As she drove into George’s driveway, she noticed his silver car sitting in the open garage. Her mind reeled with nervous thoughts as she slowly got down from her truck and walked up the sidewalk to the front door. Her fingers trembled when she knocked on the door, then waited. Silence—save for the leaves rustling from the breeze. Madison sighed. Guess he doesn’t wanna talk to me, she thought. Who can blame him?
She walked back to her truck with her head held low, started the rumbling engine, and began driving back home. But about a tenth of a mile down Egret Lane, she spotted George out walking Charlie. Her stomach twisted with nerves.
“Hey,” she said softly through her open window, as she pulled up slowly.
George looked at her, his expression unreadable. “Hey.”
Charlie barked and ran up to her truck, dragging George along with him on the leash.
She took a deep breath. “Mind if I join you?” she asked, turning the engine off.
“I guess not.” He focused his attention on his dog, who was now greeting Madison with licks as she knelt down beside him.
Madison stood up and looked at George apologetically. “I just came to explain that day outside the pawnshop. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to come to you. I’ve just been really embarrassed.” She shuffled her keys back and forth from one hand to the other.
George rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, that . . .”
“I know what’s probably going on in your mind,” she rushed on. “Hell, I know what you’re probably calling me in your mind. But I promise I didn’t want to hurt you. That necklace was the nicest thing anyone’s ever given me, and I appreciated it more than you’ll ever know.”
“So then why did you pawn it?” He kicked some dried-up mud with his stark white Reebok tennis shoe. Charlie let out a sharp bark and strained at the leash as a squirrel ran up a nearby tree.
She lowered her head. “We’re about to lose our house. I was tryin’ to buy time.” She took a deep breath, her eyes watering. Spring was officially only a day away, and pollen hung heavy in the air. “It’s been a really shitty year, George.”
George’s expression softened instantly. “Oh, Madison. I had no idea it was that bad.” He put his arms around her and pulled her to him. She felt herself relax in his embrace, the weight she’d been carrying around since she’d seen him outside the pawnshop abating slightly. “Here, come with us for a walk.”
Madison wiped her eyes and started walking with them along the dirt path. “For what it’s worth, I am really sorry.”
“So, do you still need money?” He looked at her with concern, leaves crunching under his feet.
“We’re making do with what we got.” She put the keys she had been fidgeting with in her back pocket. “What I care more about right now is that you and I are cool. I know I really messed up and should have apologized sooner, but I’m . . . I’m just not good with this kinda stuff.”
“You’re doing an okay job,” he said, urging Charlie away from a patch of wildflowers with bees buzzing around it.
She gave him a half-smile. “?‘Okay’ is better than I expected.”
He laughed before growing serious once more. “So, level with me. Are you gonna lose the house?”
She pushed her bangs out of her eyes. “I’m trying to pick up extra jobs cleaning houses. And we’re having a yard sale next weekend. You should come!” She put her hand on his shoulder and put on her best auctioneer’s voice. “The animatronic singing bass and peeing angel fountain will go fast. Come early before they get snatched up by the little old couple who roam the town in their van.”
“Ha!” He stroked his clean-shaven chin. “That sounds like a pretty good deal. Maybe I’ll have to go.”
“You should,” she said, nudging his arm and smiling up at him.
They turned onto a paved path that ran along the lake. The sun shone brightly overhead, reflecting off the calm surface of the lake. A few ducks swam through the lily pads and patches of algae near the edge, honking loudly.
“I’m really sorry that you guys are going through this, especially when your dad is so sick,” George finally said, running his fingers through his hair. “He’s one of the nicest people I know.”
“I feel like all the bad karma in my life is coming back to haunt me,” she admitted. “Seeing my dad like this is heartbreaking.”
George stopped to let Charlie poke in the underbrush. He leaned against a wooden post and regarded Madison. “I’ve been lucky to always have the money I need, but I know how hard it is to watch your parents slip away. I lived it myself not so long ago.”
“Any advice, then?” she asked, blocking the sun with her hand. “What do you think I should do?”
“Marry me,” he said calmly. Charlie barked, as if echoing his statement.
Her eyes widened. “What?” She playfully hit his arm and laughed. “You tryin’ to get a rise out of me?”
He shook his head. “No, I’m serious. I know I sound crazy, and maybe I am, but this could work.” He took her hand. “I can’t make this time any less sad for you, but I can help make it easier. Your parents won’t have to worry about losing their house or their medical bills, and you can quit cleaning with your mom.” He smiled. “Madison, I have so much fun when I’m with you—I’ve never felt this happy with anyone else. Marry me.”
She gently tugged her hand from his and started pacing, turning tight circles in the little clearing, her mind whirling. Even if she really considered it, what would marrying George mean?
“This is crazy.” She stopped walking and faced him, taking in his green eyes, his fleece, and the jeans he wore a few inches too high on his waist. “You’re a little crazy.”
“I mean, yeah, a little,” he said with a grin. “But just think about it for a minute.” He took her by the shoulders. “I’m not asking you to love me. I’m just asking you to come live with me and keep me company.”
“So, let me get this straight: You’re cool with paying for my family’s debt if I marry you and make you laugh sometimes?” she clarified. Even to her, who had admittedly started hanging out with George for all the wrong reasons, this sounded completely ridiculous.
“Forget it, you’re right, it’s stupid,” he said. His cheeks flamed red and he bent down to wrestle a stick from Charlie’s mouth.
But now that he had taken it back, something insistent tugged in Madison’s chest. This incredibly insane, spontaneous decision could actually be the answer to all her family’s problems. “Wait. I mean, maybe it’s not stupid.” She put her hands in her pockets and rocked back on her heels.
He looked up at her with wide eyes. “So, what are you saying, then?”
Madison shook her head. She had done some crazy things in her life, like the time she went skinny-dipping in a lake that most definitely had alligators in it, or when she and Cash broke into Nan’s Diner at 3:00 a.m. to eat peach pie. But now she was officially about to do the craziest thing she’d ever done in her almost twenty years on Earth.
“Yes, I’ll marry you.”
28
gabrielle