Three's a Crowd (From the Files of Madison Finn, 16) Read Free Page B

under her blanket and pulled on a Far Hills sweatshirt.
    “Let’s go, Phinnie,” she said, hoisting the pug into her arms and heading downstairs.
    Dad waited in the kitchen with several bags full of goodies. The whole kitchen smelled as though it had been deep-fried. He had brought chicken and biscuits from the Chicken Coop, a new fast-food chain that had opened near his apartment building.
    “Hey, Dad,” Madison sniffed the air and sneezed.
    “Oh, Maddie!” Dad stretched his arms open wide. “You really are sick!”
    “Did you think I was faking?” Madison asked.
    Mom chuckled to herself and poured a glass of wine. “Want a glass of white, Jeff?” she asked him in a sweet voice.
    Madison had noticed that with their divorce now more than a year in the past, Mom and Dad were able to get along better. Were they on their way to becoming friends?
    “White wine? Fran, you know I’m not drinking,” Dad said curtly. “Ever.”
    Mom rolled her eyes. “I can’t remember everything,” she said.
    Dad sighed. “That’s for sure,” he said.
    “Don’t start this, Jeff …” Mom started to say something but cut herself off.
    Dad was boiling under the surface, Madison could tell. Dad’s not drinking was something important that Mom had obviously pretended to forget. And in a matter of seconds, Madison’s parents had gone from cordial to cranky.
    “Hey, Dad, did you get any corn on the cob?” Madison asked as she peeked into one of the greasy bags.
    Dad slapped his own forehead. “No! I forgot!”
    Mom rolled her eyes again and laughed softly. “Well, I’ll leave you two to your chicken,” she said, disappearing out of the kitchen toward her office. “Love you, honey bear.”
    She walked out with her glass of wine and a bowl of chips and clicked the lock on the office door behind her.
    “Sorry, Dad,” Madison said. “I mean, sorry that you have to come here when I’m sick. I know it’s hard seeing Mom in the house and everything….”
    “Nonsense! I love being back,” Dad said, looking fondly around the kitchen. “I remember when we had these countertops installed.” He ran his hand over the surface. “Great space for cooking here.”
    Dad was a real gourmet, Madison thought. At least he was a gourmet compared to Mom, whose cooking skills were best described as a cross between “boils water” and “burns toast.” Dad was always trying new recipes. If there was anything good about the divorce, it was the weekly dinners with Dad.
    Madison picked at a piece of chicken. She wasn’t hungry.
    “Do you have a fever?” Dad asked, feeling her hot forehead. “Feed a fever, starve a cold, right?”
    “Actually, I think it’s the other way around, Dad,” Madison replied.
    “I always mess that up,” he groaned, half laughing. Taking a huge bite of fried chicken, he changed the subject. “So, is Mom being a good nurse?”
    “Well, Mom is really busy with work,” Madison said in a low voice so that her mom wouldn’t hear. “You know how that goes….”
    Dad bit his lip. “I wish I could take care of you, Maddie. It’s just that I can’t miss this business meeting tomorrow. Wait! If you’re sick, maybe you could stay with Stephanie.”
    Stephanie was Madison’s brand-new stepmother. And although Madison liked her very much, she didn’t like the idea of asking Stephanie to nurse her back to health. Stephanie wasn’t really Madison’s mother, after all. Wasn’t that a job for her real mom?
    “Just forget it,” Madison said, trying to sound convincing. “I’m okay at home. I understand that you both have jobs. You’re busy….” Inside, a little voice screamed, Tell him the truth! You want attention! You want TLC! You want warm cocoa! You want chicken soup! You want it NOW!
    “Maddie,” Dad went on. “Are you sure?”
    “Dad,” Madison said. “I’m really fine. I swear, I’m not even that sick…”
    Gack! Hack! BLECCH!
    Madison coughed. It wasn’t an ordinary sputter. It was