* * *

Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny as expected. After a

welcome night of restful sleep, Maddy propped herself up in bed with a

few fluffy pillows and spent several minutes in quiet prayer. Recently,

Mom had gifted her with a subscription to a nice little magazine called

Daily Word, and as she read the scripture quote and thought for the day,

she felt inspired. It was a simple pleasure to have this cherished time for

soul contemplation, freed from the obligation of Saturday rehearsals at the

studio.

After her reading, Maddy got up and popped a Leo Buscgalia tape

into her cassette player, listening to his distinctive voice and uplifting

message while she brewed her coffee and thought about the day ahead.

Though tempted to do nothing but lounge on the beach, a quick scan of

her apartment revealed the necessity of accomplishing some mundane

tasks as well. Somewhere along the way, she was going to have to dust,

vacuum and do the laundry.

By the time early afternoon rolled around, she'd finished her chores

and had changed into her bathing suit and cover-up. She was busily

placing a towel, a magazine and a few bottles of water into her canvas tote

bag when a knock at the door took her by surprise. Her heart lurched

when she opened it to find Kenny standing before her, smiling in his

typical fashion, dressed in shorts and a tee shirt. It bothered her that in

spite of all the pain he'd inflicted, her body still tingled at the mere sight

of him. Suddenly, she remembered the dream she'd recently had about

him breaking off his engagement.

"Ken! I must say, this is an unexpected surprise!" She endeavored to

remain cordial and calm, while keeping her hopes in check.

"Hey, how are you doing, Maddy? Can I come in?"

"Uh, I guess there's no harm in that," she replied lightly, offering him

a seat and a cold bottle of water. Was it her imagination or did he possess the

unmistakable aura of a defeated man?There was no sparkle, no luster in his aquamarine eyes, which

appeared to be lost in thought as he stared off into the distance. And as

he held the bottle of Zephyrhills in his hands, he leaned forward on the

couch as if grappling with an unspoken, internal conflict.

"Is everything ok?" she inquired, settling in at a safe distance beside

him. "You seem a bit preoccupied."

"Huh? Oh yeah, everything's fine. It's just that-well I guess I've

turned into my father after all," he sighed. Madeline wasn't quite sure

what to make of that statement, though it hardly coalesced with the

profile of a happily engaged man eager to exchange vows with his

beloved. What exactly was he trying to convey?"Oh," she responded softly, recalling the difficulties he and his dad

had endured in the course of their relationship. Though they'd seemed to

patch things up that New Year's Day at her house in Pennsylvania, Maddy

had no idea where things stood with them at this point.

"Well is that such a bad thing?" she asked.

Kenny turned to face her, staring deeply into her amber eyes, nearly

causing her to tumble to the floor.

"I hope the excitement comes back after Erin and I are married," he

confessed.

Why was he telling her this? Was he just trying to spare her feelings by pretending

not to be enthralled by the idea of marrying another woman? Or was he attempting to

get her to open up about her feelings for him-feelings she still harbored in the infinite

depths of her heart and soul, no matter how hard she fought to expel them?"Kenny, I don't know what to say," she finally blurted out.

"Madeline, do you ever miss our conversations, you know, the way we

used to talk? God, you were so easy to talk to!" He ran a hand through his

blond hair as he spoke.

"Well, I will admit Kenny that no man before or after you has ever

treated me the way you did. No one has come close to that level of

affection, respect and kindness." Her tone was wistful as her thoughts

turned to Jake, Jim, Gary and now, Mark.

"It was all you, Maddy," he insisted. "It was all because you were such

a joy to be around. You always listened without judgment; I could talk to

you for hours about anything!"

Visions of shared moments spent relating to each other while curled

up together in the comfort of his waterbed flooded her memory. She

could almost see the moonshine filtering down on them from the skylight

as they pored over his Navy photo albums, or kissed and caressed each

other tenderly while their favorite love songs played in the background.

"Oh Kenny, I'm not sure what to say," she sighed, rising to her feet

and walking over to the window, where outside, a group of rollerbladers

glided along the sidewalk, talking and laughing. She almost fainted when

she felt Ken's arms slip around her a minute later, but didn't put up a

fight when he turned her to face him.

"I guess our timing was off," he commented sadly as a tear trickled

down his cheek.

"I-I guess so," she agreed softly, resisting the urge to cry. But when

he pulled her close to him in a tight bear hug, she couldn't hide her

anguish as the water began to flow. Ken buried his face in her hair and

neck, mourning what might have been with equal passion. They held each

other for what felt like an eternity, contemplating a mishandled past and

an uncertain future.




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