Page 89 of Forever Home

The ability to spend another night with Madison is a blessing in my eyes. We spent the night talking, catching up on everything since we last spoke to each other as well as talked about the situation with Caitlin. A topic I didn’t want to discuss, but from what I could see Madison needed the closure.

Slipping from bed before dawn, I dressed and made my way downstairs towards the bakery. The doors finally opened and I decided to grab coffee and breakfast for the two of us. Technically, she’s supposed to be working, but who am I to wake her when she’s sleeping so peacefully?

“Jaxson?” Allison’s surprised voice catches my attention the moment I attempt to sneak out the back door. Like a kid with their hand in the cookie jar, I turn to face her with wide eyes.

“I can explain…”

A smug expression crosses her lips as she tosses a tea towel over her shoulder and raises a brow in my direction. “Can you now?”

“Yeah—we got caught talking.”

“I see.” She quickly replies, not giving me time to finish. “Well, you better stop trying to sneak through the back and go through the kitchen to get coffee and breakfast. I assume that’s what you were planning to do?”

The woman is more perceptive than I would like, but there’s no point in lying to her. Allison has known me most of my life, and hiding things from her feels wrong. Nodding, I make my way through the kitchen to grab what I came for. Allison doesn’t bother to say anything more as she moves towards the front to deal with customers, her eyes brightening as she speaks with the people she’d grown used to serving over the years.

It’s the same spark that I saw in Madison’s eyes when she got the news about the mayor's daughter being thrilled with the cake she made.

By the time I make it upstairs, the television is on, signalling that Madison’s awake. Quickly closing the door, I set the coffee and muffins upon the kitchen island and make my way towards the bedroom only to see an extremely pissed off Madison staring at me.

“Is everything okay?”

Letting out a sigh, her eyes rimmed red with tears, she wipes her hand across her eyes once more and sits up a little straighter. “Were you serious when you said Caitlin didn’t mean anything to you?”

Are we really going over this again?

“Of course,” I sigh, taking a step towards her. “I thought we discussed this last night and everything was okay. The woman means nothing to me… you know that.”

“Right," she scoffs with a smile that quickly falls. “Then why is your fiancé on the network we just got done filming for, talking about your upcoming wedding.”

What?

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Leaning forward, she picks up the remote and clicks through the channels until she finds the recorded episode of World of Foods that aired last night. Turning it on, she fast forwards to a particular section and sure enough, there’s Caitlin.

“So, what’s the news with you and Jaxson Rivers?” The host asks Caitlin. Her smile widening as she fiddles for a moment before flashing her ring finger to show off the massive diamond engagement ring on her hand.

“Well, we were planning on keeping it a secret. But I guess you guys can be the first to know! We’re finally getting married!” She squeals with excitement as people clap. “Now, I can’t say that our relationship hasn’t come with its issues. It’s taken so long for us to get back to this point after he was involved in a scandal with a girl from his hometown… but I love him and I’m willing to stand by his side through anything. Now, I know what you’re going to say. But it's been a long time coming, and I can’t be happier to soon call him my husband. Every relationship has its difficulties.”

As soon as the clip finishes, Madison pauses the TV and turns to me with a pointed glare. Her eyes filling with tears once more as she begins laughing. “I can’t believe you would come here telling me those things… hell,fuckingme…after planning to marry her. I mean…what were you looking for Jaxson? Here for one more tumble in the sheets before marrying this woman? Here to ask me to keep quiet so I don’t ruin your image? God… I’m such a fucking idiot.”

A rollercoaster of emotions flows through me as I let what I just watched sink in. Caitlin went on national television, on the network Madison and I filmed for… to what—lie about a wedding that is never going to happen?

What the hell is her plan? To trap me into marriage?

The entire situation is a PR nightmare, and one that my team is going to have a field day with trying to unravel. Nothing will ever be able to make me marry that woman and by the sadness on Madison’s face, it’s going to take a hell of a lot for me to convince her of that.

But what hurts the most is that she thinks I would be one of those kinds of men.

The kind to cheat on the person they love, and then try to cover it up.

Fuck, I’m in love with Madison.

“Madison—”

“No," she snaps, shaking her head. “Just stop Jaxson. What’s done is done…please don’t make any of this worse than it already is.”

Stepping forward, I stare at her with frustration. “No, you listen to me. None of this is true. And I can’t for the life of me understand why you think that I would be one of those types of men to cheat. Caitlin is lying so that I will cave into her demands. And right now, you’re giving her what she wants…you out of the picture. I don’t want her, Madison… I only want you.”

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