Bound by Trust (4 page)

“Madi,
I know what AIDS is, and I know what condoms are for.” She whipped out a carton
from her purse and waved them around. “See, I’m being safe.”

“Mama!
Next you’ll be telling me you go to that naughty store with Meredith.”

“Well,
since you mentioned it…”

“I
don’t want to hear anymore.” Madi put her hands over her ears and was thankful
to see George, the paint man, returning with a much younger floor ‘expert.’

His
name tag said ‘Scott’ and when she looked at his face, a wave of familiarity
washed over her. Could he actually be Scott Tillman? One of the boys she used
to date in high school?

“Madi?
Madi Collier?” His face lit up and he reached out and took her hands in his,
looking her up and down. “My goodness, it has been a long time. You look as
good as you ever did.”

“Thanks,
Scott, you look pretty good yourself.”
Liar.
Well, it wasn’t a complete falsehood; he did look pretty good, except for the
fact that he’d gained about fifty pounds and had a bald head.

“I
heard you were moving into CeCe’s old place. How are you holding up?” His face
sombered as he turned her left hand and looked at the indention where her
wedding band used to sit. “It must be so hard.”

“You’ve
no idea.” She tugged her hands away and began to push the cart. “I need
everything it takes to refinish floors and I need to know how to use it.”

Soon
Scott had another cart laden with a sander, varnish, and a clear sealant, and
was instructing her how to use the sander without gouging great holes in the
wood or damaging herself in the process. After ten years of plumbing mishaps,
retiling bathroom floors, and learning to groom dogs with her neighbor so when
no one on the block could afford that luxury, they could help, sanding floors
sounded like a cinch.

“You
know, I could save you the trouble of doing all this and come over and help
you,” he offered, beaming from ear to ear.

“No,
that’s okay. I’m sure your family keeps you too busy for that.” She knew he’d
married right out of high school. “How many kids do you have now?”

“I
have seven.” Scott looked at her intently. “You never had kids, did you?”

The
memory of Shannon stung even after so much time had passed. Did the man have no
scruples, or had he heard every rumor there was about her, save the true one as
to why she married to begin with? She decided to forego that line of conversation.

“You
and your wife must be very proud of them.”

“Oh,
we’re divorced. She went to Phoenix and left them with me last year.” Scott
pushed one cart and she the other. “Maybe we could get together sometime for coffee?”

“I’ll
be awfully busy for a while; I’ll have to take a rain check, but thanks for
asking.”

She
paid for all her purchases and George marked it all for delivery on Monday.
Normally they didn’t deliver paint, but with so much of it, she would never get
it in her car. She opted to pay a hefty delivery fee and get it all at once.
Except for the cocoa paint. That she took with her. She wanted to get started
on the room where she would be giving lessons, that was a priority.

“Madi,
I think Scott was hitting on you.” Her mother sat in the passenger seat
checking her hair in the vanity mirror.

“Gee,
you think?” She gave life to a cynical laugh.

“I
got George’s number; we’re going out tomorrow night.”

“I
figured as much, he probably thinks you’re a sure thing, carrying your own
condoms.”

“Madi,
I am not loose, just prepared.” Julia looked shocked at her daughter’s
insinuation.

“I’m
sorry, Mama.” Madi paused and rubbed her eyes before backing out of the parking
space. “I think the whole kids’ conversation got to me.”

“That’s
okay. And I am sorry you had to be reminded of that situation again.” Julia put
on her huge sunglasses. “You know, it isn’t too soon to start dating, maybe it
would be good for you to get out there again.”

“Dating
means trusting, something I am sadly lacking the ability to do right now.”

After
a quick stop at a home accessories store to price curtains and rugs, they made
their way to a small deli just outside the base to meet Meredith for lunch. She
was already there waiting in a booth for them, dressed as always in the most
seductive thing Madi had ever seen. Well, since the last time she’d seen her
anyway. She always managed to wear the sleaziest things and make them look
good. Today it was a red, backless minidress with a plunging v-neckline that
tied around her neck. A pair of red platform flip-flops with silver sequins
across the straps showed off her perfectly French pedicured toes, and she had
her hair dyed auburn with golden streaks running through it. One could change
toenails and hairstyles often when they worked in a salon.

Meredith
was another one of their father’s disappointments in life. Six years Madi’s
junior, she had managed to get pregnant her senior year in high school, just
months after Madi, and was now a single mother to a nine-year-old daughter
named Nevaeh whom everyone lovingly tagged Nev. She was as beautiful as her
mother, and would someday break a lot of hearts. Chad, her father, had dumped
Meredith almost immediately after her announcement that he was to be a daddy
and rarely saw the girl now. As a result, Meredith chose to remain single,
deeming men only good for one thing, and sometimes not even that. Madi often
wondered if she’d led her down that path by being a less than admirable
example.

“Madi!”
Meredith jumped up and hugged her older sister around the neck. “Oh, I’ve
missed you.”

“I’ve
missed you too.” Madi waited for her mother to slide in the booth, then
followed her. “What does Marco think of your dress?”

Marco
was the self-proclaimed eccentric who owned the salon Meredith worked in. Madi
was convinced if her sister ever gave him the chance, he’d marry her and never
let her work a day in her life again. But, as with all things pertaining to
men, Meredith refused to acknowledge Madi’s observation while repeatedly ignoring
Marco’s advances, yet forever teasing the poor man with her clothing choices.

“He
loves it and wishes I would let him see what I have on underneath.”

“Well,
I see where Mom takes it from.” Madi picked up a menu and skimmed over it. She
was never hungry anymore; she only ate because physiologically it was necessary
to keep breathing.

“Lighten
up, Madi. If I were in your shoes, I’d be wondering what was underneath that
uniform on that neighbor of yours.”

“Who,
Rafe?” She screwed up her eyebrows and frowned. Heat rose up her neck. “I could
care less what he wears or why.”

“She
says he’s a pain in the ass,” Julia whispered over her menu.

“Well,
what did he do to you? Or maybe it’s what he hasn’t done?” Meredith smiled
demurely. “Come on now, tell us.”

Madi
plopped the menu down and blew out a loud breath, feeling like a neon sign had
suddenly appeared on her forehead, flashing the news of what had happened between
them. “Why must everything be about sex?”

“Who
said anything about sex? If that’s the problem I know where you can get a very
good friend named Bob.” Meredith took a sip of her tea.

“I
don’t need a Bob.” Again heat ran up her neck and to her hairline.

“You
don’t need a Bob. After how many months has it been? Almost twenty-four? And
you don’t need a Bob?”

Madi
mottled every shade of red on the color wheel.

“Holy
shit, you already fucked him,” Meredith declared.

“Meredith,
language,” Julia scolded almost simultaneously with Madi’s flustered,
“I—you—Meredith!”

“Well,
you work fast? When did this happen?”

“Shut
up, Meredith,” Madi demanded.

“Was
he any good?”

A
deep voice came from behind them, causing Madi to jump, nearly knocking her
glass over. “For your information, Meredith, we met at the club, dancing. We
danced. Twice. Then she mysteriously disappeared.”

He’d
thankfully left out the part about what happened in between the dancing and her
departure. If there had been a hole the size of a pinhead she could have
crawled into it. How long had Rafe been behind them, listening? And how long
had Meredith known he was there?

“Hi.”
Rafe came around to stand right in front of her. He now knew where he’d seen
those eyes. CeCe and Meredith both had them. How could he not have realized
Madi and Meredith were sisters? “Meredith, Julia…” He nodded his head at them
both, then addressed Madi, “You didn’t tell me you were CeCe’s granddaughter.”

“The
subject didn’t come up,” she replied slyly.

“Maybe
we got off on the wrong foot earlier this week. I think we should try again.
I’m Rafe McCarthy, your new neighbor. As part of the welcome wagon, I would
like to extend an invitation to dine with me tonight.”

He’d
been thinking about her all morning again, finally deciding the only way to get
her out of his system was to keep pursuing her until she gave in and they’d
done any, and all things necessary, to deplete the fire he felt burning every
time he was in close proximity of her. Never had a woman perplexed him like
this one did, and never had one so adamantly brushed him off. Much to his chagrin,
the more she avoided him the more he wanted her.

“No.”
She defiantly put her arms under her breasts and pouted her lips.

“Why
not?”

“You
know why.” Refusal would have been much easier if he hadn’t looked so good in
his low-slung jeans and tight blue Aeropostale shirt.

“Because
I have a bad reputation and I’m too forward. I’m sorry about my tendency toward
pretension; I’ll mind my manners from now on. The reputation part will take
some time to repair, but I’m sure with your help that situation could be easily
rectified. So, again I ask, please have dinner with me.”

“No,
I will not, not now, not ever, and don’t ask again.” The fact that she actually
wanted to, was incentive enough to cling to her resolve to leave all men alone,
especially this one.

“Fine,
if not dinner, maybe we could at least have drinks on my porch or yours and get
to know one another.”

As
if they didn’t know enough about each other as it was. How could he act so
nonchalant like his memory had suddenly faltered?

“No!”

During
the whole exchange, she’d noticed Meredith and Julia exchanging looks. She was
sure they knew something was amiss, but had yet to figure out exactly what.

Rafe
sighed and hung his head. “Is there anything I can do to convince you I’m a
good guy?”

“Yes,
toss out your little black book, quit acting like you’re Adonis set foot on
earth, and fix my damn roof before a storm blows it off, leaving me in a
whirlwind of shit akin to that of Dorothy in Kansas.”
And it would help tremendously if you weren’t in one of the most
dangerous occupations on the planet.
“Then, maybe we can talk. I have way
bigger problems than that of my sex life, or lack thereof.” Why she added the
last part she would never know.

Feeling
assured he’d never do any of those things, she didn’t think there was any
danger of him actually accepting her ultimatum, therefore she was certain she
was safe from further advances.

Well
hell’s bells, she wasn’t asking much, was she?

Chapter 4

Much
to her dissatisfaction, Rafe hadn’t taken his leave after her insistence that
they not have dinner or drinks. No, he decided to horn in on the girly lunch
she had planned, having a grand old time chatting it up with her mother and
sister. Finally she’d asked Meredith to take their mother home, abandoned her
chicken salad sandwich with one bite missing, tossed forty bucks on the table
to pay for everyone’s lunches, including his, and left.

“So,
Raphael McCarthy, just what the hell is going on between you and my sister?”
Meredith was known for her adept ability to cut to the chase.

“Absolutely
nothing.” Rafe took another bite of his Reuben and chewed more heartily than
was necessary.

“I’m
not so sure I believe you.”

Rafe
didn’t answer, he wasn’t sure how. He didn’t think admitting that he’d given
Madi a proper shagging on the patio of the Staff NCO club was a good way to
earn brownie points from Julia in case he ever could get her daughter to agree
to further explore what was happening between them.

“Look,
my sister is the most wonderful woman on the planet. She has a huge heart, it’s
just a little damaged right now. Her attitude doesn’t come so much from Gage dying,
as it does from the mess he left her to clean up afterward.” She twirled her
straw in her glass. “You’re going to have to be patient with her. It’s hard to
go back to the well when you’ve been poisoned once. I ought to know.”

“What
mess?”

“Meredith,”
Julia cut in, “that isn’t for you to be discussing. She’d die if she thought
anyone knew.”

Meredith
rolled her eyes at her mother, then looked back at Rafe. “She’s almost broke.
Gage left a mountain of bills she didn’t even know existed, and several high-dollar
items he had hidden here and there that weren’t paid for in full.” She dunked a
limp fry in a pile of ketchup on the side of her plate. “And, in my opinion, he
had more extracurricular activities going on besides material things. Now she
doesn’t want any man doing anything for her. She’s erected a nearly
impenetrable wall around herself.”

Nearly,
but not fully. He’d thought maybe she was just simply not over Gage yet, and
their thirty-minute affair was but a result of her body’s rebellious,
uncontrollable needs. Obviously that wasn’t it. She was basing her opinion of
men on what she knew of her father, her sister’s misfortune, and her dead, not
so heroic in his mind now, husband. Of course, whatever she’d heard about him,
and his constantly changing female interests, probably hadn’t helped matters
either. How did he combat that? And why the hell did he want her all the more,
knowing all the baggage she carried? He didn’t want to be her hero, after all.

*
* * *

Meredith
and her naughty toys, Mama and her purse full of condoms, and Rafe with his
barbarian mating rituals. Why couldn’t they just leave her alone, to peacefully
become an old spinster piano teacher? She didn’t need a man, she didn’t want a
man. Well, she did sort of want what a man could give her. She just didn’t want
Rafe doing the giving again. He was quite skilled at it, which meant he was
trouble. With a little more gusto than necessary, she continued to sand away at
a spot on the wall adjacent to the fireplace in the music room.

After
her failed attempt at a female bonding lunch, she’d come home, changed into a pair
of cut off shorts and an old t-shirt, and went to work on the walls in the
front room. She’d been sanding for almost an hour when the dust began to hang
in the air causing her to cough and she noticed, to her dismay, it was piling
up on her beloved baby grand.
Damn it!
She should have thought of that. Why was it, that man made her think with much
less intelligence than she knew she possessed? She swung open the French doors
to air out the room and wondered how long it would take her to roll the piano
into the other room by herself. On her hands and knees, she crawled under the instrument
and began unlocking the wheels, spewing a barrage of colorful phrases the
entire time, most of which were directed at her neighbor.

*
* * *

More
than glad that four o’clock had rolled around, Rafe was the first one out of
the building. It had been a long week, the students were hell-bent on driving
him crazy, and he was tired of the other staff NCOs harassing him about his
recent tendency to daydream. Madi had managed to interfere with his ability to
concentrate for longer than a few minutes at a time and everyone was picking up
on it. They’d even gone so far as to post an announcement on the bulletin board
about his lack of a date for the weekend. It wasn’t that he couldn’t find one,
after all, he’d opted not to.

Guiltily
he remembered his failed attempt to persuade her to have dinner with him which
resulted in her ruined lunch. Maybe if he cooked for her he could convince her
to eat with him anyway and accept yet another apology. Stopping at the commissary,
he picked up a couple of steaks. Then, after going to the seven-day store for a
couple bottles of wine, he headed home to try to mend the ever-increasing rift
between him and the woman who kept invading his thoughts.

Pulling
in the driveway, he noticed the doors were open to the porch at Madi’s house,
then when he looked closer, he saw her perfectly round ass in the air poking
out from beneath the piano. Now what was she trying to do? Torture him? She’d
made it perfectly clear she didn’t want him, yet she found a way to provoke the
horny little devil that sat on his shoulder constantly. The memory of how her
ass felt in his hands was now causing him to do a happy little jig up there. He
got out of his truck, grabbed his bags, and headed in, all the while watching
to see if she was ever going to move, or if she was perhaps stuck that way.
Then, just as he was about to open his door, she did move. She crawled out from
under the piano, got behind it, and started heaving with all she had in her
tiny body. After a few seconds, the beast moved all of a few inches. She stood
back up, took a deep breath, and commenced pushing again.

Doesn’t want a man to do
anything for her, she’ll get a hernia like that.

He
set the bags down on the porch and wandered across the road. Before he got up
the steps, she was under the piano again, messing with one of the legs, her ass
again straight up in the air, taunting him.

“Well,
I guess that would be a problem,” Madi mumbled to herself. She flipped the lock
the other direction and began to back out from under the piano again.

“Hey,
do you need some help?”

The
sound of his voice startled her, causing her to come up far too quickly,
sending her head into the bottom of the piano with a loud cracking.

“Shit,
damn it.” She grabbed the top of her head and tears welled up in the corners of
her eyes. Slowly, she eased out from under the culprit and sat back on her
heels seeing stars.

“Oh,
Madi, I’m so sorry.” Rafe knelt beside her and tried to take her hand away to
look at her injury. “I didn’t mean to scare you, I just wanted to help.”

She
pulled away from his touch and flinched. “Well, you did scare me, and I don’t
want your help.” Tears rolled down her cheeks, fell off her chin, and left tiny
wet circles on the front of her pink shirt.

“Let
me see.” He again tried to look and she again shied away. “Damn it, woman, let
me at least make sure you’re not bleeding.”

At
that, she moved her hand and he tenderly parted her hair to examine the area
she’d been holding on to. The skin wasn’t broken but a knot was already
forming.

“Do
you feel dizzy? Sick? I’ll take you over to the emergency room and have it
looked at.” He felt horrible for hurting her. Why was it that the harder he
tried, the worse things got?

“No,
no, and no thank you. I’ll be fine.” She started to move and sat back down
immediately. “Oh, my, maybe the first answer should have been yes.”

“Sit
still, I’ll get you an ice pack and then I’ll take you to the hospital.”

He
found a zip-close plastic bag in one of the drawers in the kitchen, filled it
full of ice, and wrapped it in a towel. When he got back to her, she was a
lying on the floor with the back of her hand on her forehead, with her eyes
closed. Passing out from a head injury was never a good sign. He got on his
knees beside her, threw down the ice pack, and started to pick up her head.

“Madi?
Wake up, there’s no sleeping with a bump on the head.” He began to shake her a
little, trying to bring her out of it.

“Stop
that, I’m awake, you Neanderthal.” She opened her eyes and puckered her lips,
causing her eyebrows to come so close together they almost touched. “I just lay
back because I felt less dizzy that way.”

“Thank
God.” He helped her sit and put the ice pack on the knot. “Now, where’s your ID
card?”

“In
my purse, and that’s on the couch.”

She
lay back down while he was gone. That seemed to slow the spinning down enough
that she didn’t feel sick.

When
he returned he started to pick her up. “Okay, put your arms around my neck,
I’ll carry you.”

“No,
I can walk,” she insisted, pushing at his arms. “You’ll go to any extreme to
get back in my pants won’t you? Give it up; it was a one-time, nonrefundable
offer.”

“What?
You think I scared you on purpose to get a piece of ass? Madi, you’re a piece
of work, now stop being ridiculous and let me help you.”

“Ridiculous?
How do I know it wasn’t a cleverly devised plan you concocted to avoid whacking
me with your club in order to drag me back to your cave?”

Rafe
laughed out loud. “Now I know you have a concussion. You’re delusional.”

Reluctantly,
she let him pick her up and carry her. He gingerly put her in the passenger’s
seat and within minutes they were parked outside the emergency room. Once she
was secured in a wheelchair and checked in, a nurse rolled her away and all
Rafe could do was sit and wait. They were no relation and he wouldn’t be
allowed to go back with her for the examination or be privy to anything unless
she told him. This was one of the most frustrating things he’d ever
experienced.

After
waiting for over an hour he approached the nurses’ station. “Excuse me, ma’am?
I was just wondering if you could tell me anything about Madison Melbourne.
She’s been back there for over an hour.”

“Are
you her husband?” the stately woman inquired.

“No,
I’m not. I’m just a friend, I brought her in.”

“Well,
Gunny, you know the rules. When she is able to talk to you, then you’ll know
what’s going on.”

He
hated to have to tell Julia he’d given her daughter a concussion, but it was
clear this could take a while, and he needed to know if she was okay. He pulled
his phone out of his pocket and dialed.

“Julia?
It’s Rafe,” he began. “There’s been sort of a little accident.”

“What
kind of accident? Is Madi okay?” Julia sounded like she was in a complete
panic.

“I’m
sorry, I’ve upset you too.” He rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger.
“I think she’ll be okay, but I brought her to the hospital to get checked out.
I scared her and she hit her head under the piano. She’s back there now, but
they won’t tell me anything.”

“I’ll
be right there… Under the piano?”

Not
even twenty minutes later, Julia Collier was standing at the nurses’ desk
demanding to see her daughter. When they finally relented, she grabbed Rafe by
the arm and dragged him along.

“Mrs.
Collier, he isn’t allowed to go back.”

“He’s
family, and he’s coming with me.”

Madi
sat on a gurney with a blue ice pack on her head. A few stray paint chips hung
in the wisps of hair hanging loose around her temples like snowflakes, and her
face still had smudges of dust all over it. A tall doctor with graying hair and
wire-rimmed glasses was shining a light in her eyes and making humming noises.

“Did
you ever faint or did you remain conscious?” He stood back with his arms
crossed looking at her seriously.

“I
stayed conscious.”

“What’s
your name?” He was making notes on her chart.

“I’ve
told you three times. Madison Melbourne.”

Rafe
winced at seeing that puckered up look on her face again. Obviously the doctor
had no idea who he was dealing with.

“And
what is today?”

“Friday,
soon to be Saturday before you let me go, it would seem.”

The
doctor chuckled and wrote some more.

“So,
is she going to be alright?” Julia had made it to the side of the bed and was
looking at the doctor with a glimmer in her eyes.

“I
believe so,” he answered, walking around the end of the bed and extending a
hand. “I’m Dr. Stevens, and you are?”

“I’m
her mother, Julia; this is Rafe, her…friend.” She pointed at Rafe and then
followed the doctor around the privacy curtain and disappeared with him.