After the computer booted up, Barbara clicked the Internet Explorer icon. When the screen asked for the password they tried several with no result. “Do you know his mother’s maiden name?”

  “Sinclair.”

  That didn’t work. “Okay, what’s his girlfriend’s name? Tami what?”

  “I don’t know, just Tami.”

  Barbara typed in Tami, but that wasn’t it.

  “Sometimes David uses his daughters’ birthdates or our anniversary, or will put names in backwards. Try that.”

  Barbara typed in IMAT. Bingo, they were in.

  Before long Barbara was delving into some personal e-mail files and when she clicked on an attachment, up popped a photo of a sleek sailboat with a topless model-type lounging on top. The name on the boat was Good Times Ahead.

  Maddi leaned over Barbara’s shoulder. “What the hell.”

  Barbara enlarged the picture. “Maddi, look closely, under the name. It’s registered in the Grand Caymans. Know anything about this?”

  Maddi pushed Barbara out of the way. “Let me see. Who is that girl? She looks about Autumn’s age.”