by Celya Bowers
Madisyn blushed. “I’m sorry. Aidan, this is my niece Megan. Megan, this is Aidan.”
Megan turned her attention to her aunt. “I sit with you,” Megan announced as she shimmied down to the ground.
“Sure, baby.”
“Madisyn?” A tall African-American man with Madisyn’s green eyes marched toward them with a slender woman trailing behind him.
Madisyn sighed. She was hoping for a little time to get her explanation together, but already her family was descending upon her and Aidan. “Hey Marcus, Rasheeda.”
Megan stood her ground, holding Madisyn’s hand. Marcus stared at Aidan. “Hey, aren’t you Aidan Coles of the Dallas Cowboys?”
“Yes, I am. I’m a guest of Madisyn’s today.” He extended his hand to Marcus. “It’s very nice to meet you, Marcus.”
Marcus stood rooted to the spot until his wife nudged him toward the church. “We’ll see you guys inside,” Rasheeda said as she winked at Madisyn.
Aidan thought he’d done very well. But that was just the first sibling he’d encountered. Megan was going to be the real test.
Madisyn picked up the little girl again and looked at Aidan. “Might as well get this over with.”
Aidan nodded, holding Madisyn’s free hand and they went inside the building. The minute they entered everyone turned in their direction. This was going to be tougher than training camp.
* * *
After services were over and Aidan had greeted almost everyone at church, they were finally headed to Madisyn’s parents’ house. This time he drove, mostly because Megan wanted to ride with them.
When they arrived at the O’Riley home and parked, Marcus ran out to greet them. “Hey, Aidan, I hope my daughter wasn’t too much trouble for you,” he said in a rush.
Aidan laughed as he opened the door for Madisyn and Megan. “No, Madisyn did all the work. She sat in back with Megan. I just drove here. Don’t worry, I’m used to kids. I’ve got three nieces and two nephews.”
Marcus nodded. “How did you meet Maddie?”
Aidan helped Madisyn and Megan out of the SUV and they headed into the house. Marcus followed behind them. “She volunteers for my charity and she’s giving me cooking lessons.”
Aidan had thought that would appease Marcus, and for a brief second it looked like it was going to work. But apparently the O’Rileys were playing tag team. Michael, Madisyn’s oldest brother, was up next. He took a seat by Aidan on the sofa when Madisyn went to the kitchen to help with lunch.
“You know, we’re a little protective of Maddie,” he said in his concerned brother’s voice. “I read how you professional athletes can get. I don’t want my only sister to get hurt.”
Aidan wasn’t shocked by Michael’s no-nonsense attitude. He was very much like Madisyn in that respect. Unlike Marcus, Michael wasn’t impressed Aidan was a football player. Michael was concerned about his sister. “I quite understand. At this point we’re just friends.” He wanted to reassure Michael. Unlike Marcus, Michael was built like a linebacker.
“Good. The last thing she needs is some guy trying to use tired player moves on her. She’s my only sister and I will do anything to keep her happy. Darnell slipped through my sensors but that won’t be happening again, if you get my meaning.”
Oh, Aidan got it all right. He knew a threat when he heard one. “Yeah, I read you loud and clear.”
Michael leaned back, smiling. Aidan had apparently satisfied him. “Good. Hope you can see my team play one Friday night. We won state last year, making it five in a row. So the pressure is really on this year. Every high school in our district wants to take us down.”
He’d switched gears seamlessly, Aidan thought. Now that the issue of dating Madisyn was settled, they chatted about football. “I’d like to attend a game or two, but I’m really strapped for time. I’m opening the Mature Alliance as well as dealing with football, but I’m really going to try.”
Michael nodded. “If you’re short on volunteers, let me know. I always require the team to do something in the community during the season. Last year we collected canned goods for the food banks.”
“That’s cool,” Aidan said. “I love giving something back to the community. Dallas has been very good to me the last few years. It took me a while to get the Alliance started but now it’s getting off the ground. It’s one of the best ideas I’ve ever had. Next to getting to know Madisyn.”
Michael smiled. “Yeah, she’s definitely special.”
CHAPTER 9
Much later after the Sunday afternoon inquisition, Madisyn and her mom went shopping for the Alliance supplies at the local office supply store. Her mother volunteered to help since she was a retired elementary schoolteacher, and she knew what Madisyn needed to buy.
Yeah, right, and Madisyn was a size two. Margaret O’Riley might have her heart in the right place, but her ulterior motive was to browbeat Madisyn into a confession about Aidan.
Her mother grabbed a shopping cart as soon as they entered Office Depot. She dropped her large purse into the cart. “How old are these people? I know Ben and his buddies plan on teaching, but they have no idea of what they’ve gotten themselves into.” Margaret aimed the cart for the paper supply section.
“According to most of the paperwork their ages range from eighteen to seventy,” Madison told her mother. “But it doesn’t matter what age they are, Mom, they’re all starting at the same level.”
“Well, don’t we sound like a representative for the Mature Alliance already?” Her mother picked up a packet of spiral notebooks and put them in the cart. “Or are you the president of the Aidan Coles Fan Club?”
Madisyn shook her head. This was going to be a battle of wills and her mother was already winning. “No, Mom. I just really believe in Mature Alliance. It can really help the community.”
“I know it can,” her mother agreed. “So many of the older people at church could benefit from it, but you know how old people are with their pride. We should do this at the church.”
Madisyn nodded. She knew of at least five of the church’s older members that had trouble reading the Bible verses. “I wonder if we could get some of the men to drive them to the center for a class.”
“I don’t know if that would work. And they probably wouldn’t want everyone knowing they can’t read. You’ll have to think of something else.” She spotted writing tablets and put those in the basket as well.
Madisyn picked up a large box of pencils, a box of pens and one of markers. “I’ll just have to brainstorm with Chayla for an idea.” She glanced around the aisle for file folders and spotted some neon-colored ones. “Do you think these would be better than the manila folders? They’d be easier for them to identify.”
Her mother picked up the folders and looked at Madisyn. “I know you mean well, but you’re taking away their pride by picking these. I know the colors would easier to identify, but unless there are fifty different colors this is only going to work for the first five people.”
Her mother placed a hand on Madisyn’s shoulder. “I know your heart’s in the right place. But just imagine what it took for these people to sign up for the program in the first place.”
“I can’t imagine,” Madisyn whispered.
“Yes, you can. You finally gave Darnell the boot. It took you two years to see what kind of person he really was, but this time you didn’t forgive him and pretend it didn’t happen. You took action.”
Madisyn didn’t view her breakup as all that. She was just tired of not being treated as if she didn’t matter. “Wow, Mom, I don’t think I did all that.”
“You did, but what about this new man? You just got rid of Darnell and you show up at church with Aidan Coles.”
“Mom, we’re just friends,” Madisyn said. She’d known it was coming, but had expected more from her mother. “We met at the charity. He’s very focused.”
Her mother picked up another pack of spiral tablets. “Honey, there’s nothing wrong with him coming to churc
h with you, friend or not. I just want you to know what you’re up against. There’re a lot of women out there who’d give their next hair weave or pair of expensive shoes to be where you are. You need to figure out what makes you happy before you even think about getting serious with him.”
“Mom, it’s only been a week. We’re friends.”
Her mother looked at her as if Madisyn had just told her she knew where the weapons of mass destruction were. “Have you kissed?”
“Kissed?”
“You know, swapped spit. Tongue action? I was young once too, you know.” Her mother reached for the plastic binders. “I think you should get these one-inch binders.”
Madisyn shook her head at her mother, not believing for one second the kind of questions this woman was asking about Aidan. “Mom, I don’t think I understand what you’re asking me.”
“Yes, you do, and your non-answer tells me that you have at least kissed this man. How was he?”
Okay, surely she didn’t just go there! “W-what?”
“Is he a good kisser?” Her mother asked in a slow, loud voice.
“Mom, please, not here,” Madisyn pleaded.
“Oh, come on, Madisyn. You can tell me. He watched you like a hawk at church today. I don’t think he has a friends kind of thing on his mind. I thought he was going to knock Brian on his butt when he hugged you.”
Madisyn remembered the incident. Brian Hatfield had embraced Madisyn because she’d helped him land an internship at her company, but Aidan just stared holes through him. “Yeah, thank goodness Brian didn’t notice.”
Her mother continued putting more supplies into the shopping cart. “Okay, Maddie, spill it. Are you giving Aidan more than cooking lessons? Before you tell me that I’m way over the line, I have a right to know.”
Madisyn stared at her mother. “Mom, have you started taking some kind of medication I should know about?”
Margaret shook her head. “Answer my question and I’ll answer yours. You know I’ll just nag you until you finally snap from the pressure.”
That was true. Her mother should have been in Iraq questioning the prisoners. Osama Bin Laden would have been captured and under the jail by now. No one could survive Margaret O’Riley’s intense inquisitions without breaking. Madisyn picked up some index cards, deciding to use them as cue cards, and put them in the basket. “Okay, Mom, for the last time, Aidan and I are just friends. I have no intention of sleeping with him.” Okay, that was just a small lie, and to her mother no less. “I volunteer at his charity and that’s the only free thing he’s getting from me outside of the cooking lessons.” She held her hands in the air, palms up. “Is that good enough?”
“No, but it’ll do for now.”
“Thank goodness,” Madisyn said. “Mom, if I had any news to tell you, I would.”
“I know you would.” Her mother waited a heartbeat and asked, “What about those flowers?”
“Who? What?”
“Keisha told me about them. She said she was concerned about you getting in over your head.”
“More like she’s concerned about herself,” Madisyn mumbled.
“Well, at least you know what kind of friend she is. A real friend wouldn’t have called and told me something like that. She was hoping I was going to stick my nose in your business. That girl has always been boy crazy.”
“I know, Mom. She called Chayla wanting to know why Aidan would spend so much money on me when I wasn’t a size two.”
Margaret shook her head. “I don’t know why that girl thinks that way. Her mother would have a fit if she heard Keisha talking like that. Now, Maddie, you know I raised you better than to run behind some man. He gives a good first impression, but I’ll reserve my judgment until later. It’s in his favor that he didn’t run when Megan attached herself to him. I know Aidan is rich, but I hope you’re looking past all that glitter and celebrity.”
Either her mother now had selective hearing or she just wasn’t listening to Madisyn. It wouldn’t be the first time. “If it were more than friendship, yes, Mom, I would look past all those millions of dollars, his very large house, and living in the public’s eye. I know he has a good heart. He and the other athletes are funding the Alliance themselves, so they can run it the way they want. There’re no grants or public donations, it’s the athletes.”
“Well, that’s refreshing. I get so sick and tired of always seeing them on the news crying about how the press is picking on them for no reason when they break the law.” She put a case of folders in the cart. “You’re going to need these. You should also go to the teacher supply store and get some of the alphabet tablets. You know, the ones they use in first grade when kids are first learning to write.”
Madisyn glanced at the overflowing shopping cart. She had easily piled up a few hundred dollars’ worth of supplies and hadn’t even scratched the surface. Aidan hadn’t given her a budget and her upcoming trip to the schoolbook store would probably run a few hundred as well. “Mom, I can’t go to the teacher supply store. I don’t have a membership card.” Only teachers with identification were allowed to shop there.
“I still have my card,” her mother said. “We could go tomorrow afternoon. Maybe you could take the afternoon off,” her mother suggested slyly. “We could have lunch, then go the bookstore.”
“That sounds nice, Mom, but I just got a new boss and he’s very jumpy. I can’t take off right now. I can come by right after work and we can go. We can have dinner downtown.”
“Sounds good. I’m dying to eat at that new trendy Italian restaurant.” Margaret loved anything Italian. “I was trying to talk your father into taking a trip to Italy for our anniversary.”
“You know Daddy’s idea of vacation is San Antonio.”
“I want to go to Italy. I’ve been dreaming of it for a long time. We’re both retired, and we can afford it, but you know your daddy.”
“What did he say?”
“He said he was born in Texas and he’s going to die in Texas and saw no reason to leave the state. He said he’d go anywhere I wanted to go as long it was within the state.”
Madisyn snickered. That was typical Ben O’Riley. He loved Texas. As far as she knew, he’d never been out of the state a day in his life. “Mom, I’m sure you guys could come to some sort of compromise.” She guided the cart to the checkout area.
Her mother followed quietly. “Your father? Compromise about leaving his beloved state of Texas? I don’t think so.”
* * *
Aidan stretched out on his sofa to take a nap. He’d initially thought Madisyn was kidding about her family, but she hadn’t been. He’d met her entire family, nieces, nephews, cousins, and even friends that had known her since time began. He was wiped out.
But he had enjoyed himself. The O’Riley clan had treated him just like any other man who had an interest in Madisyn—with extreme caution. In their own way, each one had issued a veiled warning of what would happen to his body parts if he hurt Madisyn. Except for Marcus. Apparently he was the biggest football fan in the family, and it definitely showed.
It was little Megan who’d zapped all his energy. After she decided he was okay, she wouldn’t let him breathe. He’d had to read to her, sit by her at dinner. He hadn’t dared try to kiss Madisyn in her presence. So now he was laid out on his custom-made suede couch, ready for an afternoon nap. For some reason, as tired as his body was, sleep wouldn’t come. His eyes refused to close. Frustrated, he turned on the television, hoping something on the oldies channel would lull him into a nap.
An hour later, Aidan was just about ready to throw the remote at the TV. Why couldn’t he just freaking close his eyes? He had an early meeting tomorrow with his attorney about the Alliance, then he was meeting with his financial consultant. He needed to be alert, not tired from an outing. His cell phone buzzed on the table, annoying the crap out of him. He watched it dance across the coffee table and caught it just before it fell on the hardwood floor. He unfolded the phone and bro
ught it to his ear. “Hello?”
“Aidan, this is Madisyn.”
She didn’t sound right, instantly alarming him. “What is it? Do you need me?” He sat up.
She chuckled. “No, no, it’s not that. It’s about the Alliance. I just bought some supplies and the cart ran up faster than I realized, so I was wondering, or rather Mom and I were wondering…”
“Madisyn, spit it out.” Aidan stood looking around for his car keys. “Did they give you a hard time at the store?”
“No, they were quite accommodating once I mentioned my name. Thanks for that, by the way.”
Aidan was confused. “Okay, Madisyn, you’ve got my blood pressure going sky high. Why don’t you just tell me what you want to say and we’ll go from there?”
She took a deep breath. “I guess I didn’t start well. I was wondering about the budget. I spent about five hundred dollars at the office supply store. I don’t want to exceed my budget on my first outing.”
Aidan understood her concern. His attorney had had the same concern when Aidan suggested setting up the account for Madisyn. “As long as the Alliance needs it, it’s fine. I’ll let you know when you get near the cut-off mark. Did you get any books?”
“Mom wants to go tomorrow evening after I get off work. I can use her teacher’s discount at the schoolbook store, but I wanted to be sure I’m not overspending.”
“Tell your mom thanks, but don’t use her discount. It could be viewed as fraud, since it’s not for a state-supported school. We don’t want this to come back and bite us later. I didn’t get anything set up there and I don’t know if I can get it set up by the time you go shopping tomorrow.” He saw the perfect opening and was about to suggest he join them shopping, but Madisyn halted everything.
“Oh, how about I get them and you can reimburse me? I thought the store would have more elementary books than the local bookstore.”
He hadn’t thought about it in those terms. The students would be starting from scratch. “That’s good thinking, Madisyn. By your next shopping trip everything should be in place. Remember, there are over fifty students already.”