by Rye Hart
I sighed as I pulled out of the parking lot, completely dreading the evening ahead.
~ooo000ooo~
The door opened and I saw Cassie's eyes grow wide when she saw me there with Madison standing right next to me. But, being the gracious woman she always was, she quickly recovered and put a wide, welcoming smile on her face. I doubted Madison even caught it, and it was only because I knew Cassie so well that I saw the look of near panic in her eyes.
“Oliver,” she said brightly. “Come in, come in. It's freezing out there.”
We stepped into the foyer of the house and Cassie shut the door behind us. I took off my coat and then took Madison’s, hanging them both up on the rack next to the door. I handed Cassie the bottle of wine I'd brought along with me.
“My mother taught me never to show up empty-handed,” I said and grinned at her.
“Your mother was a wise woman well-versed in social graces,” she said.
“She had her moments,” I replied and then motioned to my guest. “Cassie, this is Madison—”
“Oh, yes, the girl from the fire,” she said. “Jimmy's told me a little bit. I hope you're okay.”
“I'm doing much better, thank you,” she said, her voice soft.
Like clouds passing in front of the moon, a look of uncertainty passed across Madison's face. I didn't know if that look was because they were speaking about her behind her back, or because she didn't like being referred to as the girl from the fire.
Could have gone either way, really.
But, just like Cassie had a moment ago, Madison smoothed out her features again in a heartbeat. You'd never know by looking at her that she'd just been upset or rattled by what Cassie had said. She gave Cassie a smile that was warm but still looked a little uncertain.
“I hope it's okay that Oliver brought me, he said—”
Cassie waved her off and laughed. “Just an informal little dinner gathering,” she said. “The more, the merrier.”
Madison smiled and seemed to relax a little bit. Her smile was a little warmer and far less forced than it had been a moment ago.
“Please, let's all go into the dining room,” Cassie said. “It's warmer in there and, more importantly, that's where the food and booze are.”
Madison stepped ahead of us and, as I turned to go, Cassie shot me a look that was somehow simultaneously an expression of amusement and a promise of retribution for thwarting her master plan. I just flashed her a grin in return and allowed her to walk in front of me.
“You're just full of surprises, aren't you?” she said quietly, looking over her shoulder at me.
“I have my moments,” I said with a shrug.
We stepped into the dining room where Jimmy was sitting at the table with a woman I could only assume was Angie. With long, dark hair, green eyes, and porcelain-colored skin, there was no question that she was a beautiful woman. A stunner, honestly. But, in my mind, she didn't quite compare to Madison. Madison had a more wholesome, girl-next-door thing about her, while Angie sort of looked like a shark. Like a woman who could chew you up and spit you out if she wanted to.
When those green eyes of Angie's fell upon us as we stepped into the room, I saw them widen with surprise when she saw Madison. She cut a quick glance to Cassie, who gave her a very subtle shrug of the shoulders, and then over to me. I saw her look me up and down like I was a piece of meat. And judging by the look in her eyes, I could see that she saw me as a piece of meat she'd really like to sink her teeth into.
Normally, I didn't have an issue with being objectified by women. It was part and parcel of being a fireman. Came with the territory and I was used to it, honestly. But I wasn't in the mood for romance and hadn't been in some time. Jimmy knew that. And Cassie knew it too.
And yet, despite that, she'd been working overtime to set me up with one of her friends. Hell, she was trying to set me up with anybody – one time, she even tried to set me up with the cashier at the local grocery store, claiming she thought we could be soul mates.
Cassie's heart was in the right place, but she was seriously barking up the wrong tree. Jimmy was taking a drink of his beer when we came in and he set it down, giving me an amused little smirk and a shake of the head.
“Everybody,” Cassie said, always the gracious host, “this is Madison. Madison, this is my husband Jimmy, who I think you've met briefly. And this is my friend, Andi.”
Andi. Right. Andi, not Angie. Oh well, not like she was going to be in my life long enough for that little miscue to matter anyway.
Jimmy raised his bottle in greeting and Andi looked at Madison, giving her a smile that didn't come anywhere near to reaching her eyes. She was looking at her in much the same way I'd seen lions stare each other down over the corpse of a gazelle on those nature documentaries I sometimes watched.
In other words, Andi was looking at Madison like she was competition.
Little did Andi know the competition was already over. There had never been one, no matter how badly Cassie wanted there to be. And looking at the way Andi was looking at Madison, it made me glad I'd brought her along in the first place. She was the perfect and, apparently, very needed, buffer between Cassie's friend and me.
“Nice to meet you both,” Madison said.
I pulled out the chair for her across the table from Andi – no need to tempt fate by putting her within arm's reach of Cassie's friend – and Madison took a seat. She looked up and gave me a little smile, a look of surprise on her face, as if a man had never pulled out a chair for her before.
“Drinks?” Cassie chirped.
“Beer, please,” I said.
“I'll take a glass of wine, please,” Madison replied.
“Coming right up,” Cassie said and bustled off to the kitchen.
An awkward silence filled the air around us as we all stared at one another, nobody quite sure what to say. Obviously, I'd been brought there to meet Andi, so showing up with Madison in tow threw a bit of a damper on their love connection. Which, of course, had been my plan all along.
“So,” Jimmy started, clearing his throat. “How are you feeling, Madison? You doing okay?”
She cut an uncertain glance at me, obviously unsure how much Jimmy knew about her situation. Hell, she was probably unsure of how much I knew about her situation – which, truthfully, wasn't much. All I knew was how we found her – tied up and left to burn to death in a building. It wasn't something I wanted to press her on though.
“I— I'm doing okay, thank you,” she said.
“What happened?” Andi asked.
It was my turn to clear my throat. I didn't want to speak out of turn or make Madison uncomfortable, but the way Andi asked, it didn't sound like she was actually concerned. More like she was morbidly curious. Like one of those lookey-loos at the scene of a fire or an accident – somebody fascinated with the blood and gore of it all.
Madison hesitated.
“She was injured,” I said. “On a call we had recently.”
Jimmy looked at me and gave me a small nod, seeming to understand my desire to keep it under wraps. It wasn't ours to talk about.
“Oh?” Andi asked as she took a sip of her wine. “That sounds terrible. I'm sorry to hear that.”
I was hoping she'd leave it at that. But, of course, she wasn't going to make it that easy.
“Injured how?” Andi pressed. “What happened?”
Madison sat up a little taller in her chair and I saw a look of grim determination flash across her features. She obviously recognized the situation she was in and knew that Andi was picking at her, trying to get her flustered.
“I was in a building that was on fire,” Madison said flatly. “Oliver and Jimmy pulled me out of it. They saved my life.”
“To be fair,” Jimmy said, “Ollie did all the heavy lifting—”
“Oh, you think I'm heavy?” Madison asked, a wide grin on her face.
“Yeah, you stepped in it now, buddy,” I said to Jimmy.
“Not what
I meant,” he said and laughed. “Not even close to what I meant.”
“So, what did you mean?” Madison pressed.
“I just meant that he carried you out—”
“Because I'm so heavy,” she said. “I'm surprised you boys didn't need to call in a crane or a flatbed truck.”
We all laughed and Jimmy shook his head, his cheeks an unnatural shade of red. I was glad to see Madison loosen up a little bit and have some fun, showing off that personality and wit I found so attractive. The atmosphere in the dining room lifted almost immediately, and a lot of the tension that had saturated the air before dissipated.
Andi, of course, wasn't amused. She nodded, the look on her face knowing. Though, I had no idea what she thought she knew. At least, not until she opened her mouth and spoke again.
“So, is that how you two met?” Andi asked. “When they saved your life?”
The insinuation seemed pretty clear, even to me. Not that I was a shrink or anything, but I imagined, in her mind, Andi probably thought Madison was out with me out of some misplaced sense of hero-worship or gratitude. Or something equally as stupid as that.
“Actually,” I said. “Madison and I have known each other for a long time. High school, right?”
Color flared in Madison's cheeks and she nodded, a small smile touching her lips. “Yeah, that sounds about right.”
The insinuation I hoped to make to Andi with that remark was that our relationship was long-standing and had nothing to do with the fact that we'd pulled her out of a burning building. Andi's jaw set, though, and she looked determined to undermine Madison at every turn.
If she kept that up, this was going to be one long-ass night.
“So, anyway,” Andi said, “about this fire—”
“Let's skip the shop talk, huh?” Cassie said as she stepped back into the room.
Andi frowned, her mouth settling into a little pout. I gave Cassie a grateful look and she tipped me a wink. She set a beer down in front of me and a glass of wine down in front of Madison before taking her seat.
She held up her glass and smiled. “To new friends,” she said, giving Madison a warm smile.
“And old ones,” I replied.
We all clinked glasses – Andi, reluctantly so. But, the conversation after that was easy and free-flowing. Cassie had gotten the message that I wasn't interested in Andi and, of course, was shifting her attention to Madison, asking her a million different questions, trying to ferret out whatever information she could. Cassie was like a big sister, checking out a prospective new girl, and would only allow me to date her if she gave me her stamp of approval.
“Penn State, huh?” Cassie asked, clearly impressed.
Madison nodded. “Yeah, I double majored in Journalism and Criminal Justice.”
Andi looked thoroughly unimpressed. “I graduated from Boston College with a law degree.”
This game of one-upmanship – something Andi had embarked upon after Cassie shut her down about the fire – was going to get old real fast. Cassie had gotten the message; why couldn't Andi? Jimmy and I exchanged a look and a small shrug of the shoulders.
A timer went off in the kitchen and Cassie started to get up. I quickly jumped to my feet and motioned for her to stay put.
“We'll get it,” I said. “Jimmy and I. You relax.”
Cassie gave me a look and a small smile, but settled back into her seat and picked up her wine glass. Jimmy and I hurried out of the dining room and into the kitchen. Leaning against the counter, I let out a long breath.
“That woman is a shark,” I said. “Wow. How could you guys even think about setting me up with her?”
Jimmy laughed and held up his hand. “Hey, it wasn't me,” he said. “Talk to Cassie.”
“Yeah, I'll do that.”
“Madison though,” he said. “Nice call on that.”
“I figured I needed a buffer.”
“Buffer, huh?” he said, a grin on his face. “Looks like a little more than a buffer to me.”
“Got no idea what you're talking about.”
Jimmy laughed and got another couple of beers out of the refrigerator and handed me one. Madison and I had a bit of a history, that was for sure. Not that it was a good history. But, a history nonetheless. He took a long pull of his beer, his eyes fixed on mine.
“What?” I finally asked.
“I see the way you look at her, man,” he replied.
“Madison?”
“No, Cassie,” he laughed. “Yes, Madison, you twit.”
“I don't look at her like anything.”
“The hell you don't,” he said. “I can practically see the cartoon hearts floating above your head.”
I laughed. “You are so full of shit,” I said and took a long drink of my beer.
“If you say so.”
“I do say so,” I said. “Now, come on. We need to get all the food out to the table.”
We picked up the platters of food and walked out to the dining room, Jimmy laughing the whole time. After setting everything down, we took our seats and I looked at the spread before us.
“This looks amazing, Cassie,” I said. “Thanks for having us.”
“You're always welcome,” she replied. “You're family, after all.”
I cut a glance over at Madison who looked back at me and smiled. Jimmy's words rattled around in my head and I tried to avoid giving her a look that entailed cartoon hearts floating above my head. I really didn't think I was giving her a look like Jimmy described but, even if I was, could anybody blame me? Madison was a knockout. A flat-out knockout. Whip-smart and with a personality brighter than the sun.
Could I really be blamed if I looked at her a little googly-eyed? I wasn't, but even if I had been, could anybody blame me?
“So, Jimmy mentioned something about a podcast?” Cassie asked.
Madison's face lit up and she smiled. Obviously, she enjoyed talking about her passion in life. As we ate, Madison told us all about her podcast, about how her degrees from Penn State helped her launch it, and where she wanted to take it in the future. She rattled on, incredibly excited about it. And through it all, Andi looked incredibly bored.
“Yeah, I don't listen to podcasts,” Andi said when Madison stopped talking. “Not enough time, what with all of the important work I'm doing.”
The remark was obviously meant to be cutting, even earning a look of reproach from Cassie. To her credit though, Madison just smiled and shrugged it off.
“It's not for everybody,” she said evenly. “But, I am proud of the fact that my investigations have led to the arrest of a number of men who'd believed they'd gotten away with murder.”
“That's right,” I said, suddenly feeling defensive of her. “She's doing good work. She's given peace of mind to quite a few families who suffered for years, never knowing who murdered their loved one.”
“Oh, I didn't know you were such a regular listener,” Jimmy said, a shit-eating grin on his face.
I felt the color rush into my cheeks. Busted. I'd told Jimmy I'd only listened a few times, but I obviously sounded like a devoted fan. Which, I was. But, that was supposed to be my secret. Dammit. Cassie looked at me with a smile in her eyes and a knowing expression on her face, Andi looked at me with disdain, though the real venom was reserved for Madison, and Jimmy just laughed at me.
“Yeah, I listen,” I said. “It's a good show. Informative. Interesting.”
Madison looked at me and smiled, her own cheeks coloring. Obviously, she didn't know I was a regular listener either.
Eventually, dinner came to an end. I helped Cassie clear off the table and clean up the kitchen. Before we headed back out into the dining room though, she grabbed me by the arm and looked me dead in the eye.
“She's a good girl,” she said.
I cocked my head and looked at her, not sure who she was referring to. “Who? Andi?”
Cassie slapped me playfully on the arm. “No, you dummy. Madison,” she said. “I can see by
the way you look at her that Andi never stood a chance.”
“I'm not looking at her in any special way,” I said, a wry grin touching my lips. “Why does everybody keep saying that?”
“Because we can see your face and you can't,” she said. “Trust me when I say, the look is there. And I get it. She's gorgeous. Intelligent. Well spoken. Passionate. She seems like the whole package.”
I couldn't argue with her there. Madison really did seem like the whole package. And then I wanted to kick my own ass for even thinking that. Given our history, the last thing I wanted or needed was to let myself get attached to her. Fool me once, and all that jazz.
“I just want to know why you never mentioned her before?” Cassie asked.
I shrugged. “I— I don't really know,” I say. “I guess I play some things close to the vest.”
“Obviously,” she laughed and slapped me in the chest.
I didn't know why I didn't just confess and tell her there was nothing to tell. That Madison was there with me strictly to act as a buffer between Andi and me – one I was really glad I had.
“Well, I'm glad you brought her. Glad I got to know her a little bit,” Cassie says. “She seems like a really great catch.”
I smiled and squeezed her hand, not saying anything because I didn't want to flat out lie to her.
“Though, what she's doing with somebody like you is a mystery,” Cassie said and laughed again. “Talk about dating up, my friend.”
I laughed and nodded. “Yeah, that sounds about right.”
We made our way back into the dining room and Madison and I said our goodnights. Andi wouldn't even look at or acknowledge us as we left. She just sat at the table, looking at her hands in her lap. Clearly pouting. Cassie just shrugged her shoulders and poured another glass of wine, fortifying herself for the emotional onslaught that was sure to hit her the moment we walked out the door.
The ride back was a little quiet, neither Madison nor I knowing what to say, an awkward silence filling up the air between us once more. I kept thinking back to what both Jimmy and Cassie had said about the way I looked at her. Was there something to it? Was there something I wasn't seeing?
I couldn't deny that, physically speaking, I was very attracted to Madison. Who wouldn't be? But beyond that, I really didn't know. I wasn't in a place where I was looking for any kind of a relationship or emotional entanglement. That just wasn't where my head was at. At least, I didn't think it was.
