Page 31 of Stuck Together
“Yep, Daddy’s Princess Maddie stories are the best. Maybe he can tell you one sometime.”
“Maybe.” Madison started to stand. I sensed her uneasiness with the turn in this conversation.
“Wait, don’t go.” Rylee called out. “You should date my daddy.”
Madison’s eyes widened and her mouth fell open.
“Rylee. Stop it. Madison is just a co-worker. I told you that.”
“But Daddy you need a girlfriend. She seems nice. And she looks like Princess Maddie.”
I let out a nervous chuckle. “Well, I can't argue with you there.”
“You can argue Daddy, but you can’t win.”
That made Madison laugh. She sat back down and leaned forward. “Rylee, it's very sweet of you to offer for me to be your daddy's girlfriend, but we’re just friends. Okay?”
“But you don't have to be just friends. You could be his girlfriend instead.”
“All right Rylee. That’s enough. What are you in Gigi up to?
“Nothing.” She shrugged with an innocent look in her eyes.
“Gigi put you up to this. didn't she?”
“Maybe.” I let out a growl and looked down my nose at Rylee. She immediately sank back.
“Tell Gigi I’ll deal with her when I get home. I'm sure Gigi will invite Madison over sometime since Gigi has known Madison a long time as well. You can talk to her again then. But she is not my girlfriend.”
Her shoulders sank further, and she looked defeated. “Okay.”
“I’ll call you later tonight, before bedtime.”
“Okay, Daddy, I love you.”
“I love you too.” Her adorable face disappeared, and I dropped my head into my hands to hide my face. I should have expected that from Grandmother.
When I looked up, Madison was watching me from the kitchen. “I'm sorry about that. I didn’t expect Grandmother to put her up to that. I should have, but I didn’t. Those two always love to conspire against me.”
She shrugged and her lips turned up in a faint smile. “It's okay. It's not the first time your grandmother tried to set us up. And I have to admit, that was cute as hell.”
I smiled, glad to hear her taking this so well. There was enough complication between us, we didn’t need Gigi and Rylee adding to it. “How about we revisit that truce you suggested? I hate this tension between us. And I don’t think I can handle another day like yesterday.”
She didn’t answer me as she headed toward her bedroom. My heart sank, taking her silence as a no. She stopped when she reached her doorway and I heard her release a slow breath. She glanced over her shoulder but didn’t look at me. “I don't want to fight with you either. I don’t know where we go from here, but a truce would be nice.”
Relief washed over me. “Good. I mean, we do have to work together, right?”
She turned around and leaned against the door frame. “Yes. And, honestly, after doing some research on you I’ve learned that you're actually pretty good at your job. Great in fact. I could probably learn a lot from you, that is, if you're willing to teach me.”
“It'd be my pleasure, Madison. We have a lot of great clients that you would be well suited to manage. When we get back, I’d be happy to sit down and talk about transitioning some of them to you.”
Her smile grew. “I’d like that.”
“Good.” Seeing her smile released most of the tension in my body. If we could maintain this type of interaction, we’d be fine. Maybe all we needed was a little fun and fewer trips down memory lane. Madison turned to head into her bedroom when an idea hit me. She had me making Christmas ornaments the other night. Now it was my turn to drag her into an activity.
“Oh, Madison. Before you go, I was thinking about skiing this afternoon since we don’t have client meetings. You’re welcome to join me.”
“That sounds fun.” Her voice was a little shaky, but she smiled. “I’m gonna go shower. Let me know when you want to hit the slopes.”