by Rachel Hanna
“Because he is a good man, Samantha. And I realized that we shouldn’t all be judged by how stupid we were in high school.” Madison continued working on setting up the sitting room for Christmas. She started putting together a small Christmas tree she’d bought for the open house.
“Maddie, I don’t want to see you get hurt,” Samantha said putting her hand on her shoulder.
“I know. But, I am okay. I promise. This is a good thing for me, Sam,” she said giving her a hug.
“If he hurts you, I will hurt him,” she said with that sisterly protective streak that Madison had missed over the years.
***
At six o’clock, Madison found herself impatiently pacing the floor waiting for Wyatt to arrive. Her heart was pounding, and her stomach was flipping and flopping. She wasn’t sure why she was so much more nervous going on a date with him than she had been making out in his bed.
“Waiting for your date?” Diane said as she hugged her from behind.
“Yes, ma’m,” Madison said with a grin.
“Well, you look excited,” she said.
“I am, Mom. I haven’t been on a first date in a long time,” she said.
“Samantha told me who he is…” Diane said.
“Jeez, nothing is a secret in this town!” Madison said shaking her head.
“It’s okay, Maddie. I think what you are doing is wonderful. If you were able to forgive this man for what he did to you way back then, I support you on that.” Her mother always knew just what to say.
Moments later, Madison heard Wyatt’s truck approaching. He parked and jumped out to greet her, carrying a bouquet of yellow roses for her. She was stunned. How had he known that yellow was her favorite color?
“Hi,” he said smiling as he walked up the front steps. “These are for you,” he said handing her the flowers.
“Thank you. They are beautiful,” she said smelling them. “Wyatt, this is my mother, Diane,” Madison said pointing at her Mom standing beside her.
“Nice to meet you,” he said reaching out and shaking her hand.
“Nice to meet you too, Wyatt,” Diane said with a grin. “Have a fun time, you two…” she said with a smirk as she walked back into the house.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Absolutely,” Madison said as she started to walk down the stairs. Of course, being Wyatt, he scooped her up and carried her himself as she cackled with laughter all the way to the truck.
***
The town square was decorated like something out of a movie. Madison had been to the Harvest Festival dozens of times in her life, but it seemed more vibrant and alive this time. Maybe that was because she was sharing it with someone she enjoyed being with. Or, maybe it was because she was starting over, and everything looked new.
Her real estate closing had finally come and gone at the end of November, and now she was going into December owning the Granger place and starting a new business. With Wyatt on her arm, she felt safe and excited about the future.
“Are you going to rename the house?” Wyatt asked as they walked toward the square.
“I hadn’t really thought about it, actually. I’ve always called it the Granger house,” she said. “But, yeah, I just might rename it. I mean, I am all about new things right now,” she said as she stopped and rose up on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek.
Wyatt smiled down at her and tipped her chin up with his hand. He planted a sweet kiss on her lips, interlocked his arm with hers and walked forward toward the square.
“You want some hot apple cider?” he asked her when they got into the crowd of people.
“Sure. But hurry back because I think they are going to light the Christmas tree as soon as the sun goes down,” she said.
Wyatt pushed past a few people to get in line for cider while Madison walked around looking at the crafts that were on display from local artists. As she perused some beautiful Christmas wreaths, she looked up and saw a familiar face talking to Wyatt across the square - Kim Dixon.
What was she doing there?
“Hey, girl!” Jennifer said as she came up behind Madison.
“Oh, hey…” Madison said trying not to take her eyes off Wyatt. She hadn’t told anyone except her family about her budding relationship with the handsome rehabber, so she tried to look disinterested as she continued to stare at him.
“What are you looking at?” Jennifer asked as she peeked over Madison’s shoulder.
“Is that Kim Dixon over there?”
“Yeah, she’s in town visiting family for a few weeks. I see she’s talking to Wyatt Reed. Those two were quite an item in high school. Maybe she’s planning a quick booty call while she’s in town,” Jennifer laughed. Madison did not think that was funny.
As she watched Kim talking to Wyatt, she could see her touching his arm, and then she hugged him and kissed his cheek. She put her hand on his cheek and was talking to him like they were the most intimate of friends. Madison decided not to stick around any longer to watch the love scene.
“Jen, I will see you later, okay?” she said as she quickly walked up the sidewalk toward the Granger house. Had Wyatt betrayed her right there in front of her face? Was he really who she thought he was? Visions of Connor having sex with the blond skank flashed through her head. Was she reliving that all over again with Wyatt? Why did she let her guard down?
***
“Oh, Wyatt, I don’t see what the big deal is,” Kim said, rolling her eyes as she applied lip gloss right in the middle of the Harvest Festival.
“The big deal is that you lied to me and caused this poor girl to be bullied for years. Her father died right in the middle of that, and you didn’t even let up then, Kim!”
“She was a weirdo! I mean, who cares about all of this now? I came to town hoping to see you so we could have a little fun, Wy…” Kim said, flinging her thick blond hair around.
“I don’t want to have any fun with you, Kim. What I want from you is an apology for Madison Carter.” Wyatt was serious, and he was angry. What had he seen in this vapid girl?
“Are you freaking serious? I’m not apologizing for anything, Wyatt. Now, do you want to hook up or not?” He couldn’t believe how cold and unemotional Kim was.
“Now, you listen to me,” he said grabbing her arm. “You may be some Hollywood star, but to me you’re still just slutty little Kim Dixon from Magnolia Cove. You will apologize to her or else I will make sure that the public gets to know a lot more about the real Kim.”
“Are you threatening me?” she asked, looking at him with anger in her eyes.
“I am promising you. This time, you will do the right thing, or I will leak a few things to the media that I am quite sure you don’t want your adoring fans to know. Understand?” Wyatt towered over her and didn’t loosen his grip. Kim was way too vain to say no to him. She didn’t want the public to know some of her escapades as a young adult.
“Fine. Where is she?” she relented. Wyatt looked around, dragging Kim with him all the while. He couldn’t find Madison, but he did see Jennifer.
“Jennifer? Have you seen Madison?” he asked, walking up behind her.
“Actually, I was talking to her a few minutes ago, and she disappeared. She saw you talking to Kim, and then she said she had to go. She went that way… maybe to the house?” Jennifer said pointing up the sidewalk.
“Let’s go,” he demanded as he pulled Kim up the sidewalk with him.
Chapter 16
Madison walked around the dark hallways of the Granger home. She stood by the window in the sitting room and stared at the lights and activity bustling in the town square. How could she have been so foolish to believe that Wyatt Reed had changed and wanted her now? Of course he wanted the beautiful and famous Kim Dixon. She always got what she wanted. She convinced naive young boys to make Madison’s life miserable for years.
She started to imagine Wyatt in bed with Kim right now. They’d probably sneaked to his house for a quickie. Who wouldn’t w
ant to be with a Hollywood star?
“Madison?” she heard Wyatt’s voice booming from the foyer. Did he really think she was so stupid to believe that he wanted to be with her? She was quiet as she crouched behind the settee in the sitting room. She didn’t want him to see her. “Madison, are you here?” Unfortunately, the musty smell behind the settee caused her allergies to kick up and she sneezed. She made a note to herself to clean around those old baseboards again.
“Damn it!” she said under her breath. The light clicked on.
“I can see you, Maddie,” he said with a gruff chuckle. Slowly, she rose up from behind the small sofa and looked at him. Her face was white as a ghost as she saw Kim standing beside him. Had they come here to rub it in her face just like Connor did?
“What do you want?” she asked remaining behind the settee.
“I ran into Kim at the festival…”
“Yes, I am aware of that. I figured you two would be having sex about right now.” Shock shot across Wyatt’s face as her words rang through his head.
“Excuse me?” Wyatt said, gritting his teeth.
“I saw you two ‘talking’. Looked to me like some things never change,” Madison said.
“I guess you’re right. Some things never change, Madison,” Wyatt said as he pushed past Kim and walked out of the house, slamming the door behind him.
Kim was left standing there, facing Madison, in shock.
“You can go too,” Madison said, walking toward her.
“What are you doing?” Kim asked incredulously.
“What do you mean?”
“Do you even know why he brought me here?” Kim asked.
“To throw it in my face?”
“You really are weird.”
“Thanks. Now get out,” Madison said, walking past her and opening the front door.
“Fine. But, you should know what a fool you just made of yourself. Wyatt confronted me in the square about you.”
“It didn’t look that way to me. You had your hands - and your lips - all over him.”
“I was trying to win him over and change his mind about making me apologize to you,” she said rolling her eyes. “The reality is this, Madison. Wyatt has feelings for you. I think he’s in love. He dragged me here by my arm to force me to confess what I did to you in school and apologize.”
Madison felt like the air had been sucked out of her lungs. What had she just done? She had promised to forgive him, yet she just took it all back in seconds.
“He did?” Madison stammered.
“Yes. And you just ruined it. Nice going,” Kim said as she walked out the door and down the street. Madison froze in place. She had to find him.
***
Sore ankle and all, Madison ran all through the town square looking for Wyatt. He was nowhere to be found. She went by his house, but all of the lights were off and his truck wasn’t there.
“Everything okay?” Brooks asked as he ran into Madison in the square again.
“I made a big mistake. I need to find Wyatt, but I don’t know where he is. Listen, do you know what assisted living centers are around here… just outside of town?”
“The only one I know of is Emerald Glen, why?” Brooks asked.
“He might be visiting his Mom. How far is it?”
“Too far to walk, especially with your ankle issue. Come on, I will take you,” he said as they hurried to his car.
As soon as they pulled up to Emerald Glen, Madison saw Wyatt’s truck sitting out front. She thanked Brooks and assured him that he didn’t need to wait for her. As she walked in the front door of the facility, she could see Wyatt kneeling beside a woman who looked far too young to live there. They were sitting in the common area, and he was rubbing her hand and talking to her.
Madison walked up behind him where he could not see her, but she could hear him talking.
“Momma, I sure wish you could understand me and give me some advice,” he whispered.
“What’s your name, young man?” she said back. He hung his head for a moment and looked back at her.
“It’s me, Wyatt. You remember me, don’t you? I’m your little boy,” he said pleading with her.
“Oh, yes, my Wyatt. You are a big boy, aren’t you?” she said, smiling as she stroked his cheek.
“Momma, do you remember falling in love with Daddy?”
“Clay? Oh, yes, he was a looker. He was my bad boy. My parents hated him, but that made me love him more,” she said smiling. Funny how she could remember things from long ago but not recent events.
“How did you know you loved him, Momma?” he asked her.
“Because a life without him would have been death.”
“What does that mean?” he asked confused.
“Death is the absence of life, my son. And a life without love is not worth living.” She smiled and went back to playing with the baby doll she was holding. He stood up and patted her on the head.
“Wyatt?” Madison whispered from behind him. He looked at her and turned around to his mother to hug her good-bye. Without speaking, he brushed past Madison and walked outside to his truck.
Madison followed, vowing not to give up on him. “Wyatt, please listen to me,” she begged as he opened the door to his truck.
“Listen to you? Why should I?” he asked.
“Because this was all a big misunderstanding.”
“Was it? Really? You thought that I was going to have meaningless sex with Kim Dixon, right? You thought that I merely spoke to her and all of my old teenage boy feelings came back, so I would forget that I was on a date with you and just boink the first girl I saw?”
“I didn’t know why you were talking to her…”
“How about asking me? Instead, you just lump me in with that jackass, Connor, and decide that I have no morals or values or feelings for you.” The hurt in his eyes was overwhelming for Madison. He put his hands on her shoulders and stared into her eyes. “When are you going to let this go?”
“Let what go?” she asked quietly.
“Let go of feeling less than. Let go of seeing Connor screw someone else? Let go of thinking that you aren’t worth it for a man to love you and protect you? When are you going to look in the mirror and see what I see? A beautiful, vibrant, smart, stubborn woman who deserves the world?” Tears streamed down her cheeks. She’d never heard a man speak words like that other than in movies.
Before she could answer, he picked her up and put her in the truck. When he climbed inside, he pulled her close to him and started the truck without a word. They drove in silence all the way to his house. This time, he opened her door and let her climb down on her own. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her inside.
In the darkness, lit only by moonlight, he pulled her close with his large, masculine hands.
“Madison, you can’t lump me in with the old high school Wyatt or the cheating jerk, Connor. If you want to be with me, you have to accept who I am now.”
“I do accept that, Wyatt. Kim told me why you brought her there. I had no idea…”
“You didn’t give me a chance. You didn’t trust me the first chance you got. That bothers me.”
“I know. I was wrong. I’ve been hurt so many times,” she said.
“So have I, Madison. But, if you can’t trust me, then we need to end this,” he said.
“I am so sorry, Wyatt. I took out my anger at Connor on you. It will never happen again. I promise you,” she whispered looking up. Unable to resist, Wyatt pressed his lips against hers with ferocious passion, and they both knew that the Harvest Festival wasn’t to be that night.
Chapter 17
Intensity boiling over, Madison took Wyatt’s hand and led him into his bedroom. This time, she hoped there would be no argument, no logic, no reason why they couldn’t be together. She had wanted this since the moment she saw him bent over his truck looking for his toolbox… before she knew who he was.
As they stood by the bed, the full moon lighting up his room in the
most romantic way, all she could hear was the symphony of their excited breathing. Sliding her hands under his thick Henley shirt, she searched out his washboard abs. Rubbing her hands up and down, she finally slid the shirt up and over his head, throwing it across the room.
Taking her lead, he slid his hands under her shirt, pulling it up over her head and tossing it as well. Standing there in her lacy black bra and a pair of jeans, she looked so sexy in the moonlight, he thought. Her eyes looked like they had flakes of silver dancing off the streaks of moonlight filtering into the room through the plantation shutters.
