Inside, I drop to my knees in front of the toilet not a moment too soon. The tile floor is ice cold, but I don’t even care. I wretch up the contents of my stomach as it churns and purges over and over again.
“Madi?” A light knock sounds on the other side of the door. “You okay, baby?”
I can’t answer, I’m too busy silently sobbing into my hands, tears streaking down my cheeks.
“That was Heath. He and Sophia are worried about the weather forecast for today. It looks like this snowstorm has the potential to be really nasty, and they’re concerned we’d get trapped here.” There’s silence for a few seconds on the other side of the door, and my mind scrambles to figure out what to do.
Chapter 20
Shawn
I don’t know what’s going on in the bathroom, but I decide to give Madison a few minutes.
The worry had bled right out of Heath’s text message. Anyone who has lived in the New England area for any length of time knows the potential for how crazy a nor’easter can get, and this one is ramping up to be a doozy. I throw my clothes haphazardly into my bag, both off the floor and from my drawer. When I’m done, I set that and my guitar on the bed. Everything I’d brought with me, with the exception of my toiletries which are in the bathroom with Madison, is packed and ready for us to roll out.
I tap on the door again. “Madison? Baby, we’ve got to get on the road.”
The door unlocks with a click and swings open. Madi gestures with one hand that I can come in. She finishes brushing her teeth, and whirls toward me, panic in her eyes. “We’ve got to go?”
I nod. “Yeah. Unless you want to get stuck here with me.” There’s something in her eyes, in the pallor of her skin. Something’s not right. My brow furrows as I study her further. Her face is drawn, chin wobbling a bit. I think she’s been crying, and she’s desperately trying to hide it from me. This can’t be good. I run my hands through my hair and exhale in a whoosh that comes out half-chuckle. “Maybe that wouldn’t be so bad—to be stuck here together, I mean.” I poke her in the side, trying to make her laugh.
Instead of the reaction I expect, she rushes around the room, gathering up her things. She’s panicked, flustered, a bona fide hot mess. I give myself a quick shake, unsure what to do to help her.
Two minutes later, we’re both dressed and take one last look around the room to make sure we’re leaving nothing behind, and then we are out the door.
I hazard a look at Madi and don’t like the intense expression I see on her face. It’s as if she’s worrying herself to death over something. We’ve only been on the road about ten minutes, in which time she hasn’t looked at me once but continues to shoot off texts to her parents and brother. The silence between us is like a huge empty cavern. Echoes of last night bounce between us. I don’t think I’d said anything to upset her. She’d been asking about cheaters and Chase, and I just don’t get why she’s freaking out. She knows now that I never cheated. I tug on my hair with my free hand, working my head side to side.
Seeing my former best friend last night had been quite the surprise, but the honest truth is that I’m so far over it, so far past his douchebaggery, that it hadn’t really affected me. Of course, I hadn’t been blindsided by anything he’d said the way Madi had been. I should have told her. Shit. Maybe that’s what this is all about.
I grip the wheel tightly, peeking over at Madison out of the corner of my eye as snow starts to swirl around us. It’s not bad out yet, but it could go from nothing to insanity pretty fast.
I clear my throat, swallowing the lump lodged there. When I look over at her again, her focus is out the side window.
“Butterfly, would you look at me, please?”
She sniffles and turns to me, and the sadness in her eyes is like a knife in my chest. Fucking hell. She’s not just having a minor freak-out, she’s well and truly upset.
Her voice is soft, no more than a whisper. “You should keep your eyes on the road. It looks like it’s going to be a rough ride.” Her tongue darts out to wet her lips.
“Okay, but would you talk to me, please? Are you not feeling well?” I grimace as I stare out the windshield, snow coming at us like we’re flying through space.
“I’m fine.”
Oh, boy. That’s exactly what I didn’t want to hear, the dreaded “I’m fine.” I work my jaw back and forth before finally biting the bullet. “Madi, I’m really sorry I didn’t tell you that Chase had cheated on you with that girl. I see now that I should have
. I don’t owe him a goddamn thing, and you—” My voice hitches. “You mean a lot to me.”
She sniffles again, and out of the corner of my eye, I see a tear slip down the side of her face. I want so badly to reach out to her, to stop the goddamn truck and haul her into my arms, make sure she knows I mean what I say and I’m sorry. My chest tightens. The soft sounds of her distress threaten to send me over the edge.
“Baby, I’m so sorry.”
We drive in silence for another several minutes. I want to mull over what else could possibly be wrong, but frankly, I can’t concentrate well because the storm has hit hard, and I can barely see ten feet in front of the truck. Snow coats the road, and my knuckles are white with how hard I grip the wheel. If I could just find somewhere to stop, anywhere safe, I’d do it. Unfortunately, the only place I’d seen had been a gas station, and it hadn’t seemed like as much of an emergency at the time.
Another glance at Madison tells me she at least understands our current predicament. Her back has gone ramrod straight and her fingers grip the edge of her seat. I’m suddenly very aware that I hate that she’s afraid. I don’t care what happens to me, so long as I get her out of this.
And just like that, like I brought it on with my thoughts, we hit black ice. My heart clenches as the tires of the truck spin without getting any traction. I’ve lived in New England for a long time. I know what to do and what not to do in situations like this, and yet, nothing seems to help as we skid and finally slide off the road into a ditch. The storm continues to rage around us, uncaring.
Once the vehicle is at a dead stop, I whip my head in Madison’s direction. Her eyes are pinched closed, her face a mask of terror. She’s frozen in place. Anxious to get to her, I unbuckle myself and flip the center console up and back out of the way, sending my wallet, hat, and gloves that had been sitting on it flying into the back seat. I slide across the bench seat to her. “Madi, baby, are you okay?” The tone in my voice is full of panic, which kind of pisses me off because normally I handle shit like this better. But—I draw three deep breaths in to calm myself—she’s scared, and I’d do anything to wipe that look off of her face.