by Maria Milot
“What do you think of this?” Kelly held up a heart-shaped ivory card with red swirly letters.
Maddie crinkled her mouth. “If you like it, then it’s nice.”
“I asked if YOU like it. I want your opinion. Come on, help me out. Maddie? Maddie?”
Maddie was running her index finger over the raised letters spelling Mr. & Mrs. Her thoughts twirled around the idea of Mrs. Right now I would be Mrs. Joseph Vento. Mrs. Stop Talking, Mrs. You Don’t Know Nothin’, Mrs. Get Me Another Beer, Mrs. Cheated On and Lied To…
Kelly waved a card in front of Maddie’s eyes. “Hey, where did you just go? Is it Joe?”
Maddie couldn’t speak. She should be over this by now. Over her anger. Over her fear that Joe might show up and hurt her again.
“Maddie, I’m here for you. Is it Winston?”
Focus. The only way to get over something is to just go through it! Winston? Yes, let’s talk about Winston. “Sorry, yes, it’s Winston. I was just thinking about how different Jared and Winston are from each other, but I love spending time with both of them. I mean when I am with one, I’m not thinking about the other. But, I’m a little worried I might get in too deep with one of them, and I don’t know what I would do if they wanted to date other girls too.” Maddie flicked the card in her hand onto the island. She let out an exasperated sigh. “This is all just so new to me.”
Kelly gave a reassuring smile. “Hey, it’s okay. You’re single, they’re single, and no one is in too deep. You’re just having fun, right? Are they dating anyone else?”
“Winston told me within the crowd he circulates, marriages are basically arranged. So he’s acted the part of the playboy to avoid it. He also told me I’m the first girl he’s dated seriously and he wants to keep it that way.”
Kelly grimaced. “Okay. Sounds deep on his part. What about Jared?”
Maddie walked over to her refrigerator. “You want some wine?”
“It’s one o’clock in the afternoon!” Kelly mock protested.
“Great! That means it’s seven p.m. in Italy, which is where this wine is from so it is begging to be popped open. Since you asked about Jared, he has broadened my wine horizon so I am going to extend yours too.”
Kelly made a show of swirling and sniffing her wine. “Pinot Gris. Well, it tastes different than Chardonnay.” Kelly took another sip. “I think I like it.”
Maddie nodded. “Tastes like a good summer wine. Refreshing, right?”
“Agreed. Back to Jared now,” Kelly prompted.
“Jared is more of a mystery than Winston. I know he is interested in me, but he works odd hours so we talk or text at random times. Not like the daily morning check-in routine I have with Winston. He outright told me he is not seeing anyone else, so I know any concern I have is just in my head.”
“Okay. So let it go and enjoy!” Kelly pushed her wine glass forward for a refill.
“If only it was that easy,” Maddie muttered.
Kelly narrowed her eyes. “Why would it not be?”
Oh, I do not want a conversation about my crazy nerves. Deflect. Either way, she’ll have something to say. At least this will be productive. “Well, now there’s Bob.” Maddie prepared for the attack.
Kelly opened her mouth and launched the first strike. “Bob? The idiot from the bar Bob? What about Bob?!”
“He just seems so fun. I agreed to go out on a date with him.”
“Everyone seems fun when you’re drinking in a bar, Maddie. He’s slick and slimy! The kind of guy Jack would arrest. You should not-”
“Stop!” Maddie did not want to fight with Kelly. “I am going on one date. As you keep reminding me, I am single and I should only be having fun. I have no interest in a serious relationship, right now.” Maddie slid onto a chair next to Kelly and softened her tone. “I do listen to you. I do appreciate your advice, but I am going to go out with Bob. Now, speaking of Jack, how is the new job going?”
Kelly pushed around some sample invitations then took a big gulp of wine. Her expression of resignation let Maddie know she was ready to change the subject. “Jack is really getting into being a detective. He respects the hell out of his Captain. He’s been on a learning curve, which he likes because he says it’s a good challenge, and his hours now line up with my hours at the hospital so we get to see each other all the time.”
Maddie reached out and squeezed Kelly’s hand. “You are my best friend and you know how I feel about Jack. You are marrying each other and I am over the moon happy for you both. The fact that your careers line up is like the stars lining up. This is meant to be.”
“Thank you.” Kelly reciprocated the squeeze then softly asked, “Do Jared and Winston know about Bob?”
“I am dating out in the open here, Kelly. No secrets. I want everyone to know where they stand, so I don’t hurt anyone.”
“I know you’re talking about Joe, Maddie. You are not Joe. I know you doubt it sometimes, but you are your own person. You are honest and you are doing all the right things to move on. “
I guess actions speak louder than crazy thoughts. I am putting myself out there. I’m trying to move on. Maddie thought. “I’m trying Kelly. It’s all I can do.” She felt like someone she remembered, someone with an opinion. “By the way I don’t like that heart-shaped invitation. It’s too cliché.”
TWENTY NINE
His voice came from behind her. “You’re a stupid, silly girl. You think everyone is so nice, so helpful.” She could feel his solid body, so close, talking in her ear. “It’s probably not your fault that you are so naïve, it’s the way people have always treated you, like a beautiful flower growing along the side of a busy sidewalk. Everyone steps over it, or around it, never trampling it as they would the ugly bare concrete or even mashed down grass next to you. You trusted my intentions but maybe you should have trusted your own instincts.” Strong hands were holding her down.
She couldn’t see his face. She could never see his face. She felt trapped. She desperately needed to know, “Who are you?”
“You know me. This will teach you.”
Maddie’s eyes bolted awake. Her chest heaving, she sat up. It was dark. The only light in the living room came from the moon through the windows. She fumbled around on the coffee table for her phone to call Kelly, then stopped. What time is it? Kelly’s probably snuggled up in bed with Jack. I can’t go cry to her because I had another bad dream. It feels so real. Is it just a dream? A sense of deep foreboding filled her mind. She wanted to fight it. I am not a silly little girl. I am in control.
“I am in control!” she shouted in the empty room.
THIRTY
Bob swayed down the dock next to his condominium along Newport harbor. In the winter he lived in the condo, but his only source of legitimate income came from renting the place out in the summer and residing on his power boat at the dock. On a boat, every inch of space is useful and usable and a boat of thirty feet is livable, for a bachelor. Bob finished tidying the boat up and checked his watch. Maddie was due there in about five minutes.
She showed up looking like she had just fallen out of a sailing catalog. Bob reached out to help her aboard. She gave a small squeal as she bridged the gap between the dock and the deck of the boat.
“Never been on a boat before?’ Bob inquired.
“How could you tell?” Maddie stylishly posed and showed off her new Sperry topsiders, white capri pants, topped with a navy and white striped shirt.
“Boating looks good on you!” Bob declared. “Come on I’ll show you where you can stow your bag.”
Maddie put her things on a berth cushion below deck and headed back up the stairs of the companionway. Bob was sitting on a long, tufted Captain’s bench.
“Don’t worry.” Bob patted the space next to him and motioned for her to join him behind the wheel. “Nothing to it. Just like a car on the water, but with fewer rules and you can drink!” Bob fired up the engine, then tottered along the starboard side to cast off.
“Are you okay?” Bob hollered into her ear.
“Whoohoo!” she shouted. The air whipping around her gave her a chill and she cuddled up to the side of Bob’s body. Having slammed around Narragansett Bay for about an hour Bob turned the vessel back toward Newport harbor. The return trip was much calmer, and warmer, as Bob eased the throttle back to a slow cruise. He kept a cooler on deck next to the steering helm and made sure that Maddie’s plastic cup was filled with cheap white wine. Although she had tried to sip her wine slowly on the ride back, the combination of warm weather and sun reflecting off the water had encouraged her to drink more than she should have.
When they arrived back at his dock slip Bob could see Maddie was feeling a little tipsy. He was on her like a monkey on a cupcake. Unlike Winston and Jared, Bob was an aggressive kisser. Bob’s advances were not unwelcome but a few bottles of water were a bit more welcome at this point. She extricated herself from Bob’s octopus grope and retrieved a water bottle from the galley fridge. She quickly polished off one bottle and reached in for another. Settling herself on the opposite side of the main salon, she looked across the table at Bob and steered the conversation towards food.
“I don’t think I’ve eaten today, except for a hardboiled egg this morning. Are you hungry?”
Bob was hungry but what he wanted didn’t require a trip off the boat.
Maddie saw the glint in his eye. Oh crap. I don’t think I can handle round two of his tongue. “It’s pretty stuffy down here and we’ve been sitting all day. I think I’ll just grab my bag and go for a walk around town.”
Bob was unprepared for this turn of event. What the hell’s going on? Girls usually have their tops off by now and I’ve at least banged them before we go looking for food. She is pretty hot though, whatever. “You’re right. A walk would be good. Maybe we’ll grab dinner too?”
Bob helped Maddie hop down onto the dock, “Wait right here, I gotta get my keys to lock this hatch.”
He disappeared below, opened a drawer in the galley, looked down at his wallet and keys and reached in.
◆◆◆
All along Thames Street clumps of people slowly plodded along the sidewalk as they pushed into and spilled out of the shops, cafes, and restaurants. Maddie and Bob were sometimes forced onto the street as they tried to pass the herds and make their way to a place to eat. Bob turned towards the sound of a band playing Jimmy Buffet music at the end of Waite’s Wharf. He directed Maddie in front of him so he could watch her backside and the roving packs of young girls wandering along the wharf.
The outdoor bar was already full and the tables lining the edge of the dock were filling up too.
“Looks like we got here just in time,” Maddie commented.
Bob’s words were directed toward Maddie, but his head was turned away toward the bar. “Yeah, always busy here in the summer. Hey, Dave guess you didn’t die last night! Ha, ha!” He turned to face Maddie. “Buddy of mine, always here. I like to bust his balls. Ya know?”
“Yes, I see that. Let’s grab that table over there.” Maddie wanted to be as far away from the bar filled with men who were eyeing her like a lamb who had just wandered into the wolves’ den.
Oh, well. Party at the bar will have to wait for another night, Bob thought. I know the look of a woman in need of some one on one time with me. He took Maddie by the hand and led her to a table. Bob ordered a beer and a house chardonnay for Maddie.
Red flag; for an instant it was just like being out with Joe as the thought crossed through her mind she called out to the server. “Actually, I’ll have a seltzer water with lemon, please.” Score for me. He’s not Joe and I can handle myself.
Bob wasn’t used to being contradicted by a woman. This one’s feisty, probably a lawyer. “What do you do for a living, Maddie?”
“I used to be a nurse.” She paused, not sure how much she wanted to share about herself yet. His deep blue eyes drew her in, dancing closer to get to know her then retreating to hide their own secrets. She offered up a bit more information. “I got burned out of the hospital scene. I would get too attached to people and if I couldn’t help them, I became depressed. Then I was a private nurse to one of the best men I have ever known, but he passed on.”
The server carefully set a large cup of beer down in front of Bob just as the foam slid over the edge, along with a bowl of popcorn. Maddie squirted a lemon wedge into her water and they tapped their plastic cups together,
“Cheers!” they exclaimed simultaneously.
“So what do you do now?” Bob asked.
“Well, I’m trying to figure that out, but I’m pretty lucky because I have time to do just that.” Maddie didn’t feel comfortable revealing her situation. Experience had taught her that most people loved to talk about themselves. Her stomach rumbled with hunger. She quickly changed the subject, happy to dive into the popcorn bowl. “So, what about you Bob, what’s your story?”
Bob sat back, crunching his popcorn, “I’m in business for myself.”
Maddie figured there had to be more and waited for him to finish probing around his mouth for stuck bits of kernels. He seemed satisfied that he had extracted all he could from his mouthful of popcorn but had moved on to a new subject. He was filling her in on the joys of blasting out to Block Island on his boat and the outrageous party scene there.
Bob finished guzzling down a post-dinner beer. He was feeling confident that his stories had impressed her and she would be ready to loosen up back on his boat. He signaled for the check.
Their server brushed by the table and set the bill down in a small black leather folio. Bob feigned a pat down of his pockets. “Damn it!” he exclaimed.
Maddie looked concerned. “What’s wrong?”
“I forgot my wallet on the boat.”
“No worries Bob. I can pay for it.”
“No, this is embarrassing. I’ll just go run back to the boat and get it.”
But Maddie insisted. “Don’t worry, it’s no problem at all.” She heaved her stylish leather bag onto her lap.
“Nice bag,” Bob commented.
“Thanks. One of my inheritance splurges.”
“Inheritance?” Bob sounded surprised and tried not to sound overly excited.
“I don’t really like to talk much about it, but it’s why I have the time to figure out what’s next for me.”
“Well, I hope what’s next is another date with me so I can pay you back for dinner.” Bob leaned close. “Or maybe we could work something out back on my boat?”
◆◆◆
Maddie replayed her date with Bob as she drove home. Processing information aloud had become a habit for her. “The guy is over the top. He’s like a cartoon character; overbuilt, over opinionated, loud… sort of funny.”
Dinner conversation had revealed little about Bob, except that he had a crass, quick wit and clearly thought his escapades were impressive.
“He is a good-looking guy. But I can’t believe he actually thought I would go back to his boat with him tonight. And I still don’t know what he does for work. Although, who am I to judge. People probably wonder the same about me.”
Her mind looped through the boat ride and dinner once more. “Well, I don’t see this going too far. He is entertaining. I’d probably go on another date.”
◆◆◆
It didn’t matter he could not entice Maddie back to his boat after dinner because there would be another opportuni
ty on the next date. Her shell might be a bit harder to crack than most, but I can do it, Bob thought.
Bob was headed to one of the massage parlors off Broadway to relieve himself. A loophole in Rhode Island law made prostitution legal, so long as it occurred indoors.
She passed the wallet test with flying colors. And there’s an inheritance! Hell, she might even be a good cook. She’s not just a winner. She’s the jackpot and what a hot looking smoke show. That’s the girl that stays in your brain and leaves you jumping at the chance to see her again. The best part is she seems to have no idea she has that effect on people. Seems classy. She may need a little more effort, but I can work her over, Bob thought.
THIRTY-ONE