Madison's Choice

by Skye Michaels

  “Why don’t you come over for dinner on Wednesday night. You can play with Nickie and put him to bed. I think he would really like that.”

  “Thank you, Maddie. I’d like that a lot. I want to get to know him. It’s really important to me.”

  “We’ll work on that then,” she said, smiling at him like she used to. It made his heart lurch for a moment, and he was shocked. Those old feelings were flooding back.

  “We’d better get back to the barn. You know, you and Nickie can come out here any time you want to ride. I’d like to start him on some riding and horsemanship lessons. He’s not too young to start learning how to take care of his own horse. He has to learn that responsibility comes right along with the fun.”

  “Okay. Maybe we can pick a regular afternoon for riding lessons and to spend some time with you. My schedule at the club is flexible, and Anne will understand. She’s a pretty terrific boss.”

  “Why did you take a job at Le Club? That’s a little different than most office jobs.”

  “Are you kidding? The salary is fabulous, the hours are flexible so I can always accommodate Nickie’s schedule at school, or whatever, and it’s practically around the corner from my house. It couldn’t be more convenient.”

  “You don’t find it a little weird?”

  She laughed. “Sometimes I find it a lot weird! But I’m not a prude, and the sex part of it isn’t right in my face. I’m the assistant manager of what is basically a small five-star hotel. The experience is fabulous, although I don’t know exactly how I’ll incorporate it into my resume!”

  “Well, if you’re comfortable there…I’ve had dinner there a few times. I wasn’t uncomfortable either. Mike and Robbie love the place. They go there at least one weekend a month. I guess they feel they can get away and still be close to home. Speaking of home, do you think maybe Nickie can stay overnight with me at my house some time? Mom and I both built our own houses when she turned the farmhouse over to Mike and Robbie. It’s just down the farm road about a quarter of a mile. You can’t see it from here. Mom’s cottage is over in the southeast corner of the property up by the road. We all wanted a little privacy since we live and work in such close proximity.”

  “Let’s give it a little time, but I don’t see why not. Let’s let Nickie get used to you first.” She said it kindly, and he could see she did not want to offend him but that she was not yet ready to give up control of the situation.

  Ross got the horses ready to remount, and they took a leisurely walk back to the barn. Nickie was chattering a mile a minute about everything. Ross was glad because it filled the slightly uncomfortable silence between them. Ross realized that he had a lot to think about.

  After they had put the horses up and said good-bye to Mike, Robbie, and the kids, Ross walked them over to the car. He knelt down and held his arms out to Nickie who went into them as if he had been doing it all his life. Ross gave him a bear hug and said, “I love you, son. Don’t ever forget that. We’re going to be good friends and have lots of fun together.” Then he stood up and took Madison into his arms for a hug and kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you.” Ross’s heart clenched with the raw emotions of the moment and the reunion with this stunning woman, the mother of his child.

  * * * *

  When they were in the car and traveling up the long driveway toward the road, Nickie said, “That was fun, Mom. Isn’t Meatball great?”

  Madison had to laugh. Leave it to a kid to figure out what was really important!

  Chapter Thirteen

  Maddie and Nickie spent the rest of the weekend doing the things they usually did, including grocery shopping, bike riding in the neighborhood, and having Sunday dinner with her parents and family. Her parents were anxious to hear how Nickie’s first meeting with his father had gone, and her mother couldn’t wait to corner her in the kitchen for a full report.

  “Well, tell me everything! What did Nickie say and do?” Maddie could see that Mom Mom Snow was a little concerned that her relationship with her grandson might be endangered by this new development. The Hamiltons were very wealthy and powerful people in the community.

  “It went fine. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming. They took to Nickie as though he had always been a part of the family. To be truthful, I did feel a little chill from Ross’s mother.”

  “Well, honey, I can understand that. I’m sure she’ll come around. I know how I’d feel if I was the one who had missed eight years of my grandson’s life.” Maddie knew her parents, Jim and Patricia Snow, were relieved that things seemed to be moving on a smooth path. She knew that it had always broken their hearts that their daughter had gotten pregnant out of wedlock at eighteen and had to raise their grandchild by herself. Maddie had to admit it hadn’t been easy, and she’d had a lot of help, but all in all, she had done pretty well.

  Maddie thought about Wednesday’s dinner with Ross and decided to employ the KISS principal and keep it simple. She would make loaded baked potatoes and a huge salad with apple pie for dessert and let Ross and Nickie grill steaks on the patio. That would give them something to do together in case they needed to break the ice. Somehow, though, she didn’t think that would be a problem.

  By the time Wednesday evening arrived, she was a nervous wreck. She had to confront the fact that she was still as attracted to Ross as she had been nine years ago, and that was pretty damn attracted. The fly in that ointment was Nickie. First and foremost, she had to be sure that anything she did or did not do with Ross did not hurt her son. Second, she wasn’t sure Ross wanted to resume his relationship with her for herself and not subconsciously just to get closer to Nickie. She wondered if he would be able to put aside his justifiable anger about missing so much of Nickie’s life and move on from there. She decided to try to relax and just see what happened.

  When Ross arrived at six thirty he was carrying a big bag from Toys “R” Us. Maddie frowned. She hoped he wasn’t going to spoil Nickie rotten trying to make up for the missing eight years.

  He must have noticed the look on her face because, when he bent down to brush a kiss on her cheek, he said, “Don’t worry, Mom. I’m not going to go haywire. I just brought a baseball and gloves so we could throw the ball after dinner.”

  She smiled up at him. “Good idea, Dad.”

  Then he glanced down and noticed the “Kiss the Cook!” apron that Nickie had gotten her for Mother’s Day. He grinned and said, “Now, that sounds like a really good idea!” Before she could take evasive action, he had gathered her into his arms for a soul-shattering kiss. As she gasped, he took advantage of the opening to deepen the kiss and explore her mouth. She responded just as she always had and fell into the sensual daze that had always seemed to come over her in Ross’s arms. His passion was beguiling, and she momentarily forgot where she was. Slowly, she came back to her senses and then she backed off. She had to keep some perspective on the situation and some distance between them, but that was easier said than done.

  She gathered her wits and then called out over the sound of cartoons from the sunporch, “Nickie, your dad is here.” Just saying the words out loud sent a shiver down her spine. She hoped against hope that this was the right thing to do for all of them. It would kill her if Nickie was disappointed again because of something she did or didn’t do. “We’re having steaks and baked potatoes. You and Nickie can grill the steaks while I get everything else ready.”

  Over dinner, Ross and Nickie talked about school—he would be going to a new one in the fall—and about the friends he had left in New Jersey. He told Ross that he was trying to get Mom to let him have a puppy and explained his Angry Birds strategy in detail. Maddie listened for any undertones from either of them and was delighted that they seemed to be comfortable with each other.

  The one sticky moment was when Nickie asked, “Are you going to live at our house like other dads do?”

  Maddie was startled, and she could see that Ross didn’t know what to say either. Finally she said, “Not right no
w, honey. Your dad and I haven’t seen each other in a long time, and we have to get to know each other again just like you and he do. None of us know what the future holds. We just know that we both love you very much and want you to be happy.”

  After dinner was finished, she asked Nickie to clear the table, which he reluctantly did. She could see he didn’t want to leave Ross. “You guys can go out and play ball for a while. We’ll have dessert, and then it will be almost time for a shower and bed. I’ll let you oversee that as well tonight.” She grinned. “It’s going to be trial by fire, buddy. He has more excuses to delay bedtime than you can possibly imagine. You’re going to have to be tough!”

  While Maddie cleaned up the kitchen and loaded the dishwasher, she watched as Ross showed Nickie how to break in his new glove, and then the guys tossed the baseball back and forth until it began to get dark. Nickie was grinning from ear to ear as he started to get the knack of getting the ball into the pocket of his glove. She had tried to help him with the sports stuff, and her dad and brothers had made a point of playing ball with him as well, but she could see that tossing a ball with his dad like other boys got to do was a special treat. She wouldn’t take that away from him for all the tea in China.

  After they had come in for the evening, Maddie and Ross settled on the couch on the sunporch. Nickie brought her his new Optimus Prime Transformer package to open. She got up to get a pair of scissors and a paring knife. “I hate these packages.” She grinned. “Somewhere in China, Chinese people are laughing their heads off over the dumb Americans trying to open these packages! It probably makes their day.”

  Ross watched as she struggled with the package and then the diabolical twist ties keeping the toy in the packaging. He didn’t offer to help, and she could see that he was a little hurt that Nickie had not asked him to open the package. “Ross, you have to realize that he’s been coming to me with his little problems for eight years. It’s going to take some time for him to think automatically of you first. But you know, the time will come when he does come to you first.”

  She continued to struggle with the package, and when it was finally open, she and Nickie quickly read through the instructions and put the toy through its paces, changing it from robot to a semitruck and back again.

  Ross said, “You are really good at that. Those toys are incredibly complex.”

  “Yes, the engineering that goes into them is amazing. The kids all love them. Nickie has a pretty impressive collection. I think the Transformers movies are still a little too violent for him at this age, but that doesn’t stop him from nagging to see them every time a new one comes out.”

  Ross laughed. “Any time you say ‘no,’ it makes it that much more intriguing.”

  * * * *

  Ross had had no idea that getting an excited boy to settle down and actually get into the shower and apply soap to his body was going to be so challenging. He’d had to lower the tone of his voice once or twice to get Nickie to start moving toward the shower instead of trying to see if he could get his mom’s iPad to play Angry Birds. Finally the child was clean and in pajamas. They had apple pie in front of the television while they simultaneously played Angry Birds on the coveted iPad under the watchful eye of Optimus Prime. At eight thirty, after a look from Maddie, he said, “Okay, Nickie. Time for bed.”

  After some whining to stay up just a little while longer, Ross managed to wrestle him into bed, kissed him good night, and put out the light. He came back to the living room, fell onto the couch beside Maddie, stretched his legs out, and said, “And you did this every night for eight years? I’m exhausted!”

  “Well, it wasn’t always quite this much of a chore. Also, don’t forget he’s very excited that you’re here. He never said much about it, but I can see now that he really missed having a dad. That was the one thing I couldn’t give him, and that hurts.”

  “Maddie, you’ve done a great job raising him. It doesn’t seem like he’s missed out on very much. Don’t feel guilty about that. Circumstances were very difficult for both of us back then. You did the best you could, and I want to make up for lost time,” he said as much to convince himself as to make her feel better. He was trying to be reasonable despite the lingering anger and feelings of betrayal that plagued him.

  They relaxed on the couch with another cup of coffee before Ross turned to her and said, “Thanks for dinner. It was great. I’d better get going. I know you probably have some things to do for tomorrow.”

  “Why don’t we make Wednesday night dinner a standing date? That will give you some extra time with Nickie. We’ll also come out to the farm to ride one afternoon so you can be with him there, and he can get to know the family at the farm as well. Let’s see how all that goes, and then maybe we can see about some weekend time.”

  “That sounds good. Thanks, Maddie. I appreciate your making this as easy as possible.”

  “Ross, I just want what’s best for Nickie. He’s missed out on a lot by not having a father. I think if we can work together, we can find the best path for all of us.”

  Ross put his cup down on the coffee table and turned to her. He reached out and took her into his arms and kissed her. The surge of desire that coursed through his body despite his anger was immediate and felt like they had never been apart. His body was apparently at war with his emotions. He had always been wild for her, and obviously that had not changed. This is going to be tough. “It’s pretty obvious that I still want you, despite everything. But you’re right. We need to take it slow. Nickie’s needs are of paramount importance, and we can’t let ourselves be carried away by our hormones.”

  He could see it took her a moment to regain her composure, and then she said, “Why don’t you check your schedule, and let’s decide on a day for riding lessons. You can call me at work and let me know what works best for you, and then I’ll schedule my work week around it.”

  He got up from the couch and said, “I’m not giving up on us, you know.” As she saw him out, he pulled her into his arms for one more quick, hard kiss before he walked out the door, strode to his black dually pickup, and drove away. He was frustrated, elated, scared, and excited all in the space of seconds. He didn’t know how he was going to sort out the roller coaster of emotions that finding out he had a son and finding Madison Snow again brought to the surface.

  * * * *

  Maddie closed the door and leaned against it. I wish he would stop kissing me like that. But she knew she was lying to herself. This is going to be complicated. When he looked at her and smiled that megawatt smile of his as he used to all those years ago, she melted. The touch of his hands on her body was electrifying just as it had always been. She knew she was going to have a hard time resisting his appeal, and he would relentlessly try to wear her down. He’d been good at getting his own way all those years ago, and it looked like that had not changed at all.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Things went smoothly over the rest of the summer. Ross came for dinner on Wednesday nights, and Madison took Nickie out to the farm on Friday afternoons. Nickie quickly became accustomed to having a dad, and he dropped that fact into every possible conversation. The family at Eden Creek quickly absorbed him into their midst as though he had always been a part of their lives. Grammy Barb always made sure to come down to the barn and watch him ride, praise his progress, and kiss him silly, although she was still a little distant with Maddie. Aunt Robbie always had cookies and treats for him. The two older cousins treated him like a pesky younger sibling, alternately brushing him off and doting on him. He ate it up, constantly thinking of things he could do to gain their attention and to irritate them. He was usually successful in both endeavors. Maddie had to admit he was a typical Hamilton boy, wonderful and horrible. She had to laugh. He was so much like Ross, who was also wonderful and horrible. Nickie was really blooming and coming into his own. Having his own dad was a gift she never could have given him.

  Uncle Mike always took a few minutes to talk to him man-to-man and t
hen to tickle and wrestle with him or throw him up in the air until he screamed. Maddie looked a little worried to see her son flying up into the air and then landing with a thud back in Mike’s arms. “Don’t worry, Maddie! Dad and I tossed Ross back and forth like a football when he was small. He only hit his head a few times, and look, he’s almost perfectly normal now!” Maddie looked horrified for a minute, and the brothers broke out laughing. Robbie only shook her head at their antics.

  Ross slowly integrated Nickie into the fabric of farm life, introducing him to all the animals, including Harley and Davidson, his Australian Shepherd dogs, and Fred and Ethel, the attack geese that roamed the grounds after dark. Ross and Maddie had watched I Love Lucy reruns on Nick at Nite during that summer nine years ago, and he loved to do Ricky Ricardo imitations. He wanted to be sure that the dogs and geese recognized Maddie and Nickie as members of the family and not threats. Both sets of animals could be dangerous, especially after dark. In that vein, he had them both give the dogs biscuits and the geese the miniature marshmallows that were guaranteed to gain their favor. Nickie, a serious animal lover, was in Heaven. Between the horses, dogs, and geese, not to mention the goats, chickens, ducks, and rabbits, he couldn’t have been happier. Since chores were a part of farm life, Nickie learned to groom his own horse and to clean Meatball’s stall after his riding lesson. He actually loved to clean Meatball’s stall and had his own small, kid-size meadow muffin picker. Maddie was delighted. This was all so good for him.

  Maddie’s relationship with Ross was coasting along as well. She continued to keep some distance from him, but she could feel herself weakening. They had gone out for dinner a few times and to the movies. He was damn irresistible when he chose to be, and it was obvious that he was trying his hardest to abide by her wishes while pushing his own agenda. After Nickie’s riding lesson, weather permitting, they usually took a trail ride around the farm and out to the pond. Nickie was allowed to skinny-dip in the pond, which he thought was hilarious. Running around naked in the sunshine, swimming in the pond, and jumping in from the swinging rope hanging from one of the live oak trees was the most fun he had ever had.