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“He’s a chef in New York now, you penguin,” Madison says, referring to Dante wearing a black suit and a white shirt. But she bites her lip and sits back down quietly, almost as if she regrets her outburst.
Jaxson weighs in, too. “We can’t just have it sitting unused only to rot. I mean, there are no good restaurants here in Willowcreek. Folks always have to take the long drive into the big city for one. So how about we turn it into a restaurant? I’ll stick around a couple of days so we can clean it up and do the repairs, and I can provide input for the layout and the kitchen.”
I don’t know if I see a restaurant here, but the man has several successful five-star businesses, so he must know what he’s talking about.
“I don’t know Jaxson,” I still add. “The neighbors might have something to say about the place being turned into a restaurant, and disturbing their peaceful street.”
Everyone begins to talk about their own ideas and how great they would be. The only person who doesn’t is Kylie, who just sits quietly and watches the rest of us.
Knox lets out a piercing whistle, making us all quiet down immediately. Ever the peacemaker.
“This is all very sudden, guys. Why don’t we all think this over for a few days, then put it to a vote?” he suggests.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Ms. Dorman interjects. “This decision needs to be unanimous. I agree that you all should take some time to think it over. Then, when an agreement is reached, we can schedule a meeting at my office to sign the papers,”
Madison sighs and looks around. “We’re going to have to go through so much stuff. I can probably stop by one day and start with that,” she mutters aloud.
I scoff. “I don’t have the time to sit around. I have my life to get back to. Besides, my launch party is coming up for my new sneaker line, and we were even able to book the best event planning company in Chicago to ensure its success.”
I see Samantha stiffen from the side of my eye as Madison snipes, “Yeah, ’cause all of uslittle peoplehave nothing better to do with our time, huh, Mr. Celebrity?”
“You got a problem with me, Madison?” I stand up, challenging her.
She marches right up to me and puts her hands on her curvy hips. With her face framed by her thick brown hair, falling over her shoulders in waves, her hazel eyes are shooting daggers at me.
“You never even finished giving me that hug earlier. You think you’re too good for us small-town folks all of a sudden, Mr. Big Shot Football Star?” she says, looking me up and down before winking.
Her face breaks out into a big smile, and I relax a bit. It’s just Madison being Madison. I smile and open my arms wide for her to step into them.
She grabs Samantha and shoves her into my arms instead. Sam bounces off my hard chest and I reach out to steady her.
Madison’s smirk puts the Cheshire Cat to shame. “Look who’s here, too, Big Shot—your girl, Sam.”
I mouth a “fuck you” over Samantha’s head, but Madison only winks at me as if she mistook it for a “thank you.”
“You guys should catch up,” she continues without care.
Samantha moves out of my arms, backing up enough to put an entire defensive line between us. It makes me grind my teeth. The whole breakup was her idea after all.
Dante gets up in a rush and brushes past me, heading for the door. “I don’t have time to deal with all this right now. Call me when you all decide to sell.”
“Real ray of sunshine, that one,” Madison replies to Dante’s brother, Knox.
“Come on, Madison,” Kylie finally speaks up. “Leave him alone. He was never really in our group anyway.”
I glance at Samantha once more and shake my head. “I have to get back to practice, like today, so you all need to just make up your minds to sell and get this over with.”
Jaxson stands up and I try not to notice as he shuffles a little, his knee obviously giving him a bit of trouble. “Let’s meet and get this dealt with.” He gives me a pointed look. “We all have things to get back to.”
Madison, thank God, switches her attention from me and Samantha to Jaxson. “Wait up, Jaxson, I’m heading out anyway.” She turns and looks at Samantha before leaving. “We’ll catch up later, okay?”
“Excuse me,” Ms. Dorman clears her throat, her eyes falling to the rest of us, and clearly displeased by the commotion. “I have to lock up now. You can reach me at my office when you all decide on what to do.”
“I’m beat,” Samantha says to Kylie. “Call you tomorrow?”
“Yeah, I’m heading out, too,” Kylie says, before turning to Knox. “You ready? I can’t wait to see what Callum is doing for dinner tonight.”
Samantha walks out behind them, and I follow. I don’t know why I kept waiting around. I should have left as soon as we were done viewing the tape.
