Take a Chance on Me(76)

Charlotte pointed to one of the empty chairs. “Please sit.” The words were quiet and unassuming, but the subtle command lurked right under the surface. Like mother, like son.

Maddie didn’t even think to protest. She slid into the seat across from the older woman. An uncomfortable silence filled the room as they looked at each other.

Charlotte traced a path around her coffee cup and offered Maddie a small, polite smile.

Figuring that was an invitation to speak, she cleared her throat. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, thank you.” The older woman raised a cup to her lips and took a dainty sip, pinky raised. Impressive.

Maddie pressed her lips together, desperate to fill the space with small talk, but her mind was a complete blank. All she could think about were the elephants in the room. Finally, she gave up and opted for sincere. “Are you doing okay, Mrs. Riley? Is there anything I can do?”

“Charlotte.” Cool, golden eyes the exact same shade as her son’s met hers. “You mean, for a woman whose family is in ruins?”

Maddie swallowed. So they were jumping off into the deep end. “Yes.”

“I’m as well as can be expected. I had a difficult time sleeping, and this house is filled with so many memories of a happier time. I miss my mother. She was wonderful.”

“Mitch has told me a lot about her and the summers he spent here as a child.”

“A grandmother isn’t supposed to have favorites and she’d never admit it to a soul, but she had a special soft spot for Mitchell.”

Maddie raised her eyes to the heavens and said a prayer of thanks to Mitch’s grandmother. She blinked, surprised. It was the first prayer of gratitude she’d given in a long time.

Realizing Charlotte watched her, she said, “I’m sorry for your loss. She sounds like a very special woman.”

“Thank you, dear,” Charlotte said, folding her hands neatly in front of her. Her expression shifted from sorrow to scrutiny. “May I ask how you met my son?”

Maddie had no intention of divulging the whole story. Simplicity was best. “I met him at the bar.”

“What were you doing in that dreadful place?”

This part was easy, and Maddie relaxed fractionally. “I was lost. My car broke down and the bar was the first place I came to.”

Charlotte nodded. “So you’re not from around here?”

“No, I’m from Chicago.”

“I see. What brought you here?” Somehow the older woman managed to make her questions sound like polite chitchat instead of the interrogation they really were.

The truth screamed in her head. She shrugged. “I ran away from home.”

A small smile stole onto Charlotte’s lips. “Aren’t you a little old for that?”

“Yes, but sometimes you have no choice but to run for your own sanity.” With the similarities too obvious to ignore, Maddie let the words hang in the air.

The smile died, and Charlotte’s face once again clouded over. “You must think we’re a dreadful lot.”

“No, not at all.” Maddie didn’t know what to think of the Rileys, but who was she to judge? Things weren’t always as straightforward as they seemed.

“I’m a horrible mother,” Charlotte said, almost absently.

“I don’t even have a good excuse. I got used to the politeness. I got used to being on guard, until I was cut off from my own children. My mother would be so disappointed. She was married to my father for sixty years and never let that world change her.”


Maddie softened toward the other woman. She was clearly hurting. “You don’t have to explain yourself. It’s not like we plan these things out.”

Charlotte shook her head and pressed her fingertips to her lips as though trying to press the words back in. “It’s ironic. I married Nathaniel because he was nothing like the boys I grew up with.”

Not knowing what to say, Maddie kept quiet.

Charlotte’s hands fluttered to her neck, where she sought out the pearls and twisted. The fine lines, etched with strain and worry, made her look older than she’d appeared yesterday. Suddenly, as though realizing she was mangling the necklace, she released the beads and her hands disappeared under the table. “We met in college. He was a scholarship student and filled with all these grand ideas. He was all raw energy and vitality, and he swept me off my feet.”

Maddie nodded. “I’ve seen him speak. He’s very compelling.”

“Yes, he is.” With a sly glance, Charlotte’s lips quirked. “Mitchell is the spitting image of his father.”

A surprised laugh bubbled from Maddie, and a hot flush crawled up her throat. “Yes, well, that does explain a lot.”

“Indeed,” Charlotte said properly.

Maddie grinned, but before she could say anything else, the back door opened and Mitch walked in. His gaze shifted back and forth, narrowing on his mother before resting on Maddie. “Morning, Princess.”

Despite the tone, the fine hairs raised on the back of her neck. His eyes, normally warm when they looked at her, were as flat as dull pennies.

He nodded at Charlotte. “Good morning. Did you sleep well?”

“Fine, thank you.” A mask of formal politeness slid over Charlotte, leaving behind no trace of the woman Maddie had been talking to.