“Yeah, I don’t think that’s really Madison’s style.”
He laughed.
“But at least she’s finally convinced now,” I said with a smile.
Considering how the night had ended, the morning wasn’t half-bad. James wasn’t lying in a hospital bed somewhere, refusing to let me see him. The office was closed, so I didn’t have to face that place again for a while, and Robert had not yet even made an appearance to set the place on fire or kill me with an axe
My smile faded as I considered Robert. While my memories were a bit stilted and scattered when it came to everything else, a few things remained perfectly clear. Robert’s reaction to his crime of assault and battery was at the top of the list.
Never before had I seen a man so instantly transformed by the power of guilt. Never before had I seen anyone make such a complete, quick turnaround. I was willing to bet that if James hadn’t called a cab, his twin brother would have moved heaven and earth to get him to the hospital himself, but that begged a question: Where the hell do we go from here?
“Morning, stranger!”
I jumped as the booming voice echoed and spilled some coffee on my dress. My eyes snapped open, and I whipped around to see Caleb standing behind me, armed with a bag of donuts and an apologetic grin.
His grin faded slightly, and his eyes widened as he looked me up and down. “Shit, Della. Who died? Please tell me it wasn’t one of the partners. Is that why we’re closed today?”
“Enough with the death jokes already!” I said and hopped off the counter in frustration, sopping up the coffee as best I could with a handful of paper towels. “I’ll change my damn dress. I sort of have to now.”
Caleb lifted his hands innocently, waving the bag like a white flag. “It might be why I did it.”
“Seriously?”
“Relax. I come bearing gifts. Since the office is closed, I figured I’d stop by and see how Madison is doing. Yesterday really shook her up.”
My face paled, and my hand froze in place. “Yesterday?” I repeated, every muscle in my body stiffening. “What have you heard?”
“Uh...that Billings thing,” he said, his face blanked in surprise.
Madison seemed so normal that morning that I had forgotten about her trauma, the one issue that sent me to Robert’s door in the first place. I had to suspect that Caleb had a lot to do with restoring the silver lining after her cloudy day at the office.
“That meltdown wasn’t like her,” he said, sitting the donut bag down as he frowned. “What do you mean, what did I hear? Something juicy, I hope.”
As if on cue, James walked back into the kitchen, still buttoning a shirt left over from one of Madison’s former lovers.
“Oh, I see.” My face flushed a million shades of red as Caleb glanced at the ground with a discreet smile. Then he raised his voice a little louder and nodded politely at James. “Nice shirt. I used to have one just like it.”
I buried my face in my newly poured mug of coffee to hide my grin at that, wondering if Caleb remembered where he bought it. I would have placed all my money on the fact that the label was the same.
“Caleb,” James greeted warmly, “what a surprise. Are you here for breakfast?”
“Actually, I brought breakfast.” He gestured to the bag before glancing up at the platter of French toast. “I see someone already beat me to the punch.” There was a slight pause as a faint trace of panic flickered through his eyes. “Tell me Madison didn’t attempt to cook. There are laws, you know, and I don’t want to involve the Health Department.”
“Goodness, no.” I stifled a shudder and pulled down a stack of plates. “I think we’ve all been through enough lately without adding a Montgomery cooking disaster to the list.”
“A Montgomery what?” Madison breezed back into the kitchen, sans towel, wearing a pink sundress and looking like the princess of spring. Her blue eyes widened when they landed on Caleb, and without a word of warning, she leapt straight into his arms and planted a huge kiss on his lips. “I had no idea you were coming by today. Good morning!”
“Good morning.” He pulled away with a grin, his wrists locking behind her back as her legs locked around his waist. “Someone’s in a better mood.”
She flashed a seductive grin, then gracefully untangled herself and dropped softly back to the floor, as if the entire outburst was the most normal thing in the world. “Just got a bit of a fresh perspective last night, that’s all. Are we all ready for breakfast?”
“Yeah,” I cooed, still grinning at the handsome blush on Caleb’s face. “I think we can all use a little warm and sweet right now.”
Chapter 17
IN A STRANGE WAY, THE four of us sitting down for breakfast felt like it the most normal thing in the world, especially when comparing it to the bizarre rest of the week. Any social, financial, or international celebrity boundaries that might have divided us fell completely away as we laughed, talked, and passed around the maple syrup. Conversations grew longer, stories were exaggerated, and it wasn’t long before the troubles of the previous day melted away completely. We chose to live in th
e moment and just enjoy each other, and that felt great.