Take a Chance on Me(97)

Then the waiting had started. Endless hours had been filled with worry and irrational fear that he’d never find her again. When Shane had finally gotten the call that she was home, Mitch had picked up his car keys and driven like a bat out of hell to get her.

Now, parked in front of the house she lived in with her mother, Mitch realized that it was two-thirty in the morning. If Maddie had lived by herself, he’d have no qualms about banging on her door, but he wasn’t sure this was a wise start with the woman he hoped would be his mother-in-law one day.

He stared at the brick bungalow, which was nearly identical to the rest of the houses on the narrow street, and contemplated his options.

Maddie was in there, thinking he hated her and wanted her gone.

He couldn’t stand the thought that he’d made her cry. He couldn’t stand her believing that he didn’t love her. Even if she hated him for being a coward and not fighting for them, she needed to know the truth.

And he couldn’t wait another second to give it to her.

Fuck it. He wasn’t sitting back anymore. He pushed the ignition button and the engine died. He’d find another way to get on her mom’s good side.

He was going in.

Five seconds later, he was up the steps and ringing the doorbell. When no one answered, he rang it again, and then a third time.

Finally, he heard the click of the latch and the door opened. Instead of Maddie or an older version of her, two women stood in the doorway.

They were around Maddie’s age, both dressed in comfortable sweats with their hair pulled back into ponytails. They wore identical scowls on their faces.

Mitch glanced at the address on the side of the house. It was the right number.

“Yes?” the brown-haired girl with the black-framed glasses asked.

The blonde glared. “Do you know what time it is?”

Mitch couldn’t help checking out the address again. This was definitely the right place. “Is Maddie here?”

“No,” the blonde shot at him. “Go away.”

Mitch’s brows rose. “Is this her house?”

The blonde opened her lips, but the brunette put a long, tapered hand on her arm and shook her head.

The blonde’s mouth snapped closed.

“This isn’t a good time,” the brunette said, coolly.

“But is it her house?” Mitch asked again, wanting to be absolutely sure before he made a scene. “Shane told me she came home.”

The brunette’s eyes flickered before she nodded. “Yes, it is, but this isn’t a good time. Maybe it’s best if you left.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Mitch said in a hard, do-not-f*ck-with-me voice.

“Do you know how many hours she’s been crying?” the blonde demanded, jabbing a finger at his chest.

Mitch’s already frayed emotions shredded at the knowledge that she’d been crying all this time. “Yeah, I know, which is why I need to talk to her.”

“No,” the blonde snapped.

Mitch took a deep breath and tried to hold on to his temper. He turned to the brunette, clearly the more pragmatic, less temperamental of the two, and held out his hand. She scrutinized it for a moment, then slowly shook it. As reasonably as he could muster, he said, “I’m Mitch Riley. Maddie’s been staying with me since she ran out on her wedding. And you are?”

“Penelope,” the brunette said.

Mitch turned and forced a smile on the blonde. “You must be Sophie. Maddie has told me a lot about you both.”

“You’re not going to charm us,” Sophie said.

Okay, she wasn’t his biggest fan. Mitch nodded. “Understood. But I’m not leaving until I talk to Maddie.”

“Maybe it’s best if you come back in the morning,” Penelope said.

Mitch shook his head. “No. I can’t. I need to see her now.”

Sophie began to speak, but Penelope cut her off and asked, “Why?”

Because he loved her and he couldn’t live without her. But the first time he said those words wouldn’t be to her friends. He tried to look past them, but the two women blocked the door like professional linemen. “I care about her and I need to tell her I’m sorry.”

“Not good enough,” Sophie said, bracing her legs as though he was about to rush her.

“She’s had a long night,” Penelope said, rationally. “She’s finally gone to sleep and needs her rest. I’m not going to wake her.”

Mitch wanted to scream in frustration.

But before he could say anything else, another female voice came from behind the women. “What is all the commotion out here?”

For a second, Mitch’s heart surged with the hope that it was Maddie, only to realize a second later that the tone and cadence was all wrong.

Penelope and Sophie parted like the Red Sea to reveal an older woman wrapped in a white robe.

“Sorry, Mrs. Donovan,” Penelope said. “We’re taking care of it. You can go back to bed.”

“So you’re the one,” Maddie’s mom said.


“Yes, ma’am,” he said, hoping politeness would override banging down her door in the middle of the night. “I need to talk to Maddie.”

“You made her cry.”

“I’m sorry.” He cursed himself for the thousandth time for kicking Maddie out. He’d been upset and he hadn’t thought. “I want to make it up to her. Please.”