Take A Chance On Me (21 page)

And hope had snuck in.

He skipped another rock into the river, watching the smooth gray pebble bounce over the water’s surface before sinking to the bottom below.

This time, losing everything would be worse. Back in Chicago, he’d had a lifestyle but not a life. Sure, people had surrounded him, but no one had
known
him, not even Sara. Yes, they’d had sex and passion, but despite the stories they’d told each other, they’d never really been in love. It had been a game. They’d been two bored, unfulfilled people who had needed the challenge and lure of the forbidden to add excitement to their lives. She’d never crawled inside him.

Not like Maddie.

“Here, I brought you a drink.” Maddie’s soft voice came from behind him as though he’d conjured her, blowing over him like a soft summer breeze—a calm, soothing presence in the increasing chaos of his life.

He peered at her over his shoulder and his breath lodged in his chest. Deep red hair blazed like licks of fire in the early evening sun as she smiled down at him. Unnamed emotions pressed in the corner of his mind, wanting to take hold and be named.

He resisted. It was too much, too fast.

She pushed the pale glass of lemonade toward him. “I spiked it with vodka.”

He laughed, surprised he still could. “Thanks, Princess.

She sat next to him on the blanket, and he took the drink, downing half of it in one gulp. It was sweet and tart, with a hint of a kick lurking underneath, just like Maddie.

She dropped her head onto his shoulder and her warm little body snuggled close.

“Wait.” Mitch placed the glass carefully on the grass and lay down. With a tug on her wrist, he pulled her next to him.

The scent of her honey-and-almond shampoo wafted up as her long hair brushed over his skin. She nuzzled close, sliding one smooth thigh over his. His fingers trailed a path over her arms, and he smiled in pleasure when goose bumps broke over her skin, despite the heat. He took a slow breath and the knot that had been coiled tight in his chest unraveled as her small frame curled close. He kept up his rhythmic stroking. Up and down, over and over, until the turbulence eased from his mind. She burrowed more deeply, tracing a path over his stomach. She said nothing, asked no questions and shot no probing glances. In her silence, in her complete understanding of what he needed, another barrier crumbled from between them.

A bone-deep satisfaction and an odd sort of contentment loosened his muscles. His body relaxed. With Maddie lying beside him under the trees, the late afternoon sun peeking through the leaves, and the sound of the river trickling downstream, his eyelids grew heavy and closed.

Some time later, he drifted back to consciousness to find her propped on one elbow, watching him. He blinked, bringing her into crisp focus. “Did I fall asleep?”

She nodded. “You were out like a light.”

He dragged a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” she said, trailing a finger over his jaw. “I could watch you for hours.”

Warmed by the sun and dazed from his nap, he felt lazy, like he never wanted to move again. He yawned. “I’m sure you’d get bored eventually, Princess.”

“No way. You’re an artist’s dream. I hope you don’t mind.” She reached behind her and picked up a piece of paper, which she held out to him.

He took the sheet and was instantly awake.

To his embarrassment, his throat grew so tight he was unable to speak. She’d drawn him in pencil. His lashes brushed his cheeks as he’d slept. The crisp, strong lines accentuated his jaw and bone structure. Somehow, even in black and white with shades of gray, she’d managed to show the cast of the sun on his body, making it look as if he were lit from above. It was uncanny. Her talent was unmistakable.

He cleared the lump sitting behind his Adam’s apple. “Is this how you see me?”

She traced a path over the scrolls of his tattoo. “I see you as you really are.”

He shook his head, unable to think of anything profound. “You are incredibly gifted.”

She plucked the paper from his fingers and scrutinized it with narrowed eyes. “I can see the flaws.”

“I can’t.”

She put the paper down. “It’s the first thing I’ve drawn since my dad died. I’m rusty.”

“I’m honored.” The words were grossly inadequate; he was in awe. “But why are you wasting your talent?”

She frowned, shrugging. “I haven’t wanted to.”

He brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “Why?”

“I guess after the accident,” she said, her chin trembling enough to tell him that she held back tears, “I didn’t feel like I deserved it. Quitting was my penance. Silly, I know, but I was a teenager. I think my rationale was that he loved that about me, so it was only right it died with him.”

“But why would you think he’d want you to abandon something you’re so good at?” He’d never met her father, but he’d learned enough about him from Maddie to know that he’d never want his child to waste such a gift.

She swallowed, and her eyes closed momentarily before her lashes lifted once again. “He’s dead because of me.”

“Maddie, it was a car accident. It wasn’t your fault.”

“I was driving.”

Shit. He should have guessed. All that guilt, all the bending over backward to make everyone happy. It made perfect sense, but he’d never put two and two together.

The first tear slid down her cheek. “I had my learner’s permit, and I wanted to drive so badly. He was working. He didn’t want to go. But I wouldn’t stop.” She gave a broken sob. “I knew if I kept asking I’d get my way.”

Mitch moved to take her in his arms, but she jerked back, shaking her head. “No.”

He lay back down and didn’t speak.

She drew in a shaky breath. “Sometimes I wake up with the sound of the dangling keys echoing in my ears. The memory of how I waved them in front of his face burned in my brain. I still can see his exact expression as he put down his pen, sighed, and got up from his desk. Do you have any idea how many times I’ve played that scene in my head? How many times I wished I’d taken no for an answer?”

Her shoulders shook as she began to cry in earnest. Mitch wanted desperately to comfort her, but he didn’t reach for her again.

She brushed away the tears with an angry swipe. “I wanted to go to the store to get lip gloss. It was the only makeup my mom let me wear. I had a date with Steve that night. I was driving and laughing. I didn’t like the song on the radio, and I went to change the station. He warned me to pay attention, but I kept flipping. He got mad and yelled at me, pushing my hand away. I looked down, only for a second, but it was too late. I ran a stop sign and a truck plowed into us. Next thing I knew, I was waking up in a hospital room and my whole life had changed.”

She sat up, her movements angry and jerky. “And you know what the worst part of it was?”

“What?” Mitch said, feeling sick to his stomach for what she’d suffered.

“Everyone felt sorry for me. So sorry. God, I hated it. Hated them. They looked at me with pity in their eyes and each time I died a bit more inside. I’d ruined their lives. I changed them forever. And
they
feel sorry for
me
.”

“Maddie,” Mitch said, putting his palm over her knee and rubbing.

She buried her head in her hands. “They never say it, never let on, but every time they look at me they have to think about what I did to them. They have to hate me.”

“No.” He’d never met her family, but of this he was sure. Their closeness and unity was clear in the way she talked about them. He knew estranged or strained families, and the Donovans weren’t like them. “They don’t, I promise you.”

She looked at him, her eyes watery and her nose red. “I hate me. Why wouldn’t they hate me too?”

Not caring if she protested, he picked her up and put her on his lap, wrapping his arms around her. He swayed back and forth, the gentle rocking motion meant to soothe away a pain that he couldn’t even begin to erase. “Maddie, you were a kid. Every teenager has worn their parent down. The only difference is that you had horrific, irreversible consequences. I’m sorry—I wish there was something I could do to change that for you—but since I can’t, I can only promise your dad would hate for you to blame yourself like this. For you to let it eat you up inside.”

“I know that here.” She pointed to her head before placing her hand over her heart. “But it’s hard to believe here.”

He lifted her chin and brushed a soft kiss against her lips. “What can I do to make you believe?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “But I’m working on it.”

“I’m sorry, Maddie.”

“I miss him.” She rested her cheek on his shoulder.

He rubbed slow circles over her back. “I know you do.”

She quieted, relaxing into his hold. “You help.”

“I’m glad,” he said. “What else can I do?”

She raised her watery gaze to meet his, and her eyes were so impossibly green, so full of something he didn’t want to name, that he sucked in a breath. “Fight.”

Chapter Twenty

In the dead of night, Mitch stared out the bedroom window. It had been a grueling day. He should be exhausted, but sleep eluded him. He dragged his fingers roughly through his hair and peered over his shoulder at the woman sleeping in his bed. The full moon streamed in, casting Maddie in its white, iridescent light. With her hair fanning out onto the pillow, she looked serene, so peaceful that it was hard to believe she’d cried in his arms until she’d had no more tears left.

Embracing the storm of her emotions that had been pent up since her father’s death had seemed to release something inside her. When she’d emerged on the other side, her expression had held a softness that hadn’t been there before. But her eyes held the biggest change: they’d been filled with a steely, determined certainty. Not only an elemental understanding of the path ahead of her, but a desire to walk it.

He’d known what needed to be done, what he could no longer ignore. He turned away from the image Maddie presented to stare once again out the window.

It was time to put hope away.

Chapter Twenty-One

The following morning, Maddie strolled into the kitchen feeling like a new woman. Something had happened last night, something years of therapy hadn’t been able to accomplish: She was finally free.

“Good morning, dear.” Charlotte’s cool voice sounded from behind her.

Maddie almost jumped out of her skin, then spun around. “Mrs. Riley.”

“Please, call me Charlotte.” The older woman was already dressed immaculately in a white linen, button-down top complete with pearls. “Mitchell left to do some errands. He’ll be back shortly.”

Maddie tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and straightened. There was something about Mitch’s mother that inspired good posture.

Charlotte pointed to one of the empty chairs. “Please sit.” The words were quiet and unassuming, but the subtle command lurked right under the surface. Like mother, like son.

Maddie didn’t even think to protest. She slid into the seat across from the older woman. An uncomfortable silence filled the room as they looked at each other.

Charlotte traced a path around her coffee cup and offered Maddie a small, polite smile.

Figuring that was an invitation to speak, she cleared her throat. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, thank you.” The older woman raised a cup to her lips and took a dainty sip, pinky raised. Impressive.

Maddie pressed her lips together, desperate to fill the space with small talk, but her mind was a complete blank. All she could think about were the elephants in the room. Finally, she gave up and opted for sincere. “Are you doing okay, Mrs. Riley? Is there anything I can do?”

“Charlotte.” Cool, golden eyes the exact same shade as her son’s met hers. “You mean, for a woman whose family is in ruins?”

Maddie swallowed. So they were jumping off into the deep end. “Yes.”

“I’m as well as can be expected. I had a difficult time sleeping, and this house is filled with so many memories of a happier time. I miss my mother. She was wonderful.”

“Mitch has told me a lot about her and the summers he spent here as a child.”

“A grandmother isn’t supposed to have favorites and she’d never admit it to a soul, but she had a special soft spot for Mitchell.”

Maddie raised her eyes to the heavens and said a prayer of thanks to Mitch’s grandmother. She blinked, surprised. It was the first prayer of gratitude she’d given in a long time.

Realizing Charlotte watched her, she said, “I’m sorry for your loss. She sounds like a very special woman.”

“Thank you, dear,” Charlotte said, folding her hands neatly in front of her. Her expression shifted from sorrow to scrutiny. “May I ask how you met my son?”

Maddie had no intention of divulging the whole story. Simplicity was best. “I met him at the bar.”

“What were you doing in that dreadful place?”

This part was easy, and Maddie relaxed fractionally. “I was lost. My car broke down and the bar was the first place I came to.”

Charlotte nodded. “So you’re not from around here?”

“No, I’m from Chicago.”

“I see. What brought you here?” Somehow the older woman managed to make her questions sound like polite chitchat instead of the interrogation they really were.

The truth screamed in her head. She shrugged. “I ran away from home.”

A small smile stole onto Charlotte’s lips. “Aren’t you a little old for that?”

“Yes, but sometimes you have no choice but to run for your own sanity.” With the similarities too obvious to ignore, Maddie let the words hang in the air.

The smile died, and Charlotte’s face once again clouded over. “You must think we’re a dreadful lot.”

“No, not at all.” Maddie didn’t know what to think of the Rileys, but who was she to judge? Things weren’t always as straightforward as they seemed.

“I’m a horrible mother,” Charlotte said, almost absently.

“I don’t even have a good excuse. I got used to the politeness. I got used to being on guard, until I was cut off from my own children. My mother would be so disappointed. She was married to my father for sixty years and never let that world change her.”

Maddie softened toward the other woman. She was clearly hurting. “You don’t have to explain yourself. It’s not like we plan these things out.”

Charlotte shook her head and pressed her fingertips to her lips as though trying to press the words back in. “It’s ironic. I married Nathaniel because he was nothing like the boys I grew up with.”

Not knowing what to say, Maddie kept quiet.

Charlotte’s hands fluttered to her neck, where she sought out the pearls and twisted. The fine lines, etched with strain and worry, made her look older than she’d appeared yesterday. Suddenly, as though realizing she was mangling the necklace, she released the beads and her hands disappeared under the table. “We met in college. He was a scholarship student and filled with all these grand ideas. He was all raw energy and vitality, and he swept me off my feet.”

Maddie nodded. “I’ve seen him speak. He’s very compelling.”

“Yes, he is.” With a sly glance, Charlotte’s lips quirked. “Mitchell is the spitting image of his father.”

A surprised laugh bubbled from Maddie, and a hot flush crawled up her throat. “Yes, well, that does explain a lot.”

“Indeed,” Charlotte said properly.

Maddie grinned, but before she could say anything else, the back door opened and Mitch walked in. His gaze shifted back and forth, narrowing on his mother before resting on Maddie. “Morning, Princess.”

Despite the tone, the fine hairs raised on the back of her neck. His eyes, normally warm when they looked at her, were as flat as dull pennies.

He nodded at Charlotte. “Good morning. Did you sleep well?”

“Fine, thank you.” A mask of formal politeness slid over Charlotte, leaving behind no trace of the woman Maddie had been talking to.

Mitch propped his hips against the counter and crossed his arms. “Since you’re both here, we need to talk about the situation. I’ve given this a lot of thought and see only one option: you cannot pay her.”

“But—” Charlotte began, but Mitch held up his hand.

“Everyone knows blackmailers come back. The best thing to do is let the chips fall where they may.”

Horrified, Maddie could only stare at him. “There has to be another way.”

“There’s not,” Mitch said, with no inflection in his voice.

“No, Mitchell,” Charlotte said, shaking her head. “You’ll be disbarred.”

“Not your problem.”

“It is. You’re in this situation because of him.”

Mitch’s jaw hardened, turning stubborn. “No. I’m in this situation because I was arrogant and stupid. Now it’s time to pay.”

Charlotte’s chin began a fine tremble. “The price is too high.”

“That’s the thing about mistakes: you never really know what they’ll cost you.” His gaze flickered to Maddie.

The parallels weren’t lost on her. Still, his mother was right: there had to be another way, one they hadn’t thought of yet.

Before she could speak, Charlotte stood and turned toward her son. “You were never convicted, you never even went to trial, and there’s no reason you can’t go back to practicing.”

“The point is moot,” Mitch said. “It’s too late.”

“I’m paying.” Charlotte’s voice took on a stubborn edge. “I can afford it.”

“You are not.” Mitch straightened to his full six-three as though he could force his will by sheer size.

No. This was wrong. All wrong. He was supposed to fight for his future, not give up.

Maddie snapped out of her stunned silence and turned to Mitch’s mother. “Could I have a moment alone with Mitch, please?”

Charlotte frowned and pointed to Mitch. “This is nonnegotiable.”

Mitch’s face turned stony. “I’ll expose her myself if I have to.”

Mother and son squared off, and Maddie placed a hand on Charlotte’s arm. “Just let me talk to him.”

“All right, dear.” Charlotte gave a slight nod, then turned and strode gracefully from the room.

His posture a rigid, inflexible line, Mitch scowled. “I leave you alone for five minutes and you’ve already gone over to her side?”

Maddie’s head snapped back at his accusatory tone. “No, I’m on your side. But I don’t see the point in being rash.”

“There’s no other way.”

“How do you know? You don’t even have all the facts.”

“What facts, Maddie?” His hands clenched, and his black tattoo rippled as his muscles flexed. “She has to have proof. Only four people besides myself know about the evidence. Thomas is dead. My parents and sister sure as hell aren’t going to set the record straight.”

“What about the guy who hacked the system?”

Mitch shook his head. “No.”

“How do you know?” Maddie demanded, her frustration level rising.

“Because I got the guy’s brother off on a fraud charge.”

“But—”

“It’s not him, Maddie.” It was plainly not open to discussion.

Maddie’s shoulder slumped. “So you’re giving up?”

“No.” His arms crossed again and it felt like the shut-out it was. “I’m getting out from under their thumb. I don’t want to live like this anymore, Maddie.”

“Isn’t throwing away any chance of a career to spite your father still living by his rules?”

His jaw tightened, and Maddie realized that he contained a healthy dose of rage. “What career?”

If she were smart, she’d back down. He was being unreasonable and not thinking things through. But today she was more brave than smart. “What about Luke’s case? I don’t think the people of Revival care about your past as much as you do. You could have a future here.”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. “I gave the files back to Tommy this morning.”

“You did what?” Maddie stood up from the table, suddenly furious.

“I’ve made my decision and that’s final.” He drew a familiar set of keys out of the pocket of his jeans and held them out to her.

Her heart slammed against her ribs as a steady, irate temper flared inside her. “What are those?”

“Your car keys.”

It was like a slap in the face.

When she didn’t reach out and take them, he tossed them on the counter, the metal making a too-loud clatter against the white and blue ceramic.

“I paid Tommy two grand to stall the repairs, and to buy Mary Beth’s silence I had to take Luke’s case.”

She clenched her hands into fists. “Why?”

His jaw jutted, making him look impossibly stubborn. “I wanted to keep you here and I wasn’t above using underhanded tactics to get what I wanted.”

“That’s not,” she said through gritted teeth, “what I meant. Why are you doing this now?”

His expression hardened, and he looked remote. Unreachable. “I’m doing the right thing.”

Anger, the white-hot kind she’d shied away from for years, filled her. But this time, instead of repressing, she unleashed the fury. “You coward!”

“I am not being a coward,” he said, his voice rising for the first time.

“What the hell do you call it?”

“Setting the record straight.”

She stared at him, unable to process the turn of events. She met his stormy gaze. “Liar.”

“I’m coming clean with the truth, Maddie.” His tone was a rough scrape over her nerves.

“That’s bullshit!” she yelled, taking two steps to stand in front of him. Even though he towered over her, she jabbed him in the chest with her finger. “You’re so scared to take a risk, so sure you’re going to get screwed over, that you’d rather set up the failure yourself than roll the dice.”

He grabbed her wrist and wrenched it away. “You don’t know the first thing about it.”

“Then why did you pick right now to give me those keys?”

“Because, goddamn it.” His golden eyes flashed. “I don’t want you to stay because you’ve got no fucking choice.”

All of her anger deflated. She said softly, “Mitch.”

He dropped her hand and stepped away, moving around her to walk to the back door. He peered over his shoulder, his golden eyes distant and resigned. “I’ve got things to take care of. I’ll be back later.”

With that, he walked out.

He was shutting her out, both literally and figuratively.

She stood in the empty kitchen, staring at the closed door. His desertion signaled everything wrong with her life and his. But she wasn’t going back. Never again was she going to curl into a ball and roll over.

Screw that.

If Mitch Riley wouldn’t fight for himself, she’d damn well do it for him.