Page 47 of Someone Like You
That was all Maddie could take. She didn’t want them worrying about her. She was old enough to leave the state and go somewhere for a week. Even for a year. Whatever it took. But to make them overly concerned wasn’t fair. The flight attendant made the announcement. No more cell phones.
Maddie typed as fast as she could.
I’m sorry for not saying goodbye. I have a lot to work through. Yes, I’m safely on the plane, and Dawson will pick me up when I land. I’ll be fine. And Portland’s no worse than Indianapolis. Tell Hayley I love her.
With all her heart she wanted to say the same thing to her parents. If only all of this was a bad dream so she could go back to being Peter and Brooke West’s daughter. Back to being part of the Baxter family.
But that simply wasn’t the case. This was her new reality and she had to walk in it. Even if that meant putting distance between her and the parents she had back in Bloomington. Maddie sat in a window seat, and she stared out as the plane taxied down the runway. Next to her, in the center spot, an older woman looked, too. “Beautiful day.” She smiled at Maddie.
“Yes, it is.”Patience,Maddie told herself. The last thing she wanted was mindless banter on the flight. Maybe if she played the conversation out now. Before they took off. “You from Bloomington?”
“Originally, yes.” The woman was maybe sixty-five,seventy years old. Her expression grew sad. “I came home to bury my mother.” She sighed. “Dad died last year. We knew it wouldn’t be long before Mom went, too.”
The details caught Maddie by surprise. “I’m … so sorry.”
“It’s okay.” The woman smiled despite the obvious pain in her eyes. “They loved Jesus, so I know where they are.” She angled her head, like she was remembering a million happy moments. “And we had the best relationship. All our lives. The absolute best.” She did a slight shrug. “No regrets.”
Her words hit hard. Maddie nodded. “That’s good.”
“What about you?” The woman’s question seemed genuine, like she really cared about Maddie. “You live in Bloomington?”
“I do. My family’s here.” She said the words before she could stop herself. Not that it mattered. She didn’t want to get into specifics now, or before she knew it she’d be crying with a stranger. “Taking a trip to Portland to see … friends.”
“Nice.” The conversation fizzled and the woman yawned. “Well … I need to catch a little sleep on this one.”
“Me, too.” Maddie hesitated. “Nice talking to you.”
“Yes.” The woman smiled. “You seem like a sweet girl. Your parents must love you very much.”
If she only knew, Maddie thought. “Yes … I’m sure they do.” As complicated as things were, that much was the truth. Maddie’s adopted family did love her. They had just left her with a lifetime that wasn’t real anymore.
Maddie stared out the window as the plane took off. She half expected that if she turned back to the woman, she’d be gone. An angel, sent to deliver a message fromGod. The importance of loving family and living without regrets.
Maddie had spent all her life that way. It was her adoptive parents who had changed everything by not being honest with her. And maybe the parents who really loved her were the ones waiting for her in Portland. The ones who cared enough to spare her life.
The parents she didn’t know.
Indiana disappeared behind them. Something about that made Maddie feel free and at peace for the first time since hearing the news. It was still unreal that she was on a plane headed to the Pacific Northwest.
Like all of this was happening to someone else.
She closed her eyes and leaned back.
The one bright light through the past few days had been Connor Flanigan. She spent yesterday at his house in the backyard, helping his family plant summer flowers and in the kitchen, cooking dinner with his mother. Connor still didn’t get it, how the news of her adoption could shake her so badly. But he was trying.
She pictured the moment last night when she sat with him on his family’s porch and told him she was going to Portland. They were on the swing, and as soon as her words were out of her mouth, he stopped rocking. He had just one word for her.
“Why?” He didn’t blink.
“Because.” Maddie had rehearsed her answer. “I want to meet them. My biological parents.”
By then Connor knew that Maddie’s blood sister had died. Maddie had no idea how or what had happened. There were many things she wanted to talk to Dawson about. That was one of them.
“Who will you stay with?” He didn’t give her time to answer. “Don’t tell me you’re hanging out with the guy who came to the zoo?”
“I am.” She hadn’t wanted to upset him or make him think things were rocky between the two of them. They weren’t, not anymore. Maddie had overreacted that first night, but since then Connor had been extra sensitive. “He knew my sister very well.” She hesitated. “I’d like to hear about her, what she did for fun, what was important to her. Everything I can learn.”
He nodded. “I get that.”
