Mad Love: Madison Read online

  “Oh, speaking of which,” Derek said, “you had a visitor today while you were out.”

  “Who was it?” she asked setting aside the gift card box.

  “He wouldn’t leave his name but he definitely wanted to see you.”

  Madison’s eyebrows went up. “Did he say why he wouldn’t give you his name?”

  “No.” Derek scowled as he ran a hand through his brown hair. His nose wrinkled slightly as a look of distaste crossed his face. “There was something weird about him. He was acting kind of strange.”

  “What did he want?” Becca asked.

  “He wouldn’t tell me that either.” Derek’s frown grew deeper. “To tell you the truth, I kind of got this funny feeling about him.”

  “Why?” Madison asked. “What did he do?”

  “He kept looking around like he was trying to case the place.”

  “Case the place?” Becca asked with an amused grin. “You’ve been hanging around Ethan too much.”

  Derek shook his head. “No, it wasn’t my imagination. I had to stop him from going around my desk toward your office. It was only after I told him that I was going to call security that he left.”

  Madison and Becca exchanged uneasy glances. “What did this guy look like?” Madison asked.

  “I guess he’s in his forties and about five feet ten or eleven. He’s balding…oh, and he has a cleft chin.”

  Recognizing the description, Madison asked, “Did he have black horn rimmed glasses?”

  “Yeah,” Derek said with a nod, “and a chipped front tooth too.”

  Madison pursed her lips together. “Paul Harris. One of my client’s soon to be ex-husband.”

  “Wonderful,” Becca said with a grimace. “He’s probably just realized she’s not coming back and has decided to take out his frustration on you.”

  “Lucky me.” Madison held out her hand. “Give me another present.”

  Becca stood up and with a grunt, picked up a large package, professionally wrapped with shiny green wrapping paper and a large red bow.

  Madison raised her eyebrows at the size of the gift. “Nice, and who is this from?” She plucked the birthday card out from underneath the ribbon. “Oh, it’s from Keith,” she said answering her own question. “What in the world did he give me?” She turned to look over her shoulder. “Is he still here?”

  Becca craned her neck. “I think so. I saw him hitting on one of the waitress a few minutes ago.”

  “How was he doing?” Madison asked.

  “Horribly,” Becca said. “If you ask me, he’s still smarting from his fiancée leaving him.”

  Madison set the box to the side. “I didn’t know he was engaged.”

  “Neither did we,” Derek said.

  “He told us about it over lunch the other day,” Becca said. “She left him for another guy. She’s convinced he’s in love with someone here at work.”

  Madison’s brow furrowed. Other than occasionally visiting with either she or Becca, Keith spent most of his time locked in his office. “Who would he be in love with here?”

  Derek held up his hand. “He swore it wasn’t true.”

  Becca’s eyes lit up as she leaned closer to Madison. Dropping her voice to a whisper, she said. “I’ve got a great idea.”

  “No,” Madison said quickly.

  “You haven’t even heard it yet,” Becca complained with a slight whine.

  “I’m not interested in Keith. Don’t get me wrong, he’s very sweet but—”

  Becca made a face. “I wasn’t going to set him up with you.”

  Madison’s mouth snapped shut. “Oh, then who?”

  “My friend Elaine.” Becca tapped her fingers together. “I just have to figure out how to get them together.” She glanced at the package. “Aren’t you going to open it?”

  “I’ll wait until he comes by.” Madison dragged the brown box closer. Reaching inside, she felt along the bottom until her hand came into contact with three envelopes.

  “What do we have here?” she asked as she ripped each of the envelopes open in succession, revealing three standard happy birthday cards and three gift cards, one from each of the partners.

  “Well, you’re certainly cashing in,” Becca said. “Anything good?”

  Madison thumbed through the cards. “Coffee, coffee, and more coffee.”

  “What every highly stressed attorney needs. Caffeine.” Becca leaned forward and reached her hand into the box. “One more.” She handed Madison another present, this one wrapped in black wrapping paper and a black silk ribbon edged in scarlet.

  “Oh goody,” Madison said taking the box. “I was wondering when the over the hill jokes would start.” She turned it over. “No note. I’m surprised this one isn’t from you,” she said to Becca. “Seems like your sense of humor.”

  Becca shook her head. “I would never tell someone younger than me that they were over the hill because that’s simply not funny.”

  “I thought they didn’t start doing over the hill type of things until you’re forty,” Derek said.

  Becca glanced inside the box. “Some people like celebrating another marking of a decade by reminding everyone how much closer they are to death. I remember getting an over the hill card on my twentieth birthday.”

  Madison plucked at the black ribbon. “I wonder who it’s from. Everyone else in the office has been accounted for.”

  Becca shook her head. “Not everyone,” she said lightly.

  “It’s not from Ethan,” Madison said. “I doubt he even knows it’s my birthday.”

  Derek tipped the cardboard box over. “Here’s the card. It was stuck in the corner of the box,” he said holding up a black envelope.

  “I sense a theme,” Madison said taking the envelope and ripping it open. She pulled out a card showing a woman lying in her sick bed with angels hovering over her and demons hiding underneath, reaching up to grab hold of her hand and pull her down. She chuckled over the macabre scene before opening the card and reading the message printed inside.

  Your time here is almost up, but don’t worry, it’s not like you won’t know anyone where you’re going. Happy Birthday, Madison!

  CHAPTER TWO

  Madison passed the card to Becca.

  “Nice,” Becca said with an expressive roll of her eyes. “Someone has a sense of humor. An over the hill joke and a lawyer joke in one.”

  Madison shivered as she tore open the black wrapping. “It’s ghoulish.” Her fingers hesitated slightly, once the wrapping and the ribbon were dispensed with. Shrugging off a sudden sense of dread at what might be lurking inside the plain white box, she lifted the lid and looked inside.

  Becca leaned over, excited to see what was inside. “Well,” she said, when she couldn’t lean close enough, “what is it?”

  “It’s a corsage with a black rose.” Madison reached inside to pick the corsage up, hissing in pain as something sharp pricked her finger. She jerked her hand back up and looked down at the spot of blood pooling at the tip of her index finger.

  Becca looked at her in concern. “What happened?”

  “One of the thorns from the rose nicked me,” Madison said as she pressed her fingers together. Being more careful than before, she gently picked the corsage up and laid it on the table, pushing it as far away from her as she could.

  Becca looked at her friend curiously for a second before chuckling. “What’s wrong, Madison? It’s just a joke.”

  “If it’s just a joke, why didn’t they sign their name to the card?”

  “Because it’s a bad joke.” Becca gestured towards the corsage. “What are you going to do with it?”

  “What would I do with a black corsage?” Madison asked.

  Becca reached over, took the corsage, and pinned it to her black cocktail dress. “Waste not, want not.” She looked up past Madison’s shoulder and waved her hand. “Here comes Keith. You can finally open your last gift. I can’t wait to see what he got for you.”

  M
adison turned her head to look as Keith Callahan, one of the new associates at their firm, pulled a chair from another table and placed it between her and Derek. He spun it around on one leg before straddling it. She watched in amusement as Derek turned his head to the side and rolled his eyes.

  “I’m glad you’re still here,” Keith said, leaning over the back of the chair. “I thought you were leaving early to pick up your sister.”

  Madison leaned closer to Becca, blinking at the strong mixture of alcohol and cologne that suddenly permeated the air around the table. “I’ve been waiting for you,” she said politely. “I didn’t want to open my gift until you got here.”

  A broad, happy grin spread across his face. It was a nice change, Madison thought, returning his smile with one of her own. Keith, while friendly, wasn’t exactly what one would refer to as emotive person. Thinking back, Madison struggled to remember a time that he actually smiled; at least not a true genuine smile. His face typically bounced between a smirk and a scowl. Smiles were definitely unusual.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I got hung up talking with Judge Mebane.” He picked up the gift cards lying on the table, his dark brown eyes lighting up in amusement. “My, my, my, what carefully thought out gifts,” his deep baritone voice said with an amused chuckle.

  “It’s the thought that counts,” Madison said.

  “Well, I have no doubt they spent hours agonizing over what to give you,” he said, bitterness creeping into his voice.

  “Considering the size of the Christmas bonus they just gave me,” Madison said, “I think I can live with the gift cards. Besides, it looks like I won’t have to buy coffee for another year.”

  “Whatever.” He reached forward and pulled his gift closer to her. “My turn.”

  Madison pushed her chair back and stood up in order to rip open the wrapping surrounding the large box. In a hurry to see what was inside, she tossed it to the side.

  A gasp parted her lips as she stared down at an intricately carved cuckoo clock. “How did you know I wanted one of these?” she asked running her fingers over the face of the clock.

  Keith tapped a finger against his forehead. “I pay attention,” he said. “I remembered the way you were oohing and ahhing over the thing after work a couple of weeks ago and decided it would make a good gift.”

  Still holding on to the box, Madison sat back down. “Oh, Keith, but it’s so expensive. I can’t—”

  He held up his hand. “Don’t tell me you can’t accept it. You’d hurt my feelings if you did. It’s just a simple little gift between co-workers.”

  “Simple?” Madison said, remembering how much the clock had cost.

  “I’m not a starving student anymore. I can afford to spend a little money now and again on my friends.”

  Smiling, Madison reached over and hugged him. “Thank you so much.” She pulled back quickly as she felt his hands brush against her back before sliding to her waist. “I, um, I don’t know what to say,” she said moving a little further away.

  “Don’t say anything,” Keith said.

  “By the way,” Becca said, “my birthday is in February and I like jewelry. Just so you know.”

  “Mine’s October.” Derek said brightly. “I could use a set of golf clubs.”

  Keith barely acknowledged them as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. It vibrated slightly as he stared down at it. His face darkened as he tapped at the screen. “I’ve got to get going.”

  “Is everything okay?” Madison asked in concern.

  “Yeah, just family drama. It’s that time of the season,” he said with a sad expression on his face. “I’ll see all of you Monday.”

  “Bye, Keith,” Madison said as he strode through the room to the door. “I wonder what that was about?”

  “He hardly ever talks about his family,” Becca said. “I wonder if he has anyone to spend Christmas with.”

  “I think so,” Derek said. “He mentioned something about going to Louisville. I asked if he was spending the holiday with anyone special and he nodded before asking me what was taking so long with that memo he assigned me.”

  “Nice,” Becca said with a tight-lipped smile. “Do you have plans for Christmas?”

  “Eating a lot of turkey,” Derek said. “My aunt puts out this nice big spread every year and she invites the whole town. What about you two? Are either of you going anywhere special?”

  “Home with Bill and the kids,” Becca responded.

  “Sarah and I are having a low key Christmas in Winchester with my grandpa,” Madison answered. “Our other sisters can’t make it this year, so we’ll have a bigger celebration sometime in January.”

  Derek grinned. “Sarah will like that. Last time I saw her she was all excited about Christmas.”

  Becca raised an eyebrow, her eyes gleaming. “When did you see her?”

  “I went by the pub where she works the other day for lunch,” he said. “I only got to talk to her for a minute. They certainly keep her hopping over there.”

  “That can’t be good for her leg,” Becca said. “How is she doing by the way?”

  Madison waved her hand. “Her leg is almost fully healed.”

  Derek opened his mouth to say something but hesitated for a moment before asking, “I don’t mean to pry or anything but…was she in a car accident or something?”

  “Some creep mugged her six months ago,” Madison said softly.

  Derek winced. “I’m so sorry. Did they catch the guy?”

  Becca shook her head.

  Derek gestured to his face. “Is that how she got the…” He hesitated a moment, seeming unwilling to say the word scar.

  Madison nodded. “He shattered her leg in three places and slashed her face before running off with her bag.”

  “When I first met her, she said that she used to be a ballerina,” he said. “Is that why she quit dancing?”

  “She had no choice,” Madison said. “Her leg was too badly damaged.”

  Derek licked his lips as a myriad of expressions crossed his expressive baby face.

  “She’s lucky she can walk,” Becca said.

  “It’s not as bad as that,” Madison responded. “After that last surgery, she’s up and running around like usual. She just can’t dance as well as she used to.”

  “I can’t believe someone would do that,” Derek said, with anger coloring his voice. “How much did they even get?”

  “Five dollars, workout clothes, wallet, keys, and a pair of ballet slippers.”

  “That’s not all.” Becca looked like she wanted to say more, but then hesitated. She looked over at Derek. “Could you do me a favor? I’m dying of thirst. Could you get me more punch, please?”

  He nodded as he picked up her glass. Madison shook her head as he shifted his attention to her. Once he was gone, Becca leaned over. “I forgot to tell you. Sarah stopped by today while you were in court.”

  “She didn’t tell me that. What did she want?”

  “I don’t know. She said it wasn’t important, but what I saw was.”

  “What did you see?”

  “I saw sparks.”

  Madison arched an eyebrow. “Did she stick her finger in electrical socket?”

  “I’m serious. Derek is in love. Every time she comes by to see you, he comes bounding out of his little cubicle and for the first time, I noticed her giving him a little look too. She was awfully friendly to him.”

  “It’s Sarah,” Madison said dismissively, “she’s friendly to everyone.”

  “Yeah, but this time, I’m pretty sure I saw something there. She had a definite gleam in her eyes that wasn’t there before.”

  “She had a slight fever this morning. It was making her eyes appear even more bright and shiny than usual.”

  Becca gave Madison an exasperated look. “Fever does not make a person’s eyes bright and shiny, but I have a feeling you know that. You should be doing more to get them together. They’re both young. He’s twenty-t
hree. She’s…” She looked at Madison with raised eyebrows. “She’s…”

  “Twenty-two.”

  “She’s twenty-two. They’re both attractive and most importantly, they’re both single.”

  “These things take time. Besides, what more can I do? I’ve introduced them. I’ve talked to her about him. Sarah has a lot on her mind.”

  “Such as?”

  “Healing, for one.”

  “You said her leg is almost healed.”

  “She’s lost her way. Her whole life was turned upside down.”

  “Which is why I’m hoping Derek can help get her living again. Derek is definitely all for it.” Becca turned thoughtful. “She hasn’t been on a date since she was attacked, has she?”

  “No. To tell you the truth, I think she’s scared.”

  “All the more reason for her to get out there. If she doesn’t venture out once in a while—”

  “She’s not a recluse. She goes out all the time. To work, shopping, visiting friends… It’s just that she seems preoccupied by something.”

  “Well, let’s see if we can’t get her preoccupied by Derek.”

  “For God’s sake, Becca, you’re an attorney; primarily a divorce attorney. How can you be this obsessed with romance?”

  “It takes practice. I have to keep the flame alive by meddling in everyone else’s personal business. Plus, I look at it as job security. As long as people are getting married, they’re getting divorced. And as long as they are getting divorced, they’re going to need us.” She raised her head and looked toward the door. “Speaking of romance.”

  Madison turned as Ethan walked into the room. Her breath caught in her throat the same as it did when she first met him. She watched as he looked around the room, only stopping when his gaze found her. She had to force herself not to raise her arms and motion him to her like an excited cheerleader. It didn’t really seem as though it was necessary. As soon as he locked his gaze on her, he started heading her way.

  Look away, she ordered herself. Act cool. Nonchalant.

  It was no use. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t break his gaze. Her fingers nervously played with the diamond pendant around her neck as he approached, his eyes never once leaving her face.