She stared down at the ticket in her hands. It was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen. And suddenly, she knew what she had to do.
“Daddy, this is enough, right?” she asked, continuing to stare at the little cartoon drawing to make sure it was real. “It’ll pay off the rest of the house and cover the medical expenses?”
He nodded. “This will certainly get us back on our feet.”
“Good!” she said, handing him the ticket. “I want you and Mama to have it all.” Her heart felt warm.
He looked up at her with wide eyes. “How are we so lucky to have gotten such an amazing girl?”
“You musta done somethin’ right,” she said, kissing him on the forehead and saying good-bye.
She’d set his life right. Now she had to take care of hers.
? ? ?
“HEY,” SHE SAID, poking her head onto the back porch where George was sitting with Charlie. She smelled steaks on the grill as soon as she stepped out.
“Hey! How was your visit with your dad?” he asked, putting down his copy of the Wall Street Journal. He was the only person she had ever met who read his newspapers at night. Actually, he was the only person she had ever met who still read newspapers.
She ran her fingers through her hair. “I have to talk to you about something,” she said nervously, joining him at the bistro table.
He gave her a worried glance. “What’s up?”
She wished she could just press FAST-FORWARD and skip this whole scene, but she knew she had to do it. Madison swallowed, her mouth dry. “I have to leave, George.” All the happiness she felt from the ticket earlier that day drained away as she tried to find the right words.
“What? Is something wrong with Allen?” He sat up straight, his eyes widening with fear.
“No, no.” She shook her head. “He’s okay, I think.” Her knees began bouncing up and down under the table. “I have to leave . . . this.” She waved her hand between the two of them.
George face’s fell and he slumped back into his seat. “Was it something I did?”
“It’s something we both did, George,” she said. “We entered into this thing knowing full well it was a marriage of convenience. I mean, who’s to say it couldn’t work for some people, but I think I’m the kind of girl who needs something else.”
“I can give you what you want,” he said, his voice low and urgent. “Just tell me what you need.”
She shook her head and leaned back, her heart aching for him. “George, I’m not the right one for you. I want you to find someone who is.”
He stared at her for a second. “But you are the right person for me, Madison. I like what we have, and call me crazy, but I think you like being with me, too.”
Madison put her hand over his. “I think we both really care about each other in a weird way,” she admitted. “But what we have is friendship, not love.”
His eyes flashed. “So, you’re just gonna leave now? After all that I’ve done for you?”
“I will pay you back, every penny,” she promised in a hard voice. “But don’t say I took advantage of you when you know you had your own agenda in mind. You knew I was vulnerable and you offered to swoop in and save my family. What was I supposed to do?”
He straightened his shoulders but he had the decency to look ashamed. “I never made you do anything you didn’t want to do.”
“It’s true, you didn’t.” She paused. “But I didn’t either.”
George pushed away from the table and leaned against the porch railing, looking out over the grounds. The pool she’d joked about so many months ago now glistened in the distance, and the restored flower beds were in full bloom.
“Look, I don’t mean to hurt you, and I know that it’s going to—it’s hurting me too.” She took a deep breath. “But this is just something I have to do. I need to go out on my own.”
“Then go,” he said quietly, not turning to face her.
She stood up and touched his shoulder. “Good-bye, George.” She took a deep breath and felt a mixture of relief, freedom, and heartache.
Madison went into her room, stuffed her backpack with as many of her clothes and belongings as possible, and headed back downstairs. She peeked out the sliding glass doors in the kitchen and saw that George was still sitting in the same position, looking up at the sky. Her stomach and chest hurt even worse than the time he caught her with the necklace in front of the pawnshop, but she tried to shake it off. This wasn’t her real life and it never had been.
She headed through the front door and onto the driveway where Cash Romero waited for her. As she lowered her sunglasses over her eyes, she reminded herself that this is what adventurous girls like her were meant to do—ride off into the sunset with the bad boy on the motorcycle.
40
laura
“YEAH, BABY!” BRIAN hollered from the bedroom. Laura was in the kitchen, helping Janet chop bell peppers for the gumbo while Rob was preparing the sausage. The three of them looked up from their tasks as Brian hobbled into the kitchen on his crutches, beaming.
Laura felt herself smiling back. Brian had just called Coach Perkins to update him on his recovery, and based on his response, it had to have been good news.
“What’d he say?” Janet asked excitedly, moving toward her son.
“I get to keep my scholarship, and they’re gonna work with me on physical therapy this year!” Brian exclaimed. “They want me to come back to Baton Rouge as soon as I can so we can get started. Coach said I can train with the team, and if everything’s good, I should be back starting the year after—maybe even sooner.” He grabbed a piece of the pepper off of Laura’s cutting board and threw it in his mouth, then kissed her on the cheek.
“That’s amazing!” Laura cried. A sense of relief rushed over her, as well as gratitude. They’d been through hell this year: moving back to Toulouse, living with Janet and Rob, losing all their money. But they’d done it all for this moment, when Brian could return to the team with the hopes of getting back on the field and leading the Tigers once more.
Janet crossed her arms, looking worried. “You’re not gonna jump into training too fast, are you? I don’t think you’re supposed to put that kind of pressure on it for a while.”
“Don’t worry, Mom,” Brian said. “They won’t make me do anything too major for a while.” He paused. “I can’t believe they’re actually taking me back!”
“So proud of you, son,” Rob said.
Laura walked over to Brian and gave him a hug, nuzzling her face into his light blue polo shirt. “I’m really happy for you.”
But even as the words came out of her mouth, contradictory thoughts spun through her mind. The idea of moving back to Baton Rouge with Brian worried her. Sure, she could apply for LSU’s spring semester, but she wondered if they moved back, would she go back to waitressing at the coffeehouse again, doing her husband’s homework at night, and spending game days hearing people talk about all the great things he was doing with his life?
The real question was, what was she doing with hers?
? ? ?