“Why are you giving me the silent treatment?” I finally ask.
“It’s not my business.”
“Since when?” I narrow my eyes. “Spill, or this sixteen-hour road trip is going to get real awkward.”
She drops her bag and turns to face me fully. “Can you do me a favor and explain what you’re doing in life? Because I don’t get it, Maddie.”
“I-I…” I don’t have the words, shocked at her tone. So I stand staring at her, just as confused.
“Fine, if you don’t know the answer to that, then at least tell me why the hell you said yes to Corey when he proposed. We both know you have no business being engaged to him. Just last month, you were considering ending it.”
I throw my hands up. “He asked in front of everyone. Mama was thrilled, and his parents were crying. I panicked. I didn’t know what to do, Ads.”
“You say no, Maddie Grace. You fucking say no.”
“It’s not that simple.” My voice rises in frustration.
Like sayingnodidn’t cross my mind, but Corey has a way about him that makes it easy to forget reality.
“You have to tell him you can’t do this.” Addie’s voice is urgent. “You can’t marry him, Madeline.”
“Adelaide…”
“Maddie Grace Wadsworth…sounds fucking terrible.”
God, it really does.
“I wouldn’t take his last name. I’d keep Cunningham.”
She mumbles something under her breath.
“What was that?”
She straightens toward me, her eyes holding mine. “I said, Davenport sounds a lot better.”
“Don’t go there.”
My heart hammers against my chest…and guilt eats me alive.
Why am I guilty?
Because if I were marrying Nate, I wouldn’t hesitate to take his last name.
I’d be proud to be a Davenport.
She crosses her arms, annoyed. “No. Don’tyou. I’m so tired sitting back waiting for you to get your head out of your ass.”
I freeze. Now she’s crossing the line. “Excuse me?”
“You get one love like yours and Nate’s. It’s once in a lifetime, and you’re throwing it away for fucking Corey because you’re too stubborn to forgive Nate.”
My lip quivers at the weight of her words. “Why are you being like this?”
She sighs, taking me in her arms for a hug. “Because I love you. And sometimes, tough love is the only way things get through to you. I’m worried you’re making a mistake. I’ll drop it for now if you promise me you’ll have a long, hard look at life once you settle in New York. Don’t live in this denial bullshit you mentioned. You deserve more than this.”
“Promise,” I whisper, and kiss her cheek when I pull back. “Now let’s hit the road, because I’m starving and you promised me a Taco Bell pit stop.”
“Aren’t you forgetting something?”
