“You don’t understand. Andy, my landlord, it’s his car. And he…he doesn’t want money for the car. At least that isn’t all he wants.”

“So what does he want?” Ms. Fielding waved her hand as if to get rid of an annoying fly. “You know what? I don’t care what he wants. We give this Randy—”

“Andy.”

“Whatever. We put a hundred-dollar bill in his car and that’s it.”

She wasn’t sure what made her angrier: to be treated like a child or that Ms. Fielding was about to spend so much money on her behalf. There’s nothing I can do about it.

For the remainder of the drive back to the hospital parking lot, they didn’t speak.

When Ms. Fielding turned off the engine in front of the hospital, the silence was deafening.

Sherry opened the door. “So, you’re going to follow me, right, Ms. Fielding?”

“Mad. Everybody calls me Mad.”

Should she laugh or cry? The irony of that nickname didn’t escape her. A short while ago, she’d thought of Madison as a mad woman. “Um, Mad?”

“My nickname. All my friends call me that.”

“Your grandma too?” And what about her parents? Should she ask? Better not. There had to be a reason for her not mentioning them.

“What?”

“Your grandma is the reason why you’re entering into this charade, right?”

“Right. Yeah, well, she calls me Madison. But don’t call her Grandma. She insists on being called Grandmother.”

“In that case, do you really think it’s a good idea that I call you Mad? Wouldn’t it be better if I called you Madison as well?” It would certainly ease Sherry’s mind not to call this woman Mad all the time.

Ms. Fielding sighed. “Guess you’re right. Fine, you can call me Madison. And I will call you Sherry, or shall I call you Ms. Miller until we’ve had our first kiss?”

Sherry’s gaze landed on her lips. Try as she might, she couldn’t imagine kissing this woman—Madison. On the other hand, it couldn’t be any worse than kissing Andy. That thought caused a gag impulse she managed to suppress. Barely.

“Just kidding. You have to kiss me when the role asks for it, but that’s it. As long as we’re convincing. If you think you can do it without practice, it’s all good.”

Sherry got out of the car. “I guess I know how to kiss.”

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Madison’s fingertips drummed on the wheel with the rhythm of the music. Pink blared out of the speakers, and Madison joined in with the singing.

Why was Sherry, who was in front of her, driving like a turtle? Nobody gave a shit about the speed limit when the police weren’t close by.