Chapter Sixteen
Everly
“She’s beautiful,” I said as Maddox’s mother showed me the rest of the photos. There was something familiar about her. The little girl really was beautiful, with giant blue eyes and fair hair, and his mother had clearly assumed I already knew of her, so there wasn’t much I was capable of other than playing along.
The pictures ranged from one year to three years, and in that short amount of time, it was obvious that this little girl had experienced more in life than I ever would. Trips to the Bahamas, vacations in Italy, a weekend getaway in Paris. Maxine spent 10 minutes describing their last visit to Hawaii in detail, how Abby, at two, had swum in shallow water with a dolphin. I gripped the edge of the table at that one. A 2-year-old playing with dolphins. What a daring adventure.
“He got lucky with that one,” Maxine said and dropped her phone in her purse. “She loves seeing musicals as well; you should go together. There’s nothing better than watching the reflection of a story in a child’s eyes.”
I smiled politely and nodded, fighting the urge to suggest that watching the play with your own eyes would be better. Maddox looked downright distraught on the opposite end; his face was pale, and he flinched every time his mother opened her mouth. I noticed his father, Darrell, speaking in hushed tones with Maddox as we finished our dessert, which left me to keep Maxine company.
Our wine was refilled, and Maxine took the opportunity to replace hers with a cocktail. I followed suit, needing something stronger to silence the constant echo in my mind.
Maddox had a child. A little girl, just two years younger than Belle. I remembered hating Belle at that age, and could only assume that Abby was just as bratty, and worse, high maintenance. It would be nearly impossible to not grow up spoiled in a family like hers.
“We have to do this again,” Maxine said, as she stood from the table.
“Thank you for joining us,” I said when it became obvious that Maddox wasn’t going to thank her.
“Oh, of course. It was such a pleasure meeting you.” Maxine pulled me into a hug, and Darrell shook my hand.
“Call your mother more often,” she said as she hugged Maddox. He promised he would call her the next day, and I could only imagine what an earful he’d give her. He shared a very brief goodbye with his father as I smiled and nodded, unsure of what to say or do. They exited first, with us trailing behind.
“Your parents are nice,” I said as we waited on the valet. Maddox’s eyes were still dilated, and it was obvious that we both were struggling with words.
“Yeah.” He swallowed. “They know how to entertain an audience.”
“I guess that’s where you learned it,” I offered, and he nodded.
The valet was taking a little longer than usual, and the silence between us was beginning to stretch out longer than I liked.
“Look, I’m really sorry about what I said,” I blurted out. “I had no idea, and I never would have even mentioned children had I known.”
His car arrived, and he didn’t speak until we were pulling out of the restaurant’s street.
“I should apologize,” he said at last. “I didn’t mean to keep it from you. I didn’t want you to think this was anything serious, at least, not yet. And I haven’t been on a date since Abby came into my life, so I didn’t even know how to tell you.”
I contemplated his words.
“Do you have her full time?” I asked.
“Yeah, my friend watches her during work hours, but I can take off as much time as I need.”
We fell into an awkward silence.
“She doesn’t even look like you,” I said.
“Thank goodness.” He chuckled, and the thick atmosphere lightened up. “But no, she really doesn’t. She actually looks more like Nick, my friend.”
Something dawned on me.
“She was at the fundraiser,” I said. “With the guy with the long blond hair.”
“Nick.” Maddox nodded. “That’s them.”
“Is she a handful? I remember when Belle that was age. God, I just wanted to kick her.”
He laughed. “Abby can be pretty bad. She’s a little parrot right now, repeats everything she hears. I have to keep reminding Nick about that. It’s not good when your 3-year-old runs around the grocery store cursing up and down like a sailor.”
“Belle did that too,” I said. “Lacey washed her mouth out with soap, and that stopped it pretty early on.”
“That actually works?” he asked. “Seems a bit much for a curse word.”
“Oh, you didn’t hear the words Belle repeated,” I said. “Lacey loves reading, well, adult erotica and sometimes reads passages aloud when she thinks Belle’s sleeping. I think I learned a few things from the kid.”
“I guess we all make mistakes,” he said as he pulled up to my apartment. “I’ll walk you up.”
We made polite conversation as we climbed the stairs, but Maddox wasn’t nearly as affectionate or flirty as he had been earlier. I supposed there was no coming back from my comments, and in all honesty, I couldn’t blame him.
I thanked him for walking me up, and slipped my key into the lock of my door, preparing for the inevitable. He’d let me go, say he was sorry, and wish me the best in my future endeavors. It was odd, I mused; I’d never been fired at the end of a date before. Because that’s what this was, right? A date with my employer?
“I’ll see you on Monday,” he said after a moment of silence. I blinked, unsure if I heard him correctly.
“Yeah, of course. Thank you for dinner,” I said, and we exchanged a pleasant goodbye.
I changed into a more comfortable outfit, but I wasn’t ready to call it a night. I glanced out of the window on the other side of my apartment and caught a glimpse of him driving away.
Guilt was eating me alive. I had basically told a single father that having children wasn’t worth it, and that children didn’t belong in this world. That, and I condemned divorced couples. Of course, he’s divorced. I should have figured that an attractive man in his mid to late 30s had been married at least once. I realized then that I didn’t know much about Maddox. Maybe he’d been married several times? Abby was only three years old, so there was a possibility that he hadn’t been single for long. He also didn’t even mention the mother once on the drive home. Was the scar too new?
I groaned, feeling like complete shit. He had every right to hate me, and even more to fire me.
I knew if I ended the night like this I would stew over my emotions and pull my hair out, so I slipped on a pair of boots and a coat and drove to Lacey’s.
Unlike her, I didn’t have a copy of her house key, and it took nearly 15 minutes of ringing her phone for her to finally answer the door.
“Belle’s asleep,” she said, as she let me in.
“Don’t lie; you were sleeping, too.” I gestured at her pajamas and messy hair. She shrugged and yawned.
She followed me to the kitchen. “Maybe. What’s the matter?”
“Oh, Lace.” I pulled out a bottle of wine, poured a glass, and finished it in one chug. Lacey’s eyebrows raised.
“Looks like I’m going to need one too,” she said. She took her own long stem from the cabinet and poured herself a glass.
“His parents showed up to dinner, and we ended up having a weird double date,” I said, and Lacey grimaced. I had no other way to describe it, but disastrous came to mind.
“That would ruin the mood for anyone,” she said, and I shook my head.
“It wasn’t bad, but during dessert, his mom started showing me pictures of a 3-year-old girl. His 3-year-old girl, Lacey. A daughter.”
Lacey gasped and quickly refilled both of our glasses.
“He has a daughter,” she repeated. “Are you sure?”
“Positive, we talked about it a little in the car afterward,” I said.
“Oh, Everly, after everything you said about children.” She shook her head and pushed the tall decanter my way. “You can have the bottle.”
“I was planning on it,” I groaned. “He has to hate me.” Each word I’d uttered was like a slap across my memory, a twisting knife of guilt in my gut.
“I can’t believe you didn’t know. Was he hiding her the entire week?” she asked, and I tilted my head.
“That’s a good point,” I said. I couldn’t believe he’d hid her for so long. “He has full custody, but she wasn’t ever there during dinner. Actually, there’s not a single sign of a child in his entire mansion.”
“Everly, it’s time you started looking for another job,” Lacey said. “This is way too complicated for you.”
“He hasn’t fired me,” I said. I couldn’t give up or walk out on my job. It wasn’t an option. Besides, I really didn’t want to leave Maddox just yet.
“But he could at any moment. Really, you need to start applying or try and get your job at Saint Padres back. He’s just some guy, Everly. This is your future we’re talking about.”
I finished my glass. “Yeah,” I said, pretending to agree.
But I wasn’t entirely sure if he was just some guy anymore, or if he was something more. I knew in my bones that my feelings were stirred.