The Wedding Party (The Wedding Date, #3)(84)

“That’s not what it was, Mom.” Maddie reached for her mug. “I don’t want to talk about Theo anymore, okay?”

Vivian sat down next to her.

“Okay. Then let’s talk about the job.”

Maddie picked up the mug and went to the kitchen to add more sugar. Her mom never put enough sugar in her tea.

“What’s the point? I didn’t get the job, the end.”

Her mom shook her head.

“No, not the end. This wasn’t your only opportunity. Now did you want to be on TV, or did you want to help women who need you?”

Maddie threw up her arms.

“I wanted to help women who need me on TV!”

She and her mom both burst out laughing.

“Okay, but seriously,” Vivian said. “There are other ways for you to do this kind of work. I know a million places you can volunteer to help women in this way. You can do whole seminars; you can help people dig through all the clothes that get donated to shelters to find outfits for job interviews—remember like you used to do for me at thrift stores?”

Why had something like that never occurred to her?

“Of course I remember.” She sat back on the couch and tucked her feet under the blanket. “Tell me all your ideas.”





Chapter Twenty




WHEN THEO WALKED BACK INTO CITY HALL MONDAY MORNING, IT FELT like it had been months since he’d been there, not a week and a half. Apparently, it felt like that to other people, too: two people from the counsel’s office hugged him as he walked into the building, the security guard who did like him gave him a high five in the lobby, and there were “Welcome back!” balloons in his office.

It was all so nice, except how it made him feel like a piece of shit. Didn’t they all know the concussion had been his fault in the first place? That he’d ruined the kickoff rally for a major statewide initiative because of his own hubris?

Didn’t they all know he was the biggest asshole Maddie had ever met?

On the plus side, he’d been able to think more clearly over the past few days and had realized it was possible that his anxiety about losing his job over the rally was not completely rational, even though he still felt terrible about ruining the rally. The mayor liked him; he’d done great work there—Alexa had maybe even been right about all that. At least, he hoped so.

Everything with Maddie, however, seemed just as dire. He missed her so fucking much he felt pathetic. He constantly wanted to pick up the phone and text her something ridiculous Ben had said, or tell her something he knew she’d think was funny, or see when she was coming over. But he knew she didn’t want to hear from him.

Alexa walked into his office holding two cups of coffee.

“This was your doing, wasn’t it?” he asked her, gesturing to the balloons in the corner.

She set his coffee on his desk and shook her head.

“Nope. I guess there are more people in this building who care about you than you knew.”

He got up to give her a tight hug.

“We missed you around here, you know,” she said.

He’d missed them, too. He was so glad to be back at work. He knew he wasn’t anywhere near a hundred percent well, but not working for so long had made him jittery. And he was so glad to be out of the house and have something to do other than miss Maddie. He needed to apologize for what he’d said to her, but the only way he could explain why he’d said what he’d said to Ben was to tell her the truth. And he couldn’t admit that he’d fallen in love with her.

“Are you sure you’re okay to be back here?” Alexa asked.

He nodded, even though it hurt his head.

“One more day in my apartment and I would have started climbing the walls, Lex. Or murdered my little brother. I’m probably not going to be in great form for the first week, but I had to come back.”

He couldn’t tell her he also needed the distraction from thinking about Maddie.

“Okay, but go home early, at least today, okay? See you at staff meeting.”

Theo finished his coffee and then walked over to the mayor’s office. He might as well get this part over with as soon as possible.

The mayor’s secretary jumped up and gave him a hug as soon as she saw him.

“Theo! I was so worried about you! Did you get the banana bread I sent over?”

He hugged her back.

“I did, and I was so grateful for it. Thank you. I ate it for breakfast every day last week.” He pointed at the mayor’s office door. “Is he in there?”

She nodded and glanced down at the phone on her desk.

“Yes, and he’s off the phone. Go on in.”

Theo knocked on the door and walked in when the mayor boomed out, “Come in!”

“You’re back!” The mayor grinned as Theo walked through the door. “I knew the bastards couldn’t keep you down for long.”

Theo returned his boss’s vigorous handshake.

“I’m back. I may not be up to speed for a few days, but I couldn’t handle being at home another day.”

Maybe everything really was okay? The mayor seemed happy to see him.

“Someday, someone needs to teach you how to take a break,” the mayor said as he sat back down at his desk.

Theo sat down, too, and took a deep breath. No matter how relaxed his boss was, he still had to say this.