Page 5 of Adored By Jonah

“That would be me,” she grins.

“Well, I’m glad you found this place.”

She eyes me with a grin trying to figure me out. “I am too,” she says. “Growing up in the city like Maddie and me, you get a little jaded. This place is like some perfect, right out of a book, type of town. Someplace that’s untouched where the people are nice, and you don’t have to worry about locking your doors at night. You don’t find many places like that these days, if at all.”

I nod in the agreement. I know exactly what she’s talking about. I love my town. “It’s the perfect place to raise a family,” I say, looking at Maddie. I don’t know why, but I can’t help feeling like she’s meant to belong to me. This is my woman, my soulmate. Whatever her story is, she should be mine, not someone else’s. Not Gracie’s dad or whoever she’s with.

“I’m Liz by the way,” the other woman says, holding her hand out to me.

I shake her hand briefly, but release it, not wanting to give Maddie the wrong idea. Her sister is beautiful in her own right but not the one I’m interested in. “Jonah Wright, nice to meet you.”

“Jonah Wright, as in the guy who owns this place?” Liz asks, eyeing me speculatively.

I nod. “Well I own it with my brother, but yeah.”

“Mommy I’m bored.”

“Okay sweetie are you ready to go home?”

“No, I want to go down the hill on the sled.”

I’m about to offer to walk them up there myself when my radio goes off. “Jonah, do you have the keys to the Gator?” Justice asks.

Shoving my hand into my pocket, I find the keys he’s looking for. Damnit! “Yeah, I’ll be right there,” I say into the radio.

“Can I get you ladies anything before I leave?”

“No, you’ve done so much already. Thank you again for finding her for me.” Maddie says, giving me a meaningful look.

“Of course, not a problem at all. If you ever need anything, you can always reach me here,” I say, pulling out my wallet and grabbing one of my business cards, then handing it to her. It’s not exactly how I want to exchange numbers with her seeing as how I don’t even know if she has a boyfriend or husband but I want her to know I’m here in case she ever needs me.

She looks at the card between my fingers for a long second and I can tell she’s trying to decide if she should take it. Finally, she does. Holding the card up she says ‘thanks,’ then turns around to help her daughter off the picnic bench.

Liz gives me a kind smile and I get the feeling she understands what’s going on here but she doesn’t say a word.

I don’t know Maddie’s story. Hell, I don’t know if Gracie’s dad is in their lives or not. What I do know is that her momma made a huge impression on me. I can’t believe I’m walking away from them knowing I might never see her again. I’m hoping that’s not the case seeing as how she lives here now. I’m leaving it up to chance. If it’s meant to be it will be. When I get up the hill, I turn around to get one last look at her, but she’s already gone.

Chapter Two

Maddie

“He was cute!”Liz points out as we walk away towards the little hill for Gracie to slide down.

“I guess,” I shrug.

“What do you mean you guess?” Liz gasps.

“Exactly what I said, I guess he’s cute.”

“Don’t lie to me. I saw the way you two were looking at each other. You think he’s hot.”

“It doesn’t matter if I think he’s hot. I’m not dating anyone right now. I probably won’t be dating anyone for a long time.”

“Maddie, don’t do that to yourself. You deserve to be happy and there’s nothing wrong with you finding someone to be happy with.”

I shrug my shoulders, “It doesn’t feel right to look at another man when I’m supposed to be focusing on Gracie.”

Liz turns and faces me then grabs my shoulders. “You can focus on Gracie, be a good mom, and still have time to focus on yourself. You’re not just a mom, you're a woman Maddie. A beautiful woman who deserves to be happy, to have fun, to go on adventures, to laugh for crying out loud. Ever since you and Mark divorced I’ve seen a little of that light come back into your eyes. Give yourself permission to be who you are or maybe discover who you are now that you’re free of that asshat. Don’t let him steal who you are away from you.”

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