Kade

It was funny, really. 

I could see so much of who Madison was now in who she had been all those years ago. Ten years ago or so when she’d first walked into my life.

When I first met her, I thought I’d have the advantage.

I was the aviation major. I was the one who was going to have the good job.

I came from a privileged family in Houston. My father was the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

My parents were still baffled as to why I’d chosen Louisiana Tech. But all that mattered to me was that it had a top-notch aviation program. 

Besides, I liked it. Go Bulldogs.

I’d liked the small-town feel. It had been nice to get away from the city for awhile.

To a place with a slower pace.

Not that my life was any slower.

I was always busy. I took after my dad in that way.

But it turned out my privileged family had nothing on Madison Worthington.

Her father owned Skye Travels. An aviation empire.

All new pilots anywhere near the Dallas area aspired to work for Skye Travels and Noah Worthington.

I soon learned that Madison worked for her family on the weekends.

Turns out Skye Travels was a closely held family corporation.

And it still was. The fact that she—Dr. Madison Worthington—was still helping out her family in the day-to-day operations spoke to that.

Most young ladies of her status would be out doing social charity work or whatever it was my mother—before she broke her leg—and sister—before she moved to Europe—did all day.

But not Madison. She was in the trenches. Answering the phones. Doing scheduling.

And she was quite good at it.

But she was here temporarily.

It had never been a career for her.

She was following in her mother’s footsteps. 

Savannah Worthington was a renowned psychologist.

I wondered, as I often had over the years, what it must be like to have such successful parents.

My parents had been successful, too, but just not on the same level as the Worthingtons.

And with my father gone now, I was left to take care of my mother.

My sister had moved to Europe, leaving me to handle everything on my own.

I didn’t begrudge her happiness. But I did sometimes wonder how she was ever going to make this up to me.

Right now, the grown-up version of Madison Worthington was looking at me the way she’d looked at me back in college.

As though I’d somehow hung the moon.

And she wanted to console me for having done it.

“What?” I asked.

“Something’s troubling you,” she said.

God. She was already in tune to me. And now with her being a psychologist… I didn’t stand a chance.

My phone rang. It was Mother calling.

“I need to take this,” I said. “I just need a minute.”

“No problem. I’ll get us some coffee.” She lifted an elegant eyebrow, waiting for my consent. 

I nodded. 

“Be right back.”

I watched her turn around. A girl like her wearing a skirt like that should be illegal.

Madison

I went into the break room to make two lattes. Pulled out two white mugs with the Skye Travels logo plastered across them in a tasteful blue and set them on the counter while the lattes heated. 

I was going to miss being here.

I’d spent all my summers and holidays working here for as long as I could remember. And a lot of weekends, too. Daddy would simply send a plane for me and I’d come home.

And somehow I always ended up here. My home away from home.

But taking an academic job was going to change all that. I was going to be busier than I’d ever been.

Being a professor wasn’t just presenting lectures. I was going to have class preparation. Papers to grade. Committee meetings. 

Then there was research. And supervision of practicum students.

Thinking about all of that gave me butterflies. I was excited, but overwhelmed at the same time. 

I took my time making the coffee.

I was having to constantly remind myself that Kade had a life that didn’t involve me.

It was hard to not just slip back into the way we were before.

With two lattes in hand, I made my way back toward his office.

I heard him talking as I approached his office. I walked lightly, keeping my heels from making noise on the wood floor. 

His tone was kind. Gentle even.

I stopped just before I reached his door. 

I wasn’t trying to listen in to his conversation. I was just trying to give him the space to finish his phone call.

“Alright,” he said into the phone. “I’ll see you tonight.”

There was a brief pause.

“I love you, too.”

I stood frozen, my hands absorbing the warmth from the coffee mugs. 

This was not what I’d prepared for.

I took a deep breath.

I’d known it was possible he had other relationships. Girlfriend. Wife. Child.

All those things were normal.

Just because I didn’t have a husband or a boyfriend or a child, didn’t mean he couldn’t.

I lifted my chin. 

It didn’t matter. I would be gone in no time. 

Starting a new life. In Denver.

I had all sorts of things to look forward to that didn’t involve Kade Johnson.

Maybe even a husband and child of my own.

Walking into his office, I let my heels tap normally on the wood floor and I plastered a smile on my face. I wouldn’t ask him about it. It wasn’t my business.

He was standing at the window, looking out over the tarmac. He turned when he heard me walk in. 

“Everything okay?” I asked, handing him one of the mugs.

“Yeah,” he said, looking at me with an odd expression. “Everything okay with you?”

I let my smile relax. He was the one person who could tell when my smile wasn’t genuine.

I dropped into one of the chairs in front of his desk.

“Quinn didn’t tell me anything about you,” I said.

He sat down in the leather chair behind his desk. Leaned forward with brows furrowed. 

I didn’t like having the desk between us. It didn’t feel right being separated from him like this.

“What is it you think Quinn should have told you?” he asked.

I shrugged and sipped the hot coffee, careful not to burn my tongue.

“I don’t know. Eight years is a long time. Things happen.”

“Madison,” Kade looked at me sideways. Glanced at my hands. “If you’ve found someone, you can tell me.”

My stomach dropped.

He didn’t care if I was with someone else.

He’d truly moved on and expected me to do the same.

I didn’t want to tell him that none of my other relationships had compared to what we’d had. That I’d dated some, but no one had ever grabbed my heart like he had.

I dropped into psychologist mode. It was what I knew best.

“It’s not about me,” I said. “I was asking about you.”

He nodded slowly.

“Some things have changed,” he said.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and scowled at it. It was Daddy. 

I always answered Daddy’s calls and texts. Sometimes he only had a minute and it could be important. 

But it was only a text. I relaxed a bit.

DADDY: Everything ok down there?

ME: Everything is going great.

DADDY: I’ll be home tonight. Meet for dinner?

I glanced up at Kade. He was glaring at his computer. 

ME: Sure.

DADDY: Have to run. I’ll text you later.

I slid the phone back into my pocket. 

“Your computer do something to offend you?”

“What?” He glanced at me. “Nothing other than being difficult.”

I realized that I wasn’t ready to leave Kade’s office. There was a lot I didn’t know about him. But there was so much more that I did know.

And one of those things was that I enjoyed his company.

We’d figure the rest of it out as we went. 

“I could offer you private tutoring.”