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The next morning, Todd woke up to the sound of Jake sounding like he was tearing something up in the front yard. “Shoot! That darn dog!” He threw some clothes on and ran outside. “Dagone it, Jake! I told you to stop tearing up the…” He looked to his left and there was Madeline, like he was still in a dream. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he was awake. “Madeline?” She smiled a big, friendly smile and walked up to him. “Hey Todd! I didn’t mean to wake you. I saw Jake and we were playing fetch for a few minutes. He’s a feisty old dog!” Todd was so happy he forgot all about the trash and holes in the yard. He reached out and took her hands. “I’m so happy to see you this morning. When you left last night, I thought…” he stopped and looked at the ground. Madeline squeezed his hands. “I’m sorry, Todd. I shouldn’t have left like that.” she gently touched his chin and pulled his face to hers. “but I’m here now.” She gave him a soft kiss. “and if you don’t mind, I could really use some of that famous recipe oatmeal that you told me about.” Todd was still convincing himself that this was not a dream. “Of course! I’m pretty hungry myself. Let’s go inside away from Jake’s mess and have some breakfast.” Jake looked up at the two of them like this was his plan all along.



The two of them walked inside, still holding hands. Madeline sat down at the table while Todd started cooking the oatmeal. Todd stirred the pot slowly, taking in the scent of the cinnamon and thinking about his mother. “You know, Todd, have you ever thought about putting all of your mother’s recipes to good use?” Madeline said, almost as if she were reading his mind. He poured them each a bowl and sat down. “What do you mean? I thought this was good use.” He smiled as he took a big bite. Madeline tasted hers. “Oh yeah, this definitely is.” She laughed. “but what about using these recipes and your talent to do something special? Something your mother would be proud of? You have a gift, Todd. I imagine your mother would have wanted you to use it.” Todd continued to eat, taking her words to heart. He looked down at his bowl. I just don’t know if I could… I mean, who‘s gonna want a guy like me cooking for them?” he stopped eating and played with his spoon. Madeline reached out and touched his hand. “You are a good person, Todd. You could do so much in this life, I know that you could. You just need to realize it yourself.” He looked up at her, holding her hand in his. It had been a long time since someone had said those things to him. His mother was the only other soul to ever believe in him, and when she died he lost all self-esteem with her. It was almost as if his mother was directing this from up above. Suddenly he felt full of courage. He looked straight at Madeline and said “you know, Madeline, you are the first person in a long time to make me feel this way. Just when I felt like my life was pointless and going nowhere, you came along and gave me hope. Gave me something to wake up for every morning.” He took a deep breath. “I feel like life is worth living now and I owe that all to you.” Madeline sat for a second, just looking at him without saying a word. Finally she said “but Todd, I didn’t do anything…” she started. Todd took her other hand into his. “You did everything.” he said.



She smiled her warm, big smile. He felt another rush of courage come over him. He stood up, bringing her with him. He pulled her over to him with one swift movement, sweeping her off her feet with a long, passionate kiss. They stood there in the kitchen, kissing each other like there was nothing else in the world that mattered. Suddenly Madeline pulled back a bit. “Do you think that Jake would let us be alone in the bedroom for a while?” She whispered. Todd’s heart was pounding, his hands were shaking. “I think he’d be fine with that.” He gave her a warm smile. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he lifted her up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom. Todd felt as if he was on top of the world. He made love to Madeline like it was the first and last day of his life.



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They laid together, holding each other and just enjoying the moment. Todd touched her fingers, taking in every single inch of her being. “So Madeline, you never have told me much about yourself.” He ran the tips of his fingers up her arm. “Where are you from? What is your family like? Do you have any brothers or sisters?” Madeline shifted in the bed. She seemed to get uncomfortable. “I, well… I have a very boring life, you don’t want to hear about me.” She quickly changed the subject. “Can you believe how pretty the snow is outside?” She gazed out the window. Todd looked with her. “Yeah, it is beautiful.” He turned to the clock. “I can’t believe it’s already almost eight o’clock.” No sooner did the words come out of his mouth, Madeline jumped out of the bed. “What? Eight o’clock?!” She threw her dress on in a panic. “I’m sorry, Todd, I have to go.” Todd looked at her, confused. “Wait a minute! Why? What’s wrong? Did I say something?” Madeline put her shoes on and ran to the door. “No Todd, I just have to leave. I’m so sorry.” And with that, she was gone again.



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Todd got up from the bed and put his clothes on. He staggered into the kitchen trying to hold back tears. “What happened?” He said out loud. He stared out the window at the snow. He couldn’t figure out what he had done wrong. Why did she keep leaving like this? He looked around at the kitchen and the empty guest chair. “This is stupid!” He shouted. He flung the chair across the kitchen floor. “I shouldn’t have let myself get in this deep. I should have known better.” He thought about how she reacted when he asked about where she lived. He thought about how she left every evening at the same time, and about how he didn’t even know her phone number. Suddenly all the pieces came together. He lifted up his head. Could it be? There was no other explanation. “She’s married.” He said with sadness and certainty. He put his head in his hands. “How could she do this?” He fought back the tears. “I knew it was too good to be true.” He picked up the guest chair and put it back where it was, where it had been for a long time before. He sighed a long sigh. He turned off all the lights and went to bed, alone once again.