by Leddy Harper
“No, that’s not it, Finn.” Mady scooted closer to me on the couch, curling right up to my side. “It’s just that I was going to ask if you wanted to come with me to my parents’ house for Easter. I know you said last weekend that you’re not close with your family, so I guess I thought that meant you didn’t have plans.”
“Oh, that’s okay. I appreciate the invite, but this is something we do every year. I go to their house for Thanksgiving, and they come here for Easter. Kyle’s parents passed away about ten years ago, and Marissa’s family all live out of state. We’re the closest thing we have to family, so this is kind of our tradition.” I hated turning her down, but I was really hopeful that she would accept my invitation to come here instead.
“Well, that sounds nice.”
“You don’t have to decide right now; it’s still a week away. And it’s not like I’ll have to make extra food if you end up stopping by, anyway. But I would really like to spend the holiday with you.”
She nodded and turned her attention to the TV, which had been on this entire time. However, this was the first time she’d even glanced at it. “Yeah, that would be nice,” was all she said before snuggling into me and watching whatever show was on.
Even though I’d told her that she had time to think about it, the closer it got to Easter Sunday, the more impatient I became. I’d asked a couple of times throughout the week, yet she’d managed to get around it without giving me an actual answer. By Saturday night, I figured she’d decided to go to her parents’ and just didn’t know how to tell me, so I’d dropped it.
“I bet you’re excited to get this project done,” Kyle said while looking out into the back yard. There were stacks of bricks and bags of rock organized all over my lawn, just waiting for the landscapers to arrive on Tuesday.
“You have no idea. I feel like this has been going on for months.”
Actually, it’d only been a few weeks, but after seeing the concepts they’d come up with, I turned into a kid in December—so impatient for the big day that time seemed to drag. If it hadn’t been for Mady occupying my time, it would’ve been much worse.
Just then, the back door opened, and Marissa poked her head outside. “I was just hit with a sudden feeling of déjà vu,” she said with a laugh. “The last time we were here, I did this same exact thing.”
I had no idea what she was talking about, so I turned to Kyle and asked, “Is this part of pregnancy hormones?”
“No, Griffin, it’s not.” Marissa refused to call anyone names, so when she used my given name, I knew that was in place of stupid or idiot. “Someone’s here to see.” And then she disappeared back inside.
My heart skipped a beat when I thought it might’ve been Mady, but then reality set in and calmed that excitement down. I’d heard from her earlier this morning, shortly before Kyle arrived, when she called to wish me a happy Easter. I’d assumed that meant she definitely wasn’t coming, so I had no clue who was here looking for me.
My steps were hesitant as I made my way inside, hoping for the best but expecting the worst. At first, I didn’t see anyone, not even Marissa. But when I glanced into the kitchen, my chest constricted, and my cheeks began to ache with the smile that painted my face.
“What are you doing here?” I asked as I made my way toward her.
Mady moved around the kitchen island and met me in the middle, where she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed my lips. “We really need to work on your greeting, Finny Fanny. You have a bad habit of asking me that when I show up. It’s not the most welcoming.”
I laughed with her and pulled her closer. With my nose in her hair, I took a whiff of my favorite shampoo, still unsure what it was. “I’m just surprised, is all. I thought you were going to your parents’ today.” Then I pulled away enough to look into her eyes. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not happy that you’re here…because I am. Really happy.”
Raking her nails through my beard, she smiled and kissed the corner of my mouth. “Good, because I don’t plan on leaving.”
“That’s what I like to hear. But seriously, is everything okay with your family?”
She waved me off and headed back to the kitchen while I followed. “Yeah, it’s all good. I went over there earlier to see them, but after thirty minutes, I realized that wasn’t where I wanted to be. So I told them all I wasn’t feeling well and left.” Pointing at me, she added, “Which means you should be prepared to see my mom tomorrow.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because that’s what she does when one of her kids is sick. She brings over a truckload of comfort food and babies the shit out of us. It’s nice when we really aren’t feeling well, but it’s a pain in the ass when we only used it as an excuse to get out of something.”
“Here’s to hoping she comes before two o’clock,” I said with a wink.
“You and me both.”
While talking to me, she began to help Marissa with the food. I couldn’t explain it, but seeing her with Marissa made me want to propose right here and now. I wouldn’t, obviously, but there was something about the way she just fit into my world that had me desperately searching for ways to keep her around.
Mady glanced over my shoulder, and when I turned to see what had caught her attention, I found Kyle standing next to the window, peeking in with a goofy grin on his face. Why he didn’t just come inside was beyond me, but at least it gave Mady another excuse to win me over.
“Go back out with Kyle while Marissa and I take care of things in here. I didn’t mean to pull you away from your conversation.” Without asking, she opened the fridge and grabbed a beer. She twisted off the top and handed it to me with a nod of her head toward the patio.
Apparently, this was what she was used to—men outside, women in the kitchen. That was, after all, how things were at her family functions, but that didn’t mean that was how things worked at my house. “You just got here.”
She shook her head, giggling, and returned to Marissa’s side. “Finn, I’m not going anywhere. It’s okay, I promise.”
It seemed there was no point in arguing, so I kissed her cheek and returned to Kyle on the patio. Although, as soon as I saw the ridiculous smile plastered on his face, I regretted that decision. I’d probably be better off inside with the women, listening to them talk about us.
He watched me out of the corner of his eye. “You’re different with her.”
“How?”
“I don’t know…you just remind me of how you were when we were teenagers. Except now, you’re much cooler with the ladies. Instead of crushing on her from a distance, you actually talk to her, and you do so without tripping over your words.”
I playfully punched him in the arm. “I wasn’t that bad.”
“You’re right. You were much worse.”
We had a few laughs while drinking our beer, reminiscing about our youth. He could poke fun at me all he wanted, but he hadn’t been any better where the ladies were concerned. There was a reason we were best friends—girls never got in the way, because we could never get them in the first place.
While we sat outside, I couldn’t help but glance through the window every couple of minutes. Seeing Mady in my kitchen did things to me, stirred emotions I hadn’t been prepared for. I could envision her making breakfast with only my T-shirt on, or cooking dinner with a glass of wine in her hand while I sat at the island and kept her company.
I’d always wanted someone to care for me in that way. For whatever reason, I connected that level of attention with deep love, and I swore that if I ever found someone to spoil me like that, I’d spend the rest of my life spoiling them in return. I wasn’t looking for someone to mother me; I just wanted someone to make me feel absolutely loved and concerned for. And even though she hadn’t had many opportunities to prove that she could or would, something told me that Mady was that person.
Shortly after one in the afternoon, the food was ready, which meant Kyle and I could finally come inside. We’d tried a few
times, but the girls kept kicking us out. They’d hand us another beer, we’d joke that they were trying to get us drunk, and then they’d shoo us out the door. I hated knowing that she was so close, yet I wasn’t allowed to be near her. At least now, I sat across the table from her, so I could gawk at her all I wanted.
“Mady tells me that her new campaign is doing really well,” Marissa said between bites, starting conversation so that we weren’t all sitting around, silently stuffing our faces. I had to admit, though, the food was amazing, which made it a bit difficult to talk when all I wanted to do was shovel it all into my mouth until my plate was empty.
“Yeah.” I nodded and swallowed so I wasn’t talking with my mouth full. “We launched early last week, and so far, it’s gaining a lot of attention. In fact, I think the sunglasses have added even more new followers than the Urban Wear promotion we ran a few weeks ago.”
“That’s really exciting…new followers and a free trip.”
I stopped before taking another bite of green beans and glanced between Marissa and Mady. I had no idea what Marissa was talking about, and by the look on Mady’s face, she wasn’t prepared to have that tidbit brought up.
“What trip?” I asked, continuing to flick my gaze between the two women.
Marissa turned to Mady, who stared at her plate while pushing her food around with her fork, and then narrowed her eyes on me. “Oh, maybe I spoke out of turn.”
“Well, it’s out of the bag now, so is someone going to tell me what’s going on?”
Mady dropped her fork with a huff. “I was waiting to tell you in private, because this has already proven to be a source of contention between us, but Mickey has invited me to his pop-up this week. It’s in L.A., so I’ll have to fly there. I was going to see if you wanted to go with me.”
I had to take a moment to get a grip on my frustration before responding. I’d bit my tongue so hard to keep from saying what I really thought that I’d probably be able to pierce it with ease when this conversation ended. “When is it?”
“My flight leaves on Tuesday, the pop-up is on Wednesday, and I come home on Thursday. So it’s a short trip, but it should still be a lot of fun.” She wasn’t fooled; the pleading in her stare told me that she knew how I felt about it. “Plus, it will give me another opportunity to promote myself out there.”
“I don’t even know what a pop-up is,” I managed to grunt out.
“Oh…” Her eyes brightened as she sat straighter, almost excited for the opportunity to explain it to me. “It’s a kiosk, like a temporary store. This one will only be open for five days, starting on Wednesday and closing up on Sunday. Basically, it’s a quick way to make sales and earn new business without the overhead of opening and running an actual storefront.”
While I’d never heard of it, it did make sense.
“I was thinking I could do that during the day, and when I was done, we could grab dinner or take one of those celebrity tours. Or we could just relax in the hotel room.”
Picking at my food, I smiled and said, “That sounds like fun. We’ll talk about it more later.”
I’d decided to drop the topic to keep it from ruining our day, but that didn’t work out like I’d planned. As each hour passed, I grew more and more quiet, almost miserable, until Kyle and Marissa feigned exhaustion and bailed. And once they had pulled down the driveway, there was no point in delaying the inevitable.
“I won’t be able to go to L.A., Mady.” I sat on the couch and stared at the wall behind the TV.
She stopped flipping through the channels and faced me. “Why not?”
“The landscapers are coming on Tuesday, remember?” I knew I’d told her at least half a dozen times over the last week because I wouldn’t be at her house for a few days while they worked on the back yard.
“Yeah, I remember, but why do you have to be here for that? I thought it would work out perfectly because they could do their thing, and you won’t be in their way.”
I leaned forward and scrubbed my hands over my face. The last thing I wanted was to start an argument over this guy once again. But the more I thought about her going out of town to meet him alone, the harder it was to contain my anger.
“First of all, they’ll need my signature on things, and I’m pretty sure they’ll have questions along the way. They’re not going to come back out and move trees and bushes all because I wasn’t here to approve it beforehand.”
“You can’t reschedule?”
I dropped my arms and gawked at her, surprised to find that she was actually serious. “No, I can’t, Mady. I’ve had this project planned for a while now, and if I reschedule, who knows how long it’ll take to get them out here. How long have you known about this, anyway?”
“Since last night.”
There was no way that was true. “How’d that work out? He bought you a last-minute plane ticket and hoped you wouldn’t turn him down? What if you’d already made plans or couldn’t make it?”
“No. He emailed me on Friday, but I didn’t read it until last night. He even said he’d understand if I couldn’t go with it being such short notice, but that he’d get me there if I said yes.” Mady turned her whole body to face me, tucking her feet under her bottom, and held onto my forearm with both hands. “This is a huge opportunity for me, Finn. I need you to understand that.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt that at all.”
“Then why are you so upset?”
I hesitated, debating about how honest I should be with her. I didn’t want to start a fight or lead her to believe I was being controlling—considering that was a hard limit for her. But at the same time, I found it difficult to pretend that nothing about this entire situation bothered me.
In the end, I decided to meet in the middle and say, “I’m just disappointed I can’t go with you. Having a few days away sounds amazing.”
She slumped in her seat and released a harsh exhale as if relieved. “I’ve been dreading telling you about this because it’s so last minute, and I worried you’d be pissed that I’d taken him up on it. I know how you feel about him, which was why I wanted you to come with me.”
“I don’t trust him.” I put my hand on her thigh and looked into her eyes. “But I trust you.”
“Thank you, Finn,” she whispered before kissing me.
Except I didn’t deserve her gratitude, because I hadn’t been truthful with her. Yes, I trusted her, and yes, I didn’t trust him as far as I could throw him. But my feelings regarding her trip went beyond disappointment for not being able to go. I was angry—for many reasons, but the top being that, despite our argument a week and a half ago, she continued to dismiss my apprehension surrounding the rat. Even though he’d said all the right things when I’d met with him, I still didn’t trust him because he’d gone to Mady and made it sound much worse.
I refused to ask her not to go, nor would I waste my breath voicing my suspicions about this trip. It seemed she was set on proving to me that she was in control of her business, that she did what she wanted with no regard for my opinion. It wasn’t like I gave her my input on everything; so far, I’d only mentioned my concern about Mickey. So I didn’t understand why she felt the need to push the issue further.
We settled into the couch to watch a movie; except I didn’t pay attention to a single second of it. I was too wrapped up in my thoughts to do anything else. For two hours, I ran through every possible scenario I could think of that would keep her from going to L.A. with him.
In the end, I hadn’t been able to come up with anything.
I’d have to let her go and pray it wouldn’t destroy what we’d only just started.
Things were a little strained between us the next day, but I chalked that up to her being busy packing for her trip. It also didn’t help that her mother showed up first thing in the morning. However, Mady was able to keep her busy in her room, which allowed me to get some work done in the kitchen.
“Why aren’t you going with her, Finn?” Mady’s mom�
��I still refused to call her anything to her face since I’d yet to be told what she preferred—approached me from behind on her way to refill her coffee mug. “If you’re her assistant, shouldn’t you be there to…assist her?”
I had to admit, the similarity in their voices was a little unnerving.
After rubbing my eyes to keep from rolling them, I turned my attention to the older version of my girlfriend. “It was a last-minute trip, and I wasn’t able to rearrange my schedule to join her. But trust me, if I could’ve made it happen, I would have.”
She eyed me suspiciously, then gave herself away when she asked, “Is that because you’re concerned for her wellbeing, or because you two have something going on—unrelated to business?”
“Uh…” I didn’t know how to answer that, seeing as though I had no idea what all Mady had disclosed to her. Considering Mady had invited me to their house for Easter, I would assume she’d said something, but with her asking me in this manner, I couldn’t be sure. “Well, I care a great deal about her safety, so there’s that. But the main reason I’d go would be to assist her.”
She nodded while adding sugar to her cup and stirring. “You mentioned her safety…is there something I should know?” When she faced me again, she pinned me to my seat with her intense mom stare. “Do I need to be concerned for her? Well, aside from the natural concern I have for my children.”
It was like the room got brighter by the lightbulb that came on over my head. If anyone could stop Mady from leaving, it would be her mother. And from what I’d learned about her parents, they were rather protective of her and Gia.
Glancing over my shoulder, I made sure Mady wasn’t coming down the hall. Then I leaned forward with my elbows on the counter and lowered my voice to keep from being overheard. “I don’t trust the guy who invited her. He seems a little too”—I lowered my voice even more—“friendly with her, if you know what I mean.”
Her eyes grew wide as she pulled away and gasped. If she hadn’t been holding her coffee mug, she likely would’ve covered her gaping mouth or clutched her chest. Or both. Surprise and worry stared back at me, and for a split second, I wondered if I’d overstepped.