CHAPTER 18
Jack looked around the airport irritably. Toddlers were whining in their strollers, jubilant young travelers had already started celebrating the holidays with pre-flight drinks, and family and friends were rushing towards each other. The intercom announced multiple flights boarding at once. If there was one place you didn’t want to be a week before Christmas it was JFK, Jack thought. The only seat he had managed to secure to connect with Marrakech on such short notice was in the first class cabin of a four star airline. Jack had never been a penny pincher but the amount he had just swiped was enough to make a down payment on a house. He didn’t care. He would’ve paid double that if it meant getting him to Maddy. The PI had gotten back to him earlier that morning to confirm that Maddy had flown to Morocco the night of their fight. Jack had thought of asking Mitchell for Sandra’s number but reconsidered. What he had to say to Maddy he wanted to say looking into her eyes. He wanted to see the reality dawn in her eyes when he told her he loved her.
One advantage of flying first class was that he didn’t have to mill around the airport with the overly excited adults and tired toddlers. He made his way up to the first class lounge where he waited for his flight to be called. While enjoying a straight scotch he imagined what Maddy’s reaction would be when he told her that he loved her.
The old Volkswagen beetle that was once a bright orange was sun-bleached. The windows were all open bringing dust and noise from the streets of Marrakech rushing into the car. The driver expertly navigated the dusty streets towards the metropolitan part of Marrakech where Sandra lived. A brief conversation with Mitchell after Jack had landed had secured him Sandra’s address where he would find Maddy.
Grateful to have arrived safely, Jack paid the cab driver who barely spoke a word of English before heading up to Sandra’s apartment. He knocked a few times before the key sounded in the lock and the door opened.
“Jack? What a surprise!” Sandra said, although Jack realized it was no surprise to her at all.
“Let me guess, Mitchell phoned you about thirty minutes ago?”
“He might’ve.” Sandra said opening the door wider to let Jack in. “To what do I owe the visit?”
“If you’ve spoken to Mitchell, you know I’m looking for my wife.” Jack said wearily as he stepped inside.
“Oh Jack, you better sit down.” Sandra smiled sadly. “I’m afraid you’ve missed her, she’s already left.”
“Left? What do you mean she left?” Jack asked irritably.
“She flew out this morning.” Sandra handed him a cold glass of juice. “The heat gets you when you’re coming in from cold weather.”
“You think?” Jack chugged the whole glass down, “Did she go home?”
Sandra narrowed her eyes. She had told Maddy to head home and face her husband, but she wasn’t convinced that was her daughter’s plan. Maddy still looked very confused when she had left for the airport earlier that morning. “I’m not really sure Jack. I know she went to New York, but I can’t know if she went back to your apartment.”
“Did she tell you she was mad at me?” Jack asked, not sure how close Maddy and her mother were.
Sandra bit her tongue before answering. “Yes, she did.” She waited a beat before continuing. “She also told me you didn’t have a real marriage, that you both got married for reasons that had nothing to do with love.”
A pained look crossed Jack’s face; of all the things he had thought to say in Morocco, apologizing for his actions wasn’t one of them. “Sandra, I’m so sorry.”
“No don’t be.” Sandra sat opposite him. “Madison is a big girl and she wouldn’t have gone into this with her eyes closed. But tell me one thing, Jack. What did you get out of this? I understand Maddy got the offices rent free for the duration of your marriage, but why would you do that if you didn’t get something out of it?”
“Sandra…”
Sandra held up her hand. “Jack please, if you’re thinking of lying to me, please don’t. I’d rather make my own assumptions than be lied to.”
Jack let out a deep sigh, he didn’t know when the next flight out was, but if he knew one thing, that was if he wanted to win Maddy’s heart it included winning or at least making peace with Sandra. “My grandfather was ill. He told me that he regrets the fact that he never remarried after my grandmother passed, he focused too much on business. He was concerned I was heading in the same direction so he made a condition to his will.”
Jack rubbed his hands on his knees before telling Sandra of the conversation he had with Mitchell which had led him to ask Maddy to marry him. He didn’t mention the one night stand, just that he and Maddy had met prior to their engagement.
Sandra kept quiet for a while digesting the information. She had felt anger, raw and instinctive as a lioness protecting her cub pulse through her core. His story collaborated with Madison’s, the only difference being that he did it to secure his inheritance. Furious for his betrayal of her daughter, Sandra kept quiet until she had gathered her thoughts enough to speak.
She stood up and walked to the terrace, opening the doors and staring out at the landscape of Marrakech. The sounds of the streets filtered into the apartment. “Tell me one thing Jack, do you love her?”
“Yes.” Jack’s answer came fast, without hesitation.
The anger subsided a little at his quick admission. “So you asked my daughter to marry you to secure your inheritance, which I’m guessing is a whole lot more than the monthly rent on her offices?”
“That’s right.” Jack stood up and joined Sandra on the terrace.
His definite answers allowed Sandra’s mad to cool off a little bit. She turned and watched his face. She saw two things there, the first was regret and the second was pain. Either he regretted telling her the whole story or he regretted what he had done. The pain mirrored her daughter’s, pain from losing someone you love. “I see your little plan to marry for convenience came back and bit you in the ass.” Sandra laughed as she watched surprise dawn on Jack’s face. “Oh Jack, please I can see you’re as miserable as a pound puppy. What do you plan on doing about it?”
“I want to make things right with her Sandra. I want a real marriage. I want to spend the rest of my life with her. That’s why I flew all the way here. I want to talk to her, tell her that I love her.”
“Sounds like a good plan, but you’re missing something important.”
Confused, Jack asked. “What?”
“You need to tell her the truth. Madison doesn’t take well to being lied to. If you want to make things right, I suggest you start with that.”
“You’re not mad at me?”
“Of course I’m mad at you, if you didn’t love my daughter I probably would’ve shouted and ranted before making sense. But I can see that you do. So go fix your marriage and make my daughter happy.”
“You think she loves me?” Jack asked carefully not sure if he was treading in dangerous territory.
Sandra’s eyes flew to his. “I’m not discussing my daughter or her feelings with you. If you want to know where her heart is at the moment, talk to her.”
Jack nodded. “Do you know when the next flight out is?”
Looking towards the clock on the wall, Sandra smiled at Jack. “There’s a flight leaving for London in a few hours, if you make it you’ll be able to catch the connecting flight to New York tonight.”
Maddy arrived in New York a few hours after Jack landed in Morocco. She made her way straight to their apartment where she hoped she would find him. The cheerful spirit of New York going into Christmas made her even more miserable. Why was it that when other people were happy you felt even more depressed and like a failure than you did before witnessing their happiness?
She walked into the apartment and for the first time since she had moved in with Jack, it felt like her home. Instinctively she walked to the kitchen to set her luggage and her handbag on the counter. She thought of the stained glass light fixture they had bought and set it down on the counter. It would look perfect in this kitchen, even if she was moving out.
“Jack?” She called out as she walked through the apartment hoping to find him, to put her aching heart to rest.
After searching through the whole apartment she realized Jack wasn’t there. She phoned his assistant, who simply advised Maddy that Jack was out of town and that she wasn’t at liberty to give away the details. That was the first thing that was going to change if she reconciled with Jack, she was to be treated as his wife by his employees not just a lovesick lover. Knowing there was only one person who would know where Jack was she searched for Mitchell’s number in the old fashioned phonebook Jack kept in the kitchen drawer. Pouring herself a glass of wine, she sat down at the kitchen island and picked up her phone.
“Landon Estate, Raquel speaking.”
Maddy took a large gulp of wine for liquid courage before speaking. “Raquel, its Maddy. How are you?”
“Mrs. Landon, I’m well thank you. How are you?”
“I’m fine Raquel, I’m actually looking for Mitchell, is he available? I don’t want you to wake him if he’s napping.”
“No, no he is wide awake playing online chess.” Raquel laughed. “Hang on, I’ll connect you.”
Maddy waited a few seconds before he answered. “Landon.”
“Hi Mitchell, it’s…”
“Maddy!” Mitchell called out excitedly at the sound of her voice. “How are you, sweetheart?”
“I’m well Mitchell; I’m actually looking for Jack.”
Mitchell smiled to himself; he had just gotten off the phone with Sandra who had told him Jack had turned up in Morocco. Both he and Sandra had agreed it was best that the children fix their own problems; he wouldn’t be mentioning Jack’s trans-Atlantic adventure to Maddy. “Jack? Oh dear, Maddy. He’s not here.”
“Oh.” Maddy felt all hope for her marriage vanish. If he really had gone on a business trip their marriage had obviously not meant as much to him as to her.
“He told me you had a fight.” Mitchell said after a while concerned for Maddy.
“He did?”
“Yes and I agree Cecile is a snake, but you can’t blame Jack for that.”
“But he brought her home Mitchell, to our home.”
“Fair enough, but you didn’t really give him a chance to explain.”
“No, but…” Maddy felt she was just repeating the conversation with her mother.
“No buts, Maddy. Hear me out. Jack told me about the marriage, that it wasn’t real.”
Maddy left out a large sigh. “Oh Mitchell you must think I’m a little gold-digger.”
Mitchell laughed. “I must say the thought had crossed my mind, but I could see you love him.”
“I do, but I can’t seem to find him to tell him that, and I don’t know if he feels the same. The night we attended the charity ball I thought things had changed for both of us, but if he had gone on a business trip after I walked out, he couldn’t love me could he?”
“Time will tell.”
“I guess.”
“How’s your mother?” Mitchell asked not wanting to discuss his grandson any further, afraid he might give away more than he should.
“She’s well. She mentioned she’s coming to take care of you after the operation I didn’t even know you were going to have.”
Mitchell smiled to himself. “Well, what did you want? Did you want me to phone you and tell you that you were right?”
“That would’ve been nice.”
“Well if I don’t make it, you can explain to everyone at the funeral at least I wasn’t afraid of the operation.”
Maddy laughed, knowing that if things didn’t work out between her and Jack she hoped she would be able to keep in touch with Mitchell. “You’ll be fine. Besides, you’re too stubborn to die.”
“That I am.” Mitchell kept quiet for a minute before speaking again. “Maddy, whatever happens between you and Jack I want you to know you and your mother will always be welcome here. You’re the closest thing to a daughter I’ve ever had and I don’t intend on losing you due to my grandson’s foolishness.”
“Whatever happens I promise I’ll be treading through your doormat.”
“There’s a good girl.”
“Goodbye Mitchell.” Maddy smiled as he clicked the phone off.
Maddy hailed the cab outside Jules apartment. Sleet was pouring down; she crossed her hands in front of her chest hoping to keep the cold out as she waited for a cab to pullover. The gloomy weather suited her mood. It was two nights before Christmas and she hadn’t heard a word from Jack. She had spent last night at Jules apartment not wanting to sleep in Jack’s bed without him. She had told Jules about the whole fiasco while eating pizza and watching romance films. She drowned her sorrows with tea and ached for Jack. She missed him like a child missed his pacifier the first few days after taking it away. Her hours were filled with memories of times with Jack, his touch, his scent, soft words and slow caresses and the thought that she would never experience any of them again. She had tried his office again that morning and the assistant had insisted she wasn’t at liberty to discuss Jack’s whereabouts with Maddy. She wondered if it was illegal to send an overdose of Vicadin concealed in coffee to the frustrating woman. But she was on the point of being divorced before she hit thirty, she didn’t want to add attempted murder to the list too. She took out her phone and looked at the message Milly had sent her two hours before.
Important client.
Meet at hotel corner of 55th E and 5th
7pm sharp
Good luck
Maddy had replied asking who the client was, but Milly’s phone had been switched off. She wanted to be irritated with Milly for sending her the message, Turner Events was officially closed but if it really was an important client, she couldn’t afford to miss this opportunity. Besides it wasn’t like she had anything else to do. Jules was probably tired of her moping and crying all the time. It would give Jules some privacy and hopefully a good business opportunity for Maddy. As the cab pulled up to the curb in front of the hotel, Maddy felt a rush of pain surge through her body. The memories of the hotel, the same hotel she had spent her first night with Jack, hurt physically. Not knowing if she would ever spend a night with him again caused a stream of tears to charge to her throat, swallowing it down, she handed cash to the cabbie and stepped out. She would not think of Jack tonight, she would focus on Turner Events. Besides if the divorce went through she would need to cough up rent every month very soon. She might be losing her marriage, but she wouldn’t lose her business as well.
Jack sat at the bar and ordered a scotch, straight. The flight on the way home had given him time to think of exactly what he wanted to say to Maddy. Exactly how he wanted to convince her to be his real wife. He had headed straight to the apartment hoping to find her there. He found the apartment empty besides a stained glass light fixture on the kitchen counter. Evidence that she had been there. He wanted to phone her and ask her to come home, but sanity prevailed. He knew if he wanted to win her back he needed to do something out of the ordinary. Something romantic. Something that would give him a chance to explain everything to her. That was when he had phoned Milly. He kept his eye on the door not wanting to seem too obvious. As Maddy approached the maitre’d he felt a rush of love in his chest, followed by the ever present desire he felt when Maddy was near. Her coat was buttoned high with a scarlet scarf around her neck. Her dark hair rumbled over her shoulders; if all went well he would be running his hands through them soon enough. Her eyes looked sad; it hurt to think he had put that look in her eyes. Turning away from her he took another sip of scotch. The maitre’d had been tipped well before hand to make sure Maddy waited for her ‘client’ next to him.
He smelled her scent even before she sat down; turning slightly away from her he heard her voice. “Do you mind?”
Turning to her, he couldn’t help but smile. He took her in, her face, her eyes, her mouth, her essence. “Not at all.”
Maddy felt the flutter of butterflies in her stomach as soon as recognition dawned. “Jack?”
“No introductions.” Jack smiled wickedly and beckoned the barman.
Feeling angry at his indifference to their situation, Maddy glared at him. “I’m sorry I don’t have time to play your games tonight, I’m meeting a client.”
“Right, about that…” Jack trailed off before ordering Maddy a glass of wine.
“You’re the client?” Maddy asked confused. She thought of picking up her bag and walking out there and then, but if he went through all this trouble to see her, maybe she should hear what he had to say.
“I didn’t know of another way to talk to you. I phoned, you didn’t answer, I flew to Morocco, you had already left, I get home and you’re not there. So I thought pretending to be an important client was a good idea.”
“You flew to Morocco?” Maddy asked flabbergasted.
“My wife was there, I had to go.”
“Your wife?” Maddy asked softly.
“Yes, my wife. Although I’m not sure she wants to be married to me anymore.” Jack passed her the glass of wine as the barman placed it in front of him.
“And why is that?” Maddy asked smiling, catching onto his game. This was where it all had started; maybe this was where it could be fixed.
“You see, I married her under false pretenses.”
“Surely she had to know?”
“She knew I wanted her body.” Jack said as his eyes trailed over Maddy’s body.
A scorching trail of need followed the blaze of his eyes as Maddy felt her breath quicken. “Was that all you wanted?”
“I thought so at the time?”
“And now?”
“Now I know I was wrong.” Jack said as he took a sip of scotch.
“About what?”
“You see, my grandfather had told me to find a wife or else he would cut me out of his will.” Jack saw the temper flare in Maddy’s eyes and held up his hand. “But you see it turns out he was kidding and in the process I asked a smart, beautiful and funny woman to marry me. I thought I wouldn’t ever love her as that wasn’t part of the plan but at least my nights would be interesting.”
Reaching for her bag Maddy stood. Jack placed a hand on her arm. “I was wrong.”
“About what?”
“About everything. She wasn’t just those things; she was also witty, clever, and has a feisty temper I’ve come to love.”
Maddy felt her heart claw up her throat at the word and sat down before her knees gave in. “Jack…”
“No names. What’s easier than having an honest conversation with a stranger?” Jack smiled and settled his hand on Maddy’s knee.
“A stranger?” Maddy asked smiling slightly.
“Sure, I’ve heard strangers could come to mean a lot to you.”
“What exactly does your wife mean to you?” Maddy asked softly, playing with the stem of her wine glass.
“More than I ever wanted her to.” Jack’s eyes met hers. Steel grey against jade. Honesty shone in his eyes and Maddy tried her best to remain unaffected as he spoke. “I’ve come to realize you can think you can control the heart but actually it controls you.”
“It does?” Maddy asked knowing her own heart had controlled her actions.
“Yes. I thought I’d marry her, keep my bed warm, secure my inheritance and give her a property rent free to make up for it. But it didn’t work that way.” Jack felt arousal bud in his groin. He wanted nothing more than to kiss the pain from her eyes.
“How did it work?”
“She became part of me. She became part of my house, made it a home with bright throws and lamps and paintings that I didn’t understand at first until I started to understand her.”
“You never said you didn’t like them.” Maddy sipped on her wine, she thought he hadn’t even noticed the small touches she had brought to his apartment.
“Because I liked you. As I was saying, she started cooking for me, sharing her thoughts and ideas. Inch by inch she crawled under my skin until I knew there was no turning back. Only there was a problem.”
“What problem?” Maddy asked thinking that the anonymity of the conversation actually eased the tension and made the honesty easier.
“I didn’t know how to tell her. So I didn’t. You see I was afraid that she didn’t feel the same way.”
Maddy looked into her glass before answering softly. “She did.” She turned her eyes to Jack and noticed he was waiting. It was her turn to admit her feelings. “She felt the same but she was afraid. Afraid of loving someone who didn’t love her back, who only saw her as a convenience.”
“But for a long time she hadn’t just been a convenience, she had become much more to him.”
“And he had become more to her. But then she came home one night…” Maddy trailed off not knowing if Jack was going to get angry, but if they were going to fix this they needed to fix it properly, a patch job would just spring a leak again in a few months.
“Yes, she had come home one night and walked into a business dinner. He didn’t know the woman in question was interested in him, until his wife walked out in a fury. After that he threw the other woman out. If his wife had waited and listened she would’ve understood it was a business meeting to discuss the legalities of firing a board member who had been embezzling money from the company.”
Maddy’s eyebrows rose; that was why he had been so busy that last week. Working late each night, the phone calls and the weariness. Not caring about the anonymity anymore Maddy sat up and took his hand. “Jack, if you had told me about this and not kept me in the dark I wouldn’t have found it strange to find another woman in my dining room late at night.”
“Your dining room?” Jack asked with a glint in his eye.
“Well last time I checked I live there.”
“And even bought a new light fixture for the kitchen.”
Maddy smiled. “It was perfect for the space.”
“It is, thank you.”
“Jack, do you really think we can make this work?” Maddy asked with narrowed eyes, unsure if a little flirting would save everything that had almost been ruined.
“I hope so. I love you Madison. I’ve never loved anyone more, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. And to prove to you that this isn’t just a whim, I’d like to give you your Christmas present.”
“Now? Christmas is still two days away.”
“I don’t care. I had this taken care of the day after the charity ball. That was when I knew I wanted to be married to you for real.” Jack handed Maddy the rectangular box and smiled.
Looking at the box and guessing what was inside, Maddy didn’t know how a piece of lingerie was going to win her over, but maybe it was a really pretty piece. She untied the ribbon before slowly lifting the lid. Instead of tissue paper there was actual paper. She slowly lifted the document out and briefly read through it.
“Jack!” Maddy gasped as she realized what it was. It was the deed to the corner offices of Turner Events, completely signed over to her name.
“I don’t want to put a timeframe on our marriage. Consider that your wedding gift. That was the only thing I knew you would take seriously. More serious than a ring or a promise or a declaration of love.”
“Jack I don’t know what to say.” Maddy said as a tear slipped down her cheek.
“Just say yes. Yes you’ll be my wife, yes we’ll have children, and yes you’ll spend the rest of your life with me.”
“Two conditions.”
“Anything” Jack said as he took her hand in his and kissed her palm.
“No more secrets.” Maddy said cocking a brow.
“Agreed. What’s the other one?” Jack asked as he rubbed his thumb inside her wrist causing Maddy’s breath to hitch.
“No more nights with strangers.” Maddy smiled as she squeezed his knee.
“You’re the only stranger I’ll ever need.” Jack said as he leaned over and kissed his wife; slowly, intimately conveying his love for her.
“I think we’d better get a room.” Jack whispered as a pulled away.
Maddy giggled before cocking a brow and looking as sexy as the first night Jack met her. “I’ll see if room 447 is available.”