By seven-thirty the next morning, I’d snagged a couple of hours of sleep but still felt drugged. I sat on the edge of the bed and sent a group text to the team at Adelaide. Adele was hit by a car last night. She’s in intensive care. Will send an update when I have one.
I went back to the hospital as soon as I’d showered and dressed. Adele remained stable. Her doctor wanted to keep her sedated for another twenty-four hours.
There was no point in sitting around while she slept, not when she’d want me taking care of things at work. I called for a taxi and headed to the office.
Adelaide was whisper-quiet when I arrived.
Cynthia waved off our coworkers who huddled at the reception desk and hustled me into my office.
I dropped my things on the desk.
She looked me over, sizing me up. “Come here.”
I stepped into her arms. Cynthia was slender but strong. Her clamping hug reminded me of my mom’s, tight and sincere.
Part of me wanted to cry, but the other, more determined part wouldn’t believe the worst was possible. Adele would make it through this. I knew no one tougher than my grandmother.
“Have you told Miles?” Cynthia’s voice was little more than a whisper.
“Not yet.” I dragged in a breath. “I keep intending to, but what am I going to tell him? The doctor said Adele will be under for another day and probably unconscious for a few days after that.”
“Oh, love. You need to tell him. I know it’s going to put a dent in his honeymoon, but he’ll never forgive you if something…well, unexpected happens.”
I sniffed back the tingling in my nose and blinked away tears. “Yeah, I know. I’ll call now.”
She nodded and closed the door behind her.
Landing in my desk chair, I dropped my head against the seatback. Hesitation and desperation battled inside me. I wanted to talk to Miles so badly, but the news would crush him.
I snagged my cell from the purse I’d dropped on my desk and dialed.
The phone went to voicemail. Great.
I’d finally got up the guts to call, and he didn’t answer.
“Miles, it’s me, Maddie. Hey, um, something’s come up. Could you call me?” My voice had thickened by the time I hung up. He’d be able to tell something terrible had happened.
Cynthia tapped on my door and waved through the glass wall. I was staring into space. She stepped in and set a cup of fresh brew in front of me.
“Thanks.”
“You talk to him?” She sat and crossed her legs. Cynthia looked elegant, her cream-colored pantsuit a perfect match to her pixie-cut blonde hair.
“I left a message.”
She nodded. “Do you have any appointments today? If so, you should cancel them.”
“I don’t think so.” I took a sip of coffee and grabbed my phone to check. “I have a six o’clock,” which surprised me.
Cynthia’s eyebrows jumped. “An after-hours appointment?”
“Yeah.” I frowned. “Adele must’ve made it for me yesterday.”
She tried not to make short-notice appointments or schedule them after five o’clock, but an executive’s busy schedule sometimes demanded it. I scanned the appointment details. Peter Waring.
He must be important.
“Who’s it with?” Cynthia asked.
I glanced up. “A new client. Peter Waring. I’d better keep it.” I dragged a hand through my messy curls. “There’s nothing I can do for Adele until they take her off the sedatives, and even then, I might not be able to sit with her.”
I set my phone down. “I’ll take a look at this guy’s profile.” I gave Cynthia a weak smile. “To be honest, I could use the distraction.”
“Once you’ve reviewed his details, why don’t you go home and take a nap? Did you sleep last night? You look exhausted. Where’s the appointment?”
Rubbing my forehead, I checked the calendar app. “Over at the Tower on Clarendon. Fifty-seventh floor. Waring Construction Corp.”
“Perfect,” she said. “That’ll give you time to rest, maybe go for a run, then head over.”
“Sure.” It was an easy walk from Adele’s brownstone on Beacon Street to Clarendon, even in heels.
“I’m taking you out to lunch to make sure you get a decent meal,” Cynthia added as she stood. “I’ll bet you haven’t eaten anything since you got the news.”
She was right. Food had completely slipped my mind, but the thought of it made my stomach churn.
After she left, I turned my attention to my laptop. I needed to get up to speed on Peter Waring before I spoke to him.
Adele hadn’t mentioned him previously. She would’ve planned to fill me in this morning. Now, I’d have to find out for myself.
I opened Addie, the proprietary application Adele had developed with a programming genius she hired a few years ago.
They’d created the software to identify matches for our clients using a backend database.
Adele had a stringent and complicated process for assessing potential matches, and it had taken a lot of fine-tuning to get Addie to deliver a match that correlated closely to Adele’s personal assessments.
I looked up Peter Waring’s profile, and boy, he sounded like a dream. Athletic and a runner. An engineer with a taste for Spanish guitar and classical strings. A love for modern art, photography and thrillers. Too bad he was twenty-five years older than me.
And a client.
At Adelaide, professionalism meant everything. Adele had one golden rule: matchmaker-client relationships were an absolute no-no.
Interestingly though, everyone had to create a profile for themselves in Addie. That’s how we’d learned the software. Adele purged our test profiles once we finished training.
After creating a contact on my phone for Peter Waring, I called to confirm our appointment.
I expected his assistant to pick up or the call to go to voicemail. When I heard a click and a loud hum, I figured I’d been disconnected and almost hung up.
“Hello?” came the crackly sound of a male speaker. Interference buzzed, then the voice came in loud and clear. “Hello? This is Peter.”
I recognized his accent as British. How had I missed that on his profile?
“Hi. Mr. Waring?” I had an accent, too, though it carried more of a Bostonian lilt, and I was often mistaken for a native.
“Yes, speaking?” His tone turned inquisitive.
“This is Madelyn Harrison. I’m calling about our meeting this evening. I just wanted to confirm.”
“Oh. Madelyn, of course.” His voice dropped to a smoky timbre. “Yes. At six.”
“That’s right. I’m sorry to bother you. It’s just…I didn’t know about our appointment until a few hours ago, and I wanted to make sure.” I swallowed.
How should I explain about Adele? That she hadn’t had the chance to mention him?
“Miss Harrison, are you still there?”
“Yes, I’m here.”
“Sorry about this poor connection. I’m on the road and the reception’s spotty. I enjoyed talking to Adele. She’s quite a lady.”
He sounded bright, oblivious to what had happened minutes after she’d left their meeting.
Tears came out of nowhere. “Yes,” I answered brokenly, “she is.” I cleared my throat, cursing myself for turning into a watering pot, then rushed on with, “Thank you for confirming. I’ll see you this evening.”
I was about to end the call when he said, “Hold on a second. Don’t hang up. I’m pulling over.” There were several long seconds of humming and rumbling, then his voice returned. “You sound upset. Do you need to cancel?”
“No,” I answered too quickly. “Of course not. But, I’m afraid Adele hadn’t mentioned the appointment. She…” I sniffed. “She was in an accident last night.”
“Good lord. Is she all right?”
“The doctor thinks so. She was hit by a car. Sustained a head injury. She’s sedated right now.”
“We should reschedule, so you can take care of your grandmother,” he said firmly.
“To be honest, there’s nothing I can do but wait, and…I’d prefer we met as scheduled.” My words were more abrupt than I intended, but the thought of heading home to an empty house made my stomach drop.
After a short pause, he said, “Then, by all means, let’s meet. Is my office convenient? Would somewhere else be better—”
“Your office is perfect.” I forced a smile onto my face, hoping it would come across in my words. “I’m sorry about getting emotional just then, it’s—”
“Completely understandable.” His accent came over more strongly, familiar intonations that offered me comfort.
“Thank you. I’ll see you at six.” I hung up.
Before I could set the phone down, it rang. I checked the screen. Miles.
Sucking in a shaky breath, I answered.
“Maddie, love. What’s going on?” He sounded cheerful, but a thread of worry ran through his words.
I didn’t want to be the one to burst his bubble and bring him crashing back to earth, but I had no choice.
“It’s Adele. She…she was hit by a car last night. They had to operate. The doctor says she’s stable. They’re keeping her sedated for a day or two. Miles, I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to interrupt your honeymoon, but—”
“Oh my god, how can you possibly think you’re interrupting?”
I puffed out a breath. “It’s your honeymoon.”
“And we’re scheduled to fly home in two days. Lucas will check with the airlines and get us on the next available flight. Oh, my god. I want to be there the second she wakes up.”
“That’ll probably be a few days from now.” I hated the thought of him stressing, and Adele would feel the same way. He was the emotional one in the family.
“It doesn’t matter. We’ll come home as soon as we can. Don’t you worry. Okay, Maddie?”
I hardly believed it. Miles sounded so much calmer than I felt. The difference was Lucas, of course. The man was absolute magic for my brother. I couldn’t think of anyone more levelheaded.
Miles was right. Lucas would take care of everything, including my brother.
“Okay, let Lucas know what’s going on. Just tell me when you’re arriving.”
“Don’t even think about meeting us at the airport. Lucas has a limo lined up. He can reschedule the pick-up time. I’ll let you know as soon as we have a new flight. Don’t stress about it, okay? We’ll be home before you know it.”