Warnings and Wildfires

“Jeez. Do you have to stop and make-out like every fifteen minutes?” Maddy’s snide voice pulls us out of our bubble.

“What?” I’m not used to my daughter using that tone with me.

“Sorry,” Aubrey mutters, pulling away.

“No.” I grab her hand, keeping her where she is. “What’s wrong, Madison?”

“Nothing. Just, jeez.” She won’t meet my eyes but glances down the Midway instead. “Can we keep moving, please?”

I guess we’re back to awkward.

I thought we were getting along and having a good day. Suddenly Maddy seems absolutely miserable and everything I do annoys her.

Her foul mood worsens until she bursts into tears and demands to go home.

Sully closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “Madison. Calm down.”

She wails even louder, drawing a lot of attention our way.

My frantic gaze searches the area and I nudge him toward a bench in the shade.

A huge white sign for the Big E cream puffs grabs my attention and I mutter, “Thank you, Jesus!” under my breath.

“I’m going to go grab those cream puffs and eclairs you wanted,” I say, eager to sound helpful instead of desperate to get away. “Should I meet you here or by the car?”

Sully shakes his head. “It’s a straight shot out the gate and to the right. So if we’re not here, we’ll be headed to the car.”

“Okay.” I glance down at Madison who has her face buried in her hands. I want to comfort her, but I’m not sure it will help. “Maddy, do you want anything?”

“I don’t care!”

Yikes, okay.

“Madison! Stop being rude,” Sully scolds. God, this just keeps getting worse.

“Be right back.”

It turns out “be right back” was a little too optimistic. The Big E cream puffs are their own attraction at the fair. The windows are all glass so you can watch the desserts being made. Any other time I’d be fascinated, but now I just want to grab the puffs and go.

I finally make it to the window to place my order. Worried dehydration brought on Maddy’s mood change, I ask for three bottles of water as well.

The bench is empty, so I carry the giant white pastry boxes all the way to the parking lot.

Sully and Madison are still having words outside the Jeep. Can I find a bus back to Empire? I’m really not looking forward to the ride home.

“Aubrey, let me grab those,” Sully says as soon as he sees me. Madison groans and slams the door after she hops in the Jeep. Sully rolls his eyes.

“No better?”

“Nope.” He huffs out a frustrated laugh. “Her mother tried to warn me about this last night.”

A couple of questions flutter at the edge of my tongue. But they’re invasive and none of my business, so I keep my mouth shut.

In the car, I pass a bottle of water to Maddy who takes it without a word. “Do you need anything else, Maddy?” I ask before Sully opens his door.

“No.”

It’s an uncomfortable two-hour drive home.

“I’m so sorry,” Sully says, walking me to the steps leading up to my apartment. He keeps glancing at the Jeep, where Madison’s asleep in the backseat.

“It’s okay. Maybe a trip like that was too ambitious for our first outing.”

“First, huh? You saying there will be another?”

My face falls. Wow. Stupid assumption.

Sully must realize where my thoughts ran. He grabs my hands and squeezes. “No, no. I meant you’ll give us another chance? Me and Madison?”

“Oh!” Now I feel silly. “Of course.” I let out a sigh. “Maybe next time we’ll stay local or just do dinner or something. Or I don’t have to—”

He squeezes my hands again and draws me closer. “Thank you.”

A horn blows, startling us apart. Sully’s eyes close and a grim expression settles over his face as he turns toward the Jeep. “I guess she’s awake.”

I pat his chest. “Good luck, Dad.”

Not to be deterred, he leans down and kisses me. Quick but sweet.

When we part, I can’t help smiling. “I know your mom’s out of town, so if I can help you in any way, call me. I used to speak twelve-year-old girl pretty fluently. Maybe I can give you some tips over the phone.”

He throws his head back and laughs. “Thank you.”

Feeling reassured that Sully and I will be okay, I trot up the stairs, waving when I get to the top to let him know I’m all right.

Celia’s rushing around the living room when I walk into our apartment. “Shit, you scared me! I didn’t think you’d be back until a lot later,” she says.

“Whoa, what are you so dressed up for?”

She stands up straighter, smoothing her hands over her black sleeveless peplum top and black pencil skirt. “Date.”

“With who? I need details.”

She rolls her eyes. “This guy who keeps coming into the salon to see me. Persistent asshole.” The words come out more affectionate than mean.

“If he’s an asshole, why are you going?”

“I don’t know. I’m intrigued.” She narrows her eyes. “Now, spill. Why are you home so early?”

I toss my stuff on the couch and then drop down next to the bags and kick off my shoes.

“We had a good time. Then, I don’t know. Madison seemed mad or something. It kept getting worse, so Sully decided it was better to take her home.”

“Aww.” She sits next to me and pats my leg. “I’m sorry. She seemed so nice last time. Maybe it’s just hard to see her dad with someone after having all of his attention for so long.”

“Yeah, that’s what I figured. We were getting along. I was trying so hard not to be ‘Dad’s obnoxious girlfriend.’ You know, give them some space. Not be all clingy with him or kiss up to her too much.”

She chuckles. “You’ve put an awful lot of thought into it.”

“Of course I have. I actually like her too. When she’s not being a brat,” I add.

“What did Sully say?”

“I think he was upset. Or embarrassed. I don’t know. I don’t think she’s ever acted up on him before.”

She wrinkles her nose. “You think she’s PMSing?”

“Maybe. I don’t know her that well. I couldn’t figure out a tactful way to ask.”

“Have mercy on poor Sully if that’s the case. I hope it’s not her first one.”

I chuckle and bump my shoulder against her. “You remember when that happened to me?”

“How could I forget? You thought you were dying. Mom’s whole ‘you’re a woman now, get over it,’ was less than useless.”

“Remember she told me if I wasn’t so fat, I might’ve started later?” I can joke about it now, but back then it was a pretty traumatizing thing for an eleven-year-old to hear from her mother.

Celia rolls her eyes. “That was so stupid. And not even remotely true.” She wraps her arm around my shoulders and gives me a quick hug. “My car keys are on the peg. Since it seems Sully has his

hands full tonight, why don’t you go out or something?”

“I’ll think about it.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Later that afternoon, my phone rings and I snap it up, pleasantly surprised it’s Sully after the awkward way our afternoon ended. “Hey, I didn’t expect to hear from you until Monday.”

He lets out a frustrated laugh. “I’m kind of having an issue.”

“With Maddy? Is she okay?”

“She’s fine. I think. She won’t talk to me.”

“Why?”

“This is awkward. My mom’s not here and you’re a girl…”

I think I know what’s coming and steel myself not to laugh. Celia was right after all.

“She got her period and I guess she didn’t bring anything with her. She won’t tell me what she needs. I can’t reach her mom to ask her. So I tried to run to the store and grab some stuff, but I guess the supplies I picked up were wrong.” He lets out a defeated groan. “And now she won’t talk to me.”

Giggle-suppression failure.

“Aubrey,” he pleads. “It’s not funny.”

“Poor Maddy. She’s probably embarrassed and uncomfortable.” And am I totally awful for thinking that maybe, hopefully, hormones are the reason Madison seemed so annoyed with my presence earlier?

“The only thing she said was ‘pads with wings’ and apparently what I grabbed doesn’t have the right wings.”

“The right wings are critical,” I tease.

Obviously not in the mood for joking around, lowers his voice. Almost begging. “Would you mind coming over?”

“Not only will I come over, I’ll even stop at CVS and pick up some supplies.”

He lets out a relieved breath. “Thank you. Wait, you need me to come pick you up?”

“Nope. Celia’s out on a date and left me her car. Do you have a heating pad?”

He takes a while to answer. “Probably?”

“That sounds like a no. I’ll bring one.”

An hour later I’m knocking on Sully’s front door with four plastic bags of girly supplies in my hands. Plus, groceries.

Sully’s eyes widen when he takes everything in. “What did you get?”

“All sorts of goodies. You can grill some steaks for us later,” I say, handing over one of the plastic bags. “I’ll go talk to her.”