The cleansing warm water rained down on her, rinsing away all traces of sand as Maddy reached for the shampoo. It was mid-August, and
she'd just returned from a rare solo afternoon at the beach. With Carmen
relocated to Manhattan, Mom and Louis in Nashville, Dad on-call this
weekend and Greg and Lori preoccupied with wedding planning, she'd
been left to soak up the sun on her own. She'd driven down after work on
Friday evening, eager to enjoy the hot weather, regardless of the lack of
company. And as she stood in the privacy of the enclosed, wooden
outside shower, she basked in the joy of this simple-and strictly
summertime-pleasure.
Ever since Ken had abruptly exited her life, she'd retreated a little
more into herself each day, though outwardly she put on a brave front.
She'd even gone on a few dates over the past several months, though her
heart hadn't been truly engaged-and with good reason. At least two of
the men had turned out to be complete jerks. And the contrast between
their treatments of her versus Ken's could not possibly have been more
dramatic. Still, Maddy had given each of them a fair chance, determined to
go on with her life. It wasn't as if she hadn't made a Herculean effort to
get to the bottom of the Kenny story.
But despite countless phone calls to his home and even a few short
conversations with his roommate, Kathy, Madeline never did find the
resolution she sought. And while she hated that trite and seemingly
ubiquitous word, "closure," she realized it was something she desperately
needed; if she could at least understand what exactly had gone wrong,
perhaps she could avoid the same mistakes in the future.
True, she'd hurt Kenny badly by writing him that letter last fall; but
they'd been able to patch things up to the point of spending a good
portion of December and January together. On New Year's Eve, he
couldn't stop telling her siblings and future in-laws how much he adored
her and couldn't wait to make her his wife. And while that particular
holiday had never been one of her favorites, this year's celebration had
been the happiest she could ever remember. Ken mingled so easily with
her family, joking around, sharing stories, enjoying Sunday dinners and
watching Eagles games; it all seemed so normal, a preview of life's coming
attractions.
Yes, he'd been miserable in his career, but so had she. Why did it
have to spell the end of their relationship? After demonstrating such
consistent respect, he could've mustered the courtesy to break up with her
to her face, instead of standing her up for their ski date without so much
as a phone call. That was the kind of behavior she'd expect from Jake, not
Kenny. Had this been payback for hurting him? He didn't strike her as the
vengeful type, but what else was she to assume? None of it made any
sense.
Maddy turned off the spigot and wrapped herself up in a fluffy,
oversized towel. As she undid the latch of the shower door, she peered
around to check that there were no neighbors walking down the alley.
Once assured the coast was clear, she ran up the porch steps and into the
family room from the sliding glass doors. In the sanctuary of her
bedroom, she quickly dried off and changed into a casual shorts-set
before blow drying her long hair in the hall bathroom. The noisy
accessory nearly drowned out the sound of a ringing phone a minute later;
Maddy switched it off and ran into her parents' room to answer.
"Hello?" She responded brightly, thinking it was probably Mom
checking in from Tennessee.
"Madeline?" Her heart lurched at the sound of the familiar, masculine
voice.
"Yes?" Her tone exuded annoyance and anger.
"It's Kenny." From his Aventura apartment, he gazed out at the
Intracoastal Waterway, in an attempt to calm his nerves. On his bedroom
mirror, photos of him and Madeline evoked a happier time and place.
"Yes, I know. Nice of you to finally call." She stared out at the alley
from the big picture window, where a large orange sun was painting
colorful streaks on the horizon.
"Um…I'm sorry," he stammered. His words preceded a seemingly
endless silence until Maddy spoke up again.
"For what? For standing me up for our ski date without calling? For
disappearing off the face of the earth? What exactly are you sorry about,
Ken?"
"For everything," he replied softly. While he acknowledged her right
to be justifiably angry, it pained him to the core to hear the rancor in her
voice. He'd witnessed much genuine emotion in Madeline, but this kind
of hostility posed an unprecedented challenge, though he knew he bore
the brunt of responsibility for it.
"Do you have any idea how you made me feel? I trusted you; I
believed in you. And you just kicked me aside with no explanation, no
proper goodbye, nothing!"
"Maddy, I am truly sorry," he repeated. "That was such a bad time in
my life; my whole world just fell apart. And I just couldn't take being in
South Jersey anymore. I felt like I was gonna go crazy if I didn't get out of
there!"
"Well, where are you now?"
"I moved to Florida."
"Florida?"
"Yeah, uh, I got tired of the winters and just needed a change.
Besides, there's so much more happenin' down here business-wise. I got
my real estate license and I plan to get my mortgage broker license, too.
Maddy, it's so beautiful here; you should see it! The beaches are clean and
the ocean is blue and clear. You can actually see your feet! And all of the
Spanish-style homes, tropical flowers and things to do-it's so different
from up north."
"That's great Ken, I'm glad you're happy," Maddy replied somewhat
sarcastically. Apparently, he wasn't suffering any anguish over her.
"Well, not totally," he admitted.
"Really? What could possibly be missing in Paradise?"
"You," he said softly.
"Me?"
"Maddy, I miss you so much!"
"With all of the beach babes in South Florida, you expect me to
believe that?"
"C'mon, Maddy, you know there's no one else like you!"
"So, that's why you left me? Because there's no one else like me?"
"Maddy, I'm sorry! I thought you understood how frustrated I was up
there."
"Yeah, Ken I get that because I felt the same way, remember? I still
do. But I'm not the one who disappeared without so much as a phone
call; you are!"
"Alright, I know. You are absolutely right and I'm sorry. But Maddy,
you should consider moving down! Ballroom dancing is so popular here,
you could teach lots of classes until you figured out what you wanted to
do. And my goodness, there are so many clubs that have live music, you
could even sing on stage. I remember how beautiful your voice is; you
could make a lot of money! Maybe even work for the Palm Beach Princess. I
know you could be happy here!"
"Right-away from everyone in my family, living in a strange place all
alone. Sounds like just what I need!"
"Sweetheart, you wouldn't be alone; you'd have me."
"You?"
"Madeline, I've never forgotten about you, or your family," he replied
sincerely. "You inspired me-the entire Rose family inspired me to finish
my education, start a lucrative career, you know, make something of myself.
And that's what I'm doing. But I miss you, sweetheart. I miss you so
much!"
"C'mon, Kenny. I'm glad we've all inspired you, I truly am. But you
expect me to actually believe you miss me?"
"Madeline, it's the truth." Then with another thought he suddenly
asked, "Who's taking you to your brother's wedding?" Caught off-guard,
she couldn't quite conjure up a snappy comeback, and thus resorted to
complete honesty.
"I don't know; I don't have a date yet."
"Well, can I take you?" His tone was hopeful.
"You want to take me? You're gonna fly up to Philly to take me to my
brother's wedding?" The surreal overtone of this telephone session was
beginning to wear on her. She sat back down on the bed, unsure of
whether to laugh or cry.
"Well, yeah! If I can get the time off of work, absolutely!"
"Ken, I don't think you should make promises you don't intend to
keep. I'm glad you're ok, I'm glad you called, but please; don't say things
you don't mean. Don't play with my feelings like that. It's not fair!"
"Madeline, I love you! And I am sincere; I do want to be your date for
the wedding. Please, honey, you have to believe me." He thought back to
the first time he ever kissed her, high atop the Taj Mahal Casino. God, what
he would do to hold her in his arms again.
Maddy just sat there silently, lost in confusion and conflict. A
significant part of her wanted so desperately to believe, yet none of it felt
right. If he truly loved her, how could he just up and leave like that? Why did he have
to turn her whole world upside down in order to change his?
"Look," he said, interrupting her internal debate, "I will try to get the
time off from work and let you know within the next two weeks if I can
make it, ok?"
"Ok," she agreed softly. Before hanging up, she jotted down Ken's
phone number and address, at his insistence. Back in her bedroom a
moment later, she picked something up off the bureau. And as she stood
there holding the glittering Pisces pendant in her hand, she felt more
tortured than ever, while endless footage of recent events began to play
vividly in her mind.