Read Online Friend-Zoned by Belle Aurora - Free Book Online Page B

swell of emotion in my chest.
Max has been through a lot over the past nine years. He was in love
with a good woman. We don’t see Maddy anymore. Actually, we haven’t
seen her since Ceecee was about one and a half.
Ceecee was born an extremely healthy little girl. She wasn’t
planned but Max loved Maddy so much that he would’ve done anything
to make her happy. They eventually both fell in love with the idea
of a baby. Max was twenty four and strutting like a peacock when
Maddy wound up pregnant. He liked the idea of being a dad.
When Maddy brought Ceecee home from the hospital she was soon after
diagnosed with postpartum depression. She wasn’t bonding with
Ceecee and would sometimes leave her in her crib for hours without
a feed or changing of her diaper.
Mom stepped in and they moved into the family home. Mom gave Maddy
an ultimatum. Either she would go to counselling or Mom would call
child services on her. Yep, Mom pulled out the big guns.
Months passed and Maddy was getting better. She was making more of
an effort, playing with Ceecee, bathing her and putting her to bed
at night. Mom was over the moon.
Ceecee was fourteen months old when the accident happened.
Mom was now confident enough to leave Maddy with Ceecee so she left
them both at home to go to the grocery store for an hour. What Mom
returned to would change us forever.
Ceecee was crying so hard on the kitchen floor she was blue in the
face. Maddy was cowering in a corner with her hands pulling at her
hair. Mom called an ambulance and was told by the phone operator
not to touch Ceecee. Mom was hysterically crying when she went to
take a closer look at Ceecee. There was no blood but her little
body was twisted at an awkward angle.
It turns out Maddy was getting lunch ready for Ceecee and put her
up on the kitchen counter. Maddy turned to the refrigerator for
just a second.
Ceecee fell back off the counter and severed her spine when she hit
a stool on the way down.
Can you imagine the pain that little girl was in?
We don’t talk about Maddy. Ceecee has asked about her a lot. She
knows her Mom’s name and that her Dad doesn’t like to talk about
her. That’s it.
Max refuses to talk about her but about a year ago he came to me
for name of a top private investigator. He wanted to find out where
Maddy was.
We found out that Maddy had turned herself in to the police before
being placed in a rehabilitation facility. She was never charged
with neglect and child endangerment because the courts found she
was mentally ill. Maddy lives in Arizona with a husband and their
two children, both boys. When Max heard this last bit of
information, he went gonzo. He was a wreck for a long time after
Maddy left.
I never held Maddy responsible for what happened to Ceecee. As far
as we all knew, it really was a horrible accident. And one she will
be living with for the rest of her life. I’m sure she left Max out
of guilt.
What kind of person wouldn’t have guilt? After all, she almost
killed her daughter.
I love Ceecee like she was my own. I would do anything to keep my
Cricket happy.
Something tugs at my lapel. Tina is standing before me and looking
up at me with an uneasy face. She’s so close to me we’re toe to toe
and her face is at my chest. One small move and we’d be
kissing. What the
heck? I start, “Ahh…”
She smiles a sad smile and muses, “When someone wears the face your
wearing they usually need a hug.”
She places one arm around my waist, rests her head on my chest,
with her other hand at the back of my neck stroking the hair
there.
We stand like that for almost a minute and I feel my body relax.
She squeezes my waist, lifts her head and asks, “Better?”
My brow furrows and I look past her shoulder, thinking. I am
feeling better.
I give her a small nod. She smiles, lets go of me and walks back to
Max. Probably the best forty second
hug I’ve ever had.

Chapter
Six The White Rabbit

    “ So what’s going on with
you two?”
Turning to look at Nat