I sit up instantly and ask her what’s the matter.
Maddie moans and presses the meat of her palms into her eye sockets.
“Maddie? What’s going on?”
“Oh wait…” she whimpers. “I know what this is. I’ve been so sick I haven’t had any coffee. This feels like a caffeine withdrawal headache.”
I throw off my blanket. “Sit tight, I’ve got you.”
“No,” she says. “Let me do it. I need to get out of this bed.”
Before I can stop her, she makes a beeline for the stairs.
Looks like she’s feeling better, but I’m still not taking my eyes off her. I will never shake the memory of finding my wife face down on the floor. If she falls down the stairs or hits her head in the kitchen, I’ll never forgive myself.
Downstairs in the kitchen, Maddie busies herself making coffee, then mutters something about wanting solid food.
“The pickings are slim in this house. I’ll run out and get you something. What do you want?”
She turns around. “You mean you’re going to leave me alone for ten minutes?”
“No, I’ll text Rowdy and have one of the girls come over.”
She turns and shakes her head with a smile. “If you’re hanging around Songbird Ridge for any amount of time, you might as well go ahead and put Ari and Riley in your phone. I’ll start a new text thread for everyone if that makes you feel more comfortable.”
“Sounds good.”
“And Foster and Rowdy, too.”
I say nothing, not wanting to tell her that Rowdy and I do sometimes keep in touch. I feel like a jerk about hiding that. I feel like I’ve been a jerk about a lot of things.
The coffee brews while she fires off a couple of text messages. “I’ll try not to take your silence as jealousy,” Maddie says with a smirk. “Just so you know, I’m only messaging Ari to tell her to meet me for lunch if she can get out of the office.”
“I wasn’t worried,” I say. “But, you’re not going out of the house for lunch.”
Maddie laughs. “Not without a shower first, no. But I’m starving and I want to see my friends.”
She’s not getting it. “I know you’re feeling a little better, but you can’t shoot yourself out of a cannon just because the full-body shivers have stopped.”
“I’m fine,” she says, just as stubborn as ever.
“Your priorities are out of whack.”
Maddie’s expression turns to annoyance. “Really? Are we back to arguing about priorities? Jeez, you’ve been back in town for a couple of weeks and now you’re in charge of my life?”
I wince. I let that go for now. “Maddie, I’m sorry for ever telling you your goals were not realistic.”
“Delusional,” she says. “You said my dreams were delusional.”
My stomach rolls with regret. “I wish I could go back in time and kick my own ass. Again. I’m sorry.”
She pours two cups of coffee and hands me one. “I forgive you. For that. And I’m sorry for the hurtful things I said to you.”
Together we drink our coffee in silence.
The caffeine hits her veins, and her head lolls back, exposing her throat. It’s all kinds of wrong to think about kissing the skin right there, but the orgasm noises are making me really fucking hard at the moment.
“Glad the coffee is making your head feel better,” I say.
