Maddie

By Eleanor Webb

All Maddie Sullivan ever wanted was to be married to a good man and have a large family. As a born nurturer, she has a lot of love to give. So when an old friend walks back into her life, she is more than ready to accept him into her heart. But Rick Davidson isn’t just anyone. Bad feelings now exist between Rick and Maddie’s oldest brother because of a fight long ago. In addition, Rick is dealing with other issues that threaten to destroy him and their future. Some people want to see the relationship succeed, but there are others who have their doubts or want to see it fail. Can love overcome the past, personal demons, and relationship saboteurs to give Maddie and Rick a future?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Eleanor Webb
• Release date: Dec 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781311911599

Eleanor Webb

Author Eleanor Webb has always loved reading contemporary and historical romances and writing stories that are filled with passion, adventure, and suspense. From an early age she created characters and stories that have engaged her readers and taken them on an adventure into the lives of her characters. After years of working in the corporate world and earning two master's degrees, Eleanor decided to return to her roots and pursue her passion for writing and storytelling to reach a new crop of readers. Her first digitally published book is The Job Offer. She resides in Minnesota with her husband and best friend, her two sons, and family dog.

Book preview

This work is entirely a work of fiction. All names, characters, and events are works of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual people, places, or events is coincidence. This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only and is available in printed and eBook formats. The eBook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this and did not purchase it, or it was purchased for your use only, then please return to your book retailer and purchase your own copy. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without the express permission from the author. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Maddie by Eleanor Webb

Smashwords Edition

Published by Eleanor Webb

Copyright 2013 by Eleanor Webb

Cover photo from shutterstock.com

Printed by CreateSpace, An Amazon.com Company, and available through Amazon.com, CreateSpace.com, and other retailers

Discover other works by Eleanor Webb at eleanorwebb.com

Other Books by Eleanor Webb

The Job Offer

The Search for the Invisible Lady

The Sullivan Series

Going for the Gold

Acknowledgements

This book would not have been possible without the support and input from many people. I need to thank Jan and Ellen for their help and medical expertise in the areas of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and with dual diagnoses. These medical issues do not just occur due to military experiences but can occur with anyone, both male and female, who experience or witness a traumatic event. PTSD and other mental health conditions are treatable. I encourage people who are dealing with a mental health condition to seek help.

I also want to thank Paul, who provided valuable information on emergency medical procedures. It was nice working with you on this project just as it was working with you on the other projects we’ve done together.

Finally, I need to thank the many veterans I’ve had the pleasure to meet over the years. You’ve all made an indelible impression on me with your stories, with your honesty when you’ve told me what you experienced, and with your dedication to serve. People cannot understand what you’ve experienced until they’ve walked in your shoes.

Table of Contents

List of Characters

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Epilogue

Coming Summer 2014

Now Available

About the Author

List of Characters

Edward Sullivan - Patriarch of the Sullivan family from Iowa City, Iowa. He works as the Dean of the Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa.

Caroline Sullivan - Matriarch of the Sullivan family. She quit working as an actress to raise their six children.

Kevin Sullivan - Oldest child and professional ice hockey player with the Dallas Stars.

Mark Sullivan - Second child and professional ice hockey player with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Kerri Takeda (nee Sullivan) - Third child and former Ladies’ figure skating champion.

Jacobe Jake Takeda - Former Men’s figure skating champion and current coach. He is married to Kerri.

Momoko Takeda - Jake’s daughter.

Maddie Sullivan - Fourth child and works as an elementary school teacher.

Rick Davidson - Former friend of the Sullivan family. He is a former Fleet Marine Corpsman and is a current paramedic.

Kelly Sullivan - Fifth child and works as an Information Technologies administrator.

Jeffrey Sullivan - Sixth child and is beginning his sophomore year in college at the University of Iowa.

Donnie Davidson - Rick’s oldest brother. He owns a garage door store with Joe.

Kathy Davidson - Donnie’s wife.

Joe Davidson - Rick’s youngest brother. He owns a garage door store with Donnie.

Mary Davidson - Joe’s wife.

Lisa Gibson - Maddie’s best friend and works as a nurse.

Carlos Acuńa - Rick’s friend and supervisor.

Prologue

The nightmare came again. It always started out innocent enough, but before he could wake up it would turn into a nightmare. Then the fear would set in. He couldn’t hear. He couldn’t see. White blinking lights exploded in his vision. Then the pain started, and he cried out. No sound came. He struggled to pull air into his lungs, and the white lights turned into a darkness that surrounded him and began to smother him. He shouted. This time he made a sound. He shouted again. He could hear something coming to him through the darkness. He heard whining then the bark of a dog. It was close. He opened his eyes quickly and looked around.

He was in his bedroom in his new home. Moonlight came in through the uncovered window and shed light on the bed and walls. He could see the new dresser that he bought when he moved in last week. A little television sat on top. The whining sound came from his black Lab, Harvey, who sat on the bed next to him. Harvey pulled him from the nightmare just as he did the other times the nightmare came.

He needed to get some air. The little that came in through the open window wasn’t enough. Besides that, the sheets were soaked again from his sweat. They would need to be changed. But first, he needed fresh air. After he got out of bed, he walked naked into the kitchen and turned on the light. Harvey followed behind him, and he let the dog out the sliding glass door. There was cold coffee in the coffee pot, and he poured some in a cup to reheat in the microwave. With hot, bitter coffee in hand, he went onto his deck and sat on a chair.

The moon cast a soft light on the water of the lake about one hundred feet in front of him. His fishing boat was tied to the dock and swayed up and down because of the small ripples in the water caused by the cool breeze. In another few weeks, he would need to take his boat out of the water and pull the dock onto the shore. He had a few more weeks of walleye fishing left.

His closest neighbor was several hundred feet away. Trees and shrubs separated their houses and created a haven for privacy. He liked it that way. They were new to the lake. They moved into their mini-mansion a few years back when his grandfather still owned this place. He bought this house from his grandfather over a year ago. It used to be his grandfather’s old summer fishing cabin. Over the last year, he worked at remodeling it into a year-round home. He finally got his certificate of occupancy last week and moved in right away. If he had to stay with his brother and sister-in-law another week, he didn’t know what he would do. They meant well. But they didn’t understand. How could they?

The nightmares were coming less frequently, now. The doctor told him that they would, and he knew from his job that that would be the case anyway. He didn’t know if his job helped him or hurt in that regard, but it gave him a reason to get out of bed every morning. It was what he did, and he was good at it. Occupational hazard. That’s how he chose to think about it.

He sat there for a couple of hours and watched the sun come up. He could hear the loons call and hear the splash of a fish every now and then. The peaceful sunrise reenergized him. At one point he got up to make a fresh pot of coffee and put on a tee shirt and sweatpants. Then he went back outside and sat down with Harvey at his feet. Eventually, he made his way back inside and made himself a breakfast of eggs and toast. It was an eggs and toast kind of morning. Then he stripped his bed and threw his sheets into the washing machine. The little things he did calmed him down further. Then after a quick shower, he dressed in his uniform. Time to get to work. He only hoped that it would be a slow day.

Chapter 1

Eight months later

The red dress was the wrong dress. There was no doubt about it. Maddie wanted to look good that night, but not desperate or even too available. She looked once again at the woman in the mirror and shook her head.

It doesn't fit, Lisa! she called through the bedroom door to Lisa in the living room.

Well, come out and let me see, Lisa called back.

Maddie Sullivan walked out of her bedroom and into the living room where her friend sat on the small couch. As soon as Lisa saw her, she wolf whistled.

Now, that's what I call a dress, Lisa told Maddie with a smile.

Maddie looked over at Lisa, her best friend ever since their freshmen year in college, and pursed her lips. Lisa was dressed in her nurse’s scrubs that she wore for work at the hospital. She came over to Maddie’s apartment that afternoon to help pick out clothing for Maddie’s date that night before she started her shift, and a spurt of last minute inspiration told her to grab the dress before she walked out the door. At least, that was what she told Maddie. The dress that fit Lisa just fine was too tight in the chest and a little too short on Maddie. On Maddie, the dress was a wardrobe malfunction waiting to happen.

No it's not! Look at me! This dress practically screams ‘come and get me.’ Look, the straps keep falling down. Maddie pulled the spaghetti straps back into place again, and looked down. She was still covered. Thank God! What was Lisa thinking in bringing the dress over for Maddie’s date that night?

Not that Maddie wanted to go on the date. She didn’t. Going on a blind date was the last thing she wanted to do. She would rather stay home and grade papers. It was too bad that there weren't any to grade. The last two weeks of school before summer vacation weren't exactly high volume homework times in the lives of five and six year olds.

Well, I think that you look great, Lisa told her. And I know the straps fall down. That's the point, which is also why I brought along this. She reached into her bag and pulled out a roll of double sided tape.

This is ridiculous, Lisa. Why did I let you talk me into this? You know what? I'll just change into a nice pair of pants and a top. That's what I'll do.

Oh, no you won't Maddie Sullivan. You look great, and you're going on this date. And, what's more is that you're going to enjoy yourself. It's been over two years since you and Tom broke up. It's time to get out there again.

I date!

Maddie, two first dates in two years is not dating. No more arguments. I know it's a blind date, but Steve says that Rick is a really nice guy. It's just drinks and dinner. It's not going to kill you to dress up and have dinner with a nice guy.

Maddie looked at the determined expression on her friend's face and knew that there would be no point in arguing further. Lisa was right, of course. There wasn't anyone in the last two years. So what. It's not like she was avoiding the dating scene. She went out a few times, but she found that she preferred to spend time with her family and friends instead of dealing with that whole getting to know you and will he call me stages of dating.

Ok, she was becoming pathetic. She was twenty-four years old and thought that grading papers would be more fun than an evening out with someone, even a stranger. With a sigh of resignation, she held out her hand for the tape. It was one night in her life. What could it hurt? At Lisa’s look of victory, Maddie clamped her mouth shut and went into the bathroom with the tape.

A little later, she drove across town to the busy restaurant and parked in the full parking lot. The entire time she drove, she snuck peeks down at the revealing cleavage and the amount of leg that she was showing and worried about what she was seeing. Wearing this dress was a bad idea. The hemline had slipped down to her panties and would be a problem when she sat down at the table. The bodice was a whole other issue. The amount of cleavage showing wasn’t excessive by some people’s standards, but to her, she was showing far too much. This guy better be worth the embarrassment if something spilled that night. Why did she agree to this?

It took a couple of turns around the parking lot before a spot opened up. She zipped in with her little Ford Focus before the pickup truck she saw also looking for a spot could take it. Friday evenings in Iowa City were big nights for eating out, so hunting for parking spots was to be expected. People were off of work, and the thousands of college students who stayed in town every weekend were out blowing off steam.

This weekend was worse than usual. Spring finals just finished up, and the families of the students also flooded the town to help students clear out their dorm rooms and attend graduation ceremonies. Her brother, Kelly, was set to graduate from the University of Iowa on Sunday afternoon with a degree is computer science.

After putting on some lipstick and looking quickly at her dashboard clock, she pulled the straps back up, locked up, and went inside to wait. She had been to this restaurant a couple of times with her family for special occasions over the years and once with Tom. The food was very good and a little expensive. But the place was always full and required reservations on the weekends to get in. Lisa said that she made the reservations under Maddie's name, so Maddie gave her name when she checked in with the hostess.

She could have used a drink for courage and to start creating a little buzz to get her through what promised to be another bad date, but the lounge was already full. It would be a pain to get a drink. In addition, she didn’t want to wait in the lobby with a drink in her hands looking dopey.

A name was called, which freed up a place to sit down as soon as the couple stood up to follow the hostess. Before she could take their place on the padded bench, however, another couple took it. She would just have to remain standing, which would not be fun in these shoes. They looked hot and made her legs look several inches longer, but they were pinching her toes. They were coming off as soon as she sat down. As she stood silently cursing shoe designers everywhere, a man came up beside her. She ignored him.

Maddie? Is that you?

That caught her attention. The man was talking to her. His voice sounded familiar, but she couldn’t remember from where. She quickly looked up at the man in surprise and stared. She knew him; although, it had been a long time since she had last seen him. The man was none other than Rick Davidson, her oldest brother's best friend all through high school and college until her brother stole his girlfriend. She doubted that Rick and Kevin had even spoken to each other since then. Her brother was a jerk.

The next thought to pass through her mind, after it registered that the man was Rick, was to wonder when he came back to town. The last time she talked with his sister-in-law, she was told that he was still in the military. But that was a few years ago when they ran into each other in the grocery store, so it had been a while. He must be out or on leave.

Her final thought was that he really was handsome. He always was in her opinion, but he had a new maturity now that appealed to her. She stared at his tanned face, hazel eyes, and firm jaw. He wore his brown hair shorter than he used to. The light blue dress shirt that he wore under his suit jacket only accentuated his chest and arms that had filled out with strong muscles.

Maddie?

His saying her name again knocked her out of her thought pattern and brought her eyes back to his again.

Rick! Wow! It's been, what, eight years since I last saw you?

Yah, it’s something like that. It's been a while. You look great! His eyes moved quickly down her body then back up to her face. She could tell from the look on his face that he liked the way she looked. She certainly hoped that she looked good considering that the last time he saw her she was a gawky teenager with braces. Maybe the dress and shoes weren’t such a bad idea after all.

So do you, Rick. Rick? Oh, don’t tell me that you’re my blind date. That would just be too funny. Are you? Maddie watched a lopsided smile cross his face as he nodded his head.

If you’re Lisa’s friend, Madeline, then I’m your date.

Oh, this is funny. Don’t you think that this is funny? Maddie said as she began to laugh loudly. Several people turned to look at her, but Maddie didn’t notice them. The irony of being set up with someone that she knew and always liked was just so funny that she couldn’t remain quiet. The sound of Rick’s deep laughter thrilled her, too. She was too busy laughing and looking at Rick, in fact, that she didn’t really notice when he suddenly stopped laughing. She noticed, though, when he began to say her name urgently while he took off his jacket. What was he doing? A touch of cold air hit her just before Rick wrapped his jacket over her shoulders.

Oh no! Not that!

A glance down revealed that the tape had let loose, and her left breast was half exposed. Or it would have been if it had not for Rick’s quick actions and his jacket. She quickly grabbed the lapels closed in front of her and looked up at Rick in mortification.

It’s alright, Maddie. I don’t think anyone saw, Rick said when she turned red and began to sputter. What should she say? What should she do? Can you fix your dress? Do you want to leave? She quickly nodded her head and began to head for the door. She didn’t bother to wait for Rick, but she heard him tell the hostess that they had to leave as she walked away. A couple of people snickered and pointed at her, but most of the people either didn’t notice or were too kind to say anything. How embarrassing!

The evening was still young when she went outside, and the sun was still gold in the western sky. It was the kind of night that people were meant to enjoy outside. The temperature was comfortable, and there was the promise of bright stars later. Several couples and a family walked in as she opened the door and found an open bench to sit on outside. Rick would be out soon. She would have to wait until he came out, right? She couldn’t just leave. Or could she? What was the proper etiquette after flashing a room full of people?

Maddie, it’s not that bad. Rick said when he found her on the bench a minute later. He was trying to make her feel better. At least he didn’t act juvenile like some guys she knew. He sat down next to her and looked at her red face in sympathy.

Speak for yourself. You didn’t just expose yourself. So help me if someone caught this on their cell phone and puts it on the Internet, I’ll...

You’ll what? It could happen to anyone. Don’t let it bother you. I’m sure most of the people in the lobby didn’t even see anything, so I doubt that it was caught. And believe me, it reveals more about the character of someone who would post something like that than it reveals about you. Don’t let it ruin our evening.

Uh... Maddie sighed as she looked at him. He was right, or course. She hadn’t been looking forward to the date earlier. In fact, she had dreaded it. Her previous two dates were blind dates, too. Look how they turned out. They were both disasters. The first guy couldn’t be bothered to change out of his sweats, and the second guy was a boorish idiot. But when she found out that her date was with Rick a few minutes ago, she wanted to stay with him. She wanted the date.

Was he still the guy that he was when he was younger? He was always nice to her when she was little and never made her feel like she was a pest, unlike her brother Kevin. Rick even gave her a flower once, and she had a small crush on him for a while after that. You’re right. I’m overreacting. Well, what do you have in mind? I can’t go anywhere with this dress on, and I’m not going back in there. It will also be impossible to go somewhere else. Every restaurant will be full.

Where do you live? he asked after a small delay in which he appeared to be considering their options.

I live in Coralville. Why?

The Hawkeyes’ last game of the season is tonight at home. It starts in about an hour. Coralville isn’t that far from the stadium, and I have tickets. Would you like to go? Do you like baseball?

I love baseball! she told him with glee. I went to college on a softball scholarship. But I have to ask you. Why did you agree to this date if you had tickets to the game? Now, she was slightly confused. Rick always liked to play baseball, and it didn’t make sense that he would agree to go out on a blind date if he had tickets to the game. She wouldn’t go on a blind date if she had tickets. In fact, if it weren’t for Lisa’s constant pushing, she wouldn’t be there at all.

I have a confession, actually. As she watched him, a slight red color began to develop around his neck and his cheeks became a little flushed. He was nervous! How cute was that? I knew that you were my blind date. Not at first! I found out on Wednesday when I tried to get out of it to go to the game. When Steve told me that my date was with Madeline Sullivan, Kevin Sullivan’s sister, I decided that I wanted to see you. You’re not upset are you? It’s not too creepy?

Not at all. Actually, I’d rather have a hot dog at the game then eat here anyway. You know what, Rick? Let’s go. Time’s a wasting. My apartment’s only a few miles from the field, and it’ll only take me a minute to change out of this dress. She stood up and began to walk to the parking lot with Rick beside her. Even with the heels, he was still taller than her. Not a lot of men were. She inherited the Sullivan height. Rick stopped next