Madeline saw Ria and Skye exchanging glances, and she knew how to read it. They weren’t convinced she was being honest with herself about her feelings.
The idea riled her up a little, but she worked through it. They didn’t have to fully understand. They loved her and wanted the best for her and they would try to comprehend and believe her.
It was enough.
“So what are you going to do?” Skye asked. “Are you going to see him tonight? Was it a bad enough argument that you won’t see each other right away?”
“I don’t know. It was hardly an argument. It was just... tense. But I can’t wait all night not knowing what he’s thinking about everything, so I’ll need to talk to him tonight. He usually texts when he’s done with work. He’ll probably come over.”
“I can’t believe you’ve been having hot sex with Sheriff Harley all this time and you’ve never told us!” Skye was grinning now.
“I don’t actually think about him as Sheriff Harley when we’re together.”
“Then how do you think about him? Sheriff Studmuffin?” Skye flashed a glimpse of a dimple.
“No!” Madeline gave the other woman a playful swat. “I think about him as Ken.”
Her cheeks were still flushed. She was still kind of embarrassed about the confession, even to people she loved and trusted as much as she did her friends.
But she also felt a lot better. Like her whole world might not fall down around her ears.
She would wait for Ken to touch base with her. He normally took the initiative, something she really appreciated since it didn’t leave her wondering about what he was really feeling. And if he didn’t tonight, then she would text him. Or call him. Or go over to talk to him.
She would have to be brave. She couldn’t go the whole night without talking to him.
Without knowing where they could go from there.
IT WAS A LONG, TERRIBLE day for Ken. Not only was he heavy and distracted about Madeline, but there was also a bad accident involving an overturned tractor trailer on a county road that took up most of his time and all the emotional energy he had remaining.
He didn’t get home until seven, and he was so drained and exhausted he couldn’t even fix himself dinner. He took off his jacket and belt, toed off his shoes, and collapsed into his recliner. An ecstatic Marlowe climbed up on top of him and wriggled his joy at Ken’s return.
Ken stroked the dog and tried to calm him down enough that he’d stop poking him painfully in the gut and groin with his too-big paws.
After about ten minutes of hellos, the dog settled down, flopping down on his lap, his head resting on Ken’s chest and his eyes fixed devotedly on his face.
“I know,” Ken said. “It’s not any fun to wait patiently for your person to show up, especially when it feels like they never will.”
The dog whimpered in response and gave Ken’s face a long, slow swipe with his tongue.
“I don’t know if she wants me to call her,” Ken added. “I think she might be done with me. She might be my person, but I don’t think I’m hers.”
Marlowe clearly had no idea how to deal with this information, so he gave Ken another sloppy kiss.
“I just want to see her tonight. Not even for sex. Just to... be with her.” Ken sighed and closed his eyes, reclining farther back in his chair. “Is that too pathetic?”
Marlowe clearly didn’t believe such a sentiment was pathetic at all. If anyone knew about waiting faithfully for the presence of a beloved, without any hope of reward other than simple fellowship, it was a dog. He squirmed higher up on Ken’s body so he could press his head in the crook of Ken’s neck.
It wasn’t a very comfortable position. In fact, the dog was so enthusiastic in his cuddling that he threatened to close up Ken’s windpipe. But Ken wouldn’t have moved him for the world.
“I guess it’s just you and me for a while. We’ll call the girls before bedtime so we can at least talk to them for a few minutes. That will be okay, won’t it?”
He was so tired he didn’t have his normal control over his emotions. His voice cracked slightly, which made him feel more pathetic than ever.
What was wrong with him?
Madeline was a normal person. She wasn’t some kind of angel sent down from heaven just to make his life better. And he’d known what this relationship was capable of giving him from the beginning. Sex. Temporary pleasure. Nothing more.
He wasn’t such a fool as to fall apart now that it was over, when it had given him exactly what he’d known it would.
And nothing more.
He grabbed for his phone when a text alert came in, but it was just one of his deputies, letting him know he’d picked up old Curtis Wagner for public intoxication and disturbing the peace. The old man got drunk at least once a week and wandered around town, cursing everyone out for existing. He sent back a quick reply and then kept the phone in his hand.
She wasn’t likely to reach out. She usually waited for him to make the moves.
He didn’t mind making the moves. He liked doing it. It gave him a deep sense of satisfaction when he was able to pull Madeline out of her shell. But he wasn’t going to do it when he was pretty sure she didn’t want to hear from him.
That would hurt too much.
After all, he needed a few personal boundaries, if only to protect himself.
“I’m pretty stupid,” he told Marlowe, causing the dog to raise and cock his head inquisitively. “No doubt about it. I fell for her when I knew better. Didn’t I?”
Marlowe’s only answer to this raw confession was another kiss.
“Damn it.”
He’d just muttered this, feeling
