In the freight elevator? What in the world could Blossom have purchased that would need to be brought up by the freight elevator? “Why?”
“Because you’re having a baby. And you live in this thing. It’s soulless here, isn’t it?” She doesn’t give Maddie any time to speak but I can see some agreement in my woman’s face. “Oliver doesn’t spend much time in his penthouse. He practically lives at his office and if he’s not in his office, he’s somewhere overseas so he doesn’t really care what his apartment looks like. It will need a lot of changes since you’re having a baby.” Blossom swings her attention back to me. “You really should move. You can’t raise a kid in this place.”
If I wasn’t watching Maddie so closely, I would’ve missed the immediate brightening of her expression at the idea of moving. She hates it here. Maybe that’s why she’s unhappy.
“Great. I’ll move.”
Blossom claps excitedly. “Ohhh! I love house hunting. Do you want to live on the Upper West Side or the Upper East Side? I’m starting to prefer the west side because it overlooks the river but all the best places to eat, the best shopping, the best spas are on the east. It can be hard to get over here because crosstown traffic is so awful.”
“I live in LA. Traffic is a part of life,” Maddie says.
I start to piece it together. She hates this high-rise. She wants to live where she can see the water. I can’t remember if her place overlooked the ocean because I was too busy staring at her, but if she wants to live near the water, then we’re living near the water.
“Or you could even live in Connecticut or Long Island and have an actual acreage. That might be nice for you and the baby. What do you think?”
Maddie sits up even straighter. “I didn’t, actually. I’ve just lived in different apartments in LA. Growing up, that’s all we were able to afford.”
Blossom taps her chin. “There’s really nowhere in the city where you can have a big yard. Even the best places only have postage stamp size lawns and gardens, but there are nice parks here.”
Maddie’s eyes had lit up at the thought of more land and dimmed when Blossom mentioned the size constraints here in the city.
“Look at places in Long Island or Connecticut,” I order.
“What about your businesses?” Blossom wants to know.
“As long as I have a phone, I can run my business anywhere.”
She nods. “Great. We’ll start tomorrow. You don’t wanna have your baby in this place. Plus you want to have some time to get settled into your new home. Oliver, don’t worry about taking the stuff off the freight elevator.” She takes Maddie’s hand. “We should really go out together and buy stuff.”
I clear my throat. “I think I will be doing the shopping with Maddie.”
Blossom makes a face. “I was just trying to be helpful. Besides, I’m so bored at work,” she confides to Maddie. “I’m his assistant right now because his last assistant quit on him. And it’s just the worst job ever. He’s really been an asshole for the last five—” She breaks off and clamps a hand over her mouth.
“I’m putting it together,” she says, her voice muffled by her own hand.
“Putting what together?” Maddie asks, full of curiosity. I make myself a drink. I should have made one hours ago—or at least when I let Blossom in.
My sister drops her hand to pat Maddie’s. “For the last five months, my brother has been in the worst mood. Every day he snaps at everyone. And then he has to issue an apology. He’s probably had to apologize more in the past five months than he has his entire life. I had no idea it was because he had met you. So, what happened? Did he just say something to make you angry and that’s why you left him?”
I swing around from the drink cart, scotch in hand, and pin a hard stare on the mother of my child. “Yes, Maddie, why did you run out?”
Chapter Eleven
Madeleine
I stand there like a deer in headlights, not sure if this is something we should talk about in front of his sister. I like her, though. She’s put me at ease and has actually made me feel a lot better with her rambling. I had been seconds away from becoming a blubbering mess when she’d arrived, so her friendly demeanor is welcoming. I can tell that she and I are going to become fast friends. She’s gotten me more answers from Oliver in the last ten minutes than I’ve managed to in the past twenty-four hours. This is the most I’ve heard him talk since he whisked me away from LA. It’s also the most time he’s spent in the same room with me.