Echoes of Summer (7 page)

Karen took a moment to answer. “You can take it as slow as you need to. Find out what he wants to do so you’ll know where to go from there.”

Madison nodded, and a squeal of joy came through the doorway as Milo spotted her. “Momma!”

She opened her arms and caught him as he climbed onto the couch with her. She snuggled him close, relishing the joy he brought into her life. The unconditional love of a child should be experienced by everyone, and she was glad it had been hers.

She gathered Milo up and handed him the bag of fries. “You can eat these in the car on our way home, okay, buddy?”

Milo’s face lit up, and he ran to get his bag and rushed out the door hollering as he left. “See you tomorrow, Aunt Karen.”

“See ya, kiddo,” Karen hollered back, a huge grin on her face. She looked at Madison. “He cracks me up. Good luck tomorrow. Let me know how it goes.”

Madison nodded and walked out to join Milo, who was bouncing around by the car. “Can I really eat them before we get home? In the car?”

Madison giggled at his enthusiasm. “I think I can trust you to not make a mess. You are getting to be pretty big. I bet you could handle it really easy.”

Milo stood a little straighter, throwing his shoulders back. “I am big. I’ll be a big daddy like Uncle Jason someday.”

Madison’s smile fell just a little. He really did need a father figure. Now if only she knew what kind of relationship Stephen could provide for him, it would make tomorrow’s meeting a lot less intimidating.

Chapter Ten

Stephen had seen Madison for only a moment this morning as she left Mr. Carlson’s office, so he knew she was here, but lunch was still an hour away, and he was dying to talk to her. She hadn’t glared at him as she passed but had given him a sad smile, making him feel like no matter what he did or said today, he wouldn’t come out of this unscathed.

As he looked at the clock, he realized he didn’t know where they were meeting for lunch. And would they eat, or just talk? He pulled out his phone and composed a text, hoping it wouldn’t go unanswered.

Where would you like to meet for lunch?

The reply came back quicker than he expected.

We could go out, bring our client list, and make it a working lunch in addition to the other.

Good idea. How soon are you free to leave?

Her text took longer this time, and he looked at his list of things to do, wondering how much he could put off until tomorrow and what he’d have to stay late to finish.

We could go now if that works.

Stephen stared at the phone, surprised she wasn’t putting him off.

Meet me at the elevator?

Her follow-up text came moments later.

Give me five minutes.

It took him seven minutes to get to the elevator, but Madison met his eyes and smiled softly then pressed the elevator button. When they stepped inside the elevator, he asked, “Do you have a place picked out?”

Madison nodded. “I was thinking of a little sandwich shop a couple blocks down. It’s got good food, and the booths are tucked away and quiet. Plus they won’t mind if we stay awhile and discuss work after we’re done.”

“Sounds perfect,” Stephen said. The elevator reached the lobby floor of the office building, and Stephen waited for Madison to exit first. He caught up to her side, and they walked in silence to the sandwich place. He let her order first to see how it was done then picked out his toppings. She’d already paid for her meal before the kid behind the glass sneeze-guard had finished making his. He sighed in disappointment but paid then joined her in a small booth in the far corner.

She set her sandwich on the table then reached into her purse and pulled out a small, framed photograph and passed it over slowly to him. Stephen reached for it, feeling more nervous than he thought he would. He’d be seeing his son for the first time, and he wished he had a moment to prepare himself.

The kid looking back at him could have been himself when he was little. The eyes were obviously his, but Stephen could see Madison’s features in his face as well. His smile was wide and showed a gap between his front teeth from losing one. The cheeks still looked round, and his eyes sparkled as if the photographer had caught him in a laugh. Stephen’s heart beat harder for a few minutes, and a nervous ball formed in the pit of his stomach.

How could he have missed out on this, and now that he knew of the boy, what was he supposed to do? He wanted to be a part of his life, but how?

***

Madison watched Stephen closely, hoping for a clue to his emotions as he studied the picture of their son. His eyes devoured the photo, but he didn’t speak for the longest time. When he finally pulled his gaze away and looked at her, he swallowed hard before asking, “What’s his name?”

“Milo.”

Stephen’s eyes widened, and he looked back at the boy. “You named him after my grandpa?”

Madison smiled. “Milo was always nice to me. I was sad when he passed away.” Madison looked at the picture Stephen held. “As soon as he was born, something about the way his forehead was all scrunched up reminded me of your grandpa. I thought it would be a good name.”

Stephen nodded but didn’t meet her eyes. She didn’t know if he was happy or upset about him. After talking things over with Karen last night, she didn’t want to assume too much. She needed to find out why he had never contacted her after she’d tried to find him. And what he wanted to do now that he knew.

Stephen rubbed a finger across the glass. “Can I keep this?” He finally looked up and met her eyes. The hope in them gave her a bit of peace.

“Of course.”

Stephen brought the frame closer to him and cradled it in his palms. The sweet motion made her wish he could have held Milo as a baby. He obviously cared, but it had been so long she didn’t have a clue where to begin now.

“Can I meet him?” Stephen asked, the hope in his voice this time was enough to make her sad.

“Yes, but I don’t want to move too fast. He doesn’t know anything about you.”

Stephen frowned. “Nothing?”

Madison tilted her head to the side. “What was I supposed to tell him? His daddy didn’t want anything to do with us, and I had no idea where he was?”

“I had no idea. You never called or anything.”

Madison’s eyes widened in shock, and she struggled to keep the building anger from coming out with her words. “I called your cell phone, and it always went to voicemail. I left messages after the first few times, but you never called back. Your email address you gave me was crap. Kept bouncing back as undeliverable. And no one knew what your physical address was. Your grandparents were gone, and no one in King had contact info for you. We even tried getting ahold of your mom, but nothing. It was obvious after the first six months you didn’t care at all, so I gave up.”

“That’s not true. I cared. I just had something going on and got sidetracked.”

“Sidetracked?” Madison repeated, the anger making its way through anyway. “You disappeared and never ever contacted me either. It’s been eight years, and my parents are still in King. You could have looked for me.” Madison clamped her mouth closed when she realized she’d shouted the last sentence. She knew other people in the restaurant were looking at her, but she didn’t look away from Stephen, whose face had darkened into an angry blush under his dark skin. “It doesn’t matter now. I didn’t need you, and I still don’t. But unfortunately, Milo needs to have some sort of contact with his father. He’s started asking questions, and I know it’s going to get worse the older he gets. So now that you’ve shown up out of the blue, I might as well let you meet your son.”

Stephen kept his mouth shut, and Madison wished he’d say something. When he didn’t for another full minute, she shook her head and turned her attention to her sandwich. She took a huge bite, opened her bag of chips, and shoved one in as well. She took a huge swig of her soda and another bite, not looking at Stephen directly. He had turned his attention back to the photograph then carefully tucked it into his suit jacket pocket.

“I’m sorry,” he finally whispered, and Madison stopped chewing. “I don’t know what else to say. I lost my phone, and when I got it replaced, I got the same number. I should have received those calls. But the week after we got back home, my mom found out she had cancer. She was gone in less than three months.”

Madison swallowed the food in her mouth. “Oh no. I’m so sorry.”

“Me too. It was a shock and kinda stole away all my thoughts. I spent as much time with her as I could, and when she was gone, I wasn’t ready to face normal. By the time I was ready to carry on again, it was time to move to California. My scholarship wasn’t going to allow me to postpone it any longer, so I went.”

He looked at Madison, concern and sorrow in his eyes. “I tried to call you, but the phone was always hung up the second they knew who I was. By the time I was ready to return to life and thought about trying to track you down at school, I felt like it had been too long and that you’d have moved on and been dating while at college yourself.”

Madison shook her head. “Yeah, I didn’t go to college right away.”

Stephen reached across the table and hesitantly took her hand in his. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you, or Milo. I know I can’t change the past, but I’d like to be a part of his future. If you’ll let me.”

The comfort just his hand brought hers made her wish she could find a way to bottle it up for times when she needed support. He was here now. And she would be careful to guard Milo from disappointment, but Stephen was willing to try, and that was enough.

Chapter Eleven

They’d talked long into the afternoon about Milo. It was hard for Stephen to wrap his mind around the idea of being an instant father. He had no idea what to do with a child, but as he looked at the photograph Madison had brought him, he longed to know the kid. He’d missed seven years of his son’s life, and it hurt. He’d thought Madison knew him and understood his past, but when it had come down to it, she had judged him anyway and made the call that he would be an unfit father without giving him a chance to prove her wrong.

He would take things slow, do his best and see where it led, but having his whole existence judged by a kid was intimidating.

Stephen checked his watch again then searched the parking lot for Madison’s little car. She’d thought meeting at the park would be a good idea, and as he watched the kids there with their parents, playing on the equipment, he hoped it would go well.

There was five minutes until six, so she wasn’t late, but he still worried that she might change her mind. He pulled his phone out and checked to see if she’d sent a message about not coming. His phone was blank, so he put it back in his pocket and studied the parking lot, willing her car to arrive.

He scanned the playground, wondering if this was the best bench to sit on. Should he move over to one closer to the bathrooms? Or was it better to stay on the boundary of the bark-filled play area?

Just as he was about to move over to a different bench, her silver car pulled up. He stood to get a better view of the back seat, hoping to catch a glimpse of Milo, but the booster seat must have been on the other side. As Madison got out of the car and opened the back door for Milo, she searched the playground over the top of her car and seemed to stiffen a little when she saw him.

He made her nervous, and he hated that. They had been such good friends each summer, falling easily into conversation, even with a school year between visits. They never needed to call or write while apart. Perhaps that was why it hadn’t seemed odd to him that he hadn’t heard from her at first. But after the way their relationship had turned serious at the beginning of that last summer, he should have made a better effort at contacting her.

Two feet jumped out, and Stephen waited impatiently to see the rest of his boy. As Milo moved away from the car, Madison reached for his hand. She shut the door, revealing his child. Finally.

Madison looked down and answered some question Milo had asked then led him toward Stephen, gently reminding him that they would play on the slides and things after meeting her friend.

Milo nodded but looked longingly at the playground. He turned to face Stephen and slowed down just a little. Stephen didn’t know if the boy was nervous or just shy. What had Madison told him? He tried to take his eyes off Milo to look at his mother, but it was hard to pull his focus away from his son.

When Madison reached the bench, she bent down close to Milo and looked up at Stephen. “Milo, this is my friend, Stephen.”

Stephen’s heart sank. She hadn’t told him who he was. Just a friend felt like such a slap in the face. He didn’t look at Madison, instead focusing on Milo, and the kid smiled.

“Hi.” Milo looked at him then back to his mom. “Can I play now?”

“In a second, sweetie. I wanted us to talk to Stephen for a few minutes, then you can go play.”

Milo frowned then looked at Stephen. “Do you work with my mom?”

Stephen nodded. “Yes.”

“Do you like your job? Mom says it’s hard.”

Stephen glanced at Madison and smiled. “Yes, I like it, but your mom’s right. It is a hard job, but there are fun things too. And your mom is really good at it.”