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Karissa’s pretty mouth dropped open in shock. “Oh my God, that’s terrible!”
“No, not like that,” Camden snickered. “He means her boyfriend abandoned her. After the storm he took off rather than stick around.”
“Oh.”
“Her house was all but destroyed, and she’d already sunk everything she owned into it,” I went on. “The insurance only covered half of what she needed to make it livable. When she hired us, she was living in a trailer.”
“And you rebuilt her house?” Karissa asked.
“Bigger and better than before, yes.”
Karissa chuckled and tipped back her own beer. “I can only imagine how she paid you.”
“It wasn’t like that,” I smirked back. “Madison was… well…”
“She was a very special woman,” Camden went on. “One with a sharp eye for things, and talents that really helped our business.” He pointed his fork at Karissa. “Sort of like you.”
“Actually exactly like you,” I countered. “Only with more planning and less hands-on experience. Over time we fell for her. She fell for us. It was crazy the way it happened, because it wasn’t like any one of us had the advantage or upper hand. She wanted us all equally, and over time it just seemed… natural.”
Karissa stayed silent for a moment, sipping her beer. Slowly twirling the next bite of pasta while keeping her thoughts to herself.
“She ultimately lived with us too, just like you,” said Camden. “Shit, there are a lot of similarities, now that I think about it. A lot more than I ever realized.”
“And you dated her,” said Karissa flatly. “Together.”
“Yes.”
“And then married her.”
“In a private ceremony, down in Mexico,” I nodded. “We took our honeymoon right there on the beach.”
She let out a low whistle. “That must’ve been some honeymoon.”
“You sure you want to talk about this?” asked Camden.
Karissa’s wry grin was all the answer we needed. She dragged another forkful of pasta through her sauce and looked thoughtful.
“So how’d you end up with this place?” she asked, twirling a finger. “Roderick told me Madison found it.”
“Yes.”
“And she convinced you to buy it?”
Camden nodded. “She dragged us over here, totally in love. The building was a complete wreck — almost a tear-down — but she had a vision for what this place could be. How we could all eventually retire here, taking care of it. Letting it take care of us.”
“All this after she’d sold her own place of course,” I laughed, “so we really couldn’t say no. But that was Madison for you. She was impulsive as hell, and when she did something she never looked back.”
“Again,” pointed Camden shrewdly. “Just like—”
“Me,” said Karissa. She set her empty bottle down and stretched back in her chair. “Got it.”
She looked flush from cooking, or drinking, or maybe listening to what we’d been telling her. But I could tell she was taking it all in. It was a lot to process. Even for us.
Maddy.
She’d been our first real love, all three of us, even though each of us had serious girlfriends before. The important part was we’d taken her on together. Just like our company. Our projects. Southhold.
We took on everything together.
