For You (The Shore Book 2) (32 page)

Issy called two days before saying her parents and brothers were coming for a visit to celebrate her birthday. Her twentieth birthday. Exactly twenty years to the day she had given birth to a little girl and gave her away. And Issy’s family wanted to meet her and include Madison in the celebration.
 

She should have been excited. Or at the very least, she should have been honored they wanted to include her. Instead, she was a nervous wreck. Since she got the phone call from Issy, her mind had been firing questions.

Will they judge me for getting pregnant so young?

What will they think about Issy finding me?

Madison took a deep breath as she opened the door to the restaurant. Declan hadn’t been mentioned during the conversation with Issy, and Madison wasn’t entirely sure it was appropriate to bring him with to meet this family. Standing in the foyer, she wished she had thought about it a little more.

The place was busy with families filling nearly all the tables. She wasn’t typically a brunch-on-Sunday-morning kind of person, but it appeared the place was full of them.

From the back corner, Madison saw a head pop up over the crowd. Issy smiled and waved, letting her know where they were seated. Taking another deep breath, she maneuvered the tables to the far corner of the restaurant where Issy sat with four others.

It was really Issy’s mom, Hannah, that Madison worried about most. How would she react to meeting the biological mother of her child? What kinds of questions would she have? What words would she offer?
 

Madison could handle the dad. Guys were easy.
 

As she approached the table, Madison saw an older version of the woman she had seen in the picture in Ellie’s cottage stand and turn towards her. She was a beautiful woman who looked to be in her late forties with dark brown hair that had slivers of gray popping out.
 

“Mom and Dad, I’d like you to meet Madison Quinn.” Issy turned toward Madison with an excited smile. “Madison, these are my parents, Tom and Hannah Montgomery.”

“It’s very nice to meet you.” Hannah extended her hand and Madison accepted it.
 

“It’s nice to meet you, too.” Madison smiled and had the same exchange with Tom.

“And these two guys,” Issy pointed to the twins at the table, “are Adam and Zach.”
 

They were both handsome with dark brown hair. Not identical twins, one seemed to take after Tom while the other more closely resembled Hannah.

Both of the young men stood, offering Madison their hand in greeting. Adam seemed ambivalent, while Zach watched her with a scrutinizing eye.

After the handshakes and pleasantries had concluded, Madison went to sit in the seat next to Issy when Hannah spoke up. “Madison, I know you just got here, but would you mind joining me in the courtyard for a few minutes?” She had remained standing and started walking to the end of the table.

“Sure.”

Madison looked at Issy and smiled tentatively, and Issy returned the smile. She didn’t appear to be worried, which gave Madison some comfort.

She followed Hannah through the door and into the courtyard. There were a few small tables in the space, but it was mostly filled with greenery. The flowers and colors were amazing, but Madison could only think about what Hannah was going to say.

They stood quietly next to each other, looking at the flowers until Hannah began to talk.

“I can’t imagine what this must be like for you, meeting the child you gave away and now meeting the family that adopted her.”

Madison looked to Hannah and saw she was still looking at the flowers. There wasn’t a lot of warmth in her tone, it just kind of … was.
 

“I never expected to see her again. Or meet all of you. It’s kind of surreal, actually.”

“I suppose I can understand that.” She turned to face Madison. “Issy told us how she identified you. The tattoo you have on your body. It matched the image Ellie gave us at the hospital that day.”

Madison nodded.

“I’m not going to mince words here, Madison. I have some pretty big concerns about you. I realize Issy’s technically an adult, but she’s also my little girl. The little girl I raised and protected. I don’t know you. I don’t know the kind of people you surround yourself with. I don’t know if you have any intentions to do my daughter harm.”

Those words, “my daughter,” stung Madison. She had been having a hard time adjusting to the idea of her daughter being in her life since the day Issy knocked on her door, but now this lady was questioning her intentions?

“Of course I don’t want to harm your daughter! That was the reason I put her up for adoption – so she would have a family that would love her and care for her in a way I knew I couldn’t.

“I was sixteen when she was born. Sixteen. Can you imagine Issy having a nearly four-year-old daughter right now? How she would handle that? I knew there was no way, not with the circumstances I was in, that I could raise her the way she needed,
and deserved
, to be raised. The only intention I’ve ever had for Issy was to protect her to the best of my ability.”

Madison couldn’t help the defensiveness she was feeling. It was bubbling in her gut and she knew she needed to control it or it would take over.

“But you need to remember, Issy found me. She sought me out, not the other way around. I’m just following her lead.”

Hannah scrutinized Madison’s expressions, her stance, taking in every detail she could to determine whether or not this stranger was sincere.

There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that she was.

“Good.” A smile finally appeared on Hannah’s lips and warmth found its way into her tone. “I’m sorry for being so bold, but I wanted to make sure Issy would be okay.”

Madison blinked. “You were testing me?”

“A little, yes.”

“Are you kidding me? Why?”

“Every day since we adopted Issy, I’ve been afraid you would try to come back into her life. You would want your parental rights back and you would take her away from us.”

Madison shook her head. “No, I –“

“I know that now.” Hannah reached out and put her hand on Madison’s arm. “We know.” Taking a deep breath and lowering her hand to her side, Hannah continued. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have started our conversation the way I did.”

Madison looked at her again, unsure what to say.
 

“What I really want to say is: thank you. You gave us a beautiful gift when you put Issy up for adoption. She made our family whole. Complete. There is no way we could ever repay you for that. Simply thanking you isn’t enough.”

Madison blinked again. It never occurred to her that someone would thank her for giving her child away. She was the one who needed to thank Tom and Hannah, not the other way around.

“No, thank you. You and Tom took her in. Adam and Zach, too. You gave her a safe place to grow up in, to learn in, to love in. I could never repay you for that.”

“How about this.” Hannah put her hand on Madison’s shoulder. “Let’s both consider ourselves lucky and thankful.”

“Deal.” Madison smiled and covered Hannah’s hand with her own. “There is one thing I want you to know.”

“What’s that?”

“While I’m really looking forward to getting to know Issy and spending time with her,
you
are her mom. I don’t want you to think I’m trying to swoop in and take over.”

 
“I appreciate you saying that.” Hannah smiled. “I have loved Issy since the first time she was placed in my arms. And I know my daughter.
Our
daughter. She has enough love in her heart for both of us. I’m not worried. Not at all.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As the ladies made their way back to the table, Madison caught a look between Tom and Hannah. He sent the silent question, wanting to know if the stranger Issy had brought to their table was okay. Hannah returned the look with a smile and Madison could see Tom’s shoulders visibly relax.
 

“Now that the two of you have worked out the kinks, can we celebrate my birthday?” Issy had a smile a mile wide on her face. She was elated that her moms,
both
of them, were there for her birthday.

“Yes, honey.” Hannah laughed at her daughter’s excitement.

Tom reached down next to his chair and grabbed a gift big that was overflowing with tissue paper. Issy reached for it and gently removed the tissue. When she finally found the treasure inside, her eyes grew big.

“The new iPhone?” She reached into the bag and pulled out the box.

“We know your phone has seen better days, so we thought we’d upgrade it for you. We can get it activated this afternoon.” Hannah smiled at Issy as she got up and gave her parents both a hug to say thank you.

As she sat back in her chair, Issy looked to her brothers in anticipation. “Well?”

Zach reached under the placemat and pulled out an envelope that he handed to Issy.

“Ooh. I wonder what it could be!” Issy grinned.

Madison looked between the boys and Issy and wondered what was happening. There seemed to be more going on.

“It’s a gift card,” Zach explained. He continued when he saw Madison’s confusion. “A long time ago, the three of us decided to stop trying to find the perfect gift and just go with gift cards.”

“Except now it’s a case of finding a truly unique place to get the card from,” Adam finished for him.

“Ahh,” Madison nodded with a smile.

Issy eyed her brothers, trying get a read on where the card could be from. When she gave up, she slid her finger beneath the flap and opened the envelope.

As soon as she saw what was inside, she threw her head back in laughter. “mouth.com? Really?”

Adam and Zach started to laugh and high-fived each other. “Score!”
 

Madison looked at Hannah and chuckled. It was great they had their inside jokes, Madison was just clueless as to what they meant. She could appreciate the closeness they had, and it made her smile that Issy had found that with her family.

Issy saw Madison’s confused expression and explained. “It’s a website for foodies. You can get all sorts of stuff from food subscriptions to bar glasses. These guys also know I suck at cooking, so this is kinda perfect for me.”

“Sounds like it’s a good fit then,” Madison smiled.

Once the laughter had died down from the gifts, everyone picked up their menus so they could make their lunch choices.

“Umm, Issy?” Madison looked to the birthday girl. “You have one more gift.”

Issy looked at Madison. “You didn’t have to get me anything. Just you being here and celebrating with us is more than I could have ever asked for.”
 

Madison smiled as she opened her purse and pulled out a piece of paper than had been rolled and secured with a ribbon. “Happy birthday.”

Issy took the paper and gently untied the ribbon. Carefully, she unrolled the paper and took a moment to study what was on it.
 

“I was completely shocked when you showed up on my doorstep.” Madison smiled as she raised her eyebrows and waited for Issy to look at her. “Twenty years ago, twenty years ago today, I did the hardest thing I’d ever do. I trusted that whoever was going to adopt you would care for you and love you and raise you to be the best person you could be.

“I was fortunate that I was given Ellie to be a guiding light in my life, and my hope was that you, too, would find your person.” Madison looked to Tom, Hannah, Adam and Zach. “Only, you weren’t given one, you were given four.

“I know we’re just getting to know each other. I didn’t really feel like I knew you well enough to get a gift – at least, not one that really meant something. So instead, I wanted to give you this. It’s the drawing I was working on when you rang my doorbell. I wasn’t quite sure what it was going to become then, but after meeting you and talking with you, it sort of took on a life of its own.”

Issy looked back to the picture and ran her fingers over the image. At the top was a lotus bloom. The pedals were different shades of bright pinks and blues, and went from light at the bottom to dark at the top. Beneath the pedals where the bloom started were spring green leaves that doubled as wings for the phoenix incorporated into the stem. Overall it was a simple design that created a huge, colorful impact.

“I love it.” She smiled at Madison.

“It’s going to be my next tattoo.”

“Really?” Issy looked to Madison with excitement. “Would you draw one for me, too? We could get them together.”

Madison wasn’t sure how to respond. Hannah didn’t seem too keen on the idea of Madison having a tattoo when they were talking earlier, so she wasn’t sure how she would feel about her taking Issy to get her own. “I, umm…”
 

“I think that’s a great idea, Issy. You’ve had a hard time deciding what you wanted your first tattoo to be. Maybe Madison could help.”

Madison looked to Hannah in disbelief. She certainly hadn’t expected
that
to be her response.

“I would love to draw something for you.” Madison looked to Issy whose smile had grown even bigger, if that was possible.

Chapter 29

Memorial Day weekend had finally arrived, and looking down to the beach from the deck, it certainly looked like it. There were more people scattered along the surf than Madison had seen in a long time. It helped that it was an absolutely beautiful cloudless day. The temperatures had continued to climb all week, making taking a dip in the cool Atlantic or surrounding oneself with tasty frozen drinks the only plausible options to gain any relief.
 

“How’s it lookin’ out there?” Declan’s voice came from behind her, and soon his arms enveloped her.

“Busy. It seems we all had the same idea for how to beat the heat.”

“Welcome to living at the shore.”
 

Madison noted the smile in his voice. She knew he loved living on the beach, and whether it was full of people or bare for miles, he really didn't care.
 

“When is everyone supposed to get here?”

She felt him move slightly, and soon his lips had found the space on her neck where her curls were barely touching. The shiver that ran down her spine did little to help cool her.