AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You noticed that, huh?”
Madison scoffed. “Please. You’ve been my best friend since first grade. I know you. But Dad is insisting we get on the road at five a.m. He wants to tour Graceland and hopefully make it to Knoxville by nightfall.”
“Five a.m.? Doesn’t he know the leaves are barely rustling at five a.m., much less people?”
Despite her sadness, she had to laugh. “He’s up. That’s all that matters to him.”
“It’s barbaric, if you ask me.” Haisley sighed. “So nothing from Matt? Where did you two leave things?”
At the question, pain stabbed through her chest. She’d known the moment he opened his eyes that final morning that something troubled him. When she’d asked if he was okay, he’d dismissed her, hiding behind his coffee cup and his worry about her being late for work.
“We left the suite around six thirty. He kissed me in the parking lot.” Like he would die without her. Like he never wanted to leave her side. He’d clung and stared at her as if she meant the whole world to him. “He told me that he’d be hella busy while Trees was on his honeymoon, but he swore he would call. The next day, he texted, saying he had to help his dad back home, but that’s been almost two weeks ago. Since then, nothing. I’ve tried a couple of times, but…” She shrugged. “I really shouldn’t be surprised. Men always ghost me.”
And despite the fact so many guys took what they wanted and walked away, Matt had shocked her. Because even if something had been bothering him, he hadn’t seemed like all the others. They had connected on a level she’d never experienced.
“You deserve a guy who loves you for you, and I don’t know if he’s it.” Haisley sighed. “I ran into Nash last night.”
The tall groomsman from the wedding? “Were you at Highrise or another club?”
She laughed. “The grocery store. Apparently, he’s decided to stay in town and was buying food to fill his new bachelor pad. We chatted in the frozen aisle.”
“He’s still trying, even though you turned him down at the wedding?”
“Yep, and trying hard. But he corroborated that Matt headed back to Wyoming to help his dad the day after you parted. He also told me Matt came back to town on Tuesday.”
There was a reason Haisley hadn’t led with that morsel, and Madison didn’t want false hope. “Four days ago, and he still hasn’t called.”
“Nash says Matt helped him move into a rental on Wednesday. He also says your cowboy hasn’t been the same that weekend with you.”
“Well, if he’s madly in love with me, he’s doing a damn fine job hiding it. I need to put him behind me. Find my mojo and my self-confidence and kick off my summer vacation with this trip. I’ll enjoy some time with my dad, visit my uncle, see the sights, then come back. I’ll have forgotten Matt Montgomery exists.”
Madison was determined to do just that…but he lingered in her memories and in her heart. As she and her father drove from Lafayette, she mentally pored over every moment she’d spent with Matt, trying to decide where things had gone wrong. But nothing made sense. They had been immersed in each other and perfectly in sync until the final handful of hours.
Five days later, she was still struggling. They had toured Elvis’s home, seen lots of live music in Nashville, taken in the barbecue in Knoxville, toured some Kentucky whiskey distilleries, visited the Appomattox Court House Historical Park, wended toward Richmond, then hugged the Potomac heading north before making it into Washington, DC. She tried her best to focus on all the new sites and this alone time with her dad. He needed it now that his protracted divorce from her stepmom of five years was final and the woman had fucked off to Portland.
When they arrived in DC, Dad’s older brother, Uncle Martin, welcomed them with open arms. After VIP tours of the Smithsonian and most of the local landmarks, he’d suggested she think about joining his staff since it paid better than teaching and offered more upward mobility. Next, he’d insisted that she attend a benefit gala with him to see how she liked the people she’d be rubbing elbows with if she accepted the job.
Ten minutes into the grand affair, she’d met Todd Pershing, the senior senator’s grandson. He had taken to her immediately, setting her at ease. He’d danced with her, made her laugh, fed her dessert when no one was looking, then invited her to sail with him the very next day.
Nine days after she’d arrived in DC and following a handful of dates with Todd, who seemed attentive, surprisingly easy to talk to, and eager to see more of her, her phone finally rang just before bedtime. She glanced at the screen, expecting him or Haisley to be calling.
Matt’s name filled her display. Her heart stopped.
He was finally calling, almost a month after turning her inside out and nearly bringing her to her knees. After making her foolish heart flutter with hope and possibilities for the future?Now,he wanted to talk?
Madison reclined against the headboard, curled her knees to her chest, and stared at the device, wondering whether she should answer or make him wait, like she had. On the final ring before the call rolled to voicemail, she picked up. She wanted to know why he had finally chosen to call more than she wanted to punish him.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Madison. Sorry it’s been a while.”
She didn’t want to be impacted by the sound of his voice. She didn’t want to remember the way they’d shared pleasure, secrets, and themselves in the dark. His call proved she didn’t always get what she wanted.
“It has.” She had no intention of making this pleasant or easy for him.
“My dad had a…friend who committed suicide in his house, which almost got him in hot water with the cops.”
“Oh, my god. I’m so sorry for him.”
