She didn’t need safety. She needed the out-on-a-limb kind of bravery Maddox had encouraged her to find, that she would never have dared to seek before she’d met him.
Adelie slammed her laptop closed and rose to her feet so fast she nearly knocked it from the table. An idea struck her. It was terrifying and tempting and made her feel as though her joints had turned to jelly. But she had to.
She rushed out to the street, into her car, and drove toward the WV3 television station. It was a large rectangular structure with two massive satellite dishes on the roof. If only she’d thought to get Wendy Hendricks’ contact information, but during the two encounters with the pesky news anchor, her thoughts had been too skittered to even consider it. Hopefully, she could find her now, or at least talk to someone who could help her.
A live broadcast. The idea terrified the socks off of her, but she couldn’t think of any other way to prove to Maddox that she’d changed; to tell not only him but the world how she’d come to feel for him during their too-short marriage.
She’d braved a photo shoot. She’d navigated Parisienne streets alone. She’d stood up to his ex. She could do this.
The sun was a goldenrod yellow, highlighting the shrub beds speckled with spring flowers and glinting off the entrance’s silver knob. Adelie reached to open it when it turned of its own accord, and Maddox stepped out.
Adelie took a staggering step backward. His appearance lit a match to her pulse, sending it sky-high. Heat flushed in her cheeks, and her vision tunneled. In his black, button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled to his forearms, his tan slacks, and tousled hair, she saw only him.
“Adelie?” he said in surprise. His hand found her elbow. The touch was a charge all its own.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I could ask the same thing about you.” He stepped out, letting the door close behind them. The sun glowed, presenting a halo everywhere she looked. “I was just about to head to your house because I wanted to show you something.”
A metal bench sat in a collection of daffodils. Maddox accompanied Adelie to it, guiding her to sit down before taking the open space beside her. She had come to life having him close to her once more.
“Show me what?” she asked.
He pulled out his phone and tapped on a YouTube broadcast. The stage was one she recognized, the WV3 studio she’d seen on her TV screen more times than she could count. She also recognized Wendy, with her dark hair. But sitting across from her on the interview hot seat wasn’t Ruby or even Duncan, as Adelie suspected it might be.
It was Maddox.
Adelie tensed in an instant. “Oh no. Maddox, what did you do?”
“Quiet, or you’ll miss it,” he said with a smile.
After a brief introduction, the anchor’s background changed. Wendy stood in front of Wonderland’s whimsical gates, but instead of gaping open in welcome to the hordes flocking in for a day of festivity, the pave stone distance from the gates to the top hat ticket booths, to the park’s entrance, the spinning, coiling rides, everything was motionless, as still and silent as the morning Maddox had given her a private tour.
Wendy lifted her stout microphone to her lips and spoke.
“Wonderland is closing its doors, folks. The white rabbit is staying in hiding. Reasons behind this sudden, bold move by the park’s owner, Maddox Hatter, continue to be a mystery, especially considering his recent, outlandish remodel of the attraction.”
The screen returned to an image of Maddox, sitting across from Wendy in the WV3 studio. Strangely enough, in the news broadcast, he was wearing the same black, button-up shirt and tan pants he currently wore, sitting beside her.
“Did you just film this?” she asked.
He squeezed her knee. “Keep watching.”
“Mr. Hatter,” Wendy said, “thanks for joining me here at the studio.”
“Thanks for having me,” Maddox said, resting a hand on his knee. Adelie didn’t fail to notice the wedding ring on his finger. Her gaze flicked to his left hand now, and butterflies coiled in her stomach at the silver band circling there.
“This news of Wonderland’s sudden closure is quite the story. Would you care to share your reasons for such a drastic change?”
On the screen, Maddox shifted in his seat. His tone turned from friendly to something more sinister.
“Some rumors have begun to circulate regarding my recent marriage to Adelie Carroll, and I like to think that the truth is better than anything else, wouldn’t you?”
“I would, indeed,” Wendy said with a little chuckle. “All right, then, what is this truth?”
“That my personal life is no one else’s business. I married Adelie Carroll because I fell in love with her, and we prefer to stay out of the public eye from now on.”
“And what about Wonderland? Will you sell the park?”
“That remains to be seen,” he said.
Wendy’s broadcast shifted back to the image of her at Wonderland’s gates. “And there you have it, folks. Looks like our billionaire is keeping things pretty close to the chest.”
Wendy continued her story, giving a brief history of Wonderland along with its recent success, causing faithful attendees to marvel at this sudden and unexpected closure of such a successful park.
The video began buffering, and Maddox locked the screen with his thumb.
Adelie flurried between amazement, shock, and complete ecstasy. He’d said he loved her—on TV. He’d closed Wonderland. She wiped her clammy palms on her thighs and attempted to shake sense into her brain.
“Maddox,” she breathed.
His eyes were pinned right to her. “You can search it—it’s all over the internet by now. WV3 was eager for a juicy story, so when I told Wendy I had one, she hurried to get it out before anyone else.”
“I—how? Why? Why would you do that?” Adelie couldn’t seem
