Taking a Chance (8 page)

“I thought you would never make it down.”

“What do you mean? You sent the text like two minutes ago.”

“Exactly, how could it possibly take you that long to get down here?” He laughed.

“I didn’t realize you were leaving tonight.”

As she stepped toward him, he pulled her close and she met his eyes. “The last thing I want to do is leave.” He leaned down and kissed her quick. “I just wanted to stop by and thank you.”

“For what? Ruining your event? Crying to you? Falling asleep on you? You just let me know what stood out the most and I’ll know to do it again.”

“Maddie, stop being so hard on yourself. You did nothing wrong. I want to thank you for showing me what I’ve been missing these last years. Until last night, I had forgotten how good someone could make me feel.”

He looked hard at her, which stopped her from chiding herself again. But her cheeks flushed and she ducked her head. In her moment of vulnerability, he wrapped his arms tighter pulling her closer. She put her arms around him and leaned her head back.

“Well, thank you to you, too. You made me feel safe.”

“You deserve to be taken care of and treated right.”

He kissed her one final long kiss. She didn’t want him to let go, but she knew she had to get back upstairs.

“See you soon, Maddie.”

“I hope so,” she said as she turned and went back into the elevator. She smiled to herself as she rode it up.

Molly got up and gave Maddie a hug when she came into the room.

“What was that for?”

“Just because. You look happy and I’m happy for you. I’ve missed you.”

Maddie hugged her back. She knew Molly had been worried about her and had pushed to know what was wrong, but Maddie had shut her out. At that moment, Maddie felt like meeting Todd had been one of the best things to happen to her. He had reminded her how things were supposed to be and for that she was grateful.

T
he girls were shopping the Magnificent Mile and were loaded up with bags by lunchtime. Famished, they stopped for lunch at Frontera Grill, Maddie’s favorite Mexican restaurant in the city. After they filled up on margaritas and great food, they were reenergized and ready to shop again. A few more hours of shopping and Maddie was ready to head back to her place before the rest of the girls arrived. She also needed to stop at the grocery store near her building to pick up a few last minute snacks and the bakery items she had ordered for Saturday morning breakfast.

“We can all go back with you, Maddie,” said Shannon.

“That’s okay, you guys continue shopping. I can take care of everything.”

“We can hang out on your rooftop deck. Besides, with so many girls and only two bathrooms, I can’t imagine how long it will take for all of us to get ready,” said Amanda.

“True, we should probably start now,” said Shannon.

They took cabs back to Maddie’s place and she gave Amanda her keys. The girls took Maddie’s and Molly’s packages up, and they strolled down the street to the grocery store.

“So, are you going to give me any hints about what we’re doing tonight?”

“Nope, this one we are keeping a surprise. Don’t worry, Maddie, it will be fun. You won’t be doing anything that will embarrass you like karaoke or dancing in front of a room full of people.”

Maddie laughed to herself—she’d danced in front of a room full of people just two nights ago. That made her think of Todd and she wondered how his day was going.

As Maddie was checking out, Molly got a call and stepped away from the counter to talk. When Maddie looked around for her, she noticed that Molly seemed agitated. Her head was down and she was running her hand back and forth across her forehead. Maddie finished checking out, grabbed the bags and hung a few on each arm.

When Maddie walked out, Molly followed but stayed a few feet behind her until she’d finished the call. A few moments later, she caught up to Maddie and grabbed the bags off one of her arms.

“Everything okay, Mol?”

“Yeah. No.” She waved her hand. “Oh, I don’t know. Travis has been acting strange and it just feels like he’s hiding something from me.”

“Maybe he’s planning on proposing to you and wants to make sure you don’t catch on. I’m sure you have nothing to worry about. Travis is great and you know he would never do anything to hurt you.”

“You’re right. Maybe I’m just reading into it too much.”

Maddie thought back to George’s proposal. They had been on a long weekend in Napa Valley. On the second day, they had gone to the spa late in the afternoon after wine tasting. Maddie had thought George was getting a massage in a different room, but he had snuck back to their room to prepare. He had hired a private chef to cook a luxurious meal for them. Candles had been lit around the entire room. On the patio, George had set the table for romance with a bottle of champagne chilling, flowers and candles.

When Maddie had finished her massage, the staff had told her George had already gone back to their room. She remembered being upset that he had not waited for her, but when she walked in the door she saw the flowers and candles everywhere. It had taken her breath away and even now when she thought back, it had been the most romantic night of her life.

Immediately, George had gotten down on one knee. His proposal had been filled with love, poetic even, and Maddie remembered tears. They had taken dessert to the bedroom. She could still recall how thoughtful and tender he had been. That night, she had loved him more than she could ever have imagined loving someone. Unfortunately, things had changed after that night.

“So, when will you see Todd again?” Molly asked her suddenly and Maddie knew she was trying to distract her.

“I don’t know. We didn’t talk about it when he stopped by last night.”

“What do you mean when he stopped last night? I thought you said it was a messenger from work in the lobby,” Molly said, as she started laughing.

“Right, like I could fool you.” Maddie laughed.

When they arrived at Maddie’s condo, they took a cooler of ice, a few bottles of Skinny Girl Margaritas and some wine up to the roof. The rest of the girls had arrived, so they were in full force for the weekend. Groups were taking turns playing beanbags, while the girls went down in shifts to get ready.

Maddie, Molly, Amanda and Rachel were the last group. Everyone else seemed to know what the plan was, but Maddie was still in the dark. Maddie could tell Molly was brimming with excitement. To have kept it a secret that long was a sheer miracle. Molly shared everything with Maddie, and there were so many other girls in the know, she was surprised no one had slipped.

• • •

T
he girls were eating at Bin 36, a wine bar and restaurant. They ordered platters of cheese and meats as they all decided on a flight of wine to order. Almost everyone ordered a different flight and of course the bride-to-be had the bubbly flight. They laughed as the waiter brought out their flights. There were fourteen girls and since each flight had four wines, they had a table filled with glasses. With a flight of glasses in front of each of them, they toasted to Amanda.

Amanda’s mother had passed away when she was very young and she did not have any sisters, so Maddie knew how special her girlfriends were to her. Maddie looked around the table and was grateful to have everyone there. She watched Shannon telling a story about her boyfriend and some of his friends and a water skiing accident. As she told the story, her hands started to move faster and the movements got bigger. Maddie laughed to herself because she knew she did the same thing when telling stories, as if she thought her hands were the only way to get the point across.

Maria and Becky were on the other end of the table and Maria was talking in a much quieter voice. They seemed to be caught up and had forgotten they were at a table full of girls. Becky nodded in agreement as Maria talked, her curls bouncing up and down with each movement. She had her hand over her mouth in disgust or surprise by whatever Maria was telling her.

Molly was next to Maddie talking about an incident with a model at work. She had tripped in the middle of the photo shoot and Molly was explaining how it had ruined the outfit and the photographer had become irate. She was laughing hard as she continued to tell them about the drama that had followed.

Maddie closed her eyes for a moment and tried to clear the emotion caught in her head. She loved being with the girls, but knowing that was her support system sometimes allowed the painful emotions to surface as if they knew it would be okay to come out and torture her now. Help was all around. But Maddie did not want anything out right now.
Not during Amanda’s weekend.
As she tried to clear her head, Amanda asked her if something was wrong.

“No.” She turned to Amanda and put a smile on her face. “I was just thinking how lucky we are to have such a great group of girls.”

“I agree. This is what makes everything okay at the end of the day.”

As they finished their dinners, the waiter brought out a few dessert platters. They passed the desserts around and Molly looked at Maddie. “Hey, Maddie, why don’t you tell the girls who you met at Rosebud a couple of weekends ago?”

Maddie hesitated for a moment as the pain of George and Stacey rushed back but quickly switched her thoughts to the gorgeous Austin.

“Well, our interaction was brief as it was interrupted. Which was very disappointing because I know Austin Hunter was just about to ask me to marry him and spend the rest of our lives together.”

Just the thought of Austin’s hand on her made her entire body heat up. Maddie had stars in her eyes as she spoke. When she finished the entire story, all the girls sighed in a combination of envy for the encounter and sympathy for the ruined moment.

As they were paying the bill, Maddie asked if they would finally tell her where they were going.

“We’re not going very far,” said Molly. “Let’s grab our stuff and go girls.”

When they exited the restaurant, the girls turned to the left. When Molly started crossing the driveway, Maddie clapped her hands together.

“Are we going to the House of Blues?” Maddie loved music and enjoyed going to concerts whenever she could. The House of Blues was one of her favorite Chicago venues.

“Yep,” said Molly.

As they neared the entrance, Molly turned back to Amanda and gave her a signal.

“Hey, Maddie, can I have your ID, so Molly can get you checked in.”

Maddie laughed. “I can give it to her when we get in there.”

“Nope. Tonight is a surprise. Remember?” Amanda shrugged. “Sorry.”

“You can’t be serious. What are you going to do? Make me close my eyes until I get inside.”

“Sort of.” Amanda laughed. “Come on, ID,
pleeease
.”

Maddie laughed and opened her purse to grab her ID out of her wallet. She held it out to Amanda. “Just so you know I’m only doing this because it’s your weekend.”

Amanda grabbed it and handed it to one of the other girls along with her own ID. Amanda and Maddie waited outside while Molly checked in at the podium for the Foundation Member tickets. One of the girls stuck her head out the door when they were all checked in.

“Bring her in.”

Maddie started laughing as Amanda stood behind her and stretched up to cover Maddie’s eyes with her hands.

“All right, girl, let’s go.”

“You guys are crazy.” Maddie laughed as she walked forward through the open door and followed Amanda’s directions. Molly slipped Maddie’s ID back into her purse as they walked by.

Once they were in the tiny elevator, Amanda pulled her hands away from Maddie’s eyes. “Sorry, but Molly insisted on the evening being a surprise for you. We just wanted the best for you after everything you’ve been through and as thanks for everything you’ve done.”

The compact elevator could not fit them all, and Maddie was with the first group of girls.

“How did Molly get these tickets?”

Amanda shrugged. “I don’t know. You’d have to ask her. Let’s get a drink, girls.”

The opening band was playing and the venue was packed already. The second group of girls joined them and they all placed an order with the bartender. Drinks in hand, they wove their way through the crowd following Molly down the narrow and dark hallway that led to the boxes on the left side of the stage. Maddie could not believe Molly had been able to pull it off. Molly turned in to the second to last box, which was Maddie’s favorite. The box was almost directly above the stage, which, in Maddie’s opinion, was the absolute best seat in the entire place.

Maddie looked around at the crowd to see if she could tell what kind of music would be playing. She turned to Molly, “What group is performing tonight?”

“I don’t know. I think a local Chicago band.”

A couple of the girls giggled. Amanda grabbed Maddie’s hand and they sat at the front of the box in the chairs closest to the stage. All of the boxes had groups in them, the area by the bar on the second floor was full and the main floor was packed. Maddie thought the place was too crowded for an unknown band to be playing. She had been to many shows there and she knew it must be a popular band.

When the opening band finished, Maddie clapped and turned around in her chair to face the rest of the girls. Molly had moved to her right and Maddie turned to her, “Okay, Mol, I know this isn’t a local band. You know how many times I’ve been here, and this crowd is not for an unknown band.”

Molly shrugged her shoulders. The girls ordered another round of drinks when the waitress came in the box. By the time she came back with the entire order, the crews had loaded the rest of the band’s equipment on stage. Maddie watched the guitar tech pick up each guitar and play a few chords to ensure each one was in tune. The crew was also checking the microphones. They wheeled a baby grand piano on stage. To Maddie, the crowd did not appear to be classical music fans, so she was pretty sure it was a rock band, especially with the electric guitars lined up. Piano in a rock song was her absolute favorite and not played by many bands live.

A few minutes later, the band began making its way to the stage. The crowd started cheering as the drummer came on stage followed by the bass player and then the guitar player. Maddie focused on each one but did not recognize any of them. Then the lead singer walked out onto stage and the crowd erupted. Everyone started cheering and as Maddie looked closer, she realized who was walking onto stage. She felt her heart skip a beat. Her jaw dropped and when she turned to Molly, Molly put her hand under her own chin to remind Maddie to close her mouth. Maddie mouthed the words thank you to Molly. Molly nodded her head and smiled back at her.