Contract for Love, page 10
“No. She’s a waitress and—”
Grandmother Eileen sucked in a breath. “A waitress? You really are just like your grandfather.” After a few seconds of dramatically breathing into the receiver, she continued, “I want to meet her. I expect you tomorrow for dinner.”
So soon? She would have to instruct Sherry as to every detail. Her whole plan depended on Sherry’s performance. The thought made her dizzy. “As you wish.”
A hum escaped her grandmother. “And now tell me about this nonsense with Danielle. Bill told me she bought a bar a few months back and not a coffee bar. And why do you of all people care about this? That is below your standing.”
Maybe this once she might have agreed with her grandmother, but it was the right thing to do. Especially given the fact that she didn’t really have a choice where to work at this point. And working seemed to be a must for this plan to succeed. “You didn’t want to give me a job at Fielding Inc., so what did you expect me to do?” Trying to sound sincere, she added, “I just couldn’t stand sitting around doing nothing any longer.”
Breathing filtered through the line. Then Grandmother Eileen said, “However, I don’t think that a bar is the right place for you.”
“It’s a coffee bar, Grandmother.”
“Whatever that is. But you doing anything productive at all is an improvement, I guess.”
That was what she had to say to this? How could she have ever thought her grandmother would give her a position at Fielding Inc.? What do you care? It’s not like you want to spend your days in a stuffy office anyway.
“So, until tomorrow then.”
“Yes, Grandmother.” Madison spoke to herself, as Grandmother Eileen had already hung up.
Chapter 10
»Krgh…phoo…krgh…phoo…«
Sherry buried her face deep into her pillow.
»Krgh…phoo…krgh…phoo…«
Argh! Slowly, she peeked from under the pillow to the bedside clock on the nightstand. A few minutes after three a.m.
»Krgh…phoo…krgh…phoo…«
How could a single human being snore so loudly? Sherry stared over to Rita Mae, who turned from her back to Sherry’s side.
A noise somewhere between a grunting and taking a breath rattled through the darkness before the snoring continued in its obnoxious rhythm.
Sherry hid her head under the pillow once more to drown out the noise. To no avail. God knew, she was used to not getting much sleep, but with how this was going, she wasn’t about to get any.
»Krgh…phoo…krgh…phoo…«
Enough! Sherry sat up, grabbed her pillow and the extra blanket lying on the foot of the bed, and fled Rita Mae’s room. When the door was closed, the silence was heavenly.
But then the muted snoring penetrated through the door. Wow. No wonder, I couldn’t sleep.
Drowsy, she lumbered to the living room and cleared some decorative pillows from the couch. Afterward, she tried to get comfortable—or at least as comfortable as the cold leather couch allowed. Even at five foot six, she had to bend her legs to fit. She would have expected Madison to have a bigger couch.
When she finally found a halfway comfortable position, she marveled at the breathtaking view from the twenty-fifth floor. The lights of the city shone like in a fairytale.
But this was anything but a fairytale. If someone would have told her that she’d be pretending to be the partner of some rich lesbian brat one day, she probably would have laughed about such a bad joke.
But here she was. And laughing was about the last thing on her mind.
“Mom?”
Sherry sat up. “I’m here.”
His favorite teddy pressed to his chest, Jake shuffled toward her.
“Why are you awake, baby?”
Jake let go of the teddy with one hand and rubbed his eyes with the back of this hand. “Can’t sleep.” When he reached the couch, he crawled under Sherry’s blanket into her open arms. “And then I wanted to come to you, but I was afraid that the monster would get me if I did.”
She caressed his soft hair. “Monster?”
He pointed at Rita Mae’s room.
Sherry tried to hold back laughter but failed. “Honey, that is no monster. Rita Mae’s snoring. That’s all.”
Jake kept silent.
The couch was much too small for them both, but Sherry lay down, taking him with her anyway. A little cuddling was exactly what she needed.
Jake snuggled closer and sighed.
“But you’ve got to go back to bed in a bit, okay?” Sherry asked after a while.
Deep breathing was the answer.
“Aww, my baby.” She kissed his hair.
A few minutes later, she pulled herself up and carried the still-sleeping joy of her life to his room. Careful not to wake Jake, she placed him and his teddy in the bed and covered him. After giving him a kiss on the forehead, she went to the door. There she allowed herself the pleasure of watching him sleep. The little nightlight close to the bed revealed his relaxed features.
When her eyelids became heavy, she forced herself to leave. If she wanted to get any sleep at all tonight, she had to get back to the couch.
Tomorrow—or, to be more precise, later today—they would drive over to Madison’s grandmother’s house. That Madison had waited to tell her this until they said good night made her even more nervous.
Madison had made it clear how important the upcoming evening was. And it was true: for Madison this was merely about a crazy amount of money, but for Sherry this was about everything. Only if she played her role convincingly would Jake keep his room for a while. And only if she proved to be a good actress would he be able to go to a good elementary school and be medically taken care of.
She straightened, determination surging through her. She would do whatever it took to pretend that Madison was the love of her life.
Hopefully, she could be convincing. There was no plan B.
Not for the first time, Madison glanced over to Sherry in the passenger seat and took in her bare knees and slightly windblown hair. The boutique she had called last minute had done an excellent job. From her description alone, they had found the perfect dress for Sherry and delivered it within two hours.
The huge tip had been well deserved. It fitted splendidly, not only in size but also in style.
For the probably fiftieth time, Sherry tugged on the shiny red cocktail dress. “Is this really the right outfit for dinner at your grandmother’s?”
Madison rolled her eyes. “And if you ask me a thousand times, the answer will still be yes. Why do you think I’m wearing a cocktail dress too?”
She hated wearing dresses, but Grandmother Eileen insisted that Madison wear one when she came for dinner. But for once she couldn’t be angry about it. After all, Sherry filled this dress out quite nicely. Okay, maybe a few pounds more would have been nice, even if just on her chest. A smile tugged on her lips. The hairstylist and the makeup artist had truly outdone themselves. Sherry was breathtaking tonight.
Hold your horses. Yes, she’s cleaning up nicely. So what? You’re constantly surrounded by beautiful women and manage not to rant about it, so calm the hell down here.
After an uncomfortably long silence, Sherry said, “You look, um, nice.”
“You think so?”
Sherry shifted on her seat but focused on her folded hands.
She didn’t get Sherry. And why was she even trying to? Madison never cared much about what others were thinking.
They neared her grandmother’s property. Time for a last-minute reminder. “Just to be sure you haven’t forgotten anythi—”
“I haven’t,” Sherry interrupted her. “I’ll try to hold your hand or establish some other contact with you at all times. I’ll let you do all the talking, and when I don’t know the answer to a question, I defer to you or compliment the interior.”
“Exactly. And whatever you do, don’t—”
“Start any kind of political conversation.”
Madison let her tense breath escape. “Okay. I think we’re good to go.” She stopped the car in front of the iron gate, which in its closed position displayed a huge F in the middle. Pressing the button to the intercom, she said her name, even though the security team had without a doubt identified her already through the camera.
“Good evening, Ms. Fielding,” a male voice filtered through the speaker before the gate opened.
“Why does your grandmother have such extensive security?”
“Paranoia.” Madison drove up the driveway to the main building. “I don’t think she really needs it. But if you listen to her talk, you’d think there’re criminals everywhere, waiting to rob her.” She drove around the huge ugly fountain in front of the stairs that led to the main entrance and stopped.
Jonathan hurried toward them.
Madison unclipped her seat belt. “Just go with the flow and do what I tell you. Then all will be fine. Oh, and stay seated. I’ll open the door for you.”
Sherry nodded. She gave a series of blinks and her hands were trembling.
Oh my. If she didn’t get a hold of her nerves soon, all would be lost.
Jonathan opened her door. “Good evening, Ms. Fielding.”
“Good evening.” She stood and sprinted around the car before Sherry could forget her instruction and open the door herself. With more force than necessary, she yanked open the passenger door and extended her hand for Sherry to take.
For a moment Sherry stared at her hand as if it were on fire, then she laid her clammy hand in Madison’s and got out of the car. “Thanks.”
Out of the corner of her eye Madison saw a movement at the curtain of the parlor. Time to get this show on the road. She closed the door and whispered into Sherry’s ear, “My grandmother is watching us. Whatever you do, don’t flinch or tense. I’ll nibble on your neck now and then I’m gonna kiss you.”
Sherry swallowed. “Okay.”
Madison laid her hands on Sherry’s small hips and pulled her closer. Slowly, so as not to scare Sherry, she started nibbling on her neck. Her grandmother had seen her making out with many other women, so it was the most logical thing to do now.
With her lips close to Sherry’s neck, Madison smelled the enticing fragrance of vanilla.
Sherry tensed. But at the same time Sherry’s hands wandered from Madison’s shoulders to her neck, as if she wanted to feel Madison even closer.
Good. She’s game. Madison grazed her lips over the soft skin and felt the thundering pulse under it. After a few seconds, she backed off ever so slightly to look at Sherry.
Sherry’s expression was serious and…determined? With just a slight hesitation, she pulled Madison’s head down until their lips were touching.
Madison’s eyes fell closed.
Sherry’s lips were warm, soft, and trembling.
A spark surged through Madison’s body, and she pulled Sherry even closer until their breasts touched. Madison moaned. Sherry smelled and felt so damn good. It took all of Madison’s willpower not to open her mouth.
Sherry moved her lips against Madison’s but didn’t make any sound.
When her legs became wobbly, Madison pulled back. With her mouth agape, she stared at Sherry, who avoided her gaze.
Madison didn’t understand anything anymore. How was it possible that a fake kiss with this little waitress made her so breathless?
Madison jumped at the sound of Jonathan driving off with the car. She had totally forgotten where she was.
Sherry took a step back. Her artificial smile was in stark contrast to her eyes, which shone a luminous dark green and reminded Madison of a forest in the middle of a storm. An ice-cold hand took Madison’s and held on to it more tightly than necessary. “Sh-shall we?”
Madison couldn’t get a word out, so she merely nodded.
Side by side, they climbed the stairs to the main entrance.
Before Madison could ring the bell or Sherry could think about what had just happened, the door was opened by a woman in her mid-thirties wearing a maid’s uniform.
“Good evening, Ms. Fielding.”
“Hello, Sarah,” Madison said with a flirtatious smile on her face.
The maid blushed while stepping backward.
If Sherry wasn’t so busy trying to ignore her still-tingling lips and her rapidly beating heart, she probably would have questioned their strange interaction.
“There you are,” an elderly woman, carrying a half-full glass of brown liquid, exclaimed while strutting toward them in her long brown gown. “You may leave,” she told the maid without sparing her a glance.
“Good evening, Grandmother.” Madison’s greeting had been far warmer when speaking to the maid, who had now disappeared into an adjoining room.
Mrs. Fielding gave first Madison, then Sherry a derogatory glance. “So that’s her,” she said instead of a greeting.
Madison smiled, but it seemed forced. “Yeah. That is my Sherry.” She gave her grandmother a brief kiss on the cheek.
Nodding, to acknowledge Madison’s words or as an approval of the gesture, Mrs. Fielding stepped back. “Let’s go the parlor, so that you can introduce us properly. It’s not appropriate to do this in the entryway as if you want me to buy something from you on the doorstep.”
Madison entered the house, pulling Sherry with her. “Of course.”
Sherry glanced between Madison and Mrs. Fielding. Was it normal for them to talk about someone else as if they weren’t there? Confusion gave way to awe when she entered the huge entrance hall. An enormous golden chandelier hung from the high ceiling. Double doors led to other rooms on both sides. Stairs, looking like something straight out of Gone with the Wind, led to the first floor.
Madison squeezed her hand, and Sherry tore her gaze away from the detailed ornaments on the banister. “You coming, honey?”
Sherry forced a smile at the endearment and allowed Madison to lead her to the adjoining room, which was also huge and had high ceilings. How could anybody feel at home in a place like this? And what the hell was up with Mrs. Fielding? Compared to her, Madison was downright friendly and relaxed. That thought almost caused her to giggle, but she bit her lip to suppress any sound.
Mrs. Fielding looked like a much older version of Madison. Her hair was gray, but her eyes were the same piercing blue as Madison’s and their posture was similar.
Sherry had thought Madison’s bearing to be arrogant, but hers was nothing compared to her grandmother, who behaved like a queen.
“She’ll offer us scotch in a moment,” Madison whispered into her ear, causing a tickling there. “Accept. She hates people who don’t drink with her.”
“But I don’t drink alcohol,” Sherry whispered back.
Madison’s eyes widened.
Mrs. Fielding stopped in front of three couches in a half-circle facing a chimney. She sat down on one couch beside the chimney and pointed to the opposite one. “Sit. Would you like to join me for a scotch?”
Mrs. Fielding hadn’t addressed Sherry even once, but that didn’t bother Sherry as much as the thought that she was going to have to drink alcohol. Madison should have told her earlier. The smell of alcohol alone left her feeling nauseous. And for good reason.
“Yes, please.” Madison sat down on the appointed couch and pulled Sherry down with her.
Sherry lost her equilibrium. Flailing with both arms, she just managed to avoid landing in Madison’s lap. Instead, she landed awkwardly next to her.
Mrs. Fielding took her time to sip her scotch and fixed them both with a cool glance.
From somewhere behind them, the man who had greeted them outside appeared with a silver tray in his hands. Two glasses, both containing two fingers of scotch, were on it.
Madison took both glasses and handed one to Sherry.
Reluctantly, Sherry took it. The stinging smell pierced her nose. It took all her self-control to keep her face neutral.
“What was your name again?” Mrs. Fielding asked, addressing her for the first time. “Sheryl?”
“Sherry Miller, ma’am.”
Instead of standing up and coming closer to offer her hand, the elderly woman just tilted her head. “Eileen Fielding. But you know that already, of course.” She looked around as if searching for something.
Maybe her manners? This thought caused a smirk she couldn’t suppress.
“Dinner will be served soon, so I’ll make this quick,” Mrs. Fielding said.
Madison’s hold on hers tightened, but her passive expression hadn’t changed.
“Sheryl…”
“Sherry.”
“Whatever. I’m sorry to tell you this, but just a few days ago I found Madison after a rampant night of partying with a woman she had obviously spend the night wi—”
“That’s a lie!” Madison said forcefully.
“Is it? Do you honestly mean to tell me that you didn’t have sex with that young girl who I met in the entrance of your utterly trashed apartment?”
Madison gulped down half of her scotch.
This was going from bad to worse. “I know,” Sherry heard herself say.
Madison and Mrs. Fielding stared at her.
“Y-you know about it?”
“Yeah,” Sherry said. “Madison told me about it. But that was before we decided to settle down as a family.”
“But that was just last week!” Mrs. Fielding’s eyes became slits, and she leaned back. “What a coincidence,” she said in a conversational voice. “Here I go telling Madison she has to grow up or I will disinherit her, and just a few days later she shows up with a fine little family at her side.”
Madison drained the rest of the glass.
Oh God, she’s found us out. No, she couldn’t and wouldn’t accept that. They hadn’t lost yet. “How can you insinuate Madison would do such a horrible thing?” Sherry said in a hopefully believable outraged voice.
Grandmother Eileen sucked in a breath. “A waitress? You really are just like your grandfather.” After a few seconds of dramatically breathing into the receiver, she continued, “I want to meet her. I expect you tomorrow for dinner.”
So soon? She would have to instruct Sherry as to every detail. Her whole plan depended on Sherry’s performance. The thought made her dizzy. “As you wish.”
A hum escaped her grandmother. “And now tell me about this nonsense with Danielle. Bill told me she bought a bar a few months back and not a coffee bar. And why do you of all people care about this? That is below your standing.”
Maybe this once she might have agreed with her grandmother, but it was the right thing to do. Especially given the fact that she didn’t really have a choice where to work at this point. And working seemed to be a must for this plan to succeed. “You didn’t want to give me a job at Fielding Inc., so what did you expect me to do?” Trying to sound sincere, she added, “I just couldn’t stand sitting around doing nothing any longer.”
Breathing filtered through the line. Then Grandmother Eileen said, “However, I don’t think that a bar is the right place for you.”
“It’s a coffee bar, Grandmother.”
“Whatever that is. But you doing anything productive at all is an improvement, I guess.”
That was what she had to say to this? How could she have ever thought her grandmother would give her a position at Fielding Inc.? What do you care? It’s not like you want to spend your days in a stuffy office anyway.
“So, until tomorrow then.”
“Yes, Grandmother.” Madison spoke to herself, as Grandmother Eileen had already hung up.
Chapter 10
»Krgh…phoo…krgh…phoo…«
Sherry buried her face deep into her pillow.
»Krgh…phoo…krgh…phoo…«
Argh! Slowly, she peeked from under the pillow to the bedside clock on the nightstand. A few minutes after three a.m.
»Krgh…phoo…krgh…phoo…«
How could a single human being snore so loudly? Sherry stared over to Rita Mae, who turned from her back to Sherry’s side.
A noise somewhere between a grunting and taking a breath rattled through the darkness before the snoring continued in its obnoxious rhythm.
Sherry hid her head under the pillow once more to drown out the noise. To no avail. God knew, she was used to not getting much sleep, but with how this was going, she wasn’t about to get any.
»Krgh…phoo…krgh…phoo…«
Enough! Sherry sat up, grabbed her pillow and the extra blanket lying on the foot of the bed, and fled Rita Mae’s room. When the door was closed, the silence was heavenly.
But then the muted snoring penetrated through the door. Wow. No wonder, I couldn’t sleep.
Drowsy, she lumbered to the living room and cleared some decorative pillows from the couch. Afterward, she tried to get comfortable—or at least as comfortable as the cold leather couch allowed. Even at five foot six, she had to bend her legs to fit. She would have expected Madison to have a bigger couch.
When she finally found a halfway comfortable position, she marveled at the breathtaking view from the twenty-fifth floor. The lights of the city shone like in a fairytale.
But this was anything but a fairytale. If someone would have told her that she’d be pretending to be the partner of some rich lesbian brat one day, she probably would have laughed about such a bad joke.
But here she was. And laughing was about the last thing on her mind.
“Mom?”
Sherry sat up. “I’m here.”
His favorite teddy pressed to his chest, Jake shuffled toward her.
“Why are you awake, baby?”
Jake let go of the teddy with one hand and rubbed his eyes with the back of this hand. “Can’t sleep.” When he reached the couch, he crawled under Sherry’s blanket into her open arms. “And then I wanted to come to you, but I was afraid that the monster would get me if I did.”
She caressed his soft hair. “Monster?”
He pointed at Rita Mae’s room.
Sherry tried to hold back laughter but failed. “Honey, that is no monster. Rita Mae’s snoring. That’s all.”
Jake kept silent.
The couch was much too small for them both, but Sherry lay down, taking him with her anyway. A little cuddling was exactly what she needed.
Jake snuggled closer and sighed.
“But you’ve got to go back to bed in a bit, okay?” Sherry asked after a while.
Deep breathing was the answer.
“Aww, my baby.” She kissed his hair.
A few minutes later, she pulled herself up and carried the still-sleeping joy of her life to his room. Careful not to wake Jake, she placed him and his teddy in the bed and covered him. After giving him a kiss on the forehead, she went to the door. There she allowed herself the pleasure of watching him sleep. The little nightlight close to the bed revealed his relaxed features.
When her eyelids became heavy, she forced herself to leave. If she wanted to get any sleep at all tonight, she had to get back to the couch.
Tomorrow—or, to be more precise, later today—they would drive over to Madison’s grandmother’s house. That Madison had waited to tell her this until they said good night made her even more nervous.
Madison had made it clear how important the upcoming evening was. And it was true: for Madison this was merely about a crazy amount of money, but for Sherry this was about everything. Only if she played her role convincingly would Jake keep his room for a while. And only if she proved to be a good actress would he be able to go to a good elementary school and be medically taken care of.
She straightened, determination surging through her. She would do whatever it took to pretend that Madison was the love of her life.
Hopefully, she could be convincing. There was no plan B.
Not for the first time, Madison glanced over to Sherry in the passenger seat and took in her bare knees and slightly windblown hair. The boutique she had called last minute had done an excellent job. From her description alone, they had found the perfect dress for Sherry and delivered it within two hours.
The huge tip had been well deserved. It fitted splendidly, not only in size but also in style.
For the probably fiftieth time, Sherry tugged on the shiny red cocktail dress. “Is this really the right outfit for dinner at your grandmother’s?”
Madison rolled her eyes. “And if you ask me a thousand times, the answer will still be yes. Why do you think I’m wearing a cocktail dress too?”
She hated wearing dresses, but Grandmother Eileen insisted that Madison wear one when she came for dinner. But for once she couldn’t be angry about it. After all, Sherry filled this dress out quite nicely. Okay, maybe a few pounds more would have been nice, even if just on her chest. A smile tugged on her lips. The hairstylist and the makeup artist had truly outdone themselves. Sherry was breathtaking tonight.
Hold your horses. Yes, she’s cleaning up nicely. So what? You’re constantly surrounded by beautiful women and manage not to rant about it, so calm the hell down here.
After an uncomfortably long silence, Sherry said, “You look, um, nice.”
“You think so?”
Sherry shifted on her seat but focused on her folded hands.
She didn’t get Sherry. And why was she even trying to? Madison never cared much about what others were thinking.
They neared her grandmother’s property. Time for a last-minute reminder. “Just to be sure you haven’t forgotten anythi—”
“I haven’t,” Sherry interrupted her. “I’ll try to hold your hand or establish some other contact with you at all times. I’ll let you do all the talking, and when I don’t know the answer to a question, I defer to you or compliment the interior.”
“Exactly. And whatever you do, don’t—”
“Start any kind of political conversation.”
Madison let her tense breath escape. “Okay. I think we’re good to go.” She stopped the car in front of the iron gate, which in its closed position displayed a huge F in the middle. Pressing the button to the intercom, she said her name, even though the security team had without a doubt identified her already through the camera.
“Good evening, Ms. Fielding,” a male voice filtered through the speaker before the gate opened.
“Why does your grandmother have such extensive security?”
“Paranoia.” Madison drove up the driveway to the main building. “I don’t think she really needs it. But if you listen to her talk, you’d think there’re criminals everywhere, waiting to rob her.” She drove around the huge ugly fountain in front of the stairs that led to the main entrance and stopped.
Jonathan hurried toward them.
Madison unclipped her seat belt. “Just go with the flow and do what I tell you. Then all will be fine. Oh, and stay seated. I’ll open the door for you.”
Sherry nodded. She gave a series of blinks and her hands were trembling.
Oh my. If she didn’t get a hold of her nerves soon, all would be lost.
Jonathan opened her door. “Good evening, Ms. Fielding.”
“Good evening.” She stood and sprinted around the car before Sherry could forget her instruction and open the door herself. With more force than necessary, she yanked open the passenger door and extended her hand for Sherry to take.
For a moment Sherry stared at her hand as if it were on fire, then she laid her clammy hand in Madison’s and got out of the car. “Thanks.”
Out of the corner of her eye Madison saw a movement at the curtain of the parlor. Time to get this show on the road. She closed the door and whispered into Sherry’s ear, “My grandmother is watching us. Whatever you do, don’t flinch or tense. I’ll nibble on your neck now and then I’m gonna kiss you.”
Sherry swallowed. “Okay.”
Madison laid her hands on Sherry’s small hips and pulled her closer. Slowly, so as not to scare Sherry, she started nibbling on her neck. Her grandmother had seen her making out with many other women, so it was the most logical thing to do now.
With her lips close to Sherry’s neck, Madison smelled the enticing fragrance of vanilla.
Sherry tensed. But at the same time Sherry’s hands wandered from Madison’s shoulders to her neck, as if she wanted to feel Madison even closer.
Good. She’s game. Madison grazed her lips over the soft skin and felt the thundering pulse under it. After a few seconds, she backed off ever so slightly to look at Sherry.
Sherry’s expression was serious and…determined? With just a slight hesitation, she pulled Madison’s head down until their lips were touching.
Madison’s eyes fell closed.
Sherry’s lips were warm, soft, and trembling.
A spark surged through Madison’s body, and she pulled Sherry even closer until their breasts touched. Madison moaned. Sherry smelled and felt so damn good. It took all of Madison’s willpower not to open her mouth.
Sherry moved her lips against Madison’s but didn’t make any sound.
When her legs became wobbly, Madison pulled back. With her mouth agape, she stared at Sherry, who avoided her gaze.
Madison didn’t understand anything anymore. How was it possible that a fake kiss with this little waitress made her so breathless?
Madison jumped at the sound of Jonathan driving off with the car. She had totally forgotten where she was.
Sherry took a step back. Her artificial smile was in stark contrast to her eyes, which shone a luminous dark green and reminded Madison of a forest in the middle of a storm. An ice-cold hand took Madison’s and held on to it more tightly than necessary. “Sh-shall we?”
Madison couldn’t get a word out, so she merely nodded.
Side by side, they climbed the stairs to the main entrance.
Before Madison could ring the bell or Sherry could think about what had just happened, the door was opened by a woman in her mid-thirties wearing a maid’s uniform.
“Good evening, Ms. Fielding.”
“Hello, Sarah,” Madison said with a flirtatious smile on her face.
The maid blushed while stepping backward.
If Sherry wasn’t so busy trying to ignore her still-tingling lips and her rapidly beating heart, she probably would have questioned their strange interaction.
“There you are,” an elderly woman, carrying a half-full glass of brown liquid, exclaimed while strutting toward them in her long brown gown. “You may leave,” she told the maid without sparing her a glance.
“Good evening, Grandmother.” Madison’s greeting had been far warmer when speaking to the maid, who had now disappeared into an adjoining room.
Mrs. Fielding gave first Madison, then Sherry a derogatory glance. “So that’s her,” she said instead of a greeting.
Madison smiled, but it seemed forced. “Yeah. That is my Sherry.” She gave her grandmother a brief kiss on the cheek.
Nodding, to acknowledge Madison’s words or as an approval of the gesture, Mrs. Fielding stepped back. “Let’s go the parlor, so that you can introduce us properly. It’s not appropriate to do this in the entryway as if you want me to buy something from you on the doorstep.”
Madison entered the house, pulling Sherry with her. “Of course.”
Sherry glanced between Madison and Mrs. Fielding. Was it normal for them to talk about someone else as if they weren’t there? Confusion gave way to awe when she entered the huge entrance hall. An enormous golden chandelier hung from the high ceiling. Double doors led to other rooms on both sides. Stairs, looking like something straight out of Gone with the Wind, led to the first floor.
Madison squeezed her hand, and Sherry tore her gaze away from the detailed ornaments on the banister. “You coming, honey?”
Sherry forced a smile at the endearment and allowed Madison to lead her to the adjoining room, which was also huge and had high ceilings. How could anybody feel at home in a place like this? And what the hell was up with Mrs. Fielding? Compared to her, Madison was downright friendly and relaxed. That thought almost caused her to giggle, but she bit her lip to suppress any sound.
Mrs. Fielding looked like a much older version of Madison. Her hair was gray, but her eyes were the same piercing blue as Madison’s and their posture was similar.
Sherry had thought Madison’s bearing to be arrogant, but hers was nothing compared to her grandmother, who behaved like a queen.
“She’ll offer us scotch in a moment,” Madison whispered into her ear, causing a tickling there. “Accept. She hates people who don’t drink with her.”
“But I don’t drink alcohol,” Sherry whispered back.
Madison’s eyes widened.
Mrs. Fielding stopped in front of three couches in a half-circle facing a chimney. She sat down on one couch beside the chimney and pointed to the opposite one. “Sit. Would you like to join me for a scotch?”
Mrs. Fielding hadn’t addressed Sherry even once, but that didn’t bother Sherry as much as the thought that she was going to have to drink alcohol. Madison should have told her earlier. The smell of alcohol alone left her feeling nauseous. And for good reason.
“Yes, please.” Madison sat down on the appointed couch and pulled Sherry down with her.
Sherry lost her equilibrium. Flailing with both arms, she just managed to avoid landing in Madison’s lap. Instead, she landed awkwardly next to her.
Mrs. Fielding took her time to sip her scotch and fixed them both with a cool glance.
From somewhere behind them, the man who had greeted them outside appeared with a silver tray in his hands. Two glasses, both containing two fingers of scotch, were on it.
Madison took both glasses and handed one to Sherry.
Reluctantly, Sherry took it. The stinging smell pierced her nose. It took all her self-control to keep her face neutral.
“What was your name again?” Mrs. Fielding asked, addressing her for the first time. “Sheryl?”
“Sherry Miller, ma’am.”
Instead of standing up and coming closer to offer her hand, the elderly woman just tilted her head. “Eileen Fielding. But you know that already, of course.” She looked around as if searching for something.
Maybe her manners? This thought caused a smirk she couldn’t suppress.
“Dinner will be served soon, so I’ll make this quick,” Mrs. Fielding said.
Madison’s hold on hers tightened, but her passive expression hadn’t changed.
“Sheryl…”
“Sherry.”
“Whatever. I’m sorry to tell you this, but just a few days ago I found Madison after a rampant night of partying with a woman she had obviously spend the night wi—”
“That’s a lie!” Madison said forcefully.
“Is it? Do you honestly mean to tell me that you didn’t have sex with that young girl who I met in the entrance of your utterly trashed apartment?”
Madison gulped down half of her scotch.
This was going from bad to worse. “I know,” Sherry heard herself say.
Madison and Mrs. Fielding stared at her.
“Y-you know about it?”
“Yeah,” Sherry said. “Madison told me about it. But that was before we decided to settle down as a family.”
“But that was just last week!” Mrs. Fielding’s eyes became slits, and she leaned back. “What a coincidence,” she said in a conversational voice. “Here I go telling Madison she has to grow up or I will disinherit her, and just a few days later she shows up with a fine little family at her side.”
Madison drained the rest of the glass.
Oh God, she’s found us out. No, she couldn’t and wouldn’t accept that. They hadn’t lost yet. “How can you insinuate Madison would do such a horrible thing?” Sherry said in a hopefully believable outraged voice.
