by Laura Dower
Madison laughed at that one. She knew that Dad felt the same way she did about the number of people that seemed to be participating in the Wolfe and Finn wedding. Namely, that it was too large.
Outside in the parking lot, Madison met Stephanie’s sister Wanda for the first time. She had been assigned to driving duty for the morning and was escorting them to breakfast at a local restaurant.
The first thing Madison noticed about Wanda was her hair.
It was big. And in the Texas morning sun, it looked pink, which matched her head-to-toe pink ensemble.
“Golly, I didn’t have much of a chance to talk last night,” Wanda said to Dad, swatting at his arm with a little laugh. “And I didn’t meet you at all!”
Wanda gently touched Madison’s shoulder. “You are as pretty as a picture,” Wanda said. “Just like Stephanie always says. ’Course, I have seen your picture dozens of times. And where did you ever get that darling little dress! My Tiffany would just loooooove that!”
Madison tugged at her dress. “Thanks,” she said.
“Shall we hit the road?” Dad suggested, putting his arm around Wanda with a gentle nudge.
Madison could tell he was itching to start his day-before-the-big-day.
The leather seats inside Wanda’s car felt like ice cubes. Madison guessed they were permanently chilled from having the air-conditioning on all the time. The cool car was better than the Texas heat, but Madison was relieved that she didn’t have to sit there for very long. The drive over to Monica’s Café for breakfast passed quickly.
Monica’s didn’t look like much from the road, but inside, the café was filled with pots of colored flowers and brightly colored tablecloths. Stephanie still had not arrived, but most of her family was there already, sipping coffee and orange juice. The dining tables were arranged in a horseshoe pattern on a glassed-in terrace.
“I promise I won’t run off,” Dad said, squeezing Madison’s hand as they entered the restaurant. “Let me introduce you to a few people.”
Madison smoothed out the skirt on Fiona’s dress and took a deep breath.
Across the restaurant, she saw a group of girls talking together. They looked to be just about Madison’s age; they didn’t wave hello. One girl with long, blond hair looked right at Madison and then turned to whisper to another girl.
They reminded Madison of some other people she knew.
Poison Ivy and her drones.
“Maddie, I’d like you to meet Stephanie’s other sister, Bethany,” Dad said, turning Madison around to face a strange woman with cropped brown hair. She wore big, clunky earrings and too much makeup, but she didn’t stop smiling once, the whole time Madison talked to her.
“Madison Finn!” Bethany proclaimed. “Well, it’s about time, Jeff!”
Madison wondered how she had missed meeting all these people the night before. Everything was a bit of a blur.
“Nice to meet you,” Madison said, extending her hand to shake Bethany’s hand.
“Oh, Jeff,” Bethany whispered to Dad. “She’s a plum.”
Dad rubbed Madison’s back as if to say, “Hang in there, honey bear. I’m right here.”
Madison glanced around the room in search of other familiar faces.
That was when she saw him.
Across the room.
Smiling.
Madison looked away.
“Can we go over here?” Madison asked Dad, yanking on his arm and trying desperately to turn away from the boy.
“Hey!” Dad cried. “Wait a minute! I want to introduce you to some of Stephanie’s nieces and nephews….”
Madison’s throat closed up for a moment. She knew what—or who—Dad was talking about.
“Kirk!” Dad called out loud. “Get over here!”
Dad was all smiles as he introduced Madison to Kirk Smith, who was Stephanie’s sister Bethany’s son—and who was also the boy who had smiled at Madison.
Kirk shrugged and said hello to Madison, half smiling. His eyes crinkled up, and he shoved his hands into his shorts pockets.
“What’s up?” Kirk said.
“Up? Not much,” Madison replied, as if she were speaking a different language.
“Kirk, we wanted you to meet Maddie back in Far Hills, remember?”
“Sure,” Kirk said. “I remember.”
“Sorry about that,” Madison said.
“No biggie,” Kirk said. “Hey, want to meet some of the other cousins? There’s a bunch of us just hanging out on the patio.”
Madison looked to Dad for approval. Dad gave her his blessing with a wink. “Go have a good time,” Dad said.
Madison bravely followed Kirk out onto the patio. It was hard to resist a cuter-than-cute guy under these circumstances, Madison told herself, even if he was fourteen—almost two years older than she was. She considered whether maybe (just maybe) Kirk was cuter than Hart.
As they stepped outside, Madison spotted the Poison Ivy clone, sitting on a low wall with a bunch of other girls. Kirk walked over with Madison.
“Hey, Tiff,” Kirk said. “This is Madison. Um, Madison … this is Tiffany.”
Tiffany flipped her hair—just like Ivy—and then smiled wide, as if she were acting in a toothpaste commercial.
“Hiya,” Tiffany said. “So, now we’re all going to be cousins, huh?”
Madison swallowed hard. “I guess.”
Mr. and Mrs. Wolfe made some announcements, and breakfast was finally served. All the kids meandered inside. Most of the boys rushed on ahead of Madison, and Tiffany and the other girls stuck together.
Only Kirk hung back to talk.
“Thanks for being so nice to me,” Madison told him. “This is all so …”
“Insane!” Kirk laughed. “My family is, like … really strange, I know.”
Madison giggled. “Well, I wasn’t going to say that.”
“It’s okay, I’m used to it. Me and Tiff always say that they should do a reality TV. show about the Wolfe family,” Kirk said. “Not that I’d be caught watching it.”
Me and Tiff?
Madison couldn’t understand how Kirk and Tiffany could be so close, but Kirk made it sound as if they were more best pals than cousins.
Breakfast was displayed on yet another gigantic buffet featuring an ice sculpture shaped like the state of Texas. Kirk pointed to it and laughed.
“Grandma Diane always puts out these freaky ice molds shaped like Texas and cowboy boots, and I’m, like, ‘Whoa!’” Kirk said dramatically.
Madison pointed to the spread of food on the table. “Is that steak? For breakfast?”
“Are you kidding?” Kirk said. “My family raises their own cattle. We always have steak, at every meal.”
Madison thought it was funny how Dad could first marry Mom, a total vegetarian, and then marry someone who was so into beef.
“Maddie!” Stephanie ran over and threw her arms around Madison. She leaned in and whispered, “Sorry about last night. I was upset.”
“That’s okay,” Madison said.
“Aunt Steph!” Kirk said, leaning over to give Stephanie a kiss hello. Before she could make contact, he leaned away. “Gotcha!”
Stephanie chuckled. “Watch it, buster!” she said. “What other trouble are you getting into around here?”
“You know. The usual,” Kirk said.
Madison swooned when Kirk smiled. What was she thinking? This guy was definitely cuter than Hart.
“Well, be good,” Stephanie cautioned him. “This is my wedding, after all.”
“Whatever you say, Aunt Steph,” Kirk said.
“Oh, you’re trouble!” Stephanie said. “Madison, keep an eye on him for me, will you?”
Madison felt a major blush coming on, although Kirk didn’t seem to notice—or care.
“Hey, let’s get some grub and sit with Tiff,” he suggested.
They got their plates of food and moved to sit near the rest of the cousins. Madison would have preferred a quiet table for two, b
ut this would have to do instead.
Throughout the breakfast, everyone chatted about people and places Madison had never heard about. She was definitely the out-of-towner in this crowd. Tiff smiled a few times, but other than that she was absolutely Ivy-ish, acting as though she knew everything and talking more than everyone else.
Unfortunately, Madison was stuck with Tiff and her crew. And after the meal, Dad needed to go with “the boys” to a local shop, where his rented tuxedo was being held for him. He and Madison would be separated once again.
Dad already owned a tux, but it had been worn once before—at his first wedding. So wearing it to wedding number two had not seemed to him like a very good idea. Dad was as superstitious as Madison was.
So, while Dad went off to Mostly Formals, Madison was thrown to the Wolfes for the afternoon. Once again she got stuck with Stephanie’s sister Wanda, who wanted to go shopping in Bellville. This time, Wanda was accompanied by a cousin of hers named Marly, a soft-spoken woman with glasses who talked barely above a whisper.
Madison thought about shopping for hours with total strangers. That didn’t sound very fun.
Maybe Wanda wouldn’t have to shop? Madison had some lucky things in her favor.
Lucky thing number one: Wanda’s daughter, Tiffany, would not be joining them. Instead of shopping, Tiff was headed back to the ranch with her grandmother to help decorate. Madison had not been asked back to the ranch. She wasn’t, of course, offended. Right now, the last place she wanted to be was stuck in a room decorating the walls with crepe paper, in the company of Miss Texas Poison Ivy.
Lucky thing number two: Wanda’s shopping route took her right past the Bellville Villas. That route gave Madison a brilliant escape-from-the-shopping-trip idea. She would politely ask to be dropped off at her hotel room so she could wait there until Wanda and Marly finished their shopping. That way, Madison could check her e-mail, work on her wedding collage, and avoid Wanda at all costs. To make the plan sound really good, Madison embellished it with a few white lies.
“Um … Wanda … I’m feeling kind of tired…. Well, actually, I have a stomachache…. Well, actually, it’s more like a headache….”
“You’re sick?” Wanda exclaimed. “Good Lord. Let me feel your forehead.”
“Gee,” Madison said, extending her lie. “Since we’re so close to the hotel, do you think maybe I could stop in and take a nap while you shop?”
“Stop?” Wanda asked. She didn’t warm up to the idea right away. “Hmph. I just don’t know. I feel funny leaving you alone….”
“Oh, Wanda, I’m sure Madison can take care of herself,” Marly chimed in. “And she should rest if she doesn’t feel well. Today’s a big day.”
Madison nodded at Marly, feeling a momentary bond, but Wanda still seemed concerned.
“I just don’t know, Madison. Your daddy might not like this,” she said. “You promise me you’ll stay there till we come back, right?”
“Of course, I will!” Madison said. “I’m just going right up to the room to lie down….”
“Wanda, let her go,” Marly said softly.
“Well, shoot,” Wanda said with a wink. “I guess I don’t need to be worried. You’re a big girl, aren’t you?”
Madison grinned. Finally, someone thought so.
“Let’s just walk you up there,” Wanda said as she parked the car. She entered the lobby with Madison and boarded the elevator for the third floor.
Madison promised to lock the door and not open it up for anyone.
“We’ll see you in a flash,” Wanda promised. “I’ll call when we’re heading back, ’kay?”
Madison nodded and closed the door behind Wanda.
“Success!” she thought as she jumped onto the bed. The hotel room was cool, and Madison pulled a blanket over her. She glanced over at the phone to see if maybe someone had called, but there was no blinking light. No messages.
Madison pulled the green leather book of love poems on to her lap and opened it to the page of her special sonnet. It was time to practice for real! The rehearsal was only hours away.
Madison read through the sonnet once, twice, four times. How could she have waited so long to practice? After her sixth read-through, Madison felt comfortable with it. She could do this, she told herself. It wasn’t as if she had to memorize it. That would have been a disaster.
After setting the book aside, Madison had plenty of time left before Wanda and Marly returned. So she powered up her laptop. Online, Madison discovered a message, sent very early that morning, from Aimee. It had been marked with a red exclamation point, meaning “urgent.” Aimee never added exclamation points.
Madison clicked on it immediately.
From: Balletgrl
To: MadFinn
Subject: Fiona’s Dad
Date: Fri 19 July 9:03 AM
Oh Maddie I left a message @ ur house this morning, b/c the worst thing ever happened late last nite--and I couldn’t get ur mom on the phone. Fiona’s Dad had a major heart attack. I guess he tried to lift something and had this mega-attack. It was all so sudden. Everyone in Far Hills is talking about it. And everyone is soooooo worried about him. He’s in the part of the hospital called ICU I think that’s intense care unit.
Of course, Fiona is very sad. I only talked 2 her for a minute this morning from the hospital b/c she called me 2 tell me what happened. She was crying so hard. I felt awful. Fiona and her dad r sooooo close.
I really wanted to tell u right away b/c I know u would want to call her yourself and all that. What are you supposed to say when this happens? I think (I hope) he will be ok but I dunno. It seems dumb to say “don’t worry” when OF COURSE Fiona should worry. What do you think, Maddie?
I miss you more than n e thing and I really, really wish u could be here RTVM! Then we could go cheer up Fiona together like real BFFs. Write back or even call me @ home, ok? This is the worst day ever seeing my friend so sad.
Love ya, Aim
Madison stared at the screen. She reread Aimee’s words. And then she started to cry.
Chapter 12
AS SOON AS SHE’D read the news, Madison tried calling Fiona on the hotel phone, but she was able to reach only the Waterses’ answering machine. Madison guessed that everyone must have been at Far Hills Hospital. She tried calling Aimee, too, but no one was home there, either. Even Madison’s own mom was out.
So there she sat, Madison Francesca Finn, stranded in a chilly hotel room in the middle of Texas, separated from her neurotic dad, who was getting married to someone Madison wasn’t even sure she liked anymore, and worrying about her BFF, whose dad had just had a heart attack.
It was hard not to keep on crying.
As a last resort, to talk to someone, Madison went online again.
Surprise!
Madison couldn’t believe it. Fiona was online—right now! How was that possible?
She messaged her BFF.
that sounds so scary doesn’t it?
All at once, Madison and Fiona’s conversation online was interrupted by another message.
Aimee!
The three friends agreed to meet in a private chat room called FRNDLY.