Off Limits (Secrets Kept 1)

“We came! Don’t I look pretty? It’s a new dress! Hutch bought it for me!” She grinned. “He said he’s been waiting to give it to me for a special occasion. Mama said I look like a real princess.”

“Total princess material,” Luke replied.

“Thanks. Why are you smiling so big at Hutch?” Layla asked, and it took me a minute to realize she was talking to me.

“Even Princess Layla sees it,” Weston added, likely since he’d just heard her called that.

“Are you guys still fighting? I don’t want you to fight. It makes Hutch sad, and he’s already super-duper sad because he’s fighting with his sister too,” Layla said.

Hutch’s stare went to Mads next, in an expression I couldn’t read, before he tilted his head down to Layla. “Way to tell all my secrets. Miss Layla, I’d like you to meet my sister, Miss Madison. Maddy, this is Layla.”

“Hi, Layla! It’s so wonderful to meet you,” Mads said, hugging her. I heard the fight in her voice as she tried to hold back tears.

“Oops. I didn’t know you are you. It’s nice to meet you too. Please, don’t be mad at Hutch. He loves you, and he didn’t want to hurt you, and—”

“Layla,” Hutch said. She turned to him, and he shook his head. “I know you’re trying to help, but it’s okay.”

She nodded.

“Sorry,” Hutch mouthed to Mads.

“Hey, man. Darren Edwards,” Darren introduced himself, breaking the tension. “Wait. You look familiar.”

“I’ve, um…volunteered at both You Belong and You Belong Too a few times,” Hutch said, clearly not liking all the attention on him.

“You’re the doctor, right? You filled in when Larsen was out, and we were short-staffed,” Anson said.

“Yeah, that’s me.”

“Small world,” Jeremy added.

The group of us chatted for a while, but I couldn’t keep my gaze off Hutch. I was shocked and so damn happy he was there, but I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. I wasn’t sure what to say, especially with so many people around us. It was also important to be considerate of Mads. She’d made the first move with Hutch by inviting him, and I didn’t want any of our actions to hurt her further.

So I watched him, smiled at him, enjoyed the ones he returned my way. When I glanced at Mads, she was watching us, and…I didn’t know what it was, but the sadness I’d expected was absent from her eyes.

It wasn’t long before Darren, Jeremy, Anson, and Weston were on their way to mingle more throughout the room.

When they were gone, Mads said, “I need to step out and get some air before my speech.” She turned to Hutch, and I held my breath. “Would you be able to come with me?”

“Yeah, I’d love to,” he replied, and I let myself breathe. “Ry, do you mind if Layla hangs with you guys for a bit?”

I held my hand out for her. “M’lady?”

She curtsied and grabbed on to me.

Hutch mouthed a silent thank-you, and then I watched as my ex-wife and best friend walked away with her brother, the man I loved.

“Are we nervous?” Luke asked.

“If she’s still mad at Hutch, I’ll tell her again how sorry he is,” Layla added.

“It’ll be okay,” I told them, and for the first time, I believed it.

29

Hutch

I walked side by side with Maddy, both of us quiet as we made our way toward one of the exits of the ballroom where the event was always held. There was a room Maddy could use for getting ready and things like that, and off that was a private area outside, where I knew she spent time before every event, gathering her thoughts.

Neither of us spoke as we continued. She took out a key from the small purse she kept on her wrist and let us inside, then through another door and into the Atlanta night.

“Maddy…I don’t want to make tonight hard on you. Whatever is best for you, we do. If you want to talk, we will. If you want to wait, we’ll do that too. You lead and I’ll follow.”

She gave me a melancholy smile that tugged at my heart. “You’ve spent most of your life doing that, Hutch. With me, with Mom, with Dad.”

“This is different. It’s—”

“Yes and no. I just…well, I’m leaving, and I wanted you to know first.”

I froze, everything inside me crystalizing. “Leaving? Where?”

“London.”

“No.” I shook my head. “I’m not chasing you away from your home. From our family. Jesus, Maddy. You don’t have to leave. I’m sorry about Ryder. So damn sorry. I didn’t mean to fall in love with him…to need him so damn much, and to have it hurt you? It’s ripping me apart every single day. And even saying that feels selfish because you’re the one who was betrayed. But don’t go.” I needed her, probably more than she needed me, more than I’d ever admitted.