She landed in a warm place. Home. At least it was home at one time. So she believed.
The Cities of the World calendar filled her sight. Her sun-kissed finger traced across the page, ending with a tap on the day with a big, gold star. Two weeks away. Only fourteen more days until the big day. Fourteen simple, uneventful, painfully boring days.
"I'm going to hide that thing if you keep staring at it."
"I'll make another," she easily returned. She didn't have to turn to look. She knew Skyler sat across the kitchen with his feet up on the table. He hadn't moved from the spot since Morgan stepped out to pick up dinner.
Madison twirled the ring on her finger and smiled at the too distant star. She was ready for a real home, a real life. No more crumbs or portions of the normal world. It was time to set down roots. She knew Morgan would give her just that. He had already given her everything else and she never asked for a bit of it.
"Don't worry, I won't kick you out until I need your room for the nursery. But then I bet I can convince Morgan to let you take the game room." She strolled across the kitchen and pulled a bottle of water from the fridge. She waggled it for Skyler, and he held up his hands, catching it smoothly when she tossed it his way.
"I'm moving into the pool house. It's already decided." He took a swallow of the water and chuckled. "You two will never even know I'm here."
"I find that hard to believe." Madison picked an apple out of the basket on the table and munched on it. "Are you going to miraculously start doing your own laundry?"
He shook his head. "Nope, I'll hire a maid."
"You're getting us a maid as a wedding present?" she chirped, already knowing his answer before he puffed out the unamused snort.
"Nope. I'm getting me a maid as your wedding present."
She couldn't help but laugh at his antics. His list of habits and routines left no room for a maid. He'd flip the first time his socks were rolled instead of folded. "Are you going to show her how to fold you shirts?"
"Yeah, about that, I was hoping you wouldn't mind the privilege."
"Gotcha covered," she said warmly. "Between Jessica and me, your laundry will never be ill managed. Speaking of, how's she been lately? I haven't been able to call her back yet."
Skyler pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned. "I'm supposed to meet her parents tomorrow night. We're going out to dinner. They're going to hate me."
"What are you saying? I've yet to meet a person who doesn't like you. You have some uncanny ability to win over everyone's heart no matter who they are."
"This is different," he muttered as he stared at the water bottle. "They're parents. Parents never like me. Trust me, I know. I've had nine sets of them."
Madison sat across from him and nudged his spotless white shoes. He didn't look to her. "They'll love you. Just be yourself."
She couldn't tell if her words comforted him any. He always carried the weight of the world on his shoulders and refused to look at things simply. For such an outgoing and unflinching friend, he had one of the darkest sides she had ever seen anyone to have. He could paint the most beautiful pictures with his words and convince a person to put implicit trust in his tellings, but he rarely ever believed in himself.
Despite his unceasing self battles, Skyler was the best at what he did. He was a friend. Not just the kind one would go to the movies with or take to the club. He was the kind one would tell their most sacred secrets without a second thought. He was the kind one wouldn't question when he would suggest they do something, no matter the extremity. He came across as a full fledged saint.
That was what he did for the team. While Morgan plotted the task or project, Skyler made it happen. Morgan would point him in the direction of the necessary subject and he would win that person's confidence, gaining direct access to their targeted prize. Then they would bring in Madison to unlock the final piece and the trio would walk away without ever breaking a sweat. Their plans where flawless. Their team was untouchable.
"You're going to spoil your dinner." Morgan's British accent overshadowed Madison's thoughts.
"There you are." She leapt to her feet and hurried to help him distribute the dinner. "I was beginning to wonder if you went on and started without us."
"You don't need to go tonight, Madison. We have it well covered. Even I could crack that vault." Skyler reached across the table and swapped plates with her, leaving her with sweet and sour chicken and claiming the dumplings for himself.
"He's right," Morgan agreed. "You'll be bored out of your mind tonight."
She looked at them each in turn. A throbbing pain deep within distracted her for a moment. It was gone as quickly as it had come. "But I always go with you on the last run. I like going."
Morgan shrugged and took another egg roll. "If you want to go, I won't stop you. I just figured you had too many other things to keep you busy right now. This whole wedding thing has turned you into an envelope stuffing madwoman."
"There were only enough invitations to keep me busy for one evening. They were done long ago."
"In other words," Skyler chimed in, "if she stays in tonight, she'll just try that dress on for the thousandth time."
She blushed without meaning to. The dress was too much of a temptation, and she had tried it on many times but not a thousand times. It was a simple dress, just right for their small ceremony on the beach. A smile came to her face when she pictured the sunset behind them.
"Come along if you must," Morgan concluded. "But no complaints will be heard of how meager the vault is."
Madison moved to consent, but the pain returned. It was nauseating. She took a drink of her water to calm it. Her stomach rolled once more, then the pain vanished. "This factory is at the old piers, right?"
"Yep. Just south of Miami. We'll be back before you know it." Skyler nodded to Morgan, "Last I spoke with our client, the main building was boarded up three weeks ago and hasn't been touched since. Those bonds have been lonely for some time now."
The two men continued to converse about the planned night, but Madison was no longer listening. A burning pain jabbed at her belly and lanced across her side. She pushed her plate away and gave up on the unsettling meal. The discomfort lingered this time and nearly took her breath away.
It was the touch of Morgan's hand on hers that dulled the ache. "Are you all right? You really don't have to go if you don't want to."
She shook her head. Something told her she should stay home. They should all stay home. This planned job wasn't worth what they would give for it. She looked to Morgan to voice the nagging thoughts, but as soon as she parted her lips, the fretting disappeared. "I wasn't as hungry as I thought I was, that's all."
"Our bird leaves in an hour," Skyler voiced. "We need to get going."
"I'm ready when you are," she said with a smile.
Morgan pulled her to him and hugged her close. "Of course you are. You're my good luck charm. You're always ready."
When he released her, he looked to her with a smirk and poked at the sparkling diamond on her finger. She slipped off the band and put it back on her necklace. He took the dainty chain and hung it around her neck. Madison waited to feel the weight of the suspended ring then wrapped her arms around him and kissed his smirk.
"Hey, wait! We almost forgot the fortune cookies." Skyler lightly tossed two wrapped cookies across the table to Madison and Morgan.
Morgan opened his first. "You weren't supposed to be there."
Madison turned and peered at him. Those words rang in her head. They meant something, but she couldn't place them.
Skyler opened his next. "Stay with me, I just got you back."
She looked to him. Why would the cookie have a message like that? She shifted to check Morgan's reaction. He was gone. Her unwrapped fortune cookie was all she found.
Madison unknowin
gly opened the crunchy treat and broke it apart in her hands, the crumbs tumbling out of her palms and scattering across the table top. She pulled the narrow strip of white paper from the pieces and unfolded it.