Page 17 of Forever Home

Every part of the conversation felt wrong.

“It shouldn’t be like that though,” I finally mutter, her eyes meeting mine as my fist clenches at my side. “All of this is going way too fast… it just feels… I hate it.”

Laying down her spatula, she wipes her hands on her apron before clearing the space between us. Her arms wrap around me as she pulls me into a hug, the tears finally flowing freely down my face once more.

Great. Now I’m crying in front of the entire bakery.I have two personalities: I’m either happy, bubbly and ready to go, or I’m crying my fucking eyes out and refusing to get out of bed.I pull back and wipe my cheeks.

“Everything is going to be okay, Madison.” Mom gives me an encouraging smile. “Regardless of how fast or slowly we think things should be… that isn’t how it goes. So, if the lawyer told Knox that you guys have to get the place packed up… then so be it.”

“Doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck,” I mutter. “When I’m there, is there anything you want me to keep for you? Maybe photo albums or something?”

When her eyes meet mine, I see how deeply the pain is getting to her. They’re glazed over, and tears prick the corners as she nods. “That would be lovely, sweetheart.”

Chapter Eight: Madison

“Guys?” My voice rings out through Mrs. Kendall’s home as I set my purse down on the small table near the front door. The soft voices of Kylie and Knox drift through to me from the open living room doorway.

“We’re in here,” Kylie calls out.

Turning the corner, I come face to face with Kylie and Knox sitting amongst a mountain of boxes going through a photo album. Each of them takes their turn pointing at the photos within the album, laughing.

“What are you two doing?” I ask, soft laughter escaping me. “I thought we were working.”

Kylie turns to me, a sheepish smile upon her lips as she shrugs. “Eh, it’s break time.”

“Shit… I’m okay with that,” I mutter, taking my place next to Knox. “Where did you findthese?”

“Where didn’t we find them?” Knox replies, shaking his head. “This woman has mountains of photo albums. Some look like they were from the fifties from how old the photos are.”

“Speaking of photo albums… my mom would like some of the albums if possible.”

Kylie’s eyes meet mine with a small smile. She knows how close my mother and Mrs. Kendall were and how much having the albums would mean. When we were little, Mrs. Kendall would bring them out and Kylie’s mom and my mom would look at them with her while we kids played amongst the treehouse.

“Of course… actually,” she replies, standing to her feet as she moves towards a stack of boxes taped up and waiting by the open doorway. “There’s a box in here with tons of them. You can take that for sure.”

Stepping over to where she’s stood, I take in the black sharpie markings that sayphotosand smile. It’s exactly what my mother is looking for and knowing Kylie’s amazing skills at organizing, everything my mother wants is in this box. “Awesome, thank you. She will love it.”

“Guys!” Knox calls out with more excitement in his voice than you would expect from looking at a photo album. “You have to see this.”

Kylie and I turn, making our way back to Knox as we glance down at the photo he’s pointing at. “Look at this… it’s from our last summer together when we were kids. Remember, Mrs. Kendall made us come take our senior pictures here and planned an entire cookout for us?”

The thought of that day comes flying back to me, not so much because of what Mrs. Kendall did. But because of the interaction I had with Jaxson that day. It was the first time I tried to tell him how I felt about him, and in the end, it blew up in my face.

Laughter escapes me as I watch Kylie and Sam go at it with Knox and Asher over the round of backyard volleyball we just played. As much as the guys boasted about being able to win against us, they didn’t. Which only made things funnier when we won. The torment that Sam threw towards Asher and Knox brings a smile to my face, that is until Jaxson steps out the back door of Mrs. Kendall’s home and my heart all but stops.

Shirtless and with nothing but loose black basketball shorts on, I watch as his eyes glance towards me and he sets off in my direction.

“This is pretty awesome for Mrs. Kendall to do for us, isn’t it?”

Nodding, I lift my iced tea glass to my lips and take a drink. Trying to decide what I want to say, I told myself this morning that I was going to do it. That this was the year I’d tell Jaxson how I felt about him.

“Yeah, it is,” I say softly, clearing my throat. “Look, Jaxson, I was hoping—”

My words are cut short by Asher who quickly grabs Jaxson’s attention. “Hey! You made it.”

“Yeah, I had to finish up a few things at home first.”

“Awesome, well the girls are spanking our asses at volleyball so with you here now it will be three on three and we can show them who really owns the court,” Asher replies, bouncing the volleyball around in his arms as he walks backward gesturing for Jaxson to follow him.

---