Madison nodded, wishing she’d never met the man, but a moment later when Milo came in with his little backpack full of books, announcing he’d cleaned up in the toy room, her heart softened, and she was fiercely glad she had her little guy. She would give it some thought, knowing Milo was such a sweet boy, and Stephen deserved to at least know of him.
Chapter Eight
As the days progressed, Stephen knew he was going to really enjoy working there, but it was going to be hard to break through Madison’s tough shell. Every time they met together to go over client proposals and pitch to the potential clients, she was all business, with no chance for him to just chat with her. And as soon as they were done, she left the office in a rush and rebuffed his attempts at bringing up their summers together.
In fact, every time he mentioned them, she stiffened and changed the subject. He would try again today and thought he finally had something that would work.
He’d brought some macadamia nuts. She’d loved them when his family had brought them with from Hawaii to his grandparents. He’d started packing a bottle for her during his teens since they spent so much time together after the chores were done, and she’d eaten a bunch the first day, then rationed them to last for most of the summer. One year he’d brought a second bottle and given it to her as a gift halfway through July, and she’d kissed him for the first time that night.
As he knocked on her office door and waited for her to wave him in, he moved the bottle from one hand to the other, watching her through the glass side window. She sighed and waved him in, and he opened the door. Her eyes fell on the nuts, and she raised an eyebrow. He placed them on her desk.
“For you.”
“Why?” Madison asked.
“I just thought you might like some. If I remember right, they were some of your favorites.”
Madison’s eyes softened, and she smiled. “I haven’t had them for years.”
“Why?” Stephen asked.
Her face took on a look of panic that was quickly replaced by sadness for a moment. “It’s not important. Thanks.”
“No problem.” He knew better than to open them and get one out, so he helped himself to another one of her mini candy bars on the desk.
She watched him for a moment, her eyes hiding something, and he wondered if maybe he shouldn’t just take the candies. He contented himself with only one and opened his laptop to get ready for the client list, but Madison hadn’t stopped looking at the macadamias.
She took a slow breath then pushed them back. “I do appreciate the offer, but I can’t take these.”
Stephen frowned. “Why not?” The hurt in her eyes angered him, and he crossed his arms over his chest. “Get over it, Madison. I’m sorry about what happened. I’m sorry you’re angry at me for whatever reason, but we had good times before. I can’t believe you’re being so petty as to reject every attempt at me being friendly. I don’t expect you to jump into my bed. In fact, I don’t think we were ready for that even when it did happen. Grow up and just take the stupid nuts.”
Madison’s eyes went from sadness to shock to anger. She pushed the nuts back to him, stood up, and leaned across her desk.
“I can’t accept these nuts because my son has a severe tree nut allergy, and if I ate them, I wouldn’t be able to kiss him goodnight.”
Stephen’s jaw dropped open, and he scrambled for something to say in response.
“So I’m sorry if that ruins your attempt to get me back into your bed, but I don’t think I ever want to go down that road again.”
She towered over him as he sat in his chair. Part of him wanted to stand up and confront her, but the only thing that he could think of was the startling news she was a mother.
“I’m sorry, Madison. I didn’t realize you were married or had a kid. I never would have…” He trailed off as her eyes turned dark.
“Not everyone who has a kid is married. Sometimes the father isn’t interested in those responsibilities.” She turned away from him, covering her mouth as angry tears threatened to spill from her eyes.
“No, you’re right. Not every mother is married. And I’m sorry that the guy was such a scum.”
Madison burst into a strange laughter and turned back to him, her mouth covered, but she shook her head in disbelief as she stared at him.
Understanding hit him hard, and he was glad he was sitting. “I’m the father?”
“If you ever would have called me after you left, you’d know that.” She pushed away from her desk and grabbed her purse. “But you wanted nothing to do with me then, and I want nothing to do with you now.” She marched around the other side of the desk, completely skirting around him. “You’ll have to finish this pitch on your own. I can’t be here right now.”
She closed the door, leaving him in her office alone to pick up all the pieces.
***
Madison walked blindly through the hallway toward the elevator then changed her mind and veered to the left and took the stairs. She didn’t want to risk being trapped in an elevator with him right now. She’d blown it and had blurted out all the hurt and anger she’d felt toward him and dumped the news of a child. Then left without giving him a chance to say anything.
Not that she wanted to listen to his excuses on why he wasn’t available to her. Her mind had conjured up all kinds of things. He’d died in the plane going back to Hawaii, he’d been eaten by a shark, he’d fallen into a volcano — no matter that his island wasn’t an active volcano anymore.
They’d only slept together a few times, but it was enough to get her pregnant. She hadn’t wanted to stay in King, Montana as a single mom. When her sister Karen asked her to come live with them to help out with their newest baby, Madison had jumped at the chance. It was a good way for her to learn a bit about kids so she could decide if she wanted to keep the baby or give it up for adoption. She’d gone and had never tried tracking Stephen down again.
And now, she’d made a life for herself, had a wonderful neighborhood to live in, a small home near her sister, and a job that could support both of them. She didn’t need Stephen now. And Milo was doing just fine.
Her heels clicked on the steps as she continued her descent to the parking garage. She should have told Mr. Carlson she was leaving, but it was only two hours early, and she’d get the work done later. Right now, she couldn’t think straight enough to be an effective employee.
Madison pushed open the door to the parking level and felt the warm air wash over her. It smelled of tires and new paint, but the exhaust fans helped keep the air breathable. She headed straight for her car and climbed in then headed for Jessie’s Grill. She was long overdue for a monster calorie splurge.
By the time her order arrived, she was near tears again and tried to drown her pain in the pleasure of the food. It helped. Halfway through the burger, she felt her phone vibrate in her purse. She wiped the grease and sauce off her fingers and pulled out her phone.
The text was from a number she didn’t recognize, but the first words made it obvious who it was.
Bea, we have to talk.
She pushed the off button, not willing to answer. At least not yet. Let him stew about this. And she didn’t want to hear the constant vibration as he texted over and over again. She shoved a cheese fry coated in special sauce into her mouth and followed it closely with another few before moving over to the extra-large Dr. Pepper.
She knew she’d probably make herself sick, but that would be tons better than the guilt and remorse she’d begun to feel.
“How could I be so stupid?” she whispered to her food, ignoring the looks from the strangers around her. She shoved the rest of the food away from her but kept the drink, bringing it up to her forehead and pressing the cold paper cup against her brow.
She would now have to tell him more about Milo. Let him know about his son, and who knew what Stephen would do about it.
Would he want to have visitation rights? Would he demand his parental rights, or worse, would he want nothing to do with Milo? She had to protect her little boy at all costs.
If Stephen was willing to meet him, she had to make sure Milo understood how the relationship would go, but she wanted to know Stephen’s intentions before she let them get within twenty feet of each other. And from the look of shock and horror on his face when he realized her child was his, she didn’t hold much hope for good things.
She didn’t expect them to become a family, but after Karen’s advice to think about how much it would mean for Milo to know his father, she had to admit it was a good idea. Milo hadn’t asked too many questions over the years about where his dad was, but he was aware things were different for him and that he didn’t have a daddy but had Uncle Jason.
Madison grabbed a napkin and wiped her nose then folded it carefully to get the tears around her eyes. She took a long slow drink of her soda then pulled her phone back out. When it powered back on, she had five missed calls and text after text, asking for her to talk to him.
He might be almost eight years too late, but at least he was making an attempt now.
Chapter Nine
Stephen paced his office, debating on whether to try calling again or not. She was obviously pissed at him and wasn’t ready to talk, but he knew he had to keep trying. He had a son he knew nothing about, and he wasn’t going to let that slip away from him.
She’d accused him of not trying to contact her, but every call he’d made to her parents’ house always ended in a hang-up the second they’d known who it was, or the phone had just rung without even being picked up by their ancient answering machine.
And had she really tried to call him? His new phone had the same number, so if she’d called his cell, he should have gotten those calls.
He rubbed his hands through his hair, feeling horrible, knowing he’d done nothing to help her. And she’d kept his child instead of aborting it or placing it for adoption. A son. He would be just over seven years old. Stephen didn’t have much experience with children other than his cousins, since he didn’t have any siblings. Though Hawaiian families were traditionally very large and close-knit, his was different.
His mother had met his dad while she’d been vacationing on Oahu. They’d fallen in love right away, and she hadn’t gone back home to the ranch, but instead had eloped with his dad. When he’d asked why he didn’t have brothers or sisters, his mom had told him he’d been a miracle baby.
He didn’t have a family, and he wanted one. Yet the child he did have didn’t even know him. Anger at the injustice of it all boiled low and steady. She had to talk to him. She couldn’t keep this from him anymore.
There was still an hour before he could technically leave, but he was tempted to go search for her anyway. He had no clue where to go, and though he’d found her phone number on company records, he didn’t think she’d look kindly on him showing up at her house. He was completely at her mercy, and the feeling unsettled him.
He pulled the chair out from his desk and sat down, trying to focus on the work in front of him, but it was difficult to keep his mind from Bea. They’d been so young, it was hard to imagine her being a mother the way he remembered her from that summer. She would have been a fabulous mother. She was kind and sweet and caring, but it never should have happened that soon.
He grabbed his phone and typed another text, but before he could hit send, her first response came through.
I need time. We can talk tomorrow at lunch
Stephen’s heart leapt with joy, then fear gripped him. What could he possibly say to her? He would let her take the lead and see what she was willing to do. He erased the text he’d been preparing and sent a simple reply.
Thank you.
***
Madison pulled into her sister’s driveway and eased herself out of her car, wishing she’d stopped eating sooner. She hoped eating at Jessie’s wouldn’t be ruined for her because of associating it with this whole mess with Stephen. She looked up to the window, hoping to see Milo’s bright eyes watching her, but she was early so he wouldn’t be expecting her at the moment. She brought the take-out bag full of his favorite fries and felt like a horrible mother that it was all she planned on feeding him for dinner.
When she got to the door and Karen answered, her sister took one look at her and pulled her into a hug then led her to the couch. “Spill.”
“I told him,” Madison said with a sigh.
“And?”
“And then I left him in my office and went and binged at Jessie’s.”
“Uh oh. It went that bad, huh? What did he say?”
Madison shook her head. “I didn’t give him a chance. I was so angry at something he’d said it all came out in an angry blast, and now I don’t know what to do.”
“You haven’t talked to him since that?” Karen asked.
“No. He sent a bunch of texts and called a couple times, but I ignored it.” She hung her head. “I finally sent one saying I needed a little time, and we could talk tomorrow, but what am I going to tell him? I don’t want him to feel like he has to be a part of Milo’s life if he doesn’t want to be, but I don’t want him to think he can’t. You were right. Milo needs to know him, and he’s not a creep, so I’m not worried about that. I’m just worried about him not caring.”