Chapter Thirty-Eight Madison

W hen Knox called me and told me that Asher had asked him to plan a surprise engagement party for Sam, I was over the moon. Because honestly, how often is it that your best friend gets engaged to her high school sweetheart? I mean, well, except for Kylie and Dante. Their situation is a little more complicated than I even want to consider. But with their wedding next month, I can’t be happier for them.

Especially since I’m absolutely rocking my bridesmaid dress.

“Madison!” Knox calls out from the front door of Mrs. Kendall’s home as I step out of my car, carrying the cake and pies that he requested for the event. Not to mention a large order of my mother’s homemade dinner rolls to go with whatever it is he and Jaxson are cooking.

As far as I know, it’s supposed to be a barbecue, but with Jaxson in charge of food one can never be too sure .

“Hey,” I reply, handing over the rolls and pies as I juggle the cake. “Sorry I’m late.”

“You’re not,” he chuckles. “Sam and Asher will be here any moment, so you made it just in time.”

“That’s good,” I reply with a sigh as I follow him up the driveway.

“Yeah, but before we go in,” he says, stopping short of the front door to turn and look at me. “I know that you and Jaxson haven’t really talked in a few months. Are you sure you’re gonna be okay with everything today?”

He’d already asked me two other times over the past few weeks and every time I told him that it was fine. While I was still incredibly upset by things that had happened, it wasn’t as bad anymore. Part of me forgave him a long time ago. The other part was embarrassed that I’d let something stupid get in the middle of what we had. Regardless of the details behind the situation.

After speaking with my mom just over a week ago, I took the initiative and called Jaxson. It wasn’t a super long conversation, but it was something. And he agreed that we would save our actual conversation for when he came. Though I can’t deny that I’m probably more nervous than I should be.

“Actually… we have talked.” I chuckle, struggling with the cake. And, I’ve already told you it’s okay. Now, come on… this damn cake is heavy.”

With a moment of hesitation, he nods with a smile. His feet turning him once more to move into the house with me following behind him. “Callum, Madi’s here.”

“About time,” he calls out as he meets us in the kitchen doorway with an eager smile on his face. “Let me see this cake, I’m dying to know if my creation was exactly as I imagined it.”

Not that it’s over the top or anything .

Callum indeed was the one who gave all the ideas for the secret engagement cake that wouldn’t be brought out until after the proposal. Laughter escapes me as I place the large box down upon the kitchen island and slowly take off the lid to reveal the simple rectangle cake with sage green icing and white budding flowers scattered amongst it. The words ‘congratulations’ are written in white icing. With a small quote below that says, ‘about fucking time,’ something I added just for fun.

I mean… I’d pictured something a little different. But I let Callum have his moment.

Callum spots the message and slowly glances up at me, his smile widening. “You’re brilliant. I can’t wait to try it.”

“Well,” I quickly say, placing the top back on the cake box. “You’ll have to wait until later.”

I quickly pop the cake in the fridge as Callum and Knox begin arguing over what barbecue sauce is going to be used for the ribs that Knox is supposed to be throwing on the grill. It isn’t until I close the fridge that I come face to face with Jaxson, who's walking in through the back door.

He stops in his tracks, his eyes meeting mine as silence falls over the room.

“Callum, let’s go get that grill lit,” Knox says quickly, before the two of them leave Jaxson and me alone.

Mentally, I prepared myself the last few days for this moment. But now that it’s here, I don’t think I’m ready to face him. Though as his lips part, it’s clear I don’t really have a say. Better to get it done and over with now, before Sam and Asher get here, I suppose.

“Madi… you look great.”

Out of all things… he leads with that .

“Thanks,” I reply, trying to not feel as awkward as I do. “Um, you do too.”

Running his hand through his hair, he glances around the kitchen, “I’m just making the sides today. Knox really wanted to cook the meat.”

“Yeah,” I quickly reply with a nod. “He’s been talking about it. But I just assumed you were going to do it… cooking's kind of your thing.”

Shrugging a shoulder, laughter escapes him. “Yeah, it is… but I mean if a man wants to man a grill… who am I to deny them that rite of passage.”

Laughter escapes me before I shake my head. “Don’t let him hear you say it like that.”

“He will be okay,” he mumbles in reply. “Look—I want to apologize…”

“You don’t have to,” I say, cutting him off before letting out a heavy breath. “I’m the one who needs to apologize. I should have listened to you and gave you a chance and I didn’t. I know now that that girl was just being a bitch, but seeing her get what she deserves on live t.v. was more pleasing than putting the finishing touches on a fourteen-layer cake.”

We both laugh at my comment, as he turns to lean against the kitchen counter next to me. Just apologizing to him seems to take a weight off my shoulders and honestly, it’s what I’ve needed. But more so, I need to tell him how I feel.

“I don’t regret anything.”

His eyes meet mine and soften. “Neither do I. I miss you, Madi. And I know that asking for another chance would be a long shot… I want to make everything up to you.”

The thought of jumping into his arms right now and forgetting everything that happened is appealing. But jumping like that is what honestly got me in trouble in the first place. Taking my mom’s advice to figure out what I want in life is at the forefront of my mind; I can’t do that with him right now.

“I know you do.” I admit softly. “But our lives are so… complicated right now. You’re still in New York, and I’m here. So, in the end what’s really changed? I mean—how would we even make it work.”

“There’s ways to make it work, Madison.”

His optimism is refreshing, but I can’t allow myself to get my hopes up. “Why don’t we start with being friends again, first.”

It’s clear by the expression on his face as his smile falls that it wasn’t the reply he wanted, but he nodded in agreement nonetheless. “Can I call or text you?”

“Do you promise to do it every day?” I ask him, remembering the conversation we’d had once before.

He seems to as well as he chuckles. “Yes, I promise. I won’t repeat previous mistakes.”

Taking a long moment to look at him, I nod. “Good. Then take the pies outside, and we can talk more later about everything.”

At that moment, I hear Kylie’s laughter and Sam’s sweet voice from outside. The arrival of the rest of our group rings joyfully in my ears as I hand the pies to Jaxson, who walks in front of me outside to join the others .

My body is wrapped within the embrace of Sam, who smothers me with affection as if she hasn’t seen me in years. “Oh my God! I missed you.”

“I missed you too,” I laugh as I watch her eyes scan to Jaxson for a moment before falling to me.

“Are we talking to him again? Because honestly, I still want to have words—”

“No, no,” I reply quickly, shaking my head. “Everything’s okay. While I haven’t completely forgiven everything… he and I are okay. Common ground and all.”

She seems hesitant to trust what I’m saying but shrugs absently after a moment. “Good, I hate it when any of us are fighting. Now, point me towards the food because I’m starving.”

An hour later, Knox, Kylie, Dante, and I returned from inside the house, where Dante had proceeded to explain the right way to plate pastries and croissants, which led to a small heated debate—that he lost, of course.

“It’s okay, guys; you’re the guests of honor today,” Knox calls out ahead of us to Sam and Asher, who are slowly beginning to rise from their seats to help us. “You don’t get to lift a finger.”

“What!” I gasp. “And you make me bake my own birthday cake for my party?”

The audacity .

Placing the pastries down, Knox turns to me with a raised brow. “Madi, you would never eat pastries from anyone but yourself or your mom, so I don’t know what the fuss is about. Your mom was busy, so you were the next obvious choice," he says, rolling his eyes. “I swear, she will never let me live that down.”

Samantha snorts a laugh and hurriedly gets up from her chair to take the food plate from me, earning herself a glare.

“Callum, will you leave Jaxson alone? He is a world-renowned chef. He doesn’t need you to tell him how to make a potato salad,” Knox calls inside the house after his partner. “Please, just get out here with the rest of the food, you two. We are starving!”

The thought of Callum telling Jaxson how to cook makes me internally laugh. The more and more I’ve hung around Callum, the more I’ve grown to love him. I can never understand why he didn’t really want to hang out with us before. But Knox says it’s because he never wanted to come in the middle of anything.

He quickly learned that this was a silly thought.

He’s part of the family, and that’s all that matters.

Callum and Jaxson join the rest of us outside, carrying the remainder of the dishes they prepared and setting them on the table. A small glance between Jaxson and me brings a smile to my lips that I try to hide.

“Jaxson, this is great!” Kylie says appreciatively at the spread. “This makes me want to learn how to cook.”

“Sure, Kylie, I can—” Jaxson begins, but I quickly cut him off.

As much as I love Kylie… she is not the fine-dining kind of girl when it comes to cooking. And Jaxson showing her anything would only be a waste of time. Hell, I remember when this girl burned water. Like, literally let it boil dry and fucked up the pot kind of incident.

“Kylie, you don’t want to learn fine cooking. I can teach you the basics, that’s what we can start on first,” I say, leaving Samantha’s side to go around to where Kylie is standing next to Jaxson. My arms wrap around Kylie into a hug as I steer her to the other side of the table to take a seat beside Sam.

As the afternoon grows on and the food and laughter continue, we finally get to a point where the nervousness in Asher is clear as day to everyone. All of us are well aware of what he’s planning to do. So when he asks us to follow him to the base of the treehouse, we do.

“Guys, it’s been a hell of a ride getting here,” he says loudly, drawing Samantha close by the hand as he lifts her fingers to his lips. She smiles as he brushes a kiss over them. “But we’re so grateful for our renewed friendship with all of you.”

“We’re excited for this next chapter in our lives, and we couldn’t have asked for better people to share it with than you,” Asher says as Sam raises her glass of lemonade. “Every one of you has been the rocks we could lean on over the last year, and we just want to say thank you, and we love you.”

Sam’s eyes are wet with unshed tears as she says, “You guys have guided and supported us when we needed it the most. I’m so grateful to each and every one of you. ”

Asher clears his throat before he hands his bear to Knox and turns back to Samantha.

Here we go .

“Sam, it took us a long time to get to this point. And I refuse to let us wait another decade to make the next move,” he says as he kneels and pulls a ring out of his pocket. The rest of us cheer on the celebration. “Sam, we met, grew up, fell in love, and made so many memories together, all thanks to the treehouse. I think it's only right that this next part happens here, too. Will you marry me, Dragonfly?”

Tears fill my eyes at the happy moment. Everything about the proposal is absolutely perfect and when she says yes we all cheer in celebration at the engagement. It isn’t until I walk back to the house to grab the cake though, that I let all my emotions come to a head. The tears finally stream down my cheeks as I grab the cake from the fridge and begin to unbox it.

As happy as I am for them, part of me yearns to have what they do. To be happy like they are.

But, I’m not.

Sam’s engaged… Kylie gets married next month.

I’m envious of them both, and I feel like I’m missing out on an entire life that I should be having but have refused to have out of my own fear.

“Everything okay?” Knox asks when he steps inside the kitchen. My eyes meet his briefly as I wipe away the tears and let out a small laugh.

“Yeah, totally. I’m just so happy for them.”

“It can be you one day as well,” he replies after a moment. “Maybe with Jaxson?”

I stop what I’m doing. I’d agreed to try to be friends with Jaxson again, but the thought of being more anytime soon doesn’t feel right… at least not right now. Not after everything that’s happened between us.

I don’t say that to Knox, because I know he will protest.

“Maybe,” I reply as I finally finish freeing the cake from its container. “That’s something to worry about another time, though. For now, let’s go show off this badass cake that Callum created and I executed… flawless, if I do say so myself.”