20. Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty
Parker
Madison and I fell into a weird routine of sharing the dog and dinner at her villa every night. We also scheduled a third wedding. The bride- and groom-to-be chose a date in April. Madison couldn’t stop talking about colors and flowers. And I couldn’t stop looking at her. She was so beautiful, it made me want things I shouldn’t want.
But it wasn’t just her looks. Spending time with her without all the bickering made me see her in a different light. I admired her determination. Her devotion. I also found it cute when she tried to convince me she hated Tyler’s dog even though a smile threatened to split her face in two whenever I left it with her.
It was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the intense chemistry between us. And the more time we spent together, the harder it was to resist the pull .
I couldn't deny that Madison intrigued me in ways I hadn't expected. Beneath her guarded exterior, there was vulnerability that she tried so hard to hide. And damn, did it make me want to peel the layers.
The excitement I felt whenever I stood in front of her door waiting for her to open got mixed with guilt. Madison was the first woman I had spent time with since I started dating Franny in college. We didn’t do anything romantic or sexual. The attraction between us was thoroughly ignored and left to die, but still I felt like a scumbag. My wife had been dead for four years and yet it felt like I was cheating.
I thought about that a lot while Madison talked the night before the construction started.
“You don’t want to be completely ignorant and hire someone who doesn’t know what they are doing,” she reminded me. It was dinner number nine. And yes, I counted.
Nine consecutive evenings spent with Madison, pushing down the need to touch her and kiss her.
“I know more about planning a wedding than you think.”
That one slipped out of my mouth before I could think better of it. I wasn’t ready to have the conversation about Franny. I was barely able to have that conversation with Ryan. The only person I talked freely with about my dead wife was her still-grieving mother.
“What do you mean you know more about planning a wedding than I think?” Of course Madison wouldn’t miss the implication. She was like a dog with a bone with every single thing she did. Once she decided she wanted something nothing could stop her.
“Well,” I cleared my throat. “I’ve been a guest at weddings. And whenever people get engaged that seems to be the only thing they can talk about. I’ve heard plenty.”
“From who? ”
“Friends. Family members.” I counted on my fingers, then pointed at her. “You. You haven’t stopped talking about weddings for…” I pretended I didn’t know how many nights we had spent together now.
“Nine is the number you are looking for.”
So I wasn’t the only one that was counting. That made my chest fill with equal amounts of hope and dread. Hope that she liked me as much as I unfortunately liked her. And dread that…well, that she liked me as much as I liked her.
There was literally no one I could talk to about my feelings for Madison. I didn’t feel like sharing with Ryan and Jessica yet, and Tyler would be surprised, given the fact he thought I was already dating his sister. I had to figure it out on my own.
“How did we manage to spend nine evenings together without killing each other?” I asked in a desperate attempt to change the subject.
“I think it’s the dog’s constant peeing and chewing on my things. We can’t finish our thoughts, so we fight less.”
We weren’t fighting at all and that was the most confusing part of our routine. Why did we fight so much before? Where did all that animosity go? Would it come back?
“So you think we don’t fight because none of us can speak long enough to annoy the other?”
“Basically.”
“Isn’t communication the key to a successful relationship?”
“Ours is fake. It doesn’t count. And how would I know what it takes to have a successful relationship?”
“You’re the wedding planner. Doesn’t that make you some sort of an expert on love?”
She just scoffed.
“What?” I asked .
“Nothing.”
“You can tell me. We’re friends now.”
“Since when are we friends?”
“Since we became the foster parents of this little guy I think.”
She rolled her eyes and the pup chose that moment to take a dump right in the center of the carpet.
Madison pinched her nose shut. “Oh, God. I hate my brother. And why does that smell like death?”
I chuckled as I watched the disgusted look on her face, while she opened the door to the pool area to let some fresh air in. The dog ran outside and Madison groaned in frustration.
“Go get him before he falls in the pool,” I said and stood up from the couch to clean the poop.
When I joined them outside, I found them sprawled on a lounge chair. The darkness created a sense of intimacy that I wasn't quite prepared for.
I sat down on another lounge chair, keeping a distance. “I feel so comfortable around you, it makes me feel anxious, if that makes any sense.”
“It does,” she said quietly.
And those were the last words we spoke to each other for an entire week.
At some point I took the dog and snuck into The Blue Diamond through the back door and left Madison alone in the dark.
The next morning, the crew came and she was the only one to greet them. I spent an entire week in the confinement of my villa.
I slept when the dog slept. Ignored Ryan’s attempts to make me go out with him. Pretended I hadn’t heard Madison knocking on the Blue Diamond’s door at dinner time the first three days. Then cursed myself for doing that because she stopped coming to look for me. The only person that I saw that week was the housekeeper when she came to clean and restock my fridge with premade meals.
The night before the staff would officially return and The Gem would open again for guests, I finally got the nerve to go out and walk around a bit.
The grass had suffered a great deal. Bushes had been rooted out and then replanted in new spots. The gazebo and the dancefloor looked good though. I hated them still because they made the place seem too different from the last time Franny was here, but they looked good.
Madison had done a great job with that project. And the best thing about it was that I had the luxury of lying in my bed and suffering privately while she was out there dealing with it all.
I sat on the bench I had cradled my dying wife at and stayed there until my eyes started to get used to the new scenery. Then I got back to the Blue Diamond and waited until the sun rose.
At eight a.m., I called the shop I used for sending Jessica flowers on her birthdays. Except that day wasn’t Jess’s birthday.