Page 30 of Mad for Madison

“She could be,” I agreed. “If she gets enough sleep.”

“I’ll be cranky tomorrow if I don’t,” Lily said, her inflection reminding me of Gran more than I could handle with a straight face. Madison and I burst out laughing.

“We should get going,” I said, lifting Lily off her seat and putting her in my lap.

Madison followed the movement with his sharp gaze, his lips curled upward in a permanent smile ever since he’d joined us in the museum. I’d never seen him so relaxed.

Last night, he’d been at the top of his game—greeting, flirting, discussing, teasing—but it had been a game. This afternoon and evening, the character was nowhere near us. It was just Madison Masters, enjoying his ice cream like a six-year-old, debating about dinosaurs, smiling and glimmering with warmth. His broad shoulders were relaxed into a partial slouch, not at all trying to keep the posture of perfection from last night.He emphasized his arguments by waving the spoon around, sending a blob of vanilla to his face once, which made Lily cry with laughter. To me, he’d whispered, “It was a clever ploy to distract her.” But Lily had picked up the argument as soon as the fit of laughter had been over.

I’d never loved sitting in a diner as much as I loved it tonight. I’d never been so happy.

And the moment I realized it, my chest ached.

“Do we have to?” Lily asked.

“Yes,” I said in my “dad voice.” “You are way past your bedtime, missy. We’re going home.”

Madison observed me with fascination. I saw it from the corner of my eye. He didn’t know I could see him. He didn’t know he was on my radar at all, except that he was. He was always somewhere in the distance, and I could always see him.

Madison offered to walk with us from the subway to the building. On the way, he teased Lily about all the other dinosaurs he could think of to challenge her firm opinions. “But it can fly. That’s aerial attack power, Lily.”

My daughter remained unconvinced.

When we were near the building, I expected Madison to say good night and get a cab to Hudson Burrow or maybe walk because the night was clear and crisp, and his place wasn’t that far away.

“Say good night, Lily,” I reminded her.

She lifted her head and commanded our attention. “Good night.”

“Good night, Lily,” Madison said. “Oh, and next time, I’ll tell you why Venus is better than Mars.”

Lily was unimpressed. “I like Jupiter.”

“We’ll see about that,” Madison said, sharing a little laugh with my daughter.

I drew a breath of air to say good night to Madison, but I couldn’t find the words to thank him for making this day so special. I wondered if Lily would remember this forever and knew that I would.

“Would you like to have a drink with me?” Madison asked hastily. He licked his lips, and his gaze flicked away before he returned it to my face. “It’s cool if you’re busy.”

It took me a moment to recover. His invitation had catapulted me into space. The brave way he concealed his disappointment prompted me to answer him quickly because he expected the worst. “I’d love that.” My hand cupped the back of Lily’s head. “I just need to tuck her in.”

“I’ll wait here,” Madison said with relief that made my heart race.

After another round of goodbyes, I picked Lily up and carried her into the building. The apartment was warm and smelled like freshly baked cookies.

“Gran?” I called.

“In here,” Gran said from the kitchen.

Lily was half-asleep in my arms as I walked through the apartment. “We’re back,” I said.

“Did you have a nice time?” Gran asked.

“We sure did,” I said. “Lily’s exhausted. It was a lot.”

I carried my baby girl to her room and changed her, alerting her just enough to make it easier, and tucked her under the thick comforter. The moment her head touched the pillow, she gave a pleased sigh and drifted to sleep.

Gran stepped to the doorway as I turned to leave Lily’s room. “She’ll be dreaming big dreams tonight, darling,” she said.

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