Chapter 12
***WALKER***
Ablast of herb-scented air, noisy conversation, and the clatter of dishes greeted them when Walker pulled the door of the pizzeria open for Maddie, then followed her inside.
She took a deep breath of the fragrant air.
“It smells wonderful in here, and I’m starving,” she announced, a look of anticipation on her face. “I hope the wait isn’t too long.”
“We could always get it to go and take it back to the frat house,” Walker said. “I’m sure we could find a quiet place to eat there.”
“I’m not sure I’m ready to see your friends yet,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t see very many people waiting. Let’s see what the hostess says.”
“Hi, welcome,” the young woman said when they walked up to the podium. “Is it just the two of you?”
“Yes, please,” Maddie said. “Is the wait long?”
“Well, if you don’t mind a small booth, I could seat you now,” the woman said, checking the chart in front of her. “Or there’s lots of room in the bar.”
“A booth should be fine,” Maddie said, looking over her shoulder at him.
“Sure, sounds great,” he said. “I just want to eat.”
They all laughed. “Great, then follow me,” the woman said. “You won’t be disappointed, the pizza here is amazing, but if you’re in the mood for something else, give the spaghetti and meatballs a try.”
The booth was tucked into the corner of the room, and there was just enough room for the two of them to squeeze inside.
However, he didn’t mind; it meant Maddie was pressed up against him.
After taking their drink order, the hostess disappeared into the back of the restaurant, and they had a chance to look around at the bustling place before picking up their menus to study them.
“I thought I wanted pizza but spaghetti sounds pretty good too,” he said. “I can’t make up my mind. What are you going to have?”
“I know I want to start with a salad, but I can’t decide what else to have,” Maddie said, studying the menu. Then she looked up at him. “What if we shared? We could order pizza and spaghetti.”
“Wow, you really are living it up,” he said, grinning at her. “But that does sound like the perfect solution.”
Maddie gave him a shove with her shoulder. “I told you I was starving, I skipped lunch,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “And just so it’s clear right from the beginning, we’re splitting the check.”
“Fine with me, but only because I’m too hungry to fight with you,” he said. “But just for the record, if I ask you on a date, I usually expect to pay.”
“But you can’t pay every time we go out, that’s not fair,” she said, shaking her head. “We should treat each other like equals right from the beginning.”
“That’s fine with me,” he said. “You’ll just have to ask me on a date when it’s your turn to pay.”
She just stared at him for a second, then realized he was teasing her. “Walker, I was being serious,” she said. “I don’t want you paying for me all the time.”
He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss. “I was being serious, too. You’ll have to ask me out if you want to pay,” he said. “Seems like a fair way to handle it to me.”
“Oh, you’re impossible,” she said, but she was laughing. “Fine, have it your way, I’ll ask you out next time.”
“Well, don’t wait too long,” he said, grinning at her. “I might beat you to it.”
The waitress showed up a few seconds later, their drinks in hand, and they placed their order.
Then, they sat back, suddenly shy with each other, but it wasn’t long before they were chatting away like old friends.
Their food arrived quickly, and they dug in, filling their stomachs mostly in silence, with the other tables around them providing enough entertainment to keep the silence from being uncomfortable.
Maddie was the first one to push her plate away, groaning and rubbing her stomach, but there was only one piece of pizza left, and he had just enough room.
He was just reaching for it when a voice that instantly made him clench his teeth rang out over the booth.
“Well, isn’t this cozy, you two sure are brave to be seen out in public like this,” Thomas drawled, a pleased look on his face.
“When my spy…uh…friend called and told me you two were here all cozied up together, I didn’t believe it, you must be awfully sure of yourself, Walker.
I warned you what would happen…now Maddie is going to pay the price. ”
He didn’t say anything for a second, just stared at Thomas, deciding he wanted to drag the moment out.
“I hate to break it to you, but your little plan failed. Maddie is no longer my physical therapist; my care was transferred when the coach put me on the injured reserve,” he said, slowly and loudly so he was sure Thomas could hear clearly over the noise around them.
“It must be such a disappointment to have every evil plan you come up with backfire on you. I don’t know, maybe you should rethink this being a bad guy thing, you’re not really very good at it. ”
Next to him, Maddie burst into laughter, then quickly covered her mouth when Thomas gave her a dirty look.
“You haven’t won yet, Price. I’m far from done fighting,” he growled at them.
“I was trying to play nice before, but not anymore. You’d better watch your back, you’re never going to know when or where I’ll strike, and this time it’s going to be for keeps. ”
“For keeps? What are we, ten years old?” Walker asked, shaking his head. “Just give it up, Thomas, go back to your…family and tell them to leave us alone, or this isn’t going to end well.”
“Don’t threaten me,” Thomas said, bending down and getting in Walker’s face. “I can take you, Price, any time you want, anywhere you want.”
“This is getting more and more juvenile by the second,” Walker said. “I’m not going to fight you in the parking lot, Thomas,we’re too old for that, but you’d better get out of my face and fast.”
“Is there a problem over here?” a manager asked, stepping between them. “Some of the guests have been complaining.”
“There’s no problem,” Thomas said, backing away. “Just a friendly discussion that got a little loud. I’ll be on my way now, Walker. Don’t forget what I said, I’m coming for you.”
The three of them watched in silence as Thomas pushed his way through the crowded room to the front door. “I’m sorry about that,” the manager said. “I should have kicked him out a long time ago. He’s been causing trouble since he came in.”
“It’s not your fault,” Walker said, shaking his head. “But thank you for stepping in. I was beginning to lose my patience.”
“Your dinner is on me tonight,” the manager said. “I hope you’ll come back.”
***Maddie***
The mood spoiled, they gathered up their things and headed for the door. “I’m sorry about that, Thomas just doesn’t know when to quit,” Walker said when they got outside. “I hope he didn’t completely ruin the night. We were having a good time until he showed up.”
“It’s okay, Walker, it wasn’t your fault, he was behaving like a child,” she said, then looked over at him. “This feud thing between your families must be really serious. I mean, other than that, you haven’t done anything to him, have you?”
“I know it must seem a little…I don’t know…
over the top to you, but it’s been going on for a long time,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.
“Personally, I’d love to see it stop. All this fighting doesn’t help anyone, but no one is going to be the first one to back down.
It doesn’t help that Thomas’s family doesn’t exactly play by the rules, which forces us to do the same. ”
She thought about that as they crossed the parking lot to Walker’s car. “How come I never heard about this before?” she finally asked, trying to sort it all out in her mind. “I don’t remember you fighting with the Sigmas back when we were freshmen.”
“It hadn’t really started yet, back then I guess we were all just getting settled,” Walker said. “They didn’t really start messing with us until this year. I guess getting their gambling and prostitution businesses shut down left them with some time on their hands.”
“I’m sorry, what?” she asked, stopping in front of his car. “Did you just say what I think you said?”
Walker nodded, “Didn’t you hear about it?
” he asked. “It was a huge scandal. The dean of the college was in on it, but everything fell apart last spring, and the cops shut it all down. I don’t know how the Sigmas avoided getting in trouble, but they walked away, and they’ve been after us ever since then. ”
“Wow, that’s crazy, I had no idea,” she said, shaking her head. “After freshman year, I switched to online classes. I hadn’t been on campus until this fall, and I noticed something felt different, but…”
“The Sigmas have been responsible for all the problems on campus this fall, the vandalism, the bombing of the stadium, it was all them,” he said. “No one has been able to prove a thing though, so you can see why I don’t have much patience for Thomas and his tricks.”
She was silent as he helped her into the car, then went around to get in himself. “It is complicated, you weren’t wrong about that,” she finally said, looking over at him. “But in the end, what you’re talking about is a battle between good and evil.”
He smiled at her, relief in his eyes. “That’s a good way to put it,” he said, then reached over and took her hand. “But I don’t want you worrying about all this. I’ll protect you from Thomas and the rest of his clan…I mean family.”
She studied him for a second, then felt the warmth of the connection between them, and felt the truth in Walker’s words. “I believe you,” she finally said. “I’m not sure I completely understand, but I believe you.”
He pulled her into his arms. “That’s all I ask,” he said, then lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her until all of it faded from her mind.
Mrs. Mathews was waiting up for her when she got home, and she instantly felt guilty. “I’m sorry it’s so late, you didn’t have to stay up and wait for me,” she said, shedding her coat and boots at the door. “Is Justin okay?”
“Oh, he’s fine, sound asleep like a little lamb,” Mrs. Mathews said, patting the couch next to her. “Come tell me about your dinner. Did you tell him?”
“Not yet, I’m still not ready,” she said, sitting down next to the woman who had become her best friend. “But I’m getting there. I do think he’s changed, grown up, it’s just a big step and I need to make completely sure it’s the right thing to do.”
“You’ll know when the time is right,” Mrs. Mathews said, patting her arm. “Just remember the longer you wait, the harder it’s going to get.”
“Soon, I promise,” she said, getting to her feet again. “It’s been a long day, we should both go to bed.”
“I’ll be along in a minute. I started watching this movie and I want to see how it ends,” Mrs. Mathews said. “Oh, I almost forgot, there’s a letter on the kitchen table for you. It came by special delivery, and I had to sign for it.”
“Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever got registered mail,” she said, heading for the kitchen. “Thank you for signing for it, I hate going to the post office.”
“No problem,” Mrs. Mathews said. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
The letter was waiting on the table for her, but before she even reached it, she recognized the flowing handwriting on the front and froze suddenly, not sure she wanted to see what was inside.
It could only be bad news, which was the only reason her mother would ever write to her, and she wasn’t sure she could face what might be inside, not after what she’d been through with Walker over the last few weeks.
Knowing that she was being a coward again, she walked over to the table and sat down in front of the letter, then sat staring at it for a long time.
The last time she’d seen her mother’s handwriting on something was on court papers formally disowning her, and she was tempted to just throw the letter in the trash.
Instead, she reached out and pulled the letter a little closer to her, wishing she knew what was inside, but still too scared to open it.
She wasn’t sure how long she would have sat there, but Mrs. Mathews came into the kitchen. “Maddie, why are you sitting here in the dark?” she asked, flicking on the light over the sink. “Oh, the letter. Is it bad news?”
“I don’t know, I’m scared to open it,” she said, still staring at it. “It’s from my mother, that’s never good.”
“Tell you what, I’ll make us some tea and I’ll sit right here with you while you open it,” Mrs. Mathews said. “That way, if it’s bad news, you won’t be alone.”
“Thank you,” she said, letting out a sigh of relief. “I should be used to my mother by now, but it still hurts when I think how easily she turned her back on me.”
“Some people just weren’t meant to be parents,” Mrs. Mathews said, putting the kettle on the stove. “I’m sorry you got stuck with them, you deserve so much more.”
Mrs. Mathews came over to the table a few minutes later with the tea things, but she barely noticed; the letter had her complete attention. “Go on, open it,” Mrs. Mathews said, sliding a steaming cup over to her. “It can’t be any worse than the other stuff she’s done to you.”
She let out a long sigh. “Putting it off is only making it worse,” she said, grabbing the envelope and ripping it open, sighing with relief when she saw it was just a letter. “I thought for sure she was going to try and take my trust fund away again.”
After quickly scanning the letter, she folded it up and set it down on the table, then picked up her cup and took a cautious sip in case it was still hot.
“My mother wants to make up,” she finally said, looking back down at the letter.
“She goes on and on about mending fences and starting over, she says Justin won’t grow up to be normal without grandparents in his life and I should be the bigger person and give her another chance. ”
Mrs. Mathews was silent for a few seconds. “Wow, she sounds like a completely different woman,” she finally said. “How do you feel about it?”
She didn’t answer right away, needed to sort through her feelings. “She didn’t even apologize for what she did to me,” she said, shaking her head. “I can’t help but think there’s more to this than her being worried about Justin. She’s got another reason for trying to make up with me.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised, the woman only thinks about herself, and your father is no better. I’m sorry, Maddie,” Mrs. Mathews said. “What are you going to do?”
“Nothing,” she said, picking up the letter and walking over to the trash can. “Whatever my mother is up to, I don’t want any part of it. I’m going to pretend I never saw that letter and go on with my life.”