Rush to the Altar (26 page)

“But so romantic.”

“Yes, so perfect. Now…being connected with me is so bad for him. The Racers aren’t happy.”

“You don’t think he regrets it, do you?”

Maddie shook her head. “I don’t think so. But a part of me wouldn’t blame him if he did. I don’t understand how he can want someone with all of this…” She stopped, tearing up. “This baggage?”

Sasha reached across the table and laid her hand over Maddie’s. “Stop. Stop that right now. You’re the best person I know. You had nothing to do with Brandon’s bad decisions. Nothing, do you hear me?”

“Don’t make me cry,” Maddie choked out. “I don’t want it to be like this. The beginning of our lives together shouldn’t be so awful. Sasha, a part of me says I should discourage this marriage. For him. For his career.”

“He’s a grown man. You don’t have to save him, Maddie.”

“I don’t?”

“Life is life. If he sticks with you through this, he’ll stick with you through anything. He is obviously crazy about you.”

Maddie’s cell phone rang. She pulled it out of her purse and looked at the screen. “It’s my boss, Jordan. I should take this.”

Sasha nodded, taking a drink and ordering a plate of wings from the hovering waitress.

“Hello?”

“Maddie, oh good, I’ve reached you.”

“Hi, Jordan. How are you?”

“I’m scrambling here. Listen. I was just called into a meeting with the owners. Maddie…they’ve asked me to fire you.”

Maddie expelled all the air in her lungs. “What?” She swallowed hard. “Why?” As if she didn’t know.

“They don’t like the negative publicity. They said they won’t allow this criminal case to be associated with the team and sully the Racers name.”

She felt her heart sink to her feet. She loved that job. The first real career job she’d ever had, and she’d enjoyed the challenges of it. “I understand,” she said instead.

“They’ve given you six months’ severance pay. It’s very generous.”

“Yes, it is. Thank you, Jordan. For calling and telling me. I would have hated to hear it from anyone else.”

“I’m upset, Maddie. You don’t deserve this. But there was nothing I could do. I’m sorry. Really sorry. You were great at your job.”

“Thank you. I mean that, Jordan. Should I come in tomorrow for my things?”

“You can come in sometime to clean out your office, but there’s no hurry. We won’t replace you anytime soon.”

“Okay. I’ll just come in tomorrow and pack up. I don’t want to let it drag out.”

“I understand.” A long pause ensued. “Maddie, for what it’s worth, I know you are completely innocent. I know you’ll get through this.”

“You’re a good friend, Jordan. Thank you.”

“Oh, one more thing. Jake was in the office before me. He left really angry. I don’t know what they said to him, except that many of the higher-ups were there. They apparently had quite a confrontation with Jake.”

Maddie’s heart sank even further, if that was possible. “Thanks for telling me. Jake will probably try to brush it off and not tell me the full story. Thank you for everything, Jordan. You’ve been a great boss. The best.”

“Well, okay then. I’ll let you go. You take care, Maddie.”

“You too.”

They hung up.

“Don’t tell me they’ve fired you,” Sasha stated, wide-eyed. “What kind of monsters are they?”

“Monsters worried I’ll screw up the Racers name, that’s what. And Jake’s name. I think they’re putting a lot of pressure on him.”

“It’s not fair. You’ve done nothing wrong. I bet you could sue them.”

Maddie shook her head. “I’m trying to stay out of the courtroom, not get in it.”

Her phone rang again. “Oh, no,” she cried as she glanced at the screen. “It’s Rick. The player that has me sing at his club.”

“Oh, that’s right! In the midst of everything I forgot to ask how that is going.”

Maddie held up a finger. “Let me get this and then I’ll tell you all about it. It’ll be good to talk about something positive.”

“Hey, Rick, how are you?”

“Hey, girl. Great. Great. You’re famous!” He said it like it was a great thing, and Maddie had to smile.

“Infamous, you mean?”

“No, Maddie girl. This is a good thing in the music industry. I’ve had three calls since the afternoon news, one from a talent scout.”

“You’re kidding.”

“No. Tony Baron from Distilled Rock Records. You gotta sing next weekend!”

“There is no possible way I can sing next weekend. My life is falling apart and it’s going to get worse before it gets better. You don’t know the half of it.”

He chuckled into the phone. “Maybe I do. Maybe I’ve got connections everywhere. Listen, Maddie. In this business, entertainment I mean, getting your name out there is everything. Everything. Now come on, hon, sing us a short set on Saturday, let this guy come and take a listen and I’ll do the rest. All you got to do is sing.”

Maddie took a sip of her soda, deep in thought. Why not? How could anything possibly get worse that it already was? “Okay, just three songs.”

“Great. I’ll see you at eight on Saturday for rehearsal. Oh, and I found a band. I think you’re going to really like them. This piano player is really something.”

“You’re so crazy.” She grinned into the phone. “But I’m going to trust you.”

“There you go. Go with your gut. It won’t let you down and neither will I.”

“See ya.”

“Yeah. See ya Saturday.”

She hung up and looked at Sasha, slack-jawed. “I give up. I’m not in control of my life and at this point, I really don’t think I ever was.”

Sasha shook her head. “What did he say?”

Maddie laughed. “A talent scout wants to see me. From a record company. They want to hear me sing.”

“Maddie!” Sasha’s eyes were as wide as saucers. “This could be your big break!”

“Big break? I don’t deserve a big break! I’ve only been singing for a few weeks.”

Sasha made a noise in her throat. “What about all of the years in high school choir and the musicals. They were always begging you to do the solos and you always chickened out and took the supporting roles.” Sasha pointed her finger into Maddie’s face. “And what about all those years at church? Weren’t you in the church choir since, like, age five? And the Christmas and Easter pageants you begged me to come to? Just because you haven’t been trying to make it in the music business doesn’t mean you haven’t been preparing for this moment your whole life.”

Maddie clamped her lips together and stared at her best friend. “I guess you’re right.” She let out a little laugh and looked down at her plate, trying to still the excitement within her. Then she looked back up at Sasha. “What would I ever do without you?”

Sasha shuddered and shook her head, her dark, straight hair waving back and forth. “It doesn’t even bear thinking of.”

“Okay, enough about me. What’s going on with you? How was the trip to Rob’s parents’?”

Sasha frowned, looking down at her plate. “I broke it off. After two days at their house, I could just tell.” She pressed her lips together and shook her head. “It’s never going to work with us. His parents hate me, and he…he did try harder, but it just wasn’t enough. I want someone…crazy about me. Not someone who makes me feel like a second-class citizen. It was pretty awful.”

“So you flew home early? Just left?”

“Yep. And I feel really good about it.” She nodded, her lips pressed into a smile. “Free, in fact.”

“Wow. I thought it would be harder than this. You two have been dating since college.”

“I know. So did I. I think that was part of the problem. I didn’t realize how stifled the whole thing had gotten to be. It was just familiar, so we both kept it going, not realizing there are lots of better options out there. I’m really excited about dating. There are so many hot men in the world, you know?”

Maddie laughed. “What about Marcus? Is he one of those hot men?”

Sasha turned her head slightly and looked sideways at Maddie, a sly grin on her face. “Absolutely. And he called. While I was on the plane flying home.”

“No way.”

“Yes way.”

“What did he say?”

“He said he wanted to see me again. We have a date this weekend.” She paused, stretched out her hand across the table. “But listen, Maddie, if you need me this weekend, I’ll postpone it.”

“Are you crazy? With the schedule these players have during the season, you have to take the dates when you can get them, believe me, I know. Go. Have a great time.” Maddie let out a big breath. “Isn’t life bizarre? How did we end up dating NBA players? And I married one! Remember when we went to the game and joked about getting Jake’s phone number? And now? I still can’t believe it.”

“Yeah. I still can’t believe you stole my man,” Sasha teased, grinning.

“I couldn’t help it. He pursued me!”

“Whatever. Miss Beautiful shows up dressed to the nines to work everyday, damsel in distress…” Sasha put the back of her hand against her forehead and looked up with a Southern belle imitation. “Why, I just cain’t find my interview, mister big, strong basketball player.”

They both laughed. “Gosh, I hope I wasn’t that stupid.” Maddie rolled her eyes.

“Too bad I’m just not the damsel-in-distress type.” Sasha crinkled her nose.

Maddie looked lovingly at her friend. “No. You’re the sweep-him-off-his-feet-and-make-him-wonder-what-hit-him type. I think you’ve forgotten that about yourself.”

Sasha let out a short laugh. “Maybe so. Thanks, Maddie.”

Maddie wiped the BBQ sauce off her fingers and reached for her purse. “I’m so glad I have you, Sasha. Look at me, laughing and joking and having a good time, and I thought I might be going to jail this week. You are my best friend.”

“You’re not going to jail, so stop talking like that.” Sasha took a deep breath. “You’re my best friend, too. Don’t forget that after you’re married this time.”

Maddie shook her head. “I won’t. I promise.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

T
hey had decided to go on a double date. Marcus had spoken to Jake at practice during the week and mentioned taking the girls out to a local seafood restaurant after the home game. Jake had agreed, thinking at the time to take Maddie’s mind off the trial that was a few weeks away, though now he was wondering if it was such a good idea. They were still being hounded by the press, making his coach increasingly short-tempered and the whole team on edge. They’d lost again tonight, even though Jake had played better than he had in weeks, but still, everyone was feeling the pressure.

He walked over to Maddie after the game and gave her a quick kiss. “How’s it going?”

Maddie looked up at him, people filing out of the stadium all around them, many looking their way. “Everyone keeps staring at us. More than usual. It’s disconcerting.”

“Just act normal. As soon as this trial is over, they’ll move on to something else.”

“We can only hope.”

Sasha came up to them. “Where’s Marcus? I’m starving.”

“He was still showering when I left, but he should be here any second,” Jake told her.

“Oh, there he is.” Sasha pointed, then walked over to him, a provocative smile on her lips. Jake and Maddie watched as Marcus leaned down, whispered something into her ear, smiling broadly and making Sasha laugh, and then kissed her in front of everyone.

Maddie giggled. “What are they doing?”

Jake half-smiled. “Probably trying to take some of the heat off of us, if I know Marcus. He’s a master at tactics like that in the game.”

“Defense?”

“Yeah. Something like that.” Jake took her hand. “Let’s get out of here.”

The four left the stadium, glad to see that there weren’t any paparazzi lingering around. On the way to the cars, Marcus asked Maddie, “Have they decided whether or not to drop the case? I heard they can still go after you.”

“Marcus. Don’t ask her like that, she’ll start crying.” Sasha glared at him.

“Oh. Sorry.” He grinned big. “You can take ’em, Maddie. You’d have that jury eating out of your sweet little hand.”

Maddie shook her head. “Thanks, but I hope it won’t come to that. From what my attorney says, unless some new evidence that comes out in this trial with Sabrina, he doesn’t think they will go after me. I just have to get through testifying at her trial and pray that goes well.”

“You don’t have to defend the mistress, do you?” Marcus asked.

“No. Not really. My attorney has been prepping me all week. I basically have to answer questions about her. How we met, what she told me, any signs I might have seen that Brandon was embezzling and had a mistress. At this trial they won’t be questioning me directly about any involvement they might suspect I had. But they still could if the bank isn’t satisfied with the outcome of this trial. I will be so glad when this is over.”

Jake didn’t mention that he had spoken to the judge to request the court date be moved up as quickly as possible on the calendar. Sometimes it did pay off to know people in high places. He’d done it for Maddie, but now, if this thing didn’t end soon, if Maddie actually had to defend herself, he might be seriously looking at being traded. This was affecting his career more than anyone knew. His coaches, the owners, they were all breathing down his neck, putting constant pressure on him that Maddie was a bad deal all around.

Worse, he’d spoken to his parents on the phone last night. They were hearing stories in Colorado and demanding explanations. His father was livid. Told him to get his head back where it belonged, on his career and not chasing after a problematic woman. When he told them they were planning to have a wedding on Valentine’s Day his father had gone ballistic and his mother had started crying. Things were beginning so rocky in this marriage and his parents were so against Maddie without even knowing her that Jake had begun to think maybe they should cancel the second wedding, postpone moving in together until this whole mess had cleared up.

“I don’t know how you’re dealing with the pressure,” Sasha said, opening the car door for herself.

“It’s not easy.”

Jake and Maddie walked over to Jake’s SUV. “We’ll see you there,” Maddie said, waving and getting into the car.

They followed Marcus to the restaurant. Jake was quiet, thinking. He could feel Maddie’s troubled gaze upon him.