“I heard that,” Mark said.
“Tell her I said hi, but I’m staying in.”
“You don’t have to stay in for me. I’m good just going to bed.”
“We could go, if you want,” Madison offered. “If not, that’s fine. I don’t care either way.”
“I doubt I’d fit in with your friends, Madison.”
“I don’t fit in with my friends, Elodie.”
“Lexie, she’s busy making eyes at her girlfriend. I’ll be there in twenty.”
“Mark!” Madison yelled, turning back to glare at him, but he disappeared with an eye-roll.
“Why did you say that?” Elodie asked.
“Yell at my brother for being an absolute asshole?”
“No, the not-fitting-in-with-your-own-friends thing.”
“El, I’m barely out of college, and I’ve already lost the person I thought I’d spend my life with. I have one thing I want to focus on, and that’s been the case since I found archery. I don’t want to go out and get drunk, hook up with random people, or even find a regular nine to five job. I’ve been through different things than they have, and I have different goals. It kind of leaves me sitting at the tables, sometimes, wondering what the hell I’m doing there.”
“I feel the same way,” Elodie said softly.
“I know you do. I can see it.”
“Like you can, apparently, see that I want to be firing arrows at targets right now?” She smiled at Madison, and it was beautiful.
“You’re happy right now, aren’t you?” Madison asked.
“I’m all right,” Elodie said, but her face said otherwise.
“We can go to the football field. The outer lights stay on until eleven most nights.”
“No, I can wait until we get home.” Elodie stared at the TV.
“Home?” Madison asked.
“Yeah. You are coming back, right?” Elodie asked, turning to her again.
“I don’t know. I hadn’t given it much thought. I was kind of busy today.”
Elodie sat up and said, “Maybe this will help you decide.” She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a white envelope. “Your birthday present.” She handed it to Madison.
“El, you didn’t have to–”
“I wanted to. Just open it.”
Madison looked inside the envelope and went to say, “What is–”
“He’s on tour right now. There’s a show about two hours away from my place. I thought you could, I don’t know, go with your dad or maybe on a date if you meet a nice girl.”
“You got me Springsteen tickets?”
“Is that okay?” Elodie asked. “You’ve never seen him in concert, and I doubt he’ll tour forever. I thought you should go.”
“Are you kidding? This is awesome.” Madison reached for Elodie and wrapped her arms around the woman in a hug. “Thank you.”
Elodie returned the hug, and it felt good. It felt really, really good. Madison dropped the envelope to the ground, because she couldn’t focus on anything else. Her arms were around Elodie’s neck. Elodie’s hands moved around her waist, and they felt like they wanted Madison even closer. Madison held on, pressing her chin against Elodie’s neck and closing her eyes at the feel of her, the warmth of her.
“Are we watching a movie?” Madison’s mom asked.
Madison pulled back and looked into Elodie’s eyes, swallowing hard as she saw her own confusion mirrored back to her.
“No movie. My show’s almost on,” Madison’s dad said. “Ladies,” he added.
Madison looked over at him and caught his glare in Elodie’s direction.
“Dad, look what El got me for my birthday.” She picked up the envelope and passed it to him.
“Boss tickets?” he asked.
“She’s a fan. She’s seen him live.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, once. I wanted to go again, but I wasn’t ever able to make it.”
“I’ve seen him a few times. He’s great live.” He passed the envelope back to Madison.
“El and I are going,” Madison said. “We can tell you after if he’s gotten better with age.”
“I got you those so–”
“So I can take someone I want to the concert, right?”
“Well, yeah, but–”
“You two will have a blast.” Madison’s mom smiled at them in turn. “Your father and I had a lot of fun when we went.”
“Yeah, we’ll have fun,” Madison said, looking at Elodie. “Movie?” she asked her.
“No, my show. If you two want to watch a movie, you can watch it in your room,” her dad said, picking up the remote to change the channel.
“We have a DVR, dear. You could always record it.”
“It’s not the same,” her dad replied.
“Movie upstairs?” Madison asked Elodie.
“Maybe something short, or a TV show. I am kind of tired.”
“Come on.” Madison stood up and held out her hand. “You can pick.”
“Let me put my glass in the kitchen first.” Elodie stood, didn’t take Madison’s hand, but picked up her water glass, and walked to the kitchen.
“She’s nice, Madison,” her mom said.
“I know.”
“She didn’t show up to your tournament,” her dad added.
“No, she didn’t. But she apologized, and I know it’s genuine, Dad. You don’t have to be a jerk to her.”
“I’m not being a jerk,” he replied.
“Yes, you are. Stop staring at her like that, okay?”
“Like what?”
“Honey, she’s right. You have been giving her the evil eye all day,” her mother added.
“Dad, she went through some stuff, but she didn’t have to come here, and she didn’t have to apologize or endure your glares all day. She’s done it anyway. I think that means something.”
“Can I ask you something?” he asked.
“Sure.”
“Is there something else going on I don’t know about?”
“What? No.”
“Madison, we’ve seen how you two are together.” Her mother looked up at her. “You seem happy around her.”
“Mom, she’s my coach.”
“And nothing else?”
“No. And even if that’s what I wanted, it wouldn’t be what she wanted.”
“Why? She seems pretty happy around you, too.”
“She thinks I’m a kid, Mom. We’re ten years apart.”
“Your father and I are seven years apart.”
“Your grandparents were eleven years apart,” her dad added.
“So, you don’t like her because she didn’t show up to the invitational, but suddenly you’re on her side to date your daughter?”
“I was only saying that age isn’t that big of a deal when you find someone you want to be with.”
“And you’ve just been on your own since Wiley, Madison.”
“I’m only twenty-three, Mom. Calm down. I’ll find someone. You’ll get your grandkids one day.”
“Madison, we’re not rushing you, baby. We just want you to be happy.” Her mom sighed, looked at Madison’s father, and then back to her. “You’ve seemed happy this weekend since Elodie arrived. And it’s the first time I’ve seen you this happy when you didn’t have a bow in your hands.”
“Hey, are you ready?” Elodie asked when she entered the living room.
“Yeah, let’s go.”
“Good night,” Elodie said to Madison’s parents.
“Good night,” her father replied and gave her a nod.
“Everything okay?” Elodie asked when they arrived at Madison’s bedroom door.
“Everything’s fine. I’m kind of tired, though. Would you mind if I take a rain check on the movie?”
Elodie tried to figure her out for a moment and said, “Okay. Are you sure everything is okay? Did your dad say something to you?”
“He’ll come around, El,” Madison said, smiling at her. “H
e just worries about me. They both do.”
“I do, too; you know?”
“You do?” Madison asked.
“I worry you won’t come back because I messed up.”
“You’re sweet,” Madison said. “I noticed something today.”
“That I wanted to go shoot some arrows?” Elodie asked, giving her a sideways grin.
“No, I noticed that you only drank water; all day, only water. There was beer, wine, and just about everything else, and you grabbed water. Why’s that?”
“I think that’s a longer discussion,” Elodie said.
“Maybe instead of flying back tomorrow, you can drive with me, and we can talk more about that.”
Elodie smiled and said, “Does that mean you’re coming back?”
“Well, I do have a Springsteen concert to go to now.” Madison smiled back at her.
“At least we won’t have to argue about the music on the drive.”
“Is that a yes?”
“I’ll cancel my flight,” Elodie replied.
“El, you can’t miss another thing, okay? You’re my coach. You have to show up.”
“I will.” Elodie took a step toward Madison, leaned in, and kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll be there. I promise, Madison.” She pulled back to look at her. “Good night.”
Madison watched the woman walk to the guest room, open the door, and disappear behind it. She then pressed her hand to her own cheek as her skin tingled from the kiss. Her skin hadn’t tingled in a very long time.
“Oh, that’s not good,” she said to herself.
CHAPTER 16
“How have I not killed you yet?” Elodie asked through her laughter.
“Because I’m awesome,” Madison replied.
“Six hours in a car, another two hours over dinner, and no booze. How have I even survived?” Elodie laughed louder.
“It’s probably a good thing the arrows are at the office and not at your place,” Madison said. Then, she yawned. “But, I am tired, and I’m sure you are, too. I should be going to bed.”
“You have an early practice tomorrow,” Elodie said.
“So do you,” Madison replied, standing from the kitchen table. “Thank you for cooking.”
“Thank your mom for giving me the recipe for your favorite meal.”
“You did her proud,” Madison said, mock-saluting her.
“Hey, Maddie?”
“You called me Maddie,” Madison said, pointing at her.
“I did.” Elodie laughed. “I had fun today. I had fun the whole weekend. Thank you.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“You shared your family with me.”
“They’re not that great.” Madison shrugged at her.
“They are if you’ve never had that.”
Madison dropped her smile and sat back down at the table.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“Some other time, okay?” Elodie replied. “And I’m not brushing you off, I promise. It has been a long day. You’re tired, and I’m tired. We can pick this up later.”
“Okay. If you sure…” Madison stood up again. “Need help with the dishes?”
“No, I’ll do them tomorrow. I’m going to climb into a hot bath, relax, and get some sleep.”
“That sounds nice. Maybe I’ll do the same.”
Elodie pictured Madison in the bathtub. But not just in any bathtub; she pictured Madison in the same bathtub. She was behind her, wrapping her arms around Madison’s waist, pulling her back against her own front, and reveling in the feel of Madison’s hot, wet skin against her own.
“Right,” she said, not knowing why. “I asked Nancy to move all of my appointments this week. I might have a few things come up, but we have a tournament to get ready for, so I want to make sure you’re ready.”
“Okay.” Madison nodded.
“Tomorrow, meet me in the backyard at seven.”
“Seven?”
“Yeah, it’s been a long day, remember? You can sleep in.”
“You’re so kind,” Madison teased. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Goodnight, Madison.”
Madison walked toward her, leaned down, and kissed her on the cheek the same way Elodie had done to her the night before.
“Night, El.”
◆◆◆
“I see your girl’s back,” Nancy said.
Elodie hadn’t been expecting to hear another voice. She turned, startled to see Nancy standing next to her car, tapping the button on her key fob to lock it.
“Madison’s back, yeah.”
“That’s good. I’m glad,” Nancy added.
“Me too,” she replied honestly.
“I’ll take care of everything this week. You two get to work out there, okay?”
“Thanks, Nancy. I appreciate it. I know it was short notice having you move everything.”
“You weren’t all that busy, El. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but this is basically Mayberry. You have work, but you’re not exactly a high-powered attorney in Manhattan.”
“Thank you. I feel much better about losing a week of work now,” Elodie said sarcastically.
“But you’re not. You’re coaching Madison.”
“I am, aren’t I?” she smiled.
“Better stop now.” Nancy stood in front of her. “Or people will be able to tell how happy you are about this whole thing.”
As the woman disappeared into the office, Elodie heard a sound; arrow hitting the target. She smiled. Then, she thought for a moment, walked back to the house, and grabbed her bow. She walked to the backyard just in time to see Madison release another shot.
“Your release is off,” Elodie told her.
Madison noticed the bow in her hand and said, “Well, show me how to turn it on.”
Elodie smiled and inhaled deeply. God, she’d missed this; not just the archery, but having Madison around. There was just something about her that made Elodie’s world feel right. They practiced for a few hours, working on releases at different distances and playing with lightweight bands and bows before moving up to the full-poundage bow. When it was time for lunch, Elodie thought about asking if Madison wanted to go into town to get something.
“Hey, what do you want to do for lunch?” Madison asked, giving her the perfect opening.
“My place for a salad?”
“Salad, really?”
“Yes, you ate like crap this weekend. Don’t think I didn’t notice that second piece of cake, Maddie.”
Madison smiled and said, “I’m an archer. I’m not a soccer player. I don’t really need all that cardio, and I can have a piece of cake on my birthday, El.”
“I’m sorry. Who’s the coach here?” She pointed at herself and lifted an eyebrow.
“Fine. But we’re going out tonight for anything but a salad. There’s that restaurant I saw on the drive in. We should go there. I’ll get chicken or fish, or something light. Deal?”
“Let’s see how the rest of the day goes, okay?”
“Fine. But I’ve already kicked your ass at sixty. I’m sure I can do it at seventy, too,” Madison challenged.
“You won one set.” Elodie held up her index finger. “And by one point.”
“And you’re the coach?”
“You are such a smart-ass,” Elodie laughed and poked Madison in the stomach. “How about a real game?”
“Seventy meters?”
“No, out there.” Elodie pointed toward the woods behind the house. “Remember those targets I told you to set up?”
“Yes.”
“Ten of them?”
“Yeah, they should still be out there.”
“Take ten arrows and run the course. Highest score in the fastest time gets to pick where we eat dinner tonight.”
“You’re on,” Madison replied.
She slid her sheath of arrows over her shoulder and picked up the lightweight bow she’d been using earlier.
“I’ll time
you. Then, I’ll go, and you time me.”
“You haven’t even seen the course. Should we walk it first?”
“I’m okay.” Elodie gave her a smug expression.
“We’ll see,” Madison said. “I’m ready.”
When Elodie had the timer on her phone ready, she told Madison to take off. Madison ran and then disappeared into the trees. Elodie hadn’t seen the course. She had no idea how spread out it was or where Madison had placed the targets. She wasn’t sure she would actually be able to beat Madison, but for the first time in a very long time, she wanted to just have fun. She wanted to run through the woods, aim at targets, like she used to do with Rod when he’d wanted to put the fun back into the sport for her, and then celebrate with Madison no matter who won. Minutes later, Madison emerged. Elodie stopped the timer. Madison approached, breathing hard, and checked the time.
“There’s no way you’ll beat that.” She laughed.
“We’ll see, I guess.”
Elodie picked up her own gear, passed Madison her phone, and said, “Time me.”
When Madison yelled for her to go, Elodie sprinted toward the tree line. She reached for her first arrow, put her head on a swivel, saw the first target, and fired. She didn’t wait to see what she would hit and just repeated that process for the next nine targets. She also nearly tripped over a fallen tree limb but made up time at the end by hitting the tenth target and heading straight back to the house, knowing the woods better than Madison.
“Are you kidding me?” Madison asked, looking down at the phone. “What did you score out there?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t look.”
“Well, you might have beaten me time-wise, but let’s check the scores.”
Madison took Elodie’s hand and pulled her back into the woods. Elodie laughed when she saw the first target. They had both scored a ten. They walked hand in hand to the second target to see that Madison scored a seven, and Elodie earned an eight.
“I’m up on you.”
“There are still eight to go,” Madison said, tugging her along.
Three sevens for Madison and two eights and a nine for Elodie later, Madison was beginning to lose her confidence. Elodie began pulling her along instead.
“What’s wrong there, Maddie?”
“Shut up. I can still win.”
“You’re going to need a whole lot of tens to win, babe,” she said and then squeezed her eyes together and silently admonished herself for the use of the word babe.
A Shot at Gold Page 11
