TWENTY-TWO
MADDIE FLED THE WEDDING IN PIECES, feeling utterly humiliated. She had fallen for the wrong person. Again. Someone who had tried to warn her over and over that she had no interest in love.
Maddie felt used and abandoned, callously discarded the very second she was no longer convenient—and it was her own fault. Her heart recoiled as if it had been burned, unable to understand how the person she had trusted the most could hold another woman so easily.
She refused to ruin Caitlin’s night over something she had so stubbornly brought upon herself, so she rushed straight back to the house and locked herself in her room, hoping the newlyweds wouldn’t notice she was there.
With swollen, burning eyes, Maddie lay on her back and stared at the blank ceiling, barely able to see.
Her phone vibrated again. She snatched it from the nightstand and declined the call for the fifth time. Before she could stop herself, Maddie blocked Hayley’s number and threw her phone to the foot of her bed.
She tossed and turned for hours, but sleep wouldn’t come. Unable to bear lying in bed any longer, Maddie tiptoed to the door and quietly slipped into the kitchen, noticing the first hints of sunrise peeking through the windows.
Dragging herself to the counter, Maddie made a quad shot of espresso, desperate for any energy she could find. It was barely past seven, but she wanted to do something special for the newlyweds, her sweet friends who had hosted her all summer.
Thirty minutes later, Caitlin and Gemma shuffled out of their bedroom, clinging to each other like they had merged into one being.
“Good morning, Mrs. and Mrs. Stone!” Maddie forced a bright smile and as much enthusiasm as she could muster. The last thing she wanted was for her friends to notice she had been crying all night.
“Are you cooking?” Caitlin raised a brow, which was a fair reaction considering Maddie had rarely ever touched a stove when they’d lived together.
“Please follow me,” she replied, bowing with overstated formality.
Maddie led them into their own dining room, where she had set the table and placed a mimosa in front of two seats. “Sit. I’ll be right back.”
She hurried to the kitchen and returned with two cups of coffee, then made a second trip for dishes of scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, and toast.
“Now look.” Maddie set the plates down. “You know I’m no chef, so don’t expect anything fancy. But you two have been so good to me the last few months, I figured the least I could do before I leave is make you a mostly edible breakfast.”
“You totally didn’t have to, but that was sweet. Thanks, Mads.” Caitlin eyed the food skeptically. “I think,” she teased, adding a wink at Maddie.
“Aren’t you going to join us?” Gemma asked.
“Nah, you two should enjoy your first morning as wives together.” Maddie turned away, escaping into the kitchen.
“Mads? What’s going on?” Caitlin’s voice carried from the doorway, and Maddie realized she had followed her. Caitlin knit her brows together with concern as she watched Maddie take a seat at the kitchen island alone.
Maddie wasn’t sure how to explain something she hadn’t made sense of herself. Everything had flipped upside down so quickly that she could barely keep up.
“Can’t a girl just make breakfast for her best friend and her new wife?”
Caitlin crossed her arms, completely unconvinced.
“Okay, okay—I’ll come join you.” Maddie picked up her plate and coffee mug, trailing Caitlin back into the dining room.
Before Maddie could take a bite of the bacon she’d been waiting for since the moment it hit the griddle, Gemma spoke up, “Where’s Hayley? I figured you’d be together this morning.”
Maddie lowered her strip of bacon, setting it carefully back down onto her plate.
The night before replayed like a bad movie.
One minute, Hayley had been slow dancing with her like it was the beginning of their own fairytale, and the next she had her hands wrapped around the waist of another woman.
Maddie struggled to choke back the tears she had nearly drowned in the night before.
“We left separately,” Maddie managed, eyes fixed on her lap as her hands tightly clasped her napkin on the table. “Thank you both for everything. I’m going to miss you two a lot.”
“We should be thanking you. I couldn’t have done any of it without you, Mads.” Caitlin reached across the table and laid her hand on Maddie’s.
Noticing Maddie wasn’t letting on the full truth, Gemma moved around and took the seat next to her. “Maddie, would you please tell us what’s wrong?”
Maddie lifted her head to look at Gemma and immediately broke. Tears she’d been fighting hard to contain spilled over as she collapsed into Gemma’s embrace. Then, Caitlin was there, rubbing slow, soothing circles on her back while they let her cry.
“What happened last night?” Caitlin asked gently after a while.
Maddie couldn’t answer. Her throat felt locked from within. She rubbed her eyes in a desperate attempt to erase the image of Amy’s mouth on Hayley’s neck, but the scene had been burned into her mind like a cruel brand.
“What did she do?” Gemma’s voice was soft as she handed Maddie her own mimosa.
Maddie took a small sip. Silence stretched as the couple waited for her to confirm what they already suspected. She sniffled pitifully, still unable to form the words.
“I’m so sorry, Maddie,” Caitlin whispered.
Maddie drained the rest of her glass in one large gulp and forced the words out as quickly as possible. “I found her in the bathroom with Amy—that client from the restaurant, remember? I don’t even know what she was doing there.”
“Wait, who?” Caitlin glanced back and forth between Maddie and Gemma.
Gemma’s face went pale, her nostrils flaring in shock as she connected the dots.
“Cait…” Gemma turned to her wife. “That one lawyer of yours, the guy that kind of looks like a thumb—what’s his last name again?”
“Jake?” Caitlin asked, confused. “Thompson, why?”
Gemma sighed, looking defeated. “Is he married?” From the expression on her face, it seemed she had already guessed the answer.
“I don’t understand.” Caitlin looked to Gemma. “Yes, he’s married. He brought his wife with him last night.”
“Amy,” Gemma groaned, and Maddie understood. “Hayley’s been sleeping with her for years.”
Caitlin’s jaw dropped, but Gemma kept her gaze fixed on Maddie. “I swear, I didn’t know who her husband was, Mads. If I had known…” she trailed off, shaking her head in frustration.
“Hold on. Hayley’s been sleeping with Jake’s wife? For years?” Caitlin’s head swiveled from Gemma to Maddie. “And you found them in the bathroom together at our wedding?”
“Babe.” Gemma caught her eye, gently cupping Caitlin’s cheek.
“Let’s talk about the details later, okay?
” She shifted her attention back to Maddie.
“Maddie, I’m sorry that’s how you had to find out about Amy.
After you ran into her that night on your date, I called Hayley and begged her to tell you the truth. ”
“Don’t be,” Maddie stopped her. “It’s not your fault, Gem.
Hayley told me what this was from the beginning, and I just didn’t want to listen.
I thought we were building something real, but I was wrong.
Turns out, Hayley’s no different than Kim.
I appreciate you both so much, but I have to go pack. My flight leaves in a few hours.”
They didn’t try to stop her. They understood why she needed to go. The night hadn’t unfolded the way she’d imagined, but at least she had finally seen the real Hayley—and it was not the same woman Maddie had fallen for over the last four months.
Maddie dragged her suitcases into the foyer, desperate to put New York behind her.
She knew she’d never relax if she stayed, not when Hayley haunted every damn corner of the city.
Running back to LA wouldn’t erase the memories or ease her pain, but at least she wouldn’t have to see that godforsaken bench in Dumbo, or the restaurant where her foolish hope had sparked for the first time.
Even her best friend’s house echoed with the sound of Hayley’s name.
Scrubbing the memory of Hayley’s touch from her skin would be the hardest part. She hoped it would eventually fade like an unwanted tattoo, until one day it would look as if the ink—the love—had never existed at all.
Gemma hugged Maddie in a tight goodbye. “Text us when you’re back home safely.”
“I will.” Maddie squeezed her back. “Take care of my best friend.”
Caitlin carried her bags out to the sidewalk, waiting beside Maddie until a yellow cab pulled up to the curb. “Call me anytime, Mads. Seriously. Even if you just need to cry, I’ll sit on the other end of the phone so you don’t have to feel alone.”
Maddie wrapped her arms around Caitlin, holding on to her as if she might never let go. “Thank you. I promise I will. I love you, Cait. I’m so happy for you.”
She was about to pull away, but Caitlin only held her tighter. “I love you, Mads. You’re going to get the happily ever after you deserve, and it’s going to be with someone who knows what they have and will fight like hell to keep you.”
Maddie’s eyes started to sting again. They clung to each other for a moment longer before Maddie slid into the backseat of the cab.
She didn’t know what California would hold for her now, but she would find a way to survive it.
The version of herself that had arrived in New York four months ago was gone for good, replaced by someone who had both loved and lost in heartbreakingly equal measure.