Taking a Chance (19 page)

“Good. Just as long as I’m still the front-runner. I would hate to see what would’ve happened if I’d bought an even bigger pair.” He laughed.

She kissed him goodbye and made her way to the gate. Just before she reached the walkway to the plane, she turned, mouthed the words
I love you
and blew a kiss.

• • •

W
ith that, she disappeared down the hallway. He hated to see her go, but knew they had to get back to their lives. He waited five minutes before heading over to his own gate. His phone rang on the way and he picked it up without looking at the screen.

“Hello.”

“Hey, darlin’. How are you?”

Few people had his personal cell phone number and it only took him a second to recognize the voice.

“Don’t call me. We broke up and I don’t want to talk to you.”

“Well, now that’s harsh,” she pouted. “I miss you. Are you done pretending to date this girl Maddie? Come on, you and I both know that’s never going to work. Don’t make me beg for you to come back.”

“You can beg all you want, Tiffany. We’re never getting back together and don’t talk about Maddie, you know nothing about her,” he snapped back.

“Oh, I know plenty. All about the pathetic life she had before she met you. Her engagement ending and wedding being called off. Don’t underestimate me, Austin,” she shot back.

“How the hell do you know that?”
Christ, even my ex-girlfriend knows about the wedding that was supposed to take place.

“Don’t you worry about it. But you may want to watch out for her, she’s just taking advantage of you.”

“The only person who ever took advantage of me was you! Don’t call me again, Tiffany.”

He could hear her yelling as he disconnected the call. He decided to grab a beer before his flight. Now he needed to cool down. That woman had an uncanny ability to get him fired up and not in a good way. His phone rang again and he was tempted to shut it off, but saw Anthony’s name on the screen.

“Hey, mate. How you feeling today?”

“Fine. Still stuck in this hellhole. Since I didn’t hear from you again, I’m guessing the girl gave you a second chance.”

“I can’t thank you enough, man. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have gone back. I owe you one.”

“Well, I’m glad one of us is on cloud nine.”

“Where’s Elizabeth?”

“Aw, don’t ask. Apparently, my being stuck in this bed was cramping her style. You were right as usual, mate. She didn’t care about me. Just enjoyed the lifestyle.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself. She was a good-looking girl, so I can’t blame ya’ for falling for her.”

“Whatever, I’m over it. When are you gonna see Maddie again?”

“Hopefully soon. But, she’s thinking about moving out to California for a couple of months, so we’ll have to figure out if she comes to me or I go to her on our upcoming breaks.”

“Huh?”

“She wants to go work at the Chicory Hill winery for a couple of months. She’s going to ask her boss if she can take a leave. She needs space from her current life and seems to have a passion for the winery. Hey man, as long as she’s happy that’s all that matters to me. The girl has been through a lot and she deserves time for herself.”

“Why?”

“Don’t ask. I get pissed every time I think about it. She’s been through hell and back. I mean it, Anthony, it makes me sick to my stomach to think about the fear she lived in. She will never know what it’s like to be with a monster again for as long as I can help it.”

“Please don’t even tell me what you’re talking about. With the mood I’ve been in, I’m afraid I would do some serious damage to someone if it was deserved and it sounds to me like there’s a guy that deserves it.”

“Damn right there is. However, I’m not going to waste my time on him. My priority is Maddie’s happiness and well-being.”

“I’m just glad you’re happy, bro. You were down after dating Tiffany. Maddie seems much more your style.”

“Yeah, remind me why I even started dating Tiffany in the first place?”

“If you recall, she was introduced to you by Charlie.”

“Not sure he should take it upon himself to set us up anymore. I need to speak to him. He obviously has poor taste and should just focus on the tour and what he needs to do for that.”

“Call me when you get to the next city.”

“You got it, buddy. Take care of yourself. You’ll be back before you know it.”

“I hope so, man. I really hate missing any show.”

“We miss you too. Talk to you later.”

“Bye.”

Austin made his way to the bar to have a drink before his flight.

M
addie had called Frank on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the details of working at the winery for a couple months. Frank had been thrilled with Maddie’s decision to go through the intensive training program so she could learn all aspects of the winery. Not only had Frank insisted on paying her for her time working, but he also wanted her to stay at the mansion in the same room she had stayed in for the wedding.

Maddie was concerned she would be in the way, but Frank had insisted. Maddie got the impression that Frank was hoping she would decide to permanently relocate out to California to work at the winery.

After Maddie had made all of the arrangements with Frank, she had gone in to work on Wednesday to speak to her boss about the possibility of a personal leave of absence. Maddie did not want to have to resign, but either way she was going to California. She understood if they needed to fill her spot before she was back but John assured her the spot would be waiting for her at the end of her leave and they would discuss it then.

Maddie was keeping her BlackBerry and vowed to stay in touch as much as she could to make sure nothing fell through the cracks. It was the first time she could remember doing something for herself in a long time. They had agreed she would finish out the week and the following week to make sure everything was transitioned.

• • •

I
t was already Wednesday and she could not believe she had only two more days in the office. It had taken some extra coaxing to get Nina and Scott to accept that she was going to be halfway across the country, but they understood she wanted a change. Molly had not been thrilled either but had finally accepted it since Maddie had insisted it was what she needed.

Just before lunchtime, Sheri came into her office.

“What’s wrong Sheri? Is everything okay with Adam?”

“Everything is great, but I’m going to miss you. Things will not be the same around here without you.”

Touched by the sentiment, Maddie knew she would miss Sheri. Not only was she a great assistant but also a good friend. Sheri had dealt with Maddie during her lowest times. She had never pushed Maddie, but had always been there to listen if needed. Maddie knew she had been less than nice at times when she was having a bad day—and over the last year there had been too many bad days.

“I know, Sheri. This was a tough decision, but something I need to do for myself right now. I hope you will come out to visit for a few days. You can bring Adam with you too. You will love it in wine country.”

“I would love to. I’ll make it happen.”

As Maddie gave Sheri a hug, her office phone rang. She glanced at the screen. Seeing it was the receptionist, Maddie hit the speaker button.

“Hi, Mary.”

“Maddie, you have a delivery down here.”

“Okay, I’ll be down to get it in a minute.”

“I’ll get it, Maddie,” Sheri offered. “You stay here and keep working, so you can finish.”

Maddie continued to work on emails to her clients. She had called all of them last week, and was now sending updates and summaries to be sure everything was covered. John and Sheri were copied on all emails, so they would have all of the same information.

Maddie saw the enormous bouquet before she could even see Sheri hidden behind it. Sheri set it on Maddie’s desk and they both stared at it in awe.

“I swear that is the most beautiful, not to mention largest, arrangement I’ve ever seen,” exclaimed Sheri.

“Hmm, yes.” Maddie continued to stare at it.

She could barely see the card peeking out above the flowers. The card had ‘Mad’ written on the front and she knew who had sent them. Maddie smiled from ear to ear and grabbed the card to open it.

Confused, Maddie looked up at Sheri, who then handed her the envelope. Maddie looked at it and then back up to Sheri questioningly. Sheri shrugged her shoulders.

“Guess he’s up to something,” said Sheri.

“Hmmm.”

Maddie had lost the ability to find words. Her heart was in her throat, beating so loud she was sure Sheri could hear it. With hands shaking, she opened the envelope. Inside was a letter and another envelope.

Maddie glanced at the airline ticket and pulled it out of the sleeve. It was a first-class ticket to Austin for Saturday morning. There was another ticket for Sunday afternoon to Chicago. He had included information about the hotel and the time a car would pick her up at her place Saturday morning.
Wow, guess he thought of everything.

Maddie looked up from the papers in her hand. Sheri was still standing in front of her in suspense.

“What is it?” she asked, clearly excited on Maddie’s behalf.

“Austin sent me an airline ticket to meet him in Austin this weekend. He has arranged for a car to pick me up, a hotel room and ticket for his Saturday night concert.”

“Aw, he sounds like a guy in love,” exclaimed Sheri.

“Yeah, but it feels weird having him buy me the tickets.”

“Don’t worry about it. If that’s what he wants to do, you should just let him. He wants to see you.” Sheri smiled. “Oh, to have a guy that head over heels for you. Sounds dreamy if you ask me.”

“I guess I better call him. Thanks for bringing the arrangement up. It’s beautiful,” Maddie said as she admired the flowers again.

There was no reason why she could not meet him. She was a little upset he had just gone ahead and purchased the tickets. It was going to take time to get used to that kind of treatment.

She picked up her BlackBerry to call Austin. “Please close the door behind you.”

“You got it. Good luck.” Sheri winked on her way out.

Maddie dialed Austin’s number and he picked up after the first ring.

“Hey, baby.”

She could hear the anxiety behind his greeting. She smiled but managed to hide her laugh. He needed to squirm a bit. No reason to make it too easy on him.

“Hello, Austin. It seems you’re up to no good today.”

“Well, it depends on how you define no good?”

“Let’s see, going behind my back and purchasing things that can’t be refunded, just assuming I will say yes. Besides, what if I was already busy this weekend?”

“Please don’t be angry.” His tone had become more serious. “I just want to see you. I was afraid if I asked you would say no because it was too much money or you would want to pay for it or whatever. I can’t come to you, so please say you will come. Please.”

She could hear the pleading in his voice and she didn’t have the heart to mess with him. It felt good to be wanted and for him to go out of his way to make it work was flattering.

“Fine, I will, but just this one time. Please don’t start purchasing tickets any time you want. If you want me to come in the future, just ask.”

“Got it. I can’t wait to see you. The show starts at eight, I think, on Saturday. Opening band goes on first, so we’ll go on after nine. We should be done by eleven.”

“I can’t wait to see you, too! I don’t care what we do as long as I’m with you.”

“Sorry, I know the car is coming at six, but I wanted to be able to spend as much time as I could with you on Saturday before the show.”

“Do you really think I care how early the car is coming? The sooner I get to you, the better! I just need to try to get to bed early on Friday, which could be a challenge. Some of my co-workers are taking me out for drinks after work. They want to have a goodbye-for-now drink.”

“Okay, just behave yourself.” He laughed.

“I will. Sheri will make sure I get home safe. Hopefully they don’t feed me too many cocktails since I have to be up so early.”

“I’ll let you get back to work. Call me when you get home tonight.”

“Bye, Austin. Thanks again for everything, including the gorgeous flower arrangement. It’s so large that I’m not sure how I will even get it home.” She laughed.

“You are very welcome. Later, baby.”

She heard the call disconnect.
God, the next two days are going to be difficult.
How was she going to contain her excitement until Saturday morning? She went back to working on her emails to keep her mind off Austin.

M
addie had never been happier for a Friday afternoon to arrive. The excitement of working at the winery almost outweighed the guilt she felt taking a leave from her job. She was going to miss everyone, but she needed time to figure out what she wanted and if she was really doing okay. After telling Austin, she could finally admit to herself she had been through a year of hell. Maddie imagined her days at the winery would be as long if not longer than the days she put in now, so she needed to stop feeling guilty. It wasn’t like she was taking a break from working.

Frank’s excitement to teach Maddie was contagious. She would be rotating through different areas like production, marketing, sales, operations, the tasting room, management of the vines and she was sure there would be others. Frank had put together a tentative training schedule and had emailed it to her. Well, someone had put together a schedule for Frank and helped him email it. Maddie assumed it was Lacey. When she had learned that Lacey worked at the winery two days a week, she had been even more excited. It felt great knowing she had at least one other friend in California. They had stayed in touch on email over the last week and a half. Lacey had promised to take her out and introduce her to her friends and everyone else in the area.