The Foxe & the Hound

A few minutes later, when Adam shouts for me to come back inside, his mom is gone. Her stupid pastries still sit on the counter, but I’m not even a little tempted to take a new one.

“So apparently Olivia showed up at my mom’s house last night,” he volunteers.

He’s getting ready to relay all the information I already know from snooping, so I hold up my hand to stop him. “I could hear you guys talking, even from out there.”

“She thinks I should talk to her.”

I can’t meet his eyes. I stare down at Mouse, who is blissfully unaware of what it feels like to have your heart sliced down the middle.

“And are you going to?”

He drags a hand through his hair and turns away. “I don’t know. I mean, I guess. She came all the way from Chicago.”

My stomach churns.

“You should,” I say, and the words taste like acid on my tongue.

“You think?”

I shrug. “Closure is always a good thing, right?”

“I don’t love her anymore, Madeleine.”

I finally meet his gaze and find that he’s been studying me, his head tilted to the side. There might even be pity in his eyes. I suddenly want to get the hell out of Dodge.

“I know—I mean, I don’t know, but it’s…” I shake my head, trying to clear my scrambled thoughts. “You should do whatever you think is right.”

Silence hangs over us, and I can’t stand in his kitchen for another second.

“It’s actually good timing, I need to head back to my place,” I say, surprised by how confident I sound.

“Now? Already?”

“Yeah. I have a showing with Mr. Boggs soon and I need to shower and change.”

He seems disappointed, or maybe it’s my imagination throwing me a bone. “Right. Okay. I can drive you and Mouse home.”

The car ride is laced with tension and unspoken words. We leave the radio up loud to drown out the silence, but it’s not enough to quiet my fears, and when we arrive at my apartment, I try not to read into the fact that he only offers me a chaste kiss on the cheek.

Yeah, Daisy, I’ve got a label for you: it’s complicated.CHAPTER TWENTY-TWOMADELEINEAfter a fitful night of sleep and hours upon hours of fixating on what will or won’t happen with Adam, I decide to play a game. In the morning, I wake up and pretend like Adam was never a part of my life. I walk Mouse around the neighborhood and then come home and prepare myself a healthy breakfast. I shower and get ready for work, grabbing my most flattering dress out of the closet. My hair curls like it’s never curled before, and I apply my makeup with the gentle hand of someone who knows what they’re doing. I feel good. Thoughts about Adam and Olivia hover in the periphery of my thoughts, but I refuse to let them get any closer than that.

When I stroll into Hamilton Brew to treat myself to a well-deserved latte, I appreciate the smile from the man behind me in line. It feels good to know that in a world where Adam never existed, I can still garner attention from the opposite sex. He even asks me what I would like to order. Vanilla latte, I say, and he nods to the barista. Two of those then. And even though I insist on paying, he insists otherwise.

I walk to the office with a little pep in my step, and it doesn’t even bother me when Lori corners me around lunchtime with news of Adam.

“You and Adam Foxe are dating, right?”

That’s the first thing she asks me, and I’m hesitant to answer. I can’t leave though—my Lean Cuisine pizza is nuking in the microwave and there are only 45 seconds left on the clock, which means I’m 45 seconds from pizza heaven.

“It’s nothing serious.” I shrug.

She hums. “Oh, okay. It’s just that I saw him last night at dinner with a stunning blonde.”

Ice fills my veins.

“Why would I care?” I laugh, staring at the ticking timer on the microwave, hurrying it along with all my might. Cook, pepperonis, COOK.

“Well I would care if my boyfriend was seated with another woman at the lovers’ table at Bellissimo. I was there with a few girlfriends for book club. We read A Dog’s Purpose this month—very touching. As a dog lover myself, I could not put it down.”

I hum, bored.

“And we were halfway through our discussion questions when in walked Adam and his date. I swear the whole restaurant was abuzz with gossip right away. Who is she? Where did she get that dress? It was beautiful, definitely high-end designer, not like what you wear around here.”

I stab my thumb at the button for the microwave door and it swings open so fast that Lori has to jump back.

“Thanks for the information, but I need to get back to work.”