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Madelyn was silent, completely still.
“She married my dad so he could get me back.” The lump in my throat made it impossible to go on as I thought of how Hailey had sacrificed herself for my sake, making the argument that she would be the one to give me a stable home.
That she’d actually fallen in love with my dad had been a miracle, something she joked was God’s repayment to her for doing a good deed.
Madelyn’s body went rigid in my arms and when she pulled her face away from my chest, my skin was wet. I heard her suck in a few deep breaths, then she rolled and I heard her feet hit the floor. There was a soft squeal, a dresser drawer sliding open, and the slip of fabric as she pulled a t-shirt over her head and pajama pants up her legs.
She stood there for a moment, her back to me in the darkness of the room, and I heard a sniffle and a painful exhale, something that pushed me quickly to my feet and I hurried to put my arms around her.
“No, please don’t.” Her voice was low. “Thank you for explaining it to me, Adam. Now I understand clearly what it is you’re doing with me.”
Oh shit, now I’d really done it.
By the time the social worker arrived the next morning, you could cut the tension between us with a knife. Madelyn had spent the rest of the night on the living room sofa and when I woke her with coffee, her eyes were swollen.
That was my fault.
I didn’t look any better. I’d hardly slept at all, dropping off into restless dreams when I did fall asleep, disjointed snippets that left me panicky when my eyes snapped open.
I’d squatted down next to her and brushed her hair off her face, and that she let me see the hurt in her eyes was a bolt to the heart. I’d promised her brother I wouldn’t hurt her and here I was, already doing it.
Both of us were too nervous to eat breakfast, opting instead for three, then four cups of coffee and Madelyn was restless and twitchy by the time she opened the door for the dour woman conducting the study.
Dad had stopped by moments earlier to collect Bailey, promising to take him to the park for a good game of fetch, and I’d hidden the bowls and dog food in the garage. It wasn’t a deception, exactly, but I knew the huge, muscle-bound dog would be off-putting to someone who didn’t know, love and understand big dogs. In my experience those people were few and Lucy was a much safer bet.
“Can I offer you anything, Amanda?” Madelyn was almost breathless, she was so nervous, driving home for me just what Daniela meant to her. “Coffee, water, tea? I might even have some juice.” She was across the room in a flash, peering into the refrigerator.
“No, thank you.” The woman’s nose wrinkled like it pained her to say the words, and right on time Lucy trotted into the room, straight toward the woman, with a squeaky chirp.
That did it.
“What a beautiful little girl!” the woman exclaimed, leaning over to scoop up the tiny cat. “I have four of my own, all black cats, all local rescues. I’d take on more if I could.”
Madelyn’s eyes widened at the pouring out of unsolicited information and the smile stretching across the woman’s face. What the hell had just happened?
“Don’t let her fool you.” Madelyn’s face relaxed into a gentle smile as she pointed in my direction. “She’s an attention-seeker, but her one true love is that big guy. Every morning when we wake up, she’s sleeping on top of him.”
“Animals are excellent judges of character,” the woman said firmly, and I couldn’t believe it but she actually looked friendly. Shesmiledat me. “They can sense your intentions, though I fancy myself something of an aura reader, so I can as well.”
Madelyn worked hard not to roll her eyes, I could see it in the way the smile froze on her face, and when I turned my head the odd little woman was much closer, gazing up at me like she was scrutinizing something. “Yes.” Her head bobbed slowly, like she was in agreement with a conversation she was having with herself. “You have a deep soul.” She touched my arm. “You’re giving, kind and loving…but boundaries are a problem for you.”
Well, shit. I’d just been analyzed–cut to the quick was more like it–by a crazy cat lady.
She turned her head toward Madelyn with a sympathetic smile, shaking her head slowly. “You are undergoing an evolution, dear girl. You are all fire and passionate energy.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me, like I was supposed to understand what that meant, and she sighed when I clearly didn’t catch on. “You’ve always learned things the hard way. But that will change…” She stopped abruptly, compressing her lips as she looked at Madelyn and though we were both obviously waiting for her to continue, she didn’t, waving a hand in the air instead.
“Enough of that, it will get us nowhere in this case.” She dismissed herself. “I’d like to see your home and sit with each of you after, to ask a few simple questions.”
Madelyn made a shooing gesture in my direction as the woman moved from the room, like I should follow her, and I thought her head might explode with the look she was giving me.
What was I supposed to do, follow her? Flirt with her? Bury her body in the backyard? I held up my hands in a confused gesture and Madelyn flapped her fingers at me. Ah, ok…I was supposed to make small talk with the woman, so I gave her some distance but tried to engage her in amiable conversation as she viewed each room and made notes on a small pad of paper.
“My stepmom was a social worker for almost thirty years. She took an early retirement last year,” I told her as she peeked inside the linen cabinet, taking in the stacks of towels and blankets, baby wipes and the boxes of diapers stacked at the bottom.
“I know,” she responded quickly, and the cabinet clicked shut. “Hailey and I knew one another quite well; she trained me when I first started and we often had a little overlap in the workplace. We still see one another to catch up from time to time.”
Maybe this was a bad thing. I didn’t need to blur any lines here.
“She told me the two of you were recently married.”
