Page 32 of Take My Hand

Maddy was obviously torn between upsetting Amelia and annoying Zak. Blind to the fact that he liked her, she must have thought he would hate her becoming friendly with his little sister. I was torn between telling her that she should have more self-confidence because she was beautiful and keeping her away from the teenage boy with raging hormones. I went with throwing the two teenagers together, hoping I didn’t regret it.

“I think she’d love to go on your trampoline,” I offered, picking up my mug of coffee. “You’re never too old for trampolines.”

Zak looked at me, his eyes wary, and then over to Maddy. “You can if you like. I just thought…”

“Yes,” Amelia cried, bouncing on her seat. “When can you come to our house?”

Maddy stared at me, unsure of what I was doing or why I’d said what I said. Maybe it was the possibility of never hearing from or seeing Maya that had made me soft. Losing out on something that I knew could be great, I wanted to be sure Maddy didn’t go through the same thing.

“Well,” I announced. “I need to go to the bar for a couple of hours, so if Maddy wanted to go back with you, I could pick her up later.” I placed a hand on Zak’s arm. “Unless you’re busy.”

His eyes went wide as he shook his head. “No. No. We were just going to watch a film until Mum and Dad got back.”

I looked back at Maddy, who was bright red and chewing on her lip. “Do you have plans?” I asked her.

“No.” She finally locked eyes with Zak. “If you’re sure you don’t mind. I mean if you’d rather do something else. Or maybe I could stay with Amelia for you, until your mum and dad get back.”

I wanted to shake her and tell her to have more belief in herself. To back herself because this boy next to me didn’t want to do anything else. He wanted to spend time with her. I just hoped that Zak had the balls to take control.

“No, I have nowhere else I want to be. It would be good if you could come back to the house with us.” He cleared his throat. “Maybe play on the trampoline, and then we can all watch a film together?”

I couldn’t help but smile, and I liked him a little bit more. I just hoped he didn’t let me, or more importantly, Maddy, down. Maybe I wasn’t ready to let her go, but knowing it was time meant that I had to trust him.

Chapter Thirteen

Maddy

Ihad no idea what my dad thought he was doing, but when I got home I would kill him. Mortified wasn’t the word. He’d practically forced Zak to invite me over to his house. The poor boy had no choice.

“Listen,” I said, as Zak pulled his keys from his jacket pocket. “I can leave you to it. My dad shouldn’t have suggested I come home with you both.”

Amelia was skipping up the gravelled driveway ahead of us, seemingly excited that I was going to be visiting the Hoyland house.

Zak turned and walked backwards. “I’m glad he did. So, stop stressing about it.”

“You’re sure you don’t mind?”

“One hundred percent,” he called over his shoulder as he turned back around. “I’ll give you half an hour on the tramp with Amelia, and then you’re mine.”

My heart thumped wildly, and my stomach swooped while Zak walked nonchalantly away, totally unaware that he just sent me into a state of anxiety.

“Come on,” he yelled, pushing the door open and letting Amelia run inside. “Time is passing, Madeline.”

He had Madeline’d me, and for once I didn’t mind. In fact, I liked the sound of it in his accent. Quickening my steps, I reached the front door, where Zak was waiting for me. He had his finger hooked on the chain around his neck, and his eyes were twinkling, and I wondered what he was thinking about.

“Romance or horror?” he asked, looking over his shoulder at Amelia who was skipping down the hallway.

I shrugged. “Didn’t we have this conversation last night?”

He tilted his head on one side. “Yeah, and if I recall, romance won. Maybe horror then.”

“What about Amelia? She can’t watch a horror film.”

“She won’t watch it. She’ll sit through the first two minutes and then go to her bedroom to read Harry Potter, like she always does.”

The idea that we might be alone later made my nerves spike, and a huge boulder in my throat stopped me from swallowing. The thought was exciting, but what if he was just being nice? What if there was nothing in it and I got myself worked up for nothing?

“Honestly, Zak, I can go once I’ve spent some time with Amelia.”

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