Maddy focused her eyes straight ahead as she crossed over the Walt Whitman Bridge on her way back into New Jersey. She'd driven to
Malvern from Ocean City earlier that Saturday afternoon to teach country
line dancing for the Cowboy Ball at the Chester Valley Golf Club, where
two of her Pottstown students, a sweet couple named Ellie and Paul
Johnson, were members. Around the same age as Madeline's parents,
they'd been students of her ballroom dance classes since their inception
four years prior, and had been immediately struck by Maddy's poise and
professionalism.
Each semester when the school district mailed out the Adult
Education curriculum, Ellie and Paul would enthusiastically register for
another ten-week session, eagerly anticipating Tuesday nights, which often
came with the added bonus of sharing a pre-class meal with Maddy and
Monica at the local Pottstown Diner. So when fellow country club
members noticed their tremendous progress at a formal dinner dance one
evening, the pair had attributed most of the credit to the wonderful young
woman and her mother-who would good naturedly, "lead" the single
female students to make up for the lack of male participants.
The Tuesday night ritual had quickly become one of Maddy's favorite
activities as well. She'd pick up her Mom after work and the two of them
would make the scenic, 45-minute trek west on Route 422, where they'd
laugh and chat about nothing in particular, while singing along with the
radio. As they'd pass by the rolling green hills of Montgomery County,
Maddy would regale her with funny stories of Betty-who was always
entertaining, or the latest incident involving a crazy client, or a flaky temp
who hadn't shown up for work. Oftentimes, they'd laugh over the antics
of some of Maddy's quirky dance students, wondering what he or she
might say or do during that evening's lesson.
But no matter what was discussed, the drive offered quality one-onone
time for mother and daughter, free from whatever family dramas
might be unfolding at that moment. During those carefree hours spent in
the car and in the elementary school gym, Maddy forgot all about her
insecurities, career dissatisfaction and romantic troubles, uplifted by the
warm, receptive class and the sheer joy of the dance.
However, during last winter's semester she'd started to experience
those weird physical twinges, where all of the sudden she'd feel as if she
were having an out-of-body experience. On a few occasions prior to the
start of the lesson, she'd actually feared getting sick in front of the class,
though-blessed with a strong stomach-Maddy could only recall two
times in her entire life when she'd actually thrown up. But as had become
her habit, she'd excuse herself to step outside or into a ladies room, take a
few deep breaths and then rejoin the class, without uttering a word about
the episode to anyone. It was a pattern that would eventually come back
to haunt her.
Now cruising effortlessly down the Atlantic City Expressway, she
sang along to the latest Vince Gill and Colin Raye cassettes, still very
much in a country mood, thanks to the evening's events. It had been a
pleasure teaching the nice people at Chester Valley, who'd in turn, raved
about her exuberantly to Ellie and Paul. The Johnson couple had been
extremely pleased-though certainly not surprised-by her excellent
performance that evening, for which Maddy had been handsomely
compensated.
However, the best satisfaction for her had been the knowledge that
she'd done her friends proud; after all, they'd truly stuck their necks out to
the members of the Board, most of whom had insisted on hiring someone
with professional experience. Maddy cracked up as she recalled a meeting
involving her, Ellie and a very finicky and skeptical woman named
Suzanne, who'd grilled her relentlessly about her dancing skills. Maddy
had passed the test with flying colors, teaching them an impromptu class
in the middle of Ellie's living room.
After Suzanne left, Ellie apologized profusely for the woman's initial
behavior, but Madeline had taken it all in stride. The only downside to
getting the job had been the accompanying necessity to tear herself away
from the beach, all too aware that precious days in the summer sun would
soon be coming to an end. Thankfully, the weatherman was promising
another hot, clear day tomorrow; Maddy planned to take full advantage.
And as she drove on through the night, she tried to focus on the good
things in her life, even as memories of last summer and Ken's recent
phone call hung over her like a black cloud.