Chapter Nine
Maddie swiped at the sweat beading on her forehead with a towel as she stepped onto the sidewalk after yoga class. The early spring sun warmed her skin and brightened her mood. Yoga had always been able to calm and center her when she’d been stressed. Why had she stopped going to class in the first place? Oh yeah, because she’d been so focused on having a baby that she ignored everything else.
Going to Justin’s softball game last night, cheering him on like she had in the early days of their relationship, and then flirting with him after the game had given her a flutter in her belly that she hadn’t felt in a long time. It hadn’t been easy to drag herself out of the house when Jen had called. She’d planned to climb under the covers and drown her sorrows in a pint of Ben and Jerry’s. But she wasn’t going to get Justin back by wallowing in self-pity. And she definitely wasn’t helping Aiden that way either.
Her efforts had paid off. She felt better about herself and her relationship with Justin after the game. And that encouraged her to make other changes in her life. That was how she’d found herself at the first yoga class she’d been to in what had been far too long.
“What a great class. Don’t you think so, Maddie?” Jen stepped up beside Maddie looking like she hadn’t even broken a sweat. She probably hadn’t. Once upon a time, that had been Maddie.
And it would be again.
“I’m a bit out of practice, but it was great.”
“No worries. Each class gets easier.” Jen laid her hand on Maddie’s shoulder. “I’m so happy you came out today. Two days in a row. I think it’s a record.”
Maddie winced but then accepted Jen’s comment in the positive spirit it was intended. “Yeah, I know. Not anymore. And the next time you see me burrowing in, it’s your job to drag me out.”
“You got it.”
Maddie’s phone buzzed in her purse. She fumbled to shift her bag and pull it out before the insistent vibrating stopped. Justin’s face flashed across the screen.
A tingle started in her gut and spread out, and butterflies took up residence in her stomach. She had forgotten what being excited to hear from the man she loved felt like. It was so easy to get mired down in the day-to-day minutia of married life, and she’d neglected to take care of her marriage. Her husband. But she was going to do better. Her hand shook so hard that she almost dropped the phone when she pushed the talk button. “Hello?”
“Miss Simcox?”
“What?”
“Is this Maddie Simcox?”
The corners of her mouth turned up in a smile. Justin was picking up where she’d left off last night. How they had first met. She didn’t know what had possessed her to act like they were back in college when she talked to him last night. But the game had brought back memories, good memories, and she wanted to capture that feeling and hold onto it. Little did Maddie know how that one game would change her entire life. “Yeah, I’m Maddie Simcox.”
“This is, uh, Justin. Justin Harper. From the game yesterday. I tried to get your attention after you ran up the hill, but you had already gone to your car. I stopped your friend and it took some time, but I finally got your number from her.”
Maddie remembered how she’d hesitated before telling Amanda it was okay for Justin to call. What would her life have been like if she hadn’t taken a chance on the cute first baseman who had winked at her?
“I was, uh, hoping that I could ask you out. You know, on a date?”
“You want to go out on a date with me?”
“I’d have asked you out last night if you’d have given me a chance. But you ran away before I could. So what do you say? How about I pick you up tonight at seven?”
It had been a long time since she and Justin had actually gone out alone. Even longer since he’d actually asked her out. That was one of the many things they had neglected in their marriage—each other. Dinner was a great first step in rebuilding their relationship. “That sounds great.”
She could hear Justin let out a breath through the phone. Had he really thought she wouldn’t say yes? Of course he did. She’d rebuffed any advances that didn’t fit into her perfect plan for building their family for far too long. “See you at seven. Bye, Maddie.”
She clicked off and stared at the phone long after the screen light dimmed.
“What was that all about?” She’d almost forgotten Jen was standing beside her.
“That was Justin. He asked me out on a date?”
“He did? That’s great.”
Maddie told Jen the short version of how she and Justin had met.
Jen laid her hand over her heart. “That is so sweet. Why haven’t you ever told me that before?”
It was sweet. Justin had set out to sweep her off her feet from that very first day. And she had never looked back.
Then they’d lost the innocence of their youth, becoming bogged down in everyday life. And if Justin was trying to reclaim a bit of the magic from when they’d met, she’d play along. Anything to find their way back to each other.
“I don’t know. I guess it never came up.” A smile grew on her face. “But I have a date tonight.”
* * *
Justin pressed End on his phone and tossed it onto the counter beside him. “Okay, this is good.”
After Maddie took that first step by coming to the game last night, he picked up on her efforts. He had wanted to remind her of when their lives were simpler and all they had to worry about was whether someone liked them. For the first time in a long time, he had hope for them. For their future.
He couldn’t help the grin that grew on his face. He hadn’t had much to smile about recently, but after a few days by himself, he decided he didn’t like being alone any more than he liked being in the pressure cooker his marriage to Maddie had become. And his mother was right. He needed to do something about it.
That started tonight.