Chapter Thirty
Maddie
Thirty minutes. That's all I had to spare on the way to having dinner with my parents after a long day of doing nothing. My agent wasn't doing shit for me, and it seemed that my ability to get new followers was going down the tube.
I needed a pick me up.
The bank was busy when I got there, and after standing in line for a little while, I decided to use the ATM machine instead. I walked back out into the chilly afternoon and pulled out my card, leaning into type in my pin number so no one would see it.
I hit the button to get the balance on my checking account and almost swallowed my tongue. After selecting to get a receipt, I pulled out $300 and moved back, fanning myself as my body heated.
I'd never seen so much money in all of my life. I started down at the paper and tried to take it in. I just knew that any minute I would be flooded with excitement. Like someone who'd won the fucking lottery.
The feeling never came. Instead, a numbness I'd been trying to avoid all day long settled in the center of my chest. Tears blurred my eyes, and I turned to walk back to my car.
"You okay, Miss?" a security guard stopped me, the concern on his face sweet.
"Oh yeah." I nodded and reached up to wipe away a few tears. "Just had a long day."
"Nothing is wrong with your account, right, because they'll be happy to help you fix that back inside the bank."
"No. It's good. Thank you though." I gave him a warm smile and jogged across the street to my car. The same sentence dance through my head over and over.
I'd give up every penny to have a loving relationship with a man like Gavin.
I'd give up every penny to have a loving relationship with a man like Gavin.
"Stop it," I barked at myself as I got into the car and pulled out of the lot. Being with my parents for dinner would help, or would it? Knowing them, they'd be talking about making love or plans to buy something cute for each other.
They adored each other.
I wanted that in my life, but it was too scary to dream that big. People didn't really have a relationship like my folks did. They were an anomaly. A one-off. An outlier.
I drove out to their place thinking the whole time how wrong I was that their relationship was different or weird. Gavin's parents had the same thing. Maybe there were just secrets to really making a relationship last. I wouldn't know. Mine had all been a big fucking joke up to this point.
And now I was in the middle of one that was sure to leave me emotionally bankrupt, and it was my own damn fault.
I got out of the car and walked toward the house, half expecting my father to sling open the door and greet me in a funny voice. Nothing.
"Weird." I walked in to find them in the kitchen, my dad's arms around my mom as they kissed and whispered about something. The soft laughter coming from both of them cause my heart to swell.
"Gross!" I yelled, announcing my arrival.
"You missed the really gross part." My dad turned and walked across the room, leaning down to kiss my cheek. "We were smooching it up in here!"
"Ugh." I pretended to gag and walked into the kitchen.
My mom turned back to the stove and stirred something in a big soup pot. I leaned around her and hugged her from behind, breathing in deeply.
"God, that smells so good." I moved up beside her and bumped her hip, forcing her to get out of the way as I started to stir the thick stew. Chunks of potatoes, carrots, and beef swirled around.
"It's your father's favorite." She wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "A real man's meal."
"That's right. Ph-balanced for a woman, but—" my father started.
My mother and I groaned, cutting him off. I laughed and looked over at her as her eyes grew wide.
"Maddie! What is this?" She jerked me around, scaring me a little. After taking my left hand into hers, she lifted the ring and glanced up at me. "Please tell me you're just wearing this for a photo shoot."
I grimaced. My parents were the type who would always wanted to be involved in my life. Getting married was a really big deal.
I didn't know what the fuck to do, so I slipped into character.
"Surprise! I'm married." I pulled my hand back and turned as my father stuck his head into the kitchen, his eyes wide.
"Um, what?" He walked in and put both hands on his hips. "To who?"
"To whom," Mom responded and gave me a very stern look. "You had better be kidding, young lady."
"I'm not." I gave them a sheepish grin. "Gavin and I realized the other day that when you find someone you love, you grab ahold of them, and you just don't let go." I had to kick in some serious ass-kissing if I were going to make it through my sea of lies. "And we have something like you and daddy do, like Mister and Miss Hayward did. We can't let that go."
"But why didn't you just come to us?" My mother glanced back to my father. "We wanted to be a part of your big day. You should have had a blowout wedding with a million people there and—"
"Now honey." My father walked in and reached for my mom. "You know as well as I do that kids these days are just wild. Maddie is no exception."
"So wild." I offered before turning back to the soup. I hated lying to my parents. To Gavin's mother. To everyone.
"Hey." My mom touched my shoulder, and I turned back around. "I'm not mad at you. I'm disappointed. Was anyone even there?"
"Gavin's mom was. She's dying, like I told you." I glanced down as tears filled my eyes. That part I wasn't faking. I looked back up as one rolled down my cheek. "I'm so sorry. It was irresponsible and stupid of me not to think to invite you both. He was in a hurry because of her condition and—"
"Hush." My dad reached out and brushed a tear away. "We're good. We'll do something fun on your one-year anniversary or something." He glanced at my mom. "Right, dear?"
"Absolutely." She smiled and pulled me into a tight hug. "But, we do want to see this young man. Dinner. Tomorrow night. Okay?"
I nodded. Dinner tomorrow night would work. Hopefully.
After they had left the kitchen, I pulled out my phone and texted Gavin to see if it was an okay time to call him. Not sure why I felt so unsure of him picking up a call from me, but I did.
He called me instead. I answered on the first ring, anticipating the sound of his voice.
"Hey," I whispered and picked up the spoon to stir the stew again.
"Hey. You okay? Need something?" He sounded slightly panicked. Why that filled me with warmth was beyond me.
I was a piece of shit for taking his money, and the realization of that came crashing in as I stood at the ATM earlier. It wasn't money that I needed. It was love. It was him.
"Yes," I forced the words out of my mouth. "Listen, my mom and dad saw the ring. I forgot to—"
"It's fine. I forgot to wear mine today, and my mother got all over my ass about it." His laugh was deep, genuine. It caused me to smile as butterflies danced around my chest.
"Well, they want you to come over for dinner tomorrow night. I don't think they're upset about not being invited to the wedding, but head's up... I told them your mom was the only one there."
"Alright." He cleared his throat, and I couldn't help but wondering where he was and what he was wearing. It seemed like something a dude would think, but I had my moments for sure.
"You sure? You sound unsure." I turned to find my parents walking back into the kitchen.
"No, it's good. My mother asked us to come over, but—"
"I'll tell them no then. We need to spend the time we have with your mom. It’s all good."
"No. We'll see my mom on Saturday. No worries." He sounded calm, peaceful. I decided not to argue with him, but instead, accept his kindness. It was rare somedays.
"Okay. Thank you." I glanced up to see my mom watching me with a quirky smile on her lips. I waved her away and gave her a look before turning back to the stove. "Mom and dad said hi."
He laughed. "Tell them I said hi, too."
"Okay." I glanced over my shoulder and found her watching me. "I love you."
"See you tomorrow." He dropped the call, and I put my phone back in my pocket. I didn't need to say it, but he would assume it was because of them. It wasn't, but maybe it was for the best that he didn't know.
I'd been completely honest for the first time in a long time.
I did love him.