Page 38 of The I Do Over

ChapterSeven

“Forget all the reasons why it won’t work and believe the one reason why it will.”

Unknown

Leaving Knox’s house that morning was hard.

The drive back to Chesapeake was boring.

Now, as she sat in her office with Babette, Jenna, and Heather staring at her, Maddie felt more than a little self-conscious.

She came directly to the clinic rather than going home first and it was their lunch hour when they all didn’t have any patients scheduled. Her plan had been to come in and sort of go over the schedule and have a little time to ease into her afternoon, but apparently the girls had other plans.

“So, um…”

Babette held up a hand to stop her from saying anything else. “First, we all need to know that you’re okay,” she began. “Do you need to cry? Yell? Hit something?” She pointed to the therapy room. “There is more than enough equipment out there for you to use.”

“Lunch should be here any minute,” Jenna added. “We just went with sandwiches. I hope that’s okay.”

“And I baked brownies,” Heather chimed in. “The double chocolate ones that you love so much. You know…in case you needed them.”

That’s when it hit her that she was truly blessed with some amazing friends. They looked out for her and worried about her, even when she thought she was being strong.

Leaning back in her chair, she smiled at the three of them. “You guys are amazing. Thank you. Sandwiches sound great and the brownies sound even better. Any chance we can start with them?”

“Uh-oh,” Babette murmured. “Starting with the brownies isn’t a good sign. Are you sure you’re okay? If you need to go home, I can reschedule your appointments for this afternoon.”

It was probably the wrong time to laugh, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. “Okay, everyone can relax. I’m fine. Really.” She laughed again. “Great, actually.”

Three sets of eyes simply blinked back at her.

“The initial meeting was awkward and tense and basically horrible,” she explained. “Knox yelled, I cried, and all I wanted to do was get in my car and leave. But…after we both calmed down a little and were able to talk…” She shrugged.

“I’m sure the sex helped,” Babette deadpanned.

“Oh my God…” Now she was mortified. Her hands immediately went up to cover her face and she was pretty sure she was going to die of embarrassment. It was one thing for everyone to speculate about it, but when it was put out there so bluntly, she didn’t know how to react.

“It’s okay,” Jenna said, reaching out and gently guiding Maddie’s hands away from her face. “We saw his picture. None of us can blame you. We just worry, that’s all.”

“And I genuinely appreciate it. I do,” Maddie assured her after a moment. “I’m just more of a private person and this is all new, so…”

“Well, notreallynew,” Babette said slyly. “You were married to him.”

“Fine, some things weren’t entirely new, but we were kids back then! Dealing with each other now in our thirties is a completely different thing! And it’s exciting and terrifying and my emotions have been all over the dang place!” Slouching down, she let out a long breath. “I went into this whole thing figuring I’d go and apologize and it would be kind of formal and awkward and I’d come home feeling better and karma would finally get off my back.” She paused. “Then I realized my mistake, and it went from awkward to emotional and I seriously felt worse than I have in years.” Another pause as she replayed the last several days over in her mind.

“She’s got a goofy smile on her face,” Heather commented. “This must be where the sex came in.”

Why deny it?

“It did. But when Knox suggested me staying so we can sort of finish clearing the air and just get to know each other again, we both thought it was for the sake of closure.”

“With sex,” Babette said with a wink.

“Yes, with sex,” Maddie snapped back. “Jeez. Get your mind out of the gutter for a minute.” Sighing loudly, she went on. “We went fishing and hiking and had picnics during the day, and then at night it was…” Swallowing hard, she forced herself to over-share. “It was the best sex of my life!”

They all burst out laughing as they hugged her.

“I never knew sex could be like that! It was fast and frantic and a little dirty that first time, but after that I feel like there started to be some affection there. We’re still so much in sync that it’s scary.”

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