“That would be perfect. I can go over a little early and start working on dinner. What are their favorite foods?”
THAT EVENING, MADELINE was just putting dried spaghetti into a pot of bowling water in Ken’s kitchen when he arrived home with Heather and Jessie. She could hear their voices in the entryway. Jessie was complaining that she could take off her own shoes, and Heather was asking where her dad’s friend was. Marlowe was whimpering happily at the unexpected visitors.
Madeline wiped her hands on her jeans and came out of the kitchen to say hello. She was ridiculously nervous.
Jessie was sitting on the floor, tugging off one of her boots and pushing away Marlowe’s attempts to greet her with endless kisses, but her little face lit up when she saw Madeline. “It’s you!” she burst out. “I didn’t know it was you!”
Ken chuckled and leaned down to rub his daughter’s head. “I told you that you’d like her. You want me to grab that boot now?”
“I guess so.” Jessie made a face at her dad but then turned to beam at Madeline. “Daddy said you’re making spaghetti for us.”
“I am. It should be ready in about ten minutes.” Pleased and relieved by the younger girl’s reaction, Madeline turned to the older one. “Hi, Heather.”
“Hi.” Heather scanned her face soberly. “So you’re friends with Daddy?”
“I am. I’d like to be your friend too, but only when you’re ready.”
Heather appeared to appreciate this direct honesty. She nodded, her face softening. “We can talk about books.”
“I would love that.” Madeline smiled at the girl and then turned the smile at Ken. She caught him gazing at her and his daughters with a decidedly sappy look.
This was good. Better than good. And it didn’t even feel dangerous.
She wasn’t scared of it like she’d been before.
ON MONDAY MORNING, Madeline woke up in her own bed since the girls had still been at the house. She preferred to spend the night with Ken, but she was happy about how the weekend had gone. After dinner on Friday, she’d hung out with Ken and the girls for a few hours on Saturday afternoon. She hadn’t seen them yesterday, but that was okay.
She still felt really close to Ken. Like they’d moved forward over the weekend. In a way she really wanted.
Matthew had come to town yesterday to finalize plans with Jacob on the renovations of a couple of the downtown buildings, so she’d had dinner with her brother last night and told him about her and Ken.
She wasn’t sure how she’d expected him to react, but he hadn’t been upset or protective or obnoxious or anything. He’d listened with his typical sobriety. Asked how long they’d been together and whether it was serious. And then nodded and said, “Ken’s a good guy. You could do a lot worse.”
And that was it.
Matthew had spent the night on her couch, so she was quiet when she got up and went into the kitchen to make some coffee. By the time the pot had brewed, her brother was awake and sitting groggily at her kitchen island, waiting for the coffee before he did anything as energetic as have a conversation.
They drank their coffee in silence for a while, both of them distracted by their phones. Ken had texted about a half hour ago, asking how her night had gone and saying the girls and Marlowe had missed her. When she asked him how he knew she’d been missed, he’d explained that the girls had asked if she was coming over yesterday evening, and the dog had spent an hour in the evening, lying at the front door with his nose to the crack, hoping to catch a scent of her approaching.
The visual made her giggle. She loved that sweet, gangly dog.
“What time are you heading back?” she asked her brother when she’d concluded the text conversation with Ken because he was getting his daughters ready for school.
“Pretty soon. I’ve got a meeting at ten I need to be back for.”
Richmond was less than an hour away, so he should have plenty of time. “It was good to have you here,” she said. “You should come more often.”
“I know. But my life is there.”
“Well, some of your life is here.”
He gave her a half smile. “Yeah. I know that too.”
She was about to change the subject when her phone buzzed with a text. Glancing down, she said, “Skye’s here. She wants to borrow one of my purses.”
Matthew arched his eyebrows.
“She doesn’t know you’re here,” Madeline said, jumping to her friend’s defense. “I didn’t tell her you decided to spend the night.”
Skye had had a crush on Matthew for most of the time she’d known him. It had been obvious to everyone, including Matthew. And no matter how much Madeline insisted that Skye was over it, he wasn’t entirely convinced.
Shaking her head at her brother’s stubborn disbelief, Madeline went to let Skye in.
Skye breezed in, talking a mile a minute about her most recent annoyance with her parents. She still lived at home, and she was the youngest of a very large family. Her parents and siblings insisted on treating her like she wasn’t quite grown-up. Madeline could completely understand how annoying this was for a twenty-six-year-old woman.
Skye’s long rambling spiel came to an abrupt stop when she saw Matthew sitting at the island.
Her big blue eyes got very round. “Oh.”
“Matthew spent the night.”
“Oh.” For just a moment Skye looked like a spooked animal.
“Hi, Skye,” Matthew said with a casual smile.
“Oh.”
Madeline tried not to laugh. It was occasionally embarrassing—Skye’s long-standing crush on her brother. Surely one day she’d get over it for good. “Let me grab that purse for you,” she said, trying to cut the tension.
“Oh,” Skye said again.
Matthew didn’t say anything. Just fiddled with his phone, the barest hint of a smile on his mouth. For a man as serious and thoughtful as he normally was, he certainly was amused by Skye.
Madeline returned with the purse. Skye mumbled a thanks and got out of there fast.
KEN WENT INTO ANNA’S that morning for breakfast, just like he always did.
Maybe Madeline would stop by. He really wanted to see her. He hoped it wasn’t too ridiculous to miss her so much after only one day of not seeing her, but he did.
The past three weeks had been some of the best of his life, and it had only gotten better when Madeline decided she was ready to spend some time with his daughters.
When he saw Jacob and Ria sharing a booth upon entering, he went over to say hello. Jacob moved over to sit beside Ria and gestured him into the other side. So Ken joined them, glad for the company and the distraction so he wouldn’t sit the whole time and hope to see Madeline.
“How’re things going?” Jacob asked, buttering a toasted English muffin as Brenda brought Ken over a cup of coffee.
“Good. Good. Real good.”
Ria laughed softly. “So things are good?” she teased.
Ken huffed with amusement. “Kinda obvious, am I?”
“Just a little. Madeline said she might stop by this morning to say hi.” Ria glanced back toward the entrance. “I think she might have missed you yesterday.”