Chapter 22
“Okay, Maddox, how’s it look now?”
A chilly wind swept over the field where Maddox stood, ruffling their hair and tugging at their flannel overshirt. They closed their eyes and savored the way it wafted the scent of the surrounding pines through the air and washed over their skin, leaving goosebumps behind.
Like the goosebumps they’d been covered in seeing Denise lay gloriously naked on their bed last night, slowly spreading her legs apart and—
“Maddox!”
Maddox’s eyes flew open, and their head jerked toward the shouting. Joe was up on a ladder replacing the sign for the Cypress Lodge that had blown off in a recent storm and, judging by the glare he was sending their way, he’d been trying to get their attention for a minute now.
“Sorry, Joe,” they shouted back. “It’s perfect right where it is.”
The sound of a snicker caught Maddox’s attention, and they turned to see Rhonda standing a few feet away, apparently watching the sign-hanging process.
“Afternoon, Rhonda,” Joe greeted after he’d descended the ladder. He wiped sweat off his leathery tan face and turned to Maddox.
“Maddox, what’s up with you? You’ve been spacing out all afternoon.”
“I’ll bet I know,” Rhonda said, still laughing.
“What are you talking about?” Maddox asked, staring at the woman.
Rhonda grinned. “I just happened to be taking Lilly fishing this morning when I saw you looking nice and cozy with a brunette bombshell out in the parking lot.”
Maddox’s face grew warm although there was no reason for it.
There had been nothing particularly spicy in the way they’d interacted with Denise before she left this morning.
She had given them a light kiss on the cheek that Maddox could still feel if they concentrated hard enough. But that had been all.
“That’s it?” Joe interjected with a chortle. “You almost let your old buddy fall off a ladder ‘cuz you’re busy thinking about a piece of—”
“Dammit, Joe, if you finish that sentence, you’ll have more to worry about than a ladder fall,” Maddox snapped, their stomach and chest growing hot.
“Whoa, easy there, Rambo.” He held up both hands in a disarming gesture. “I didn’t know it was like that. Sorry.”
Maddox huffed out a breath. “Like what, exactly? You know I don’t like objectifying talk.”
He stroked his stubbly chin. “Yeah, I know that. You tell me whenever I try to wind you up like this, but you don’t usually bite my head off about it.”
The balloon of hot irritation that had expanded in Maddox’s stomach at what Joe had been about to say slowly deflated. “Sorry. I’m just a little tired today.”
“Hey, it’s fine. I’m a big boy. And I didn’t mean to say anything bad about someone you care about.” His two-way radio buzzed with static then, as the front desk called for him, and he pulled it off his belt. “Bobbette? You’re right on time. Help me pull my foot out of my mouth.”
He chuckled at his own joke and then trotted off toward the Sycamore Lodge to take care of whatever she’d called him about.
Maddox stared after him in confusion.
“Interesting,” Rhonda hummed, making Maddox jump. They’d nearly forgotten she’d been standing there watching the interaction.
Damn, their attention span was all over the place today.
“What’s interesting?” Maddox asked with a frown.
“You can’t concentrate for shit. You clearly didn’t get any sleep last night. And you’re awful defensive.” Rhonda counted her observations off on her fingers with a smug grin. “She must be pretty special.”
A denial was on the tip of Maddox’s tongue, but it tasted gross, so they swallowed it back and coughed up the truth instead. “I mean, yeah. She’s special. Really special.”
Rhonda clapped her hands. “I knew it! Tell me about her.”
Maddox shuffled over to the wall Rhonda was standing near and leaned their back and head against it.
There were plenty of things about this whole situation that Maddox couldn’t and wouldn’t tell anyone else about. Things like how they had first met Denise. And of course, the more graphic details from last night. But they were also friends with Rhonda, and some part of them needed to process.
“It was…different,” they began. “Hell, Rhonda, she was so unlike anyone I’ve ever been with before.
Yeah, I’ve had some fun here and there. But it’s always been casual.
I mean, this was casual too, sure. I doubt I’ll ever see Denise again.
But even though we both knew it was one night, it was like she saw me.
She treated me like she cared about what I wanted. How I felt. What I needed.”
“And that made it good, right?” Rhonda asked with a knowing smile.
“It made it spectacular!” Maddox burst out. They couldn’t help laughing at their own enthusiasm, and Rhonda joined in, elbowing them in the side.
After a while, Maddox regained their composure and sighed. “It wasn’t just the sex that was different, though. She asked me about my plans for the future and whether I wanted to keep working in this type of job or not. She gave me things to think about.”
Maddox tilted their head back farther against the wooden wall at their back and stared up at the cloudless blue sky. “I don’t know. There was something about that time I was with her, in those brief moments we were together, that I felt different. I felt like I was...”
“More than your grandmother’s caretaker and the resort’s jack of all trades?” Rhonda asked.
Maddox’s head snapped to the side, and they regarded Rhonda. “Yeah. Exactly.”
Rhonda nodded. “Well, you’re very good at those things, but you are more, Maddox.”
They dug their hands into their pockets and chewed on that. If asked, they might’ve said they believed it about themself, but did they? Truly believing it felt like something beyond their grasp, and opening their mind to it was scary.
Once when Maddox was a kid, a tornado had come close to the neighborhood in Oklahoma where they’d lived with their parents.
Their dad had been at work, but they had gone with their mom to a neighbor’s underground storm shelter.
While they’d been down there, the tornado had come close enough to hear the infamous speeding freight train sound, and it had been impossible to tell if the funnel had been a couple miles away or right on top of the house.
Maddox could still remember the fear they’d felt right before the adults had opened the shelter door once the storm had passed.
That sheer uncertainty of not knowing what the world would look like on the other side.
That’s what it felt like now, considering their future. The possibility that it was whole and good and bright seemed too good to be true. But what if it wasn’t?
“What are you going to do about your job, anyway?” Rhonda asked, interrupting their musings. “If this place gets sold, I mean.”
Maddox pushed off the wall and faced Rhonda. “Oliver told you about the potential sale?”
“He did. Probably not long after he told you.” She answered so calmly, as if it didn’t affect her life too.
“Well, are you going to be okay?” Maddox asked. “You’ve lived here for years.”
“I have, but I have some savings to move. I may even go closer to my nephew. I’m not too worried. Let me tell you something I’ve learned from being so old, Maddox.”
“You’re not old,” Maddox interjected.
But Rhonda waved them away. “Oh, pipe down and listen to my words of wisdom, you little charmer.”
Maddox smirked and raised their hands in surrender.
“When you’ve lived as long as I have,” Rhonda continued, “you realize everything works out for the best more often than you ever could have imagined. I think it will all work out okay for me, and I believe with all my heart that it will for you too.”
A sudden thickness formed in Maddox’s throat at her gentle reassurance. “Thanks, Rhonda.”