(Complete) New Year's Day is a time for resolutions. Jack Harris, still mourning the tragic death of his wife, vows to start living again. Maddie Evans dumps her boyfriend and vows no more meaningless sex.
Jack moves to The Point to live in his pa...
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Maddie was sad when Jack and Emma left. It made no sense for them to stay another night. Everything was normal between them after she kissed him. Wow, it was some kiss! It would take a while for her to forget it. She had to remind herself not to stare at his lips during dinner.
The only thing sobering her about the kiss was if he liked her, which she doubted he did, he was not ready. He was still coping with the loss of his wife and could never love another. She scolded herself, come on Mads, who said anything about love? Anything less than the real thing with Jack wasn't worth having, because it would ruin what she had now, a best friend.
Maddie went upstairs to strip the bed that Jack slept in. She resisted the urge to smell his pillow he used which would smell like him — masculine and clean.
How would Jack react if he knew some of the things that Rory had told her? Like he slept with Nicole's pillow and when the scent faded, he spritzed it with her perfume. The story made Maddie's heartache. He had changed a lot since he came back, but he still had a long way to go. She didn't see him carrying a pillow, so he had slept without Nicole's last night. There was little chance he fell asleep thinking of Maddie's kiss. Well, at least not in the way she wanted him to. She had lain in bed and felt his lips on hers. It was not a passionate all tongue, and teeth kiss. Still, it was intimate and was a really good kiss.
Relax Mads, he's your friend. You see him practically every day. She hoped these little pep talks would work because the last thing she wanted was to ruin their friendship.
By Wednesday she was missing Rory too. There was a knock on her door just as she was changing out of her work clothes. It was light out longer and warmer after the storm had pushed the cold air out.
"Hi, Maddie. Did you miss me?" Rory had a big smile.
"You know I did." Maddie pulled her in for a hug. "Did you have fun?"
"Yeah, but I missed the fun here. The storm and sleeping over. I can't believe Emma got to sleep in your old room before me."
"You can have a sleepover anytime you want as long as your father agrees."
"Gran wants to walk down to the beach. Do you want to come with us?"
There was no reason to hide her friendship with Jack from Kelly Harris. It was public Point knowledge already, since everything always was. Her friendship with Rory was as strong as the one she had with Jack.
"Absolutely! Let me grab my shoes and jacket."
As they stepped out of her house, Jack and his mother were walking towards them with the stroller.
"Maddie!" Kelly said.
"Hi, Kelly. There's been big talk about you visiting in April."
