Maddie made it all the way to the parking lot before Thomas caught up to her. “Hey, I’m sorry about that. Walker needs to mind his own business,” he said. “I don’t know why he has it out for me. I’ve never done anything to him; just ignore him.”
She knew exactly why Walker was behaving like a jerk, but she wasn’t about to tell Thomas the intimate details of her life, she didn’t trust him enough. “It’s okay, no harm done, the stain will wash out of my shirt, but I really need to get going,” she said. “I have stuff to do before practice.”
“You never answered me about dinner tonight,” Thomas said, flashing her a big smile. “We’ll get all dressed up and paint the town, that will show Walker, we can rub it in his face tomorrow, post it all over social media, that will get him good.”
“I can’t, evenings don’t work for me, I told you that before,” she said. “And I don’t want to start anything with Walker, my plan is to just ignore him, and that’s what you should do too.”
Thomas looked disappointed, “What do I have to do to get you to go out for more than coffee?” he finally asked, an edge to his voice she didn’t like. “You’re not making this very easy. You could try to meet me halfway.”
“I agreed to have coffee with you twice, that’s the best I can do,” she said, unlocking her car. “You seem like a nice guy, Thomas, but I’m not looking for a relationship or whatever it is you want right now. I’m sorry, I wish it could be different, but there’s just nothing there.”
“You’re not giving this a chance,” he said, taking a couple of steps toward her, a glimmer of desperation in his eyes. “Wecould be really great together, Maddie, we’re perfect for each other, you just need to spend some more time with me, then you’ll see it too.”
“I’m sorry, that’s just not going to happen, don’t take it personally, I’m just not ready for romance right now,” she said. “I’ve got to go, I’ll see you at practice.”
She got into her car and closed the door before Thomas could argue with her anymore, then started it up and drove away after giving him a quick wave, feeling his eyes on her until she turned onto the street. Shivering, she turned on the heat, but knew that the ice in her veins didn’t come from the snow outside; there was something about the look on Thomas’s face when she drove away that scared her.
Telling herself she was being silly, she headed home, desperate for a little Justin time before she had to go back to the school for basketball practice later that afternoon. Her son launched himself into her arms when he saw her and she hugged him to her, sucking in his little boy smell and fighting back the tears that suddenly filled her eyes.
A second later, Mrs. Mathews came down the hallway drying her hands on a towel. “Well, isn’t this a surprise, you’re home early,” she said, then saw Maddie’s face. “Oh no, it looks like we need cookies and milk.”
“Cookies…” Justin said, wiggling out of her arms. “Cookies…”
He disappeared down the hallway and into the kitchen, making them both laugh, and she instantly felt better. “It’s already been a long day,” she said. “I should be at the library studying, but I needed a break.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” Mrs. Mathews asked, helping her out of her coat. “Sometimes it helps to get it all out.”
“Not in front of Justin,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t want him to hear me badmouthing his father.”
“Oh, this must be bad,” Mrs. Mathews said, shaking her head. “He can eat his cookies in the playroom while we talk.”
She felt a little guilty, but some adult time was just what she needed. “I guess that would be okay, this once,” she said, following the older woman down the hallway. “I could use some advice. It’s getting harder and harder to be around Walker, and this Thomas guy isn’t helping.”
“Oh dear, this sounds better than my soaps,” Mrs. Mathews said, then looked guilty. “I’m sorry, my dear, I shouldn’t have said that, this is your life, not television.”
“It’s okay, if this was happening to someone else, I’d think it was funny,” she said, sinking down at the table. “Let’s get Justin set up in the playroom, then I can tell you all about it.”
When they were finally alone in the kitchen, she explained to the older woman about what had happened on her coffee date with Thomas. Mrs. Mathews sat quietly, letting her get it all out without interrupting, then was silent for a few minutes when Maddie finished, clearly thinking it all over. Eventually, she got to her feet and refilled their cups before sitting back down, and Maddie realized that she was both dreading and looking forward to hearing what Mrs. Mathews had to say.
“It sounds to me like Walker is still in love with you. Only a jealous man behaves that way,” she said, then fell silent for a second. “Maddie, you have to tell him about Justin, you can’t keep hiding it from him. It’s only a matter of time before he finds out from someone else. A child is difficult to hide. I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but maybe now that you know he still cares about you, it will all be okay.”
“What difference does it make if he still cares about me? That doesn’t change what he did to me, and I’d like to point out, he’s never explained, never apologized for what he did.”
The older woman was silent for a few seconds, giving her pain and anger time to fade just a little before she spoke again.“Have you given him a chance?” she finally asked. “It sounds like you shut him down before he could even apologize.”
She didn’t answer right away, but had to face her own fear. “I’m afraid to trust him again, he hurt me more than anyone ever has, and he still can,” she said, trying to hold the tears back. “I still care about him, I still dream about him. I’ve tried to get over him, but nothing works, I just end up missing him more. And I don’t even want to talk about what it feels like when I look at Justin and see him. It breaks my heart all over again. I don’t know how much longer I can do this.”
Mrs. Mathews reached out, took both her hands and gave them a big squeeze. “Has it ever occurred to you that Walker might feel the same way?” she asked, making Maddie look up at the older woman. “Talk to him, Maddie, you don’t have to tell him about Justin right away, but you owe it to both of you to at least try. It’s been three years, you’ve both changed, but deep down I think you both care about each other. Don’t throw something good away because you’re scared. The best things in life can be scary at first. Besides, you’re one of the bravest people I know. You can do this.”
CHAPTER 6
***WALKER***
Thanks to a powerful winter storm that dropped several feet of snow onto the little college town of Elmwood Junction, classes and practice had been cancelled for several days, leaving Walker lots of time to stew about what happened in the student center. He didn’t want to believe what Jackson was telling him. He couldn’t be in love with Maddie; they’d only known each other for a few months back then. It just didn’t happen that fast.
All the old legends make it clear that the bond formed over time; they spelled out the conditions that created that magical connection, and they hadn’t even come close to fulfilling them all. He should know, he'd put a stop to the relationship before that could happen. There had to be another explanation, another reason he couldn’t get the woman out of his mind, he just couldn’t figure out what it was.
Not that it mattered. She was so hostile to him, he felt like he’d been burned every time she looked at him, not exactly the right conditions for romance. Letting out a long sigh, he looked out the window, relieved to see the roads open and cars carefully making their way out of the neighborhood. Tired of being cooped up, hoping some exercise would help clear his head, hegrabbed his workout bag and a basketball out of the closet, then headed downstairs to see if he could beg for a ride to the gym.
