“No, Cassie,” he laughed. “Yes, Madison, you twit.”
“I don't look at her like anything.”
“The hell you don't,” he said. “I can practically see the cartoon hearts floating above your head.”
I laughed. “You are so full of shit,” I said and took a long drink of my beer.
“If you say so.”
“I do say so,” I said. “Now, come on. We need to get all the food out to the table.”
We picked up the platters of food and walked out to the dining room, Jimmy laughing the whole time. After setting everything down, we took our seats and I looked at the spread before us.
“This looks amazing, Cassie,” I said. “Thanks for having us.”
“You're always welcome,” she replied. “You're family, after all.”
I cut a glance over at Madison who looked back at me and smiled. Jimmy's words rattled around in my head and I tried to avoid giving her a look that entailed cartoon hearts floating above my head. I really didn't think I was giving her a look like Jimmy described but, even if I was, could anybody blame me? Madison was a knockout. A flat-out knockout. Whip-smart and with a personality brighter than the sun.
Could I really be blamed if I looked at her a little googly-eyed? I wasn't, but even if I had been, could anybody blame me?
“So, Jimmy mentioned something about a podcast?” Cassie asked.
Madison's face lit up and she smiled. Obviously, she enjoyed talking about her passion in life. As we ate, Madison told us all about her podcast, about how her degrees from Penn State helped her launch it, and where she wanted to take it in the future. She rattled on, incredibly excited about it. And through it all, Andi looked incredibly bored.
“Yeah, I don't listen to podcasts,” Andi said when Madison stopped talking. “Not enough time, what with all of the important work I'm doing.”
The remark was obviously meant to be cutting, even earning a look of reproach from Cassie. To her credit though, Madison just smiled and shrugged it off.
“It's not for everybody,” she said evenly. “But, I am proud of the fact that my investigations have led to the arrest of a number of men who'd believed they'd gotten away with murder.”
“That's right,” I said, suddenly feeling defensive of her. “She's doing good work. She's given peace of mind to quite a few families who suffered for years, never knowing who murdered their loved one.”
“Oh, I didn't know you were such a regular listener,” Jimmy said, a shit-eating grin on his face.
I felt the color rush into my cheeks. Busted. I'd told Jimmy I'd only listened a few times, but I obviously sounded like a devoted fan. Which, I was. But, that was supposed to be my secret. Dammit. Cassie looked at me with a smile in her eyes and a knowing expression on her face, Andi looked at me with disdain, though the real venom was reserved for Madison, and Jimmy just laughed at me.
“Yeah, I listen,” I said. “It's a good show. Informative. Interesting.”
Madison looked at me and smiled, her own cheeks coloring. Obviously, she didn't know I was a regular listener either.
Eventually, dinner came to an end. I helped Cassie clear off the table and clean up the kitchen. Before we headed back out into the dining room though, she grabbed me by the arm and looked me dead in the eye.
“She's a good girl,” she said.
I cocked my head and looked at her, not sure who she was referring to. “Who? Andi?”
Cassie slapped me playfully on the arm. “No, you dummy. Madison,” she said. “I can see by the way you look at her that Andi never stood a chance.”
“I'm not looking at her in any special way,” I said, a wry grin touching my lips. “Why does everybody keep saying that?”
“Because we can see your face and you can't,” she said. “Trust me when I say, the look is there. And I get it. She's gorgeous. Intelligent. Well spoken. Passionate. She seems like the whole package.”
I couldn't argue with her there. Madison really did seem like the whole package. And then I wanted to kick my own ass for even thinking that. Given our history, the last thing I wanted or needed was to let myself get attached to her. Fool me once, and all that jazz.
“I just want to know why you never mentioned her before?” Cassie asked.
I shrugged. “I— I don't really know,” I say. “I guess I play some things close to the vest.”