Contract for Love, page 25
Sherry winked back and returned to Madison’s grandmother.
As soon as Mrs. Fielding took the glass from Sherry, she took a healthy swig and hummed approvingly. “You don’t know Madison as I do.”
“You’re right. We know two different Madisons. And mine has changed a lot. Especially over the past months. And for the better, I might add. If you would only take the time to look more closely, you would see that too.” Sherry gestured for Mrs. Fielding to take a seat on the couch.
With as much distance as possible, they both sat down.
“I don’t think so,” Mrs. Fielding said.
Laughter came from the kitchen, and Madison’s voice could be heard above the others.
“See that?” Mrs. Fielding wrinkled her nose. “Not that you would have any idea about those things, but do you honestly think that Madison could ever take responsibility for anybody?” She didn’t give Sherry the chance to answer because she kept on talking. “This bar she co-owns is managed by Danielle, and with you and the boy, she also doesn’t take any responsibility. It’s all just fun and games to her. I’m sorry that I have to be so blunt, but you are nothing more than a distraction to her, and she will lose interest in you soon.”
It was Sherry’s job to try painting Madison in a better light. But even if Madison weren’t paying her, she would have still felt the urge to defend her. Madison had changed, and even though Sherry didn’t know how far these changes really went, Madison wasn’t the person that Mrs. Fielding was describing anymore. “You’re wrong. Madison manages the Archer with Danielle. And she’s taking on more and more responsibility in all departments. She’s taking her job very seriously.”
Mrs. Fielding opened her mouth, but this time Sherry didn’t give her the chance to badmouth Madison. “She’s affectionate and caring with Jake and very important to him.” She said it to make her point, but it was all true. “She’s changed. Having a family has changed her. She hasn’t been out with her old friends for weeks or behaved irresponsibly in any way.”
“If you have to praise her for not doing something stupid, it shows where we stand.” Despite her words, Mrs. Fielding observed Madison thoughtfully.
I’m getting through to her. She shifted closer to Mrs. Fielding. “Do you think that someone can change?”
“You seem to think so.”
“I do. And if you give your granddaughter a chance, you’ll see what I mean.”
Mrs. Fielding drained the rest of her scotch.
“Something isn’t right,” Madison whispered into Sherry’s ear, when they sat down at the dinner table. Since her grandmother had entered the apartment, something had seemed off. Neither the word aggressive nor the word emotional seemed to fit.
“I know what you mean,” Sherry whispered back. “She seems almost…melancholic.”
Pleasant goose bumps formed on her arms as Sherry breathed into her ear. Get a grip! She had gotten so good at ignoring the effect Sherry had on her. At least that’s what she told herself many times a day. Then she became aware of Sherry’s words. Melancholic? That description would never have crossed her mind.
“Stop whispering like two teenagers,” Grandmother Eileen said. “What kind of role model are you for the boy?” She rolled her eyes. “It’s time to say grace.”
Jake looked from Sherry to Rita Mae, who took a seat beside him.
Grandmother Eileen stared at Rita Mae. “You’re eating with us at the table?”
“She’s part of the family,” Sherry said.
“Madison, you won’t allow your kitchen help to—”
“That’s exactly what I intend to do, Grandmother. We always eat together, and I don’t plan to change that today.”
Rita Mae stood. “Maybe it would be better if I—”
“No.” Madison stood as well. “Please sit down again. Grandmother, you’re our guest. We are…” She took a deep breath and tried to sound at least halfway honest when she continued. “…glad to have you with us tonight. But that doesn’t change the fact that Rita Mae is as welcome at this table as you are or me.”
Grandmother Eileen pressed her lips together and held out her hands to say grace.
Rita Mae was still standing, obviously unsure what to do.
“Please sit down,” Sherry said, and to Jake, “We’ll hold hands now to thank God for our dinner.”
Jake frowned. “But Rita Mae prepared dinner. Shouldn’t we thank her?”
Madison burst out laughing. She tried to hide it with a cough. “You’re right, but if not for God, we wouldn’t have had the money to pay for—”
“What has that to do with God? Mom and you work to—”
“Enough,” Grandmother Eileen snarled. “Good grace, this child doesn’t know about the most basic things.” She leaned over to him. “Before we eat, we have to say grace to thank God. That’s just how it is.”
Jake’s expression showed his confusion.
Madison would have bet a thousand bucks that he would ask more questions, but instead he just took Madison’s and Rita Mae’s hands and waited to see what would happen next.
With a polite nod, Madison signaled Grandmother Eileen that she could say grace before taking Sherry’s warm hand in hers.
“God our Father, Lord, and Savior, we thank you for this meal you brought to our table and that Madison has managed not to shame her family name in recent weeks.”
Sherry squeezed Madison’s hand as if trying to tell her that she should ignore this part.
Grandmother Eileen never said grace without a dig in her direction. That would never change and almost didn’t hurt anymore. Madison squeezed back to let Sherry know she had nothing to worry about.
“And may Sally rest in peace.”
Madison’s head snapped up.
“Amen.”
All but Madison repeated the word.
Rita Mae stood and held the knife out for Madison to cut the turkey.
Madison took the knife but stared at her grandmother. “Did something happen to Aunt Sally?”
Grandmother Eileen took her napkin from the table and spread it across her lap. As if talking about the weather, she said, “She passed away last Saturday.”
Madison had placed the knife on the roasted meat to start carving it. Now she slipped and just cut of a small slice of crust. “W-what?”
“It was her heart. It simply…stopped.”
Speechless, Madison slumped back onto her chair.
She and Aunt Sally hadn’t seen each other often. Grandmother Eileen didn’t like to be reminded that she had come from a family of miners. And in contrast to her, Aunt Sally hadn’t married into money but had married the owner of an old-fashioned general store where she’d worked side by side with her husband until their retirement.
Sherry caressed Madison’s back.
Grandmother Eileen took a bowl of mashed potatoes. “Don’t pretend to be shocked. We knew she was sick.” Despite her matter-of-fact attitude, her voice was shaking.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” After her father’s funeral, it had been Aunt Sally who had held her, not Grandmother Eileen. Maybe she would have taken Madison in, but her husband had had health issues back then, so she had been forced to stay with her grandmother.
At least that’s what Aunt Sally had told her. But the truth was that if she really had been worried about Madison, she wouldn’t have just left her with the witch or at least would have called more often than once a year on Madison’s birthday.
“You know now.” Grandmother Eileen heaped some vegetables onto her plate before pointing to the meat. “Are you planning to carve the turkey, or shall your kitchen help do it?”
God, Grandmother Eileen was the living example of who she didn’t want to be. But in the emotional chaos one unwanted thought crept through: Maybe I am already like her.
“Thanks for coming,” Madison said.
Grandmother Eileen half-turned to Sherry. “Would you excuse us?”
What now? Did she finally want to talk about Aunt Sally?
“Of course.” Sherry gave Madison a peck on the cheek. “I’ll be in the living room.”
As soon as they were alone, Grandmother Eileen said, “On Monday, there’ll be a board meeting at Fielding Inc. and I have decided that you will accompany me.”
Madison’s jaw dropped. “Y-you want me to accompany you to the board meeting?”
“That’s what I said, didn’t I?” Her gaze drilled into her. “I’m giving you this one chance. Don’t ruin it as you have ruined everything else in your life.”
Ignoring the jibe, Madison nodded. “Thank you. You can count on me.”
“We’ll see.”
When her grandmother had left, Madison went back to the living room in a daze.
In the past, she would have called Phil to tell him the news, but even though she missed him, he wouldn’t have cared much about this. But he was gone from her life now, and a part of her couldn’t be sorry about it.
“Everything okay?” Sherry asked with a worried expression on her face.
It was like in a dream. Her whole plan seemed to be working. Cheering, she ran toward Sherry and whirled her around.
After a few seconds, Sherry started laughing. “Madison, what are you doing? Let go of me!” But she didn’t sound as if that was really what she wanted.
Madison set Sherry down gently and looked into her confused yet amused face. Sherry cared about Madison and what happened to her.
A smile curled Sherry’s irresistible lips, and before Madison could think about it or hold herself back, she leaned down and—
“Me too!” Jake tugged on Madison’s pants.
Sherry blinked and stepped back from her.
Jake tugged again until she broke eye contact with Sherry. “I want a spin too.”
Madison picked him up and whirled him around a couple of times.
He laughed, and Madison had to grin. This innocent encounter had cleared her head. Once she’d set him down, she said, “My grandmother wants me to join her on Monday at the firm. She wants to take me to one of the board meetings.”
“That’s fantastic.” Sherry didn’t look at her. “I’m sure we’ll find someone who can take over for you.”
“Oh.” How could she have forgotten the Archer?
“Don’t worry.” Sherry sat on the couch. “We’ll be fine.”
Rita Mae took a seat beside her. “Sherry’s right. Good luck. That’s great news.”
“Thanks.” Now all she could think about was how much she would miss working with Sherry on Monday.
“What’s a board meeting?” Jake asked.
Sherry looked up and smiled at Madison.
God, how beautiful she was and how damn good it had felt to hold her moments ago, to feel her sexy body so close, and… Stop it! Madison cleared her throat and pointed toward Sherry and Rita Mae. “They’ll tell you. I, um, have to pee.” As fast as her legs allowed, she hurried to her bathroom. She needed a shower.
A cold one.
Chapter 28
Madison followed Grandmother Eileen through the halls of Fielding Inc.’s headquarters.
In her black pencil skirt and conservative high heels, she felt like a dressed-up doll. Maybe the high-necked white blouse, black blazer, string of pearls, and chignon, which Grandmother Eileen had insisted on, were mostly to blame for this.
“Sit down at the end of the table and take notes.”
“Yes, Grandmother.”
Glancing over her shoulder, Grandmother Eileen said, “And for heaven’s sake, stop fidgeting.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Holding her briefcase close to her side, Madison raised her chin. She was a Fielding. And just because it was her first time at the firm didn’t mean that this wouldn’t be all hers one day.
At least if I play my cards right.
They reached mahogany double doors, and Grandmother Eileen opened them without knocking.
Twelve men were sitting around an oval table, all conversation instantly ceasing the instant she entered the room and stared at them.
Madison gulped.
A man with barely any hair on his shining head and a belly in front of him as if he was nine months pregnant jumped up. “Mrs. Fielding. Good to see you. We, um, were just about to—”
Grandmother Eileen held up her hand. “I’m not blind. I can see that you were about to start without me.” She took a seat at the head of the table and signaled Madison with a twirl of her wrist to sit at the other end.
But there was no chair.
“Burton, get my granddaughter a chair. Why haven’t you taken care of it already? You agreed to her participation on Friday, have you forgotten already?”
Everybody stared at Madison.
I won’t blush, I won’t blush, I won’t—
“Of course not, Mrs. Fielding.” The pregnant-looking man pushed his chair to the end of the table for Madison to sit before rushing off at a speed that belied his proportions. “Cecil has forgotten, it seems. I’ll get it immediately.”
Madison sat down the same moment her grandmother did and followed her example of getting a notebook and a pen out of her briefcase.
“Let’s begin with agenda item one,” Grandmother Eileen said.
Madison really tried, but after an hour of boring data analysis and discussion, her thoughts began to drift. Really amazing that every man in the room seemed to have the same tailor. Their suits looked cloned.
When a haggard tall man stood, talking about some negotiations he had led, Madison’s boredom was replaced by amusement. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down with every word.
She had to bite her tongue not to start laughing about it. Instead she allowed her mind to wander to Sherry. She had to be at the Archer right now. It was really a sight how Sherry’s hips swayed just slightly while she walked from table to table. And most of the time, her lips sported an enchanting smile while doing so. At the last second, Madison suppressed a sigh.
When one of the executive committee members glanced at her, she focused on her notebook and wrote down the first thing said.
“This results in a five-percent growth overall in our transatlantic trading volume,” the guy in his mid-forties concluded before sitting down to the applause of his colleagues.
Holding back a yawn, Madison clapped too.
“Thank you, Richard,” Grandmother Eileen said. “I propose we move on to our next agenda item, which is—”
Whatever her grandmother said next was lost on her. Would Sherry be able to finish up in time today? If so, they might be able to watch a movie together tonight. When Sherry was tired, she sometimes leaned her head on Madison’s shoulder, and one time she had even fallen asleep after Madison had wrapped an arm around her.
Even though Madison still had a hard time grasping why she’d started to enjoy physical contact recently—at least with Sherry and Jake—she was beginning to understand why some people liked to cuddle.
Watching Jake and Sherry caused such a profound feeling in her, but she just couldn’t name it. Sadness? Jealousy? Or…longing? As if! I have to stop thinking like that. I never liked to cuddle, so why should that change suddenly?
“Thank you, gentlemen.” Grandmother Eileen stood and went to the door, clearly expecting Madison to follow.
Madison shoved her notebook and pen into her briefcase and scurried after her.
“To my office.” Grandmother Eileen sashayed ahead.
Dammit! She’s realized that I wasn’t listening most of the time. “Yes, Grandmother.”
Walking through a waiting room, where Grandmother Eileen’s assistant Tiffany was sitting behind a desk, they entered the huge corner office.
Tiffany ended the call she had been on and followed them swiftly. “Good morning, Mrs. Fielding.” Turning back to Madison, she winked.
Madison winked back. The one-night stand with her three or four years ago had been great. Tiffany had been approaching forty back then and had kept Madison up all night. It was probably true that women reached their sexual peak around forty.
Tiffany’s gaze lingered a moment longer on her, then she focused back on Grandmother Eileen. “Is there anything I can bring you, ma’am?”
“Scotch on the rocks.”
The assistant nodded as if it were the most normal thing in the world to have a drink at eleven in the morning. She looked at Madison next.
“Nothing for me, thanks.”
Tiffany smiled, but it seemed insecure when she left the office. Was she surprised that Madison had thanked her? She hadn’t been that impolite with people assisting or serving her in the past, had she?
When the door to the outer office had been closed, Grandmother Eileen sat down in her gigantic executive chair and pointed to the seat on the other side of the huge desk. “Sit.”
Madison did.
Grandmother Eileen leaned back in her chair and scrutinized Madison with a piercing stare.
God, how much she hated it when her grandmother did that. But experience had taught her to just wait until Grandmother Eileen felt she’d played this power game long enough and was finally ready to talk.
There was a knock at the door when Tiffany returned with a glass filled with ice cubes and scotch almost to the rim.
Grandmother Eileen accepted it without thanking her and took a long sip.
When they were alone, she asked, “What did you think about Trevor Simmens’s proposal?”
What proposal and who was this guy? It doesn’t matter. They were all talking about the same crap. Trying her luck, she asked, “You mean the expansion plans?”
Surprise flashed across Grandmother Eileen’s features. “So you were listening after all.” She took another sip of her scotch and hummed approvingly. “Yeah, I meant the opening of the manufacturing plant in China.”
