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She didn't give me time to respond before she began cleaning my teeth. Madeline always made sure I was well “tortured” before sending me out the door. I thanked Jamie for her help and left the office, taking a quick glance at my phone before climbing in my truck to wait for Madeline.
Ever since Madeline and I met for coffee, we hadn’t gone a day without talking. It wasn’t just coffee that happened twelve years ago. It was so much more than that. It was finding a best friend; finding the one person who I could lean on—and who could lean on me. Madeline was myrock, and I liked to think I was hers.
A lot had changed for both of us, some things being great, others being…not so great. After failing her exams for a second time, Madeline decided to change her career from dentist to hygienist, and even though that was a rough transition for her, she excelled at it. She was the luxury registered dental hygienist everyone wanted. I surely didn't trust anyone else to clean my teeth—even if my hygiene skills weren’t up to her standard. She was in a stable relationship and still lived in the heart of Portland. Madeline was living life the way she wanted. She always had a smile on her face, and when she didn’t, I would hear about it, which let’s be honest, was some of my favorite moments.
I took the training to become a paramedic, not returning to school. Becoming a paramedic for me was a huge accomplishment, one I took pride in. Eventually, I met Hannah—who was the love of my life…well, at least for five years of my life. We got married quickly, with Clay and Madeline in the bridal party, and then had a baby girl shortly after. Three years after that, Hannah admitted to cheating and “falling out of love” with me and asked for a divorce. She remarried not long after the divorce was final, and I got to see my baby girl—who wasn’t so much a baby anymore—Holly, every other week and every other holiday since then for the past six years.
I never remarried. Dating had been an interesting adventure with an eight-year-old, but as Madeline always put it, I was “single and ready to mingle.” I never saw it the way she did. In my mind, I simply didn't have time. My day-to-day life when I didn’t have Holly consisted of twelve hours work shifts, microwave dinners, and rewatching my favorite movies or rereading my favorite books. Isimplyhadzerotime to date.
And that was okay with me.
The passenger door to my truck flew open, and Madeline plopped on the seat next to me. She rested her head against the headrest. I watched her, a crooked grin on my lips and my eyebrows raised. I knew she was overworked, and I knew she was feeling it. “Burn out isreal,Milo,” she would tell me, as if I didn’t know.
“You good?” I asked.
“You. Have. Pockets,” she parroted softly, turning her head toward the car window.
I laughed, louder than intended, and started my truck back up. Whenever I had a cleaning; no matter what we had done during the week; we always carpooled and had dinner after. Normally, we would go to a burger joint downtown, followed by a trip around Powell’s Bookstore, but this time, Madeline said she wanted delivery pizza at her place.
She was quiet during the drive to her place, her head swaying with the movements of the car but her eyes still relaxed and closed. Her breathing slowed, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say she was fast asleep. She had told me her office was understaffed and that she sometimes had to do the job of three people, but I knew she loved what she did. Her happy place was in that dental chair, helping her patients. But just by looking at her, I could tell there was something going on in that brain of hers, something stewing that she needed to let out.
Madeline had been my person for the past twelve years, beating out Clay by a long shot. She was the one I could tell anything to, and I was 99.9% certain I was that for her as well. We had gotten to the point where we didn't even need to say anything to know something was going on. She had seen the divorce coming before I had even brought the topic up, and then she was there through every mediation and every trial. Madeline was there for me, and I was there for her.
I watched her from the corner of my eye and heaved a sigh.
“So…” I started, “what’s going on?”
She hummed and turned her head toward me, slightly opening her eyes. “Just tired, lots of teeth today...”
“Maddy,” I pressed.
Madeline grumbled, lifting her head from the chair. “I promise, all is well. Just let me keep my eyes closed.”
Uh-oh.It wasn’t normal for Madeline to be the silent type. Either the day at the office was harder than she let on, or there was something stewing in that mind of hers. Whatever it was, I had a feeling it wasn’t good.
The rest of the drive was silent. She went back to resting, and I went back to the road, pretending not to worry about Madeline.
Madeline lived in a small one-story house. She had bought it after Ophelia had moved to New York and wasted no time in decorating how she wanted. Even though she and Ophelia were great roommates and friends, their styles clashed. Madeline enjoyed being able to make the space one hundred percent hers. The outside was painted light blue and had white shutters. The wood steps led to the white door and porch where Madeline would sit and read while I tried to explain the latest Marvel movie to her. I would be lying if I said I hadn’t crashed on her couch a few nights. Even though she had a guest room set up, she had to keep it clean and nice, meaning I slept on the couch.
I parked on the street and looked at the house. Her husky, Niko, was barking in the window, his tongue sticking out of his mouth and a large smile on his face. Madeline opened the door and quickly dashed up the steps, ignoring the package that was at the door. She flung open the door and ran straight to the kitchen.
With my eyebrows raised, I bent and picked up the package, seeing it was from one of her favorite bookstoresYoung Books and Coffee Counter.She had never visited the small bookshop in Ohio, but it became one of her favorite places to buy books. She even had a coffee mug with their logo. Slipping the package under my arm, I followed her inside. Closing the door and turning the lock, I found her in the kitchen opening a can of Dr. Pepper, a beer sitting on the counter for me. Niko was at her hip; she was short enough she would rub behind his pointed ears even while standing. He leaned into her hand and stuck his tongue out in pleasure. Something was definitely making her upset.
“Madeline….” I asked softly.
“I think Kent is going to propose.” Madeline said, a slight smile on her lips, and—was she forcing excitement?
Wait…
I set the box on the counter, harder than I intended. Kent was her boyfriend, one that I particularly didn’t care for. He was a nice guy, and she was happy with him. However, he rubbed me the wrong way. As much as Madeline talked highly of him, all I saw was a pretentious jerk who only really cared about himself.They had met at a dental convention, and when she told me all about him, she made it sound like he was a dentist, even though he worked for some large dental supplier company. Two—or was it three—years later they were still going strong. Strong enough for a marriage proposal.
“That’s…” I trailed off.Be supportive, Milo. Be. Supportive.“Great.” I forced a smile.
She set her can on the counter and looked up at me, gritting her teeth. “Be honest.” She reached for the box and slid it toward her, opening the drawer for a knife.
“Well…” I shrugged.
“I know you hate him.” She cut the tape on the box, pulling out a hardback book. She touched the cover which featured a brick house on top of a hill, a small van sitting in the dirt in front of it. She turned the book, and her lips formed a grin. The book wasThe House in the Cerulean Sea,a novel I knew brought her joy. She hugged it to her chest before reaching into the box again and looked up at me. “But you were the first one I wanted to tell, plus you know I value your opinion.”
