by Gina Wilkins
He shrugged. “She’s known me a long time. She’s a good friend of my mom’s, and Mom thought maybe I could explain things a little more clearly for her. I talked to Mom later, and she said she tried to convince Linda to wait until Monday to call me, but Linda was determined that it had to be today.”
“And you couldn’t turn her down.”
“Would you have?”
He sounded genuinely curious, so Madison took a moment to consider the question. Would she have been able to tell a grief-stricken old friend that she couldn’t talk about her dying son because she had to practice walking in and out of a church?
“No,” she said with a firm shake of her head. “I wouldn’t have turned her down, either. And neither would BiBi. She would understand if she knew the circumstances.”
“We’ll just let it go. Like I said, she’ll get over it, especially when I prove to be an exemplary groomsman tomorrow.”
She gave a little smile, as he’d obviously intended, but was still thoughtful as she studied his handsome, relaxed face. “Really, Jason—don’t you ever get tired of being everyone’s go-to guy? It seems like you’re on call 24/7, not only for your patients, but for your family and friends, as well.”
She could tell that his first instinct was to deny that implication, but as she had done a few moments earlier, he paused to consider the question before answering. “I like my life,” he said simply. “There’s not much about it I would change, even given the chance.”
“So you never feel like drop kicking that cell phone out the nearest tenth-story window?”
He laughed. “Every day. Doesn’t mean I’d do it, but I’m only human.”
She suspected some people might have cause to argue that. Jason seemed so darned perfect sometimes. She would probably feel quite flawed in comparison—if she allowed herself to go down that path.
Knowing it was their last, neither of them wanted the night to end. They lingered in the bed, kissing and talking softly about nothing in particular, and then took a leisurely shower together in preparation for Jason’s departure. The shower lasted a while longer than either had planned, concluding with Madison pressed against the tile wall, her legs around Jason’s waist, her arms locked around his neck. Both staggered a bit when they finally left the bathroom, knees weakened and rubbery, but Madison considered the past few hours worth every bit of the exhaustion she was sure to feel later. She could sleep when she got back home—at least when she wasn’t on duty or traveling from one interview to another—but she’d had only this one last night with Jason.
He procrastinated just inside the door, avoiding the moment when he’d have to turn the knob and slip out. “So I’ll see you later?”
“Of course. And I promise I won’t treat you like a stranger.”
His smile was a little crooked. “I won’t expect you to throw yourself in my arms, but maybe we can have a friendly conversation at the reception?”
“I see no reason why we couldn’t. Not at this point.”
Apparently, Jason had gotten through to her in some respects. She was beginning to wonder, herself, why she’d been so paranoid about BiBi, so worried about possibly upsetting her friend. Madison and Jason were both free and single, and they didn’t owe anyone explanations or apologies for spending time together. It had been unfair of her to treat him so coolly in front of the others. While she still preferred not to contribute to wedding gossip, she thought she and Jason could be on friendly terms without revealing too much of their history, brief as it was.
“I’ll look forward to it. You’re leaving right after the reception?”
“Yes. My flight leaves at nine tonight.”
“Do you need a ride to the airport?”
“No, that’s all arranged, thanks.”
“I wouldn’t have minded driving you.”
“I know. But I’m not really big on goodbyes,” she admitted, already feeling a little lump in her throat at the thought. “We’ll just smile and shake hands when we leave the reception, the way we will with everyone else.”
“I can handle the handshake, but I’m not so sure about the smile.”
She moistened her lips and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “It has been…”
“Don’t say it’s been fun,” he cut in quickly, holding up a hand. “That’s too clichéd for our time together.”
“Okay, I won’t say it.” But it had been fun, she thought wistfully. And so much more.
He looped a hand behind her head and tugged her toward him for a long kiss. “I’d like to hear from you sometime,” he said when he released her and stepped away. “Maybe you could drop me an email to let me know where you’ll be doing your fellowship next year? I’m curious about where you’ll end up.”
He told her his email address, a simple, easy-to-remember one she didn’t need to write down. She wouldn’t forget it. Because it was easier, she gave him one of her cards—the one with both her personal and her professional contact information. He’d have her phone number, but she doubted that he would use it. Even as they swapped the numbers and addresses, she suspected they wouldn’t stay in contact for long, if at all. Once both got back into their hectic routines, it was likely that they would be too busy to keep up a long-distance correspondence, even with the ease of email. She envisioned a few quick notes spread further and further apart, until they stopped altogether, leaving them to remember this weekend with faint smiles and, on her part at least, wistful tugs of what-might-have-beens had they met under different circumstances and at a different time in their lives.
“Good night, Jason.”
He kissed her one last time, then made himself turn and open the door. After checking the hallway, he slipped out, pausing only long enough to say, “Sweet dreams, Madison.”
Only then did it occur to her that they hadn’t used their playful nicknames all evening. It was as if at some point during their hours together, they’d stopped thinking of each other as intriguing strangers.
It was ridiculous for her eyes to burn with what felt suspiciously like unshed tears as she walked back to the tousled bed. After all, she would be seeing Jason again in just a few hours. Sure, they’d be saying goodbye for the final time not long after that, but she’d been prepared for that from the beginning. She’d never expected more. Never even wanted more, she reminded herself as she crawled beneath the covers.
But she thought she would miss him, anyway.
With the exception of the bride and maid of honor, who were closeted in the dressing room with their mother, the entire wedding party gathered in the downstairs church fellowship hall prior to the wedding. Phyllis, the wedding planner, looked them all over with eagle eyes, nodding in approval when she determined that everyone was there on time and fully dressed.
“You all look very nice,” she pronounced, then glanced at her watch. “You have five minutes before the men need to move into the anteroom and the ladies to the foyer in preparation for entering the church. The ushers are seating the last of the guests now. Anyone who straggles in late will have to wait until the bride has entered before they can be seated.”
“I’d hate to be a late arrival,” Jason murmured into Madison’s ear. “Even guests are likely to get a death glare from Phyllis if they don’t follow protocol.”
She smothered a giggle, knowing she would be the recipient of one of those death glares if she interrupted the planner’s last-minute instructions.
Phyllis dismissed them and turned to bustle away. Checking her reflection in a gilded mirror on the wall, Madison touched up her lip gloss with the tube she’d carried with her to this last-minute gathering, then realized she’d left her bag locked in the upstairs dressing room. Her floaty, sleeveless purple dress—almost too pretty to be a bridesmaid dress, in her painful experience with former disasters—had no
pockets. She could always tuck the small tube into her nosegay and hope it wouldn’t fall out at an inconvenient time.
“Would you like me to hold that for you until after the wedding?” Jason offered, opening his jacket to reveal the hidden inside pocket.
“That would be great, thank you. I’ll retrieve it at the reception.”
“I’ll trade it back to you in exchange for a dance,” he said lightly.
She laughed softly. “It’s a deal.”
“Gentleman, ladies. Time to go upstairs.”
Snapping to attention in response to the planner’s command, the two groups separated. Madison glanced over her shoulder as she left the hall, smiling when she saw that Jason was also looking back at her.
BiBi needn’t have worried about the ceremony. Thanks to the cooperation of everyone involved—not to mention Phyllis’s iron-fisted organizing—it proceeded almost flawlessly. The bridesmaids gathered around BiBi in the church foyer for careful hugs and air kisses before lining up to file into the church, leaving the beautiful bride to enter on the arm of her proud, if slightly harried, father.
Everyone had agreed that BiBi’s mood was better today. She was still high-strung and apt to overreact to the slightest problem, but that wasn’t much different than usual for BiBi, especially with the addition of wedding nerves.
The church was gratifyingly packed with family and friends that the ushers had seated efficiently. Carl and his groomsmen were already arranged at the front of the church when Madison was given the cue to begin her walk. Holding her nosegay of purple and white roses and baby’s breath at her waist, she concentrated on her posture and pacing, as Phyllis had ordered, but she couldn’t help noticing how nice Jason looked in his wedding finery. It was all she could do to keep her eyes on the bride and groom during the ceremony.
Both BiBi and Carl were glowing when they turned to face their guests as husband and wife. This formality had been a long time coming and they both looked deliriously happy, utterly satisfied with the choices they had made. Madison felt a bit misty as she watched them exit the church. It felt almost like the end of an era. Her long-distance friendship with BiBi wouldn’t change greatly because BiBi was married now, but it was still different than when they had been single college girls having fun and blissfully unconcerned about the future.
Speaking of endings…
As soon as Allen and Lucy had started their walk, Jason stepped forward to offer his arm to Madison. She wondered if he felt the slight tremor that coursed through her fingers when she lightly gripped his arm. She wasn’t even sure herself what had precipitated it; just touching him seemed to have the power to make her knees weak and her hands unsteady. She kept her gaze fixed firmly on the exit door as they matched their steps. There was just something a little too unsettling about walking down the aisle with the man with whom she’d just spent a sizzlingly passionate night.
Back in a ballroom at the hotel, the reception was well underway an hour after the end of the ceremony. Because she’d chosen to have the wedding on Sunday afternoon and wanted to give the out-of-town guests time to travel home afterward, if they chose, BiBi had decided not to serve a wedding dinner. Instead, tables bulged with canapés, hors d’oeuvres, sweets—enough food to count as a light buffet suited to late afternoon. Madison saw several guests carrying full plates to the tables arranged invitingly around the room.
After a seemingly endless receiving line, toasts were made and the spectacular wedding cake was cut. Guests chatted, laughed, ate and drank. The bride and groom would have their first dance soon, opening the dance floor for the other guests. Everyone seemed to be having a great time, which Madison was sure would make BiBi happy.
As for herself, she was all too aware of passing time. She kept one eye on her watch while doing her part of the mixing and mingling. Every time she spotted Jason in the crowded room, he seemed to be surrounded by other people. So many of them bore a strong resemblance to him that she figured the D’Alessandro clan was well represented. Three women who had to be his mother and sisters hovered in his vicinity all afternoon. Like Jason, the sisters shared their father’s dark coloring, while their mother was blue eyed and fair skinned, her gray-frosted, light brown hair swept up from a face that was aging beautifully.
She was sure he would introduce her to his family if she approached them, but something held her back. Maybe she preferred to remember him the way she’d spent most of the time with him, just the two of them, alone in the garden or in her room.
Suddenly the thought of shaking his hand in farewell was more than she could handle. She hadn’t been kidding when she’d told him she wasn’t a fan of goodbyes. On a sudden decision, she crossed the room to where BiBi stood chatting with some people Madison didn’t know. Giving them a politely apologetic smile, she drew BiBi aside. “I’m heading out. The wedding was beautiful, Beebs. And so are you.”
“You’re leaving already?” BiBi shook her head in automatic protest. “Can’t you stay a little longer? The dancing hasn’t even started. We haven’t had a chance to talk since the ceremony.”
“You still have a few dozen people waiting to speak with you,” Madison pointed out, glancing around the crowded room. “You and I will have a long phone call when you get back from your honeymoon.”
“Okay.” BiBi gave her a fierce hug. “Thank you so much for everything. I’m so glad you were able to clear your schedule. I can’t imagine not having had you here for my wedding.”
“I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”
“I love you, Maddie.”
“Love you, too, BiBi. Be happy, okay?”
“I will. I am.” BiBi took a step back, blinking hastily against the tears that threatened to streak her carefully applied makeup. “I’d call Corinna over to say goodbye, but she and Brandon disappeared a few minutes ago. I suspect they’re plotting something crazy and tacky for when Carl and I get ready to leave.”
“Still worried that she’s using Brandon as a rebound from you-know-who?”
BiBi shrugged wryly. “She’s having fun for now. I guess that’s all that matters.”
“Good for you for accepting that. Go back to your guests, BiBi. And have a wonderful honeymoon. Call me when you get home.”
“I will. To all of the above.”
After squeezing BiBi’s hand, Madison turned toward the exit. She glanced back over her shoulder one last time before leaving. Half turned away from her, Jason stood among his family, one hand on Justin’s shoulder as they all laughed at something one of them had said.
She had her own family waiting for her at home, she reminded herself as she walked out. A family she loved dearly, a job she found very fulfilling, several exciting and challenging decisions close ahead. It was time to put the weekend fantasy behind her and get back to her busy reality.
Chapter Nine
Jason sat in the spare bedroom he used as a home office, his computer in front of him, his phone close at hand. It was almost 10:00 p.m. on this first Tuesday in November and he’d just finished dictating all his patient notes. He still had several emails to answer and a journal paper he wanted to read. Yet he found himself leaning back in his chair, his pensive gaze fixed on the slim tube of lip gloss in his hand.
Just over two weeks had passed since Madison had slipped out of the wedding reception without a farewell to him. Though he thought he knew why she’d done so, it had still hurt more than he might have expected. At first, he’d written off his feelings as disappointment that there hadn’t been another chance to chat with her, or at least to tell her goodbye. As the days had passed, he’d realized there was a lot more to it.
He missed her. Missed her smile, her musical laughter. The excitement and unpredictability she’d brought to his life. The passion that had flared between them whenever they’d been near each other. The fun.<
br />
He’d known all along that it was only a weekend romance, he reminded himself, as he had many times in the past two weeks. He’d never expected more. But he could admit to himself now that he had wanted more.
Had Madison lived nearby, he’d have made every effort to convince her to see him again. There could have been something between them, had circumstances been different. If she had lived closer. If she hadn’t been so concerned about what BiBi would think.
Maybe, as a physician herself, and one with a close family of her own, she could even have understood his many obligations. An only child from a very small, not particularly close extended family, his ex-girlfriend Samantha had never quite comprehended the tight bond between the members of the Walker and D’Alessandro clans. Nor had she understood why he couldn’t just put his work or his patients out of his mind when he left his office at night. He thought she’d tried—though he cynically wondered if that was mostly because she rather fancied herself as a doctor’s wife. Unfortunately, she’d been unaware of all that entailed.
As for himself, well, he’d been fond of Samantha, but his feelings hadn’t been strong enough to make him try very hard to hold on to her when he’d felt her drifting away. After a few weeks, he’d barely even thought about her. He wasn’t proud of that fact, but it was only further proof that he and Samantha had been mismatched.
And yet, he had hardly stopped thinking about Madison in the past couple of weeks, even when he’d been bustling from one appointment to the next, fielding phone calls and text messages at the same time. Still staring at the lip gloss, he pictured her moist, shiny pink mouth, remembered the taste and feel of her, and he felt his body react dramatically and rather painfully to the memories.
He wondered how her fellowship interviews were going. Had she made a decision yet about her first-choice program? She would have to decide soon; the deadline was probably early to mid-December. Was Dallas still on her list of possibilities? Would hearing from him positively influence her decision—or send her running somewhere else to avoid any potential complications with him?