Chapter 26
Nate
“I’m excited.” Maddie vibrates in her seat next to me. “Where are we?”
“You’re excited but still don’t know where we’re going?” I lift a brow, barely holding back a laugh. “You really are easy to please, Maddie Grace Cunningham.”
She’s like a little kid in a candy shop.
“Wait.” She smashes her face into the window. “Are we in the Hamptons?”
“What gave it away? The Bridgehampton sign?”
“Ha. Ha. Actually, no. I drink Wolffer Rosé in the summer. We just passed the vineyard.” She turns to me, curious now. “So what are we doing here?”
“I never got to bring you out here back then,” I say. “And I might have one more surprise.”
Before I promise her anything, I check the weather.
The news said we’re in the middle of an unexpected heat wave, and I want to take advantage before my boat gets winterized.
A day on the water feels right.
My phone buzzes. I expect one of my brothers, but it’s a selfie from Benny instead.
Benny Boy: Stealing her.
Maddie leans closer, cooing. “She’s the most perfect angel.”
“She’ll be here tomorrow.”
Her eyes light up. “Really? How?”
“Richard, Harrison’s driver, is bringing out essential documents to one of his clients. He’ll drop off Skye for us.”
She bounces her shoulder excitedly, then her eyes are back on the outside, not that you see much; it’s pitch-black. “You need to cool it with the surprises. I’m going to get spoiled.”
“As if I didn’t spoil you every day we were together before today.”
She snorts. “You tried. But I stuck to my guns most of the time.” She looks over her shoulder, reaching over to rub my hand. “I always appreciated it, though.”
“I know. Always my stubborn girl.”
She shrugs, and when she turns back toward the window, I text my brothers.
We’re back, baby.
Leo: Oh! THANK YOU, JESUS. We were all waiting.
Dickhead.
Leo: Head sounds like a solid plan for tonight.
You have a one-track mind.
Leo: Maddie not putting out?
Seb: I’m trying to nap. Can we not start this now?
Harrison: Nap?
Leo: I love a good nap.
Seb: Was up all night. Mallorca hotel negotiations are killing me.
Leo: Thought everything was going great.
Seb: Bullshit politics.
So no one cares about Maddie and me?
Harrison: We were only giving you shit earlier today. We always knew you were getting back together.
Harrison: Happy for both of you.
Seb: Mr. Sensitive since meeting Juliette.
Harrison: Fuck off, Seb.
Seb: Gladly. Say hi to Maddie for me, Nate.
Seb: And jokes aside, happy for you guys too.
Leo’s quiet, and I know that now he has one thing on his mind, he’ll be calling up one of his many hook-ups.
My phone buzzes again, this time it’s a one-off from Harrison.
Harrison: This the rescue you adopted Skye from?
A picture from a City Rescue Instagram page pops up, followed by an image of a German Shepherd puppy, similar to Skye but with traditional black-and-tan coloring.
Her adoption post was just updated an hour ago.
Is he thinking…
Yes. Are you finally doing it?
Harrison: Think Jules will like this as a push present?
“Hell yeah,” I say out loud, and Maddie jumps, startled.
“What’s going on?” She leans over and swoons over the picture of the shepherd puppy. “Oh my god. Is that the surprise? Are we getting a second dog?”
My phone drops into my lap. “That is the hottest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
She blinks. “What?”
“You said, ‘Are we?’” I gesture between us. “I’ve been waiting to be a we, an us, anything, for so fucking long it sounds damn good to hear.”
Maddie kisses my cheek. “It does sound good.”
“You want another dog, babe?”
She leans back, studying me, her exhaustion finally showing. “So it’s not ours?”
“No, it’s for Juliette. She has been begging Harrison to adopt a dog for over a year now. He’s finally giving in, surprising her as her push present.”
“That’s sweet,” she says. “Sentimental gifts from the men who have all the money in the world mean so much more.”
“You’re right. I’m going to tell him that.” I pick up my phone and text him immediately.
Harrison: Tell her thanks for the insight. I already filled out the application. Can you be a reference?
Yeah. We’re pulling up now. I’ll call tomorrow.
Maddie’s phone starts buzzing in her bag, and she ignores it.
“Why aren’t you answering?”
“I don’t want anyone ruining our night,” she says too quickly.
I squint my eyes and stare at her. She’s always been a terrible liar.
I hold out my hand. “Let me see your phone.”
“What? No,” she stammers. I raise my brows and push my hand further toward her, and she glowers just as menacingly, then points to her bag. “Oh, look at that, it stopped ringing again.”
A second later, it rings again, and she sighs in defeat.
I know precisely who is texting her if she’s ignoring it.
My blood begins to boil. “How often does he reach out?”
“It’s only fair that he wants answers. I broke off our engagement out of nowhere; you can’t be pissed at that.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “Yes, I can. You ended it, and he needs to fuck off.”
“You can’t be serious right now.”
“Maddie, I won’t have him stand in our way. I don’t want you answering him anymore.”
“Don’t be stupid. He’s not standing in our—” She stops mid-sentence when her phone goes off again. “Dang it,” she huffs out and reaches into her bag to retrieve her phone. “Oh. It’s only Mama.”
“Great,” I mumble under my breath.
“Hi, Mama. Everything okay? It’s late.”
I have a love-hate relationship with Maddie’s mom. No one should have to go through what she did with Maddie’s father. I sympathize with her. But I can’t get over is how she projected her hurt onto Maddie.
She hurt, so she broke her daughter, maybe indirectly, but Maddie battled many mental scars throughout her teens and early adulthood because of it.
I won’t forget that.
“I. No. I’m not home.” She hesitates. “Mama, we’re never getting back together.” My head snaps to the side, and stare at her. No doubt she feels my glare. “I’m with Nate,” she rushes out, then flinches and turns her head, as if I couldn’t hear her mother’s loud screech.
“What is she saying?” I ask, and she swats me to shut me up.
“Mama.” Maddie waits. “Mama,” she says louder when Mrs. Cunningham quiets. “We will talk about this tomorrow. This is my decision, and you will respect it. I love you, good night.” Maddie hangs up and exhales loudly.
I sit here shocked at the tone she’s taken with her mom.
I’ve never seen or heard Maddie stick up for herself to her mother…ever.
“You okay, Mads?” I unbuckle her and pull her into my side.
“I am. Can we deal with it another time? I’m too tired to talk about it.”
She looks so forlorn; I’d give in to anything she wants right now. “Of course, anything for my goddess.” I reach into my briefcase, knowing exactly what will put a smile on her face, and pull out a cherry lollipop. “Will this help?”
Her chest shakes against me, silently laughing. “As a matter of fact, it will.”
“We’re here.” I open the gate from the app on my phone.
Our driver pulls into the long, tree-lined driveway, lit in a soft glow, leading up to the house.
Maddie sits up straight and gazes out the front window. “Holy hell.” Her eyes are wide as saucers as she takes in our property.
“Leo and I built the house a few years ago. All the brothers share it, which is why it’s so big. Mom and Dad have a house on the beach five minutes away.”
She looks at me in disbelief. “Nate, this could house a small army.”
Maddie doesn’t wait for me to open her door; she’s out of the car the second it stops, and her head is on a swivel.
I thank our driver and take our bags from him, then walk up behind her, letting her have her moment.
It’s dark out, but the lighting, strategically designed around the house, provides enough glow to see its beauty.
The house was built to mimic the classic Hamptons style with shaker shingles.
Still, we designed it with a modern feel, featuring large, oversized slate-gray windows, copper piping, a glass breezeway connecting the second wing of the house, and organic wood and metal elements that are visually beautiful but also double as balconies or shutters when needed.
I get comfortable next to Maddie as she continues to admire our hard work.
“Our families will eventually be larger than a small army if everyone has kids and gets married. There’s room for everyone to live comfortably.”
“This is…I don’t have words. This is right out of a magazine, Nate. It’s stunning.”
“Thanks, we worked hard on it. Wait until summer, the gardens are spectacular.”
“They already are.” She points to the hydrangeas, which have dried and darkened, the tall grass, which has blossomed this fall, and an abundance of mums lining the walkway.
“Juliette must have planted the mums. They weren’t here last time.” I take her other bag from her hand and lead us to the front door.
“She’s heavily pregnant, I doubt she planted all these.”
I roll my eyes. She has no idea. “Clearly, my brother and I have similar tastes in very stubborn women.”
“You mean a strong, independent woman,” she corrects me, laughing. “I can’t believe I finally made it to the Hamptons. Do you remember when I was the sheltered, shy girl who knew no other world but her own?”
“I do. She was very endearing.” I kiss the top of her head, then lead us into the house. Maddie yawns behind me. “Let’s go to bed, Mads. I’ll give you the tour tomorrow.”
“Okay.” She doesn’t put up a fight, and that’s how I know she’s more exhausted than she’s let on. She glances down at my hands, which are weighed down with our bags. “Where did those bags come from?”
I hesitate to tell her, knowing she’ll freak out that it’s excessive.
“Addie packed a bag for you.” I turn my back on her and switch on low ambient lighting. “A helicopter delivered it before we arrived. They were waiting in our car.”
She gasps. “Are you out of your mind?”
“Maybe. To be fair, I didn’t hire it only for that. Friends of Leo’s used it to come out here for the weekend.”