Water Signs: A Story of Love and Renewal

The cleansing warm water rained down on her, rinsing away all traces of sand as Maddy reached for the shampoo. It was mid-August, and

she'd just returned from a rare solo afternoon at the beach. With Carmen

relocated to Manhattan, Mom and Louis in Nashville, Dad on-call this

weekend and Greg and Lori preoccupied with wedding planning, she'd

been left to soak up the sun on her own. She'd driven down after work on

Friday evening, eager to enjoy the hot weather, regardless of the lack of

company. And as she stood in the privacy of the enclosed, wooden

outside shower, she basked in the joy of this simple-and strictly

summertime-pleasure.

Ever since Ken had abruptly exited her life, she'd retreated a little

more into herself each day, though outwardly she put on a brave front.

She'd even gone on a few dates over the past several months, though her

heart hadn't been truly engaged-and with good reason. At least two of

the men had turned out to be complete jerks. And the contrast between

their treatments of her versus Ken's could not possibly have been more

dramatic. Still, Maddy had given each of them a fair chance, determined to

go on with her life. It wasn't as if she hadn't made a Herculean effort to

get to the bottom of the Kenny story.

But despite countless phone calls to his home and even a few short

conversations with his roommate, Kathy, Madeline never did find the

resolution she sought. And while she hated that trite and seemingly

ubiquitous word, "closure," she realized it was something she desperately

needed; if she could at least understand what exactly had gone wrong,

perhaps she could avoid the same mistakes in the future.

True, she'd hurt Kenny badly by writing him that letter last fall; but

they'd been able to patch things up to the point of spending a good

portion of December and January together. On New Year's Eve, he

couldn't stop telling her siblings and future in-laws how much he adored

her and couldn't wait to make her his wife. And while that particular

holiday had never been one of her favorites, this year's celebration had

been the happiest she could ever remember. Ken mingled so easily with

her family, joking around, sharing stories, enjoying Sunday dinners and

watching Eagles games; it all seemed so normal, a preview of life's coming

attractions.

Yes, he'd been miserable in his career, but so had she. Why did it

have to spell the end of their relationship? After demonstrating such

consistent respect, he could've mustered the courtesy to break up with her

to her face, instead of standing her up for their ski date without so much

as a phone call. That was the kind of behavior she'd expect from Jake, not

Kenny. Had this been payback for hurting him? He didn't strike her as the

vengeful type, but what else was she to assume? None of it made any

sense.

Maddy turned off the spigot and wrapped herself up in a fluffy,

oversized towel. As she undid the latch of the shower door, she peered

around to check that there were no neighbors walking down the alley.

Once assured the coast was clear, she ran up the porch steps and into the

family room from the sliding glass doors. In the sanctuary of her

bedroom, she quickly dried off and changed into a casual shorts-set

before blow drying her long hair in the hall bathroom. The noisy

accessory nearly drowned out the sound of a ringing phone a minute later;

Maddy switched it off and ran into her parents' room to answer.

"Hello?" She responded brightly, thinking it was probably Mom

checking in from Tennessee.

"Madeline?" Her heart lurched at the sound of the familiar, masculine

voice.

"Yes?" Her tone exuded annoyance and anger.

"It's Kenny." From his Aventura apartment, he gazed out at the

Intracoastal Waterway, in an attempt to calm his nerves. On his bedroom

mirror, photos of him and Madeline evoked a happier time and place.

"Yes, I know. Nice of you to finally call." She stared out at the alley

from the big picture window, where a large orange sun was painting

colorful streaks on the horizon.

"Um…I'm sorry," he stammered. His words preceded a seemingly

endless silence until Maddy spoke up again.

"For what? For standing me up for our ski date without calling? For

disappearing off the face of the earth? What exactly are you sorry about,

Ken?"

"For everything," he replied softly. While he acknowledged her right

to be justifiably angry, it pained him to the core to hear the rancor in her

voice. He'd witnessed much genuine emotion in Madeline, but this kind

of hostility posed an unprecedented challenge, though he knew he bore

the brunt of responsibility for it.

"Do you have any idea how you made me feel? I trusted you; I

believed in you. And you just kicked me aside with no explanation, no

proper goodbye, nothing!"

"Maddy, I am truly sorry," he repeated. "That was such a bad time in

my life; my whole world just fell apart. And I just couldn't take being in

South Jersey anymore. I felt like I was gonna go crazy if I didn't get out of

there!"

"Well, where are you now?"

"I moved to Florida."

"Florida?"

"Yeah, uh, I got tired of the winters and just needed a change.

Besides, there's so much more happenin' down here business-wise. I got

my real estate license and I plan to get my mortgage broker license, too.

Maddy, it's so beautiful here; you should see it! The beaches are clean and

the ocean is blue and clear. You can actually see your feet! And all of the

Spanish-style homes, tropical flowers and things to do-it's so different

from up north."

"That's great Ken, I'm glad you're happy," Maddy replied somewhat

sarcastically. Apparently, he wasn't suffering any anguish over her.

"Well, not totally," he admitted.

"Really? What could possibly be missing in Paradise?"

"You," he said softly.

"Me?"

"Maddy, I miss you so much!"

"With all of the beach babes in South Florida, you expect me to

believe that?"

"C'mon, Maddy, you know there's no one else like you!"

"So, that's why you left me? Because there's no one else like me?"

"Maddy, I'm sorry! I thought you understood how frustrated I was up

there."

"Yeah, Ken I get that because I felt the same way, remember? I still

do. But I'm not the one who disappeared without so much as a phone

call; you are!"

"Alright, I know. You are absolutely right and I'm sorry. But Maddy,

you should consider moving down! Ballroom dancing is so popular here,

you could teach lots of classes until you figured out what you wanted to

do. And my goodness, there are so many clubs that have live music, you

could even sing on stage. I remember how beautiful your voice is; you

could make a lot of money! Maybe even work for the Palm Beach Princess. I

know you could be happy here!"

"Right-away from everyone in my family, living in a strange place all

alone. Sounds like just what I need!"

"Sweetheart, you wouldn't be alone; you'd have me."

"You?"

"Madeline, I've never forgotten about you, or your family," he replied

sincerely. "You inspired me-the entire Rose family inspired me to finish

my education, start a lucrative career, you know, make something of myself.

And that's what I'm doing. But I miss you, sweetheart. I miss you so

much!"

"C'mon, Kenny. I'm glad we've all inspired you, I truly am. But you

expect me to actually believe you miss me?"

"Madeline, it's the truth." Then with another thought he suddenly

asked, "Who's taking you to your brother's wedding?" Caught off-guard,

she couldn't quite conjure up a snappy comeback, and thus resorted to

complete honesty.

"I don't know; I don't have a date yet."

"Well, can I take you?" His tone was hopeful.

"You want to take me? You're gonna fly up to Philly to take me to my

brother's wedding?" The surreal overtone of this telephone session was

beginning to wear on her. She sat back down on the bed, unsure of

whether to laugh or cry.

"Well, yeah! If I can get the time off of work, absolutely!"

"Ken, I don't think you should make promises you don't intend to

keep. I'm glad you're ok, I'm glad you called, but please; don't say things

you don't mean. Don't play with my feelings like that. It's not fair!"

"Madeline, I love you! And I am sincere; I do want to be your date for

the wedding. Please, honey, you have to believe me." He thought back to

the first time he ever kissed her, high atop the Taj Mahal Casino. God, what

he would do to hold her in his arms again.

Maddy just sat there silently, lost in confusion and conflict. A

significant part of her wanted so desperately to believe, yet none of it felt

right. If he truly loved her, how could he just up and leave like that? Why did he have

to turn her whole world upside down in order to change his?

"Look," he said, interrupting her internal debate, "I will try to get the

time off from work and let you know within the next two weeks if I can

make it, ok?"

"Ok," she agreed softly. Before hanging up, she jotted down Ken's

phone number and address, at his insistence. Back in her bedroom a

moment later, she picked something up off the bureau. And as she stood

there holding the glittering Pisces pendant in her hand, she felt more

tortured than ever, while endless footage of recent events began to play

vividly in her mind.