Page 67 of Atonement

MSchaf: Yes, for a month. And make sure Maddie has a passport.

JWinger: Right away.

I slammed shut my laptop and rose from the table, chair shooting out behind me so quickly it hit the wall behind me. Depending on first class availability and whether or not she had a passport, Maddie and I could be on a plane as early as tonight. There were a lot of plans to make before then.

Jessica stood as I approached my office. “Madeline does have a passport. I was able to get you tickets on the flight leaving at 10:30.”

“There was nothing earlier?” I tried to hide my scowl. Maddie said I was too hard on her sometimes. I needed to try to take more of what she said to heart.

“Unfortunately, no. Lots of people are taking off to spend the holidays abroad.” She tapped her fingers against my door as I stalked to my desk and sat down. “I could…”

“It’s all right. I’m sure you got the best flight.” I shoved my laptop into my bag and grabbed my coat. We still had a few hours before we would need to be at the airport, but I wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to pack. “Is Maddie here? We need to get going.”

“She just got back from across town. Should be on her way up now.”

“Great. Cancel my meetings for the rest of the year. I’ll be in touch once I land.” The board wasn’t going to be happy about this, but they certainly wouldn’t take any action. It was purely due to me that the company even still existed. Absorbing Amnesty Abroad had been exactly what we needed to remake the company’s image. With Maddie’s boss in front of TV cameras every day expanding on how our organizations were working together, a lot of the heat that had been raining down on us over the past few weeks had dissipated. There was never a good time to take a month off from work, but now was as good a time as any. I had to put Maddie first, before I lost her forever.

The elevator doors opened as I approached them. Maddie stepped out, her smile turning to confusion as I grabbed her around the waist and carried her right back into it.

“What’s going on?”

“We’re going on a trip.” I kissed her as the doors closed, our bodies awkwardly pushed together. She smiled as I pulled away, eyes still closed.

“I hear the Bahamas are nice this time of year.”

“No beaches this time.” I released her and turned around so we faced the same direction. “You’ll see when we get there. Or at least, when we get on the airplane.”

She bit her lip to hide her grin and bounced on her toes. “Give me a hint.”

“Nope. You’ll find out soon enough.” The look on her face was intoxicating. Her hair was a little blown back from the walk through the windy city streets, and her cheeks were flushed red with cold. I touched my hands to her cheeks, eager to give her some of my warmth. “I adore you, you know that?”

Her arms wrapped around my middle as she folded against my chest. “Right back at you.”

*

“Christmas in Paris.” Maddie sighed and leaned her head against my shoulder, only to sit up straight a moment later. We’d been among the first to board the plane. She was blown away by the size of the seats in first class, and how much leg room we had. The moment we sat, a hostess appeared with glasses full of champagne topped with a strawberry. She downed hers immediately, while I took measured sips. I didn’t want to miss even one moment of her smile.

But my happiness turned to worry as her face fell. “What about my parents?”

I cursed internally.Shit. I hadn’t thought about them. I scrambled for a response. “I’ll fly them out a few days before Christmas, and we can ring in the New Year together.” It wouldn’t be that big a deal to have them around. She might want them for support, later.

Maddie wasn’t assuaged. “They don’t have passports. I only got one because I went to South America for a service trip one summer.”

“We’ll get them set up.” I whipped out my phone and shot off an email to Jessica just as the cabin doors closed and we were instructed to turn off our wifi. Another reason why what we were doing could never work long term. I was so eager to get away from all forms of family, I completely forgot that Maddie still cared about her parents. What if she hadn’t said anything to me? She would have hated me even more for keeping her away from her family during the holidays, after they’d already been through so much.

And really, why hadn’t I thought about inviting Eva? Having her back in my life had been a balm the past few weeks as we dealt with the fallout of my father’s death. I was building a house for her on my property, for God’s sake. She wasn’t going to run off on me again. Still, I was trying to hard to keep her at arm’s length. Not as much as Joshua, of course, but I could tell she’d noticed how I’d pulled back after we found my real mother’s bones.

Maddie didn’t notice my distress as the plane started moving and she pressed her face against the window.

“I still can’t believe this is happening.”

“Don’t get too excited.”

She turned to face me, frowning a little.Oops.

“I just mean we have a long flight ahead of us. We should try to get some sleep.”

Reassured by my explanation, she grinned once more and bounced a little. “I’ll try, but no promises. I’m too worked up.”

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