When I saw the lights of his truck shine through the front windows, I ran back into the kitchen and switched the coffee on. I had just pulled mugs from the cupboard when I heard a knock at the door. "Come on in..." I called.
"Hey, Tess, it's just me," his deep voice echoed down the hall.
"Oh, hey," I stammered, peaking my head around the corner in time to see Maddox take his coat off and hang it up on the coat rack. "Did you want anything to snack on? I was just going to put some chips in a bowl, and I'm making coffee."
"Sounds great," he said, stepping into the kitchen. "Sorry I am late. Traffic was bad coming in from the city," he whispered, wrapping his arms around me in one of his brotherly hugs. Over the past few weeks, I’d come to love those hugs.
"No big deal. It shocked me when you said you were free tonight. Normally, you'd be out with Derrick. I figured that was where you were off to when you said you had to meet someone for dinner."
"No, not tonight. I met up with an old friend for a quick bite, and then I had a couple errands to run," he said, letting me go, his jaw tense.
"His loss is my gain I guess." I giggled, emptying the bag of chips into the bowl and pouring two cups of coffee. I was about to pick up the two mugs and carry them to the table when Maddox stepped beside me.
"Let me," he said, reaching in front of me, picking up the mugs in his large, muscular hands. He carried them over to the table while I followed with the bowl of chips.
"What did you want to do tonight? A movie?" he asked.
"Um, sure, but first I wanted to talk to you about something."
"Yes, you said something about that. Okay, shoot." Maddox grinned, pulling out a chair at the table, straddling it.
"Well, I feel sort of silly asking you, and please don't feel obligated to say yes."
"Okay." He chuckled.
"Really, I mean it. If you are busy, or think it's stupid, just say so and we will move on and forget I even asked," I said, toying with a lock of my hair.
"Tess."
"Seriously, I hate to do this..." I said, uncertainty filling my voice while sitting down across from him, taking a sip of my coffee.
"Tess," he repeated.
I met his eyes and then lowered mine to the floor. "I mean it, Maddox."
"How about you ask me whatever it is you want to ask, and we will take it from there?" He chuckled, shoving a couple of chips into his mouth.
"Well, um, I had to keep the trip to Paris. I made a stupid mistake and booked the trip on a discount and had to give up the refund option. So I had to keep it. Besides, I paid for the damn thing and was so excited about going,” I said, trying to justify to myself why I should go. “Anyway, my mom and Laura were making a big deal of me going alone. They don’t think it’s a good idea for me to travel alone, so I thought perhaps I’d ask and see if you’d like to go with me."
"Just let me check my work schedule. I think I'm only working one or two of the days you are going. I know there are guys that will kill for the hours, especially at this time of year, so..." he said, pulling his phone out and searching through his contacts.
"Oh, forget it, this is just stupid. My mother and Laura both think I need someone to go with, but I'll be fine. I'll be totally fine. You don't have to go. You probably already have plans with your family or something. I have no idea what I'm even doing. Seriously, Maddox, just forget that I asked," I stammered and got up from my chair and began pacing back and forth while I fiddled with my earring.
"Whoa, Tess, calm down. I'd love to go."
"Really?" I faltered, meeting his eyes.
"Yes, really.” He smiled, standing, coming over to me and placing his hands on my shoulders. “I just need to make a couple of calls."
As Maddox walked away, I wondered if perhaps I was putting him into an uncomfortable position, what with being Derrick’s best friend, and I worried that he might feel the same.
"Maddox?”
He glanced over his shoulder at me. “Yeah.”
“I’m not putting you in an uncomfortable position, am I? I mean, your friendship with Derrick. He's going to be upset, I am sure of that."
Maddox shrugged. "Let me worry about that, okay. I'm just going to make a couple of calls and see if I can get those two shifts covered. Give me...oh, I don’t know, about ten minutes." He nodded and checked his watch.
“Okay.” I looked away as he got up and made his way into the dining room. I stood inside the kitchen watching him. His back was turned to me and he ran his hand through his hair as he dialled a number. He was mid-conversation when he turned around and saw me watching him. I smiled, then grabbed the bowl of chips and our coffees and carried them into the living room and curled up on the couch, flipping through the channels while waiting for him to return. When he did, a smile lined his lips.
"All right, we are all set." He grinned, sitting down on the couch beside me. "We are going to Paris."
I smiled. "YAY! Oh, wait, we should get your name on the tickets." I was excited that I would not have to spend what would have been my honeymoon alone. I knew deep down that if I went alone, I would spend my time moping around the hotel room feeling sorry for myself.
"Sounds good. Why don't we take care of that now and then figure out what we are going to do while we are there. We can search some sites, look for restaurants, museums, and things that you’d like to see and really lay out a plan."
"That would be great." I grinned and reached for my laptop, setting it on the table in front of me.
All it took was a single phone call to the travel agent, and everything had been switched from Derrick's name and into Maddox's name. It was a simple procedure, and then the travel agent sent over a few links to some local events for us to check out.
While I sat there going over the websites that the travel agent had sent, Maddox tapped me on the shoulder. "What is it?" I questioned.
"Did you notice that we are flying out of a different airport?" A look of confusion lining his face as he shuffled the travel documents around.
I huffed, annoyed at the entire reason. "Well, you will love this. Derrick wanted to ski, so we are spending some of the trip in a private chalet near some huge ski resort. We take a train from Paris to Le-Mont Dore on the seventh day of the trip, and we spend New Year's Eve there."
He frowned. "Well, Tess, that sounds fabulous, but I'm a little confused."
I could tell from the look on his face what was coming, yet I pretended not to. "What are you confused about?" I asked innocently.
"Tess, even I know you don't ski. So, I'm confused why you wouldn't be spending your entire trip in Paris?"
I squirmed in my seat and looked down at my mug. "Do you want a top up?" I asked, standing up.
"Sure, but first, I’d like you to answer my question? Why wouldn't you be spending your entire trip in Paris?" he questioned, pulling at my arm, making me sit back down.
I looked at him, then lowered my eyes and shook my head. "It was the only way he would agree to go to Paris."
Maddox sat silently for a moment, thinking over what I’d said. "Let me guess, he wanted to go to Vail or something like that."