Page 28 of The Encounter
“Oh, Maddie. I’m so sorry.”
“It gets worse.”
Kailynn waited for her to continue.
Maddie took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I wasn’t the whore his wife was referring to.”
“No way.”
“Yeah. I, apparently, was one of at least five. Who knows how many more.”
Maddie thought back on the night it happened as her insides turned. She wouldn’t have known she was one of many if his wife hadn’t called her Stephanie. Maddie could only stare dumbfounded until Brad appeared in the doorway, his face red with embarrassment. Brad tried to shoo her away, but his wife had insisted on knowing her name.
When Maddie told her, his wife screamed that Maddie made number five and asked how many more there could be. The door slammed in her face before she could hear the answer.
Maddie dropped the cookies and whipped cream in a nearby trashcan and pulled the coat tighter around herself as she made the long trek back to her apartment.
“The next day, I put in my two weeks at my job and booked a flight home.”
Kailynn sighed. “Ugh, Maddie. That’s so rough. I’m sorry.”
“You know, it worked out. I had been back here shortly before for my grandmother’s funeral and to help settle her estate. I didn’t know what to do with the house, and it was sitting empty, so I at least had a place to come home to. You hired me shortly after, and I’m so much happier here in California than I ever was in New York. It was time to leave, and that was the last nail in the coffin.”
Kailynn nodded. “I get that. I had a final nail-in-the-coffin moment with Drew as well.”
Maddie picked at the hem of her sweater. After Brad had burned her, she struggled to trust other people.
“How did you finally decide to let Chase in?”
“You know how all that went. I wasn’t sure I was in it with Chase for the right reasons.”
Maddie thought back to when Kailynn had realized she was in love with Chase. Maddie had helped her get Chase back after their breakup. But from her perspective, Kailynn had always been in love with Chase. She just hadn’t realized it until they were apart.
“But you were smitten with Chase from the beginning, even if you hadn’t realized it. How did you realize you were ready to move on from Drew and that you trusted Chase enough to let him in?”
“Are you scared Jace is going to hurt you?”
Maddie nodded. “I mean, I know he isn’t married. I can Google his name and find that much out. But I have trust issues. Brad was the first guy I had ever really been with, and that went up in flames.”
Kailynn chewed on her lower lip. “Chase was always there for me, always lending an ear. He bent over backwards to make sure I wouldn’t get the raw end of the deal with the company. He gave me no reason not to trust him. Has Jace given you any reason to run away?”
Maddie shook her head.
“Then maybe you should let him in. What’s the worst that can happen?”
“I get a broken heart.”
Kailynn stood and walked over to Maddie and pulled her up before hugging her tightly. “And if that happens, Kayla and I will be here to help you pick up the pieces.”
Maddie squeezed Kailynn back. She was right. This time was different. Maddie had more friends on her side. What could possibly go wrong?
10
“Hiya, boss!”
Jace looked up to find Haley standing in the open doorway. He looked at the clock and realized he daydreamed an hour away. He sat back and crossed his arms.
“Hey, trouble.”
