Page 13 of Heartless
“Maddie, honey,” my mother cut into my thoughts. “You should come to my spin class.”
All heads turned. Sylvia Hartley wasn’t famous for wanting to spend time with her children.
“Why?” I asked, making no attempt to hide my suspicion.
“There’s a man who trains at my gym. We’ve talked a few times. He’s a charmer. A realtor. A bit older than you. Early forties.”
“That’s not a bit. It’s an entire decade older, Mom.”
She ignored me. “He’s still attractive and keeps himself in shape. You’d never give him a day over thirty-five.”
“And why should I care about his looks?” I asked, already dreading the answer.
“He’s a great catch.”
“He’s a stranger.”
“He’s not a stranger, honey. I told you. We work out at the same gym.” She paused as if waiting for this logic to sink in. When it didn’t, she pushed forward. “You should come and meet him. You two would hit it off, I’m sure of it.”
“He’s forty and still single. There must be a reason.”
“You can’t afford to be picky.”
“Oh, really? And why is that?”
“Most of the eligible men your age are married, Madison. You’re in the dating pool of forty-year-old bachelors and divorcees. Divorced men often already have children and might not want more, but a man who’s never been married would.”
If I wanted a husband or children, that might mean something to me. Instead of explaining this to her, I tried steering the conversation in another direction.
“Maybe we should focus on the next wedding in the family, and on the grandkids who actually exist, instead of my hypothetical children.”
“What do you mean, hypothetical?” Her tone sharpened.
“Forget it. Let’s just eat.”
Lucas shifted the conversation back to Daphne. And while I wasn’t sure if it was intentional, I was grateful for the distraction. I ate in silence, half-wondering if I should just spend my savings paying for hotel rooms for the sake of my sanity.
When everyone finished eating, I helped clear the table. I’d just returned from the kitchen, hands empty, when Clementine pushed Daphne into my arms. “I need to run to the bathroom,” she said, leaving me with her child. A child I carefully held at arm’s length. My four-hundred-dollar shirt didn’t pair well with baby vomit.
My niece seemed to sense my reluctance to cuddle, and soon she was screaming at the top of her lungs. Tyler appeared seconds later, arms extended. “Here, hand her over.” Daphne immediately quieted down as he held her close to his chest. “Even she knows you’re evil.”
I knew he was joking, but I wasn’t in the mood. “This child is spoiled. What happened to self-soothing?”
He raised an eyebrow, unamused.
A few minutes later, Clem returned from the bathroom, pausing when she saw Tyler holding Daphne instead of me. She gave me a look that screamed judgment, but I wasn’t about to let her attitude slide. “I’m not the babysitting type, Clem. You know that.” Ignoring the looks that followed, I excused myself and checked my phone for messages.
Nothing.
Apparently, spending years focusing on work meant no texts or calls outside of the professional world. And even those had all but dried up lately. Annie Foster’s wedding was all I got.
Good riddance. People are stupid anyway.
Chapter Five
Parker
Two days had passed since Madison Hartley reappeared in my life and I still hadn’t come up with a way to make her and Annie Foster find another wedding venue.
