Stealing Home (6 page)

Helen held up her hands in a gesture of surrender. “I will await further word on your decision.”

“A brilliant grasp of the situation,” Maddie said approvingly. “No wonder you excelled in law school.”

“Sarcasm doesn’t become you,” Helen said.

Maddie grinned. “Frankly, I’m rather enjoying this new, say-what-I-think side of me.”

There was only one more week of baseball practice before the season opener. Even though he now had some idea of what was going on with his star pitcher, Cal still didn’t have a plan for addressing the problem.

If it were entirely up to him, he wouldn’t add to Ty’s stress by threatening again to take him out of the starting rotation, but the school system, community and parents expected big things from the team this year. That was one reason they’d approved the funding for new bleachers and new sod for the field. A brand-new brick building had been added to house the refreshment stand and restrooms, as well. After all that expenditure, they wouldn’t tolerate losses while Tyler tried to regain his emotional equilibrium.

That’s what happened when a kid had played as brilliantly as Ty had last year. Expectations were high. Cal had even heard from a couple of Major League scouts who’d noticed media reports about the boy’s skill on the mound. Unfortunately, if they saw him right now, they’d wonder what all the hype had been about.

Cal studied Ty’s increasingly discouraged expression as his teammates hit pitch after pitch. He was about to join him on the mound for a chat when he spotted Bill Townsend climbing into the bleachers to a row that was shaded from the afternoon sun. Ty noticed his father at the same time. For an instant, based on the expression on Ty’s face, Cal thought the boy might toss down his glove and stalk off the field.

Instead, though, Tyler seemed to reach down deep and tap into all that anger. His next pitch flew across the plate at a burning clip, nicking the outside corner for a perfect strike.

“That was some real heat, Ty. Way to go!” the catcher said, tossing the ball back with a grin.

“I liked it better when I could see the ball coming at me,” the batter grumbled, but there was admiration in his voice as well.

More than pleased, Cal wandered over and climbed onto the bleachers next to Ty’s dad. “Glad you could stop by,” he told him.

Bill gave him an odd look. “I assume you know why I’ve stayed away.”

“Your wife mentioned the divorce,” he admitted. “But I think you can see what your presence means to Ty. That’s the first decent pitch he’s thrown since spring training started.”

“At least he’s finally putting all that anger he feels toward me to good use,” Bill said wryly.

Cal chuckled. “You got that, too?”

“Hard to miss. That ball would have taken my head off if I’d been in its path.”

“You sticking around for a while?” Cal asked.

“Is it okay?”

“It’s fine with me. I’m going to give the kids a break in a minute. Why don’t you ask Ty if it’s okay with him.”

Cal went down on the field and called everyone on the team in. “You guys are starting to look like a team again,” he told them. “Take five and get something to drink. It’s important to stay hydrated in this kind of heat. After the break, we’ll switch so the rest of you get a chance at bat. Ty, can you stay on the mound for some more batters?”

The boy gave him his once-familiar cocky grin. “You sure you want me to humiliate them like that?”

“You wish,” his teammate Luke Dillon said. “I’ve hit three home runs off you since practice started.”

“Pure luck,” Ty retorted. “I’m back in the groove today.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t get too smug,” Cal warned him. “A couple of outstanding pitches don’t make a season.”

“Don’t even make a practice, if you ask me,” Josh Mason, another teammate, said snidely. “Come opening day, I’ll be on the mound. You wait and see.”

“No way, sucker,” Tyler retorted.

“Okay, enough,” Cal told them. “Five minutes, guys. Tyler, why don’t you check in with your dad.”

Ty scowled at the suggestion, but he grabbed a sports drink and slowly headed for the bleachers. Cal noted that he didn’t climb up beside his father but sat down several rows away. It was Bill who finally broke the awkward silence between them. Cal couldn’t hear what he said, but Tyler responded with a nod.

At least the two of them were talking, or rather Bill was talking and Ty was listening. Cal wondered how long it had been since that had happened.

He also couldn’t help wondering what Maddie had done to bring it about. He doubted it was a mere coincidence that Bill had shown up here today, just hours after Cal’s meeting with her. However it had come about, though, he was grateful. Maybe it was a first step in getting his star pitcher back in his groove. Maybe he’d call Maddie tonight and report on the change.

“Idiot,” he muttered to himself as he beckoned the players back. He was just looking for an excuse to call Ty’s mother and that, as he’d warned himself only a few short hours ago, was a very bad idea.

“D
ad came by practice today,” Tyler announced nonchalantly while Maddie was on the patio grilling burgers for dinner that night.

There was a balmy breeze that carried the scent of charcoal through the air. It was one of those scents that always reminded Maddie of summer and childhood and picnics with her friends’ families. Her own had never done anything as ordinary as cooking on a barbecue.

She glanced up and studied her son’s expression. It was unreadable. “How’d it go?” she asked, careful to keep her tone neutral.

“Okay, I guess,” he said. “At least he didn’t bring Noreen with him.”

“Did the two of you talk?”

“He asked me if it was okay for him to be there,” Tyler said, sounding surprised. He met Maddie’s gaze. “Do you think he really would have left if I’d asked him to?”

She knew what he was really asking—if she thought his opinion really mattered to his dad. For all his attempted indifference, Ty was desperate to believe that he still counted in Bill’s life.

“I imagine that’s why he asked,” she said. “He wants you to be happy and successful. He isn’t out to make your life miserable, Tyler. I think deep down you know that.”

“He’s done a pretty good job of it, anyway,” Ty said with a trace of the familiar bitterness.

“What else did you all talk about?” Maddie asked, anxious to change the subject before Ty started dwelling on all the sins Bill had committed against him and their family, rather than the olive branch he’d extended.

“Nothing much. He gave me a couple of pointers on my fastball.”

“Did they help?”

Tyler grinned and for just an instant, he was a self-confident, cocky kid again.

“Yeah, they helped. I threw some heat this afternoon,” he exulted. “No one laid a bat on my pitches after that. They said I was awesome, that we’re bound to win the state championship if I keep pitching like that. Even Josh Mason said I looked good, and he hates my guts. He wants that starting slot in the worst way.”

“And Coach Maddox?”

“He said it was nice to see me remembering at least some of the things I’d been taught.”

Maddie bit back a grin at the coach’s laid-back response. “I suspect you were hoping for more enthusiasm.”

“Naw, he says stuff like that to keep my head from getting all swollen.”

She studied her son’s happy expression and regretted that she was about to dash some of his excitement, but this was a conversation she couldn’t put off. She’d hoped to temper it by fixing one of Ty’s favorite meals.

What she’d learned from his other teachers this afternoon had shaken her. There wasn’t even a single class in which his marks were above a C. Most were lower and in some he was even in danger of failing. All the teachers had sent home notes to that effect. Maddie had seen none of them. If those grades didn’t improve, he wouldn’t be playing ball, no matter how fast his pitching was.

“You know, Tyler, not everything’s about baseball,” she said.

“Everything that matters is,” he contradicted, then grinned. “Come on, Mom. Can’t you be excited for me?”

“I’m thrilled for you,” she said honestly. “It’s wonderful to see your enthusiasm for the game coming back, but you do have classes, you know. I spoke to all your teachers today.”

His face fell. “How come?”

“Because Coach Maddox mentioned that you’d been having some problems.”

“Why’d he do that? I thought he was just gonna talk to you about baseball.”

“He assumed I already knew,” Maddie said pointedly and watched Ty’s face flush. “You need to remember that Coach Maddox is first and foremost a teacher, Tyler. He has to look out for your
whole
performance in school. If you start messing up in your other classes, you could be ineligible to play ball. It won’t matter how well you’re pitching if that happens. You’ll let the team down.”

“Oh, come on, Mom, get real,” he said with disgust. “I’m not flunking anything. I bet not one single teacher said I was.”

“No, you’re not failing anything,” she admitted. “Not yet, anyway. But they all said you’re not working to your potential. For a kid who was getting all A’s and B’s last year, drop
ping down to C’s and D’s is only one step above failing.” She leveled a look directly into his eyes. “That’s not acceptable, Ty. I expect you to do whatever it takes to bring up those grades, understood? Until I see some improvement, I’m going to be checking every homework assignment and I expect you to show me every test paper.”

“No way,” he protested.

“That’s the rule,” she said firmly.

“Or?” The touch of belligerence in his tone set her teeth on edge.

“You don’t want to know,” she said.

“You gonna ground me?”

“That’s one option,” she agreed. “Letting the coach bench you is another.”

Tyler gaped. “You wouldn’t dare!”

“Try me,” she said. Before he could escalate the discussion into an argument, she added, “But I don’t think it’s going to come to that. You’re a very smart young man. If you’re not doing well in classes, it’s because you don’t care, not because you don’t understand the material. I’m just giving you the motivation to start caring.”

“Well, your motivation sucks,” he retorted. “I’ll tell Dad.”

Maddie bristled. “Don’t try playing us off against each other, Tyler,” she warned. “I think you’ll discover that when it comes to what’s best for you, Kyle and Katie, your father and I will always be on the same page.”

Tyler cast one last incredulous look at her, then turned around and stomped into the house.

“Dinner’s in fifteen minutes,” she called after him.

“I’m not hungry,” he called back.

“Then you’ll sit at the table while the rest of us eat,” she said.

When he was out of sight, she let out a sigh. Single parenting was turning out to be a whole lot harder than she’d ever imagined it would be. Sure, she knew Bill would back her up, exactly as she’d told Tyler he would, but taking an unpopular stance entirely on her own was something she needed to learn to do. It was something her kids needed to get used to, as well. If she messed up at this, it was her kids who’d pay the price.

But right this second, with Tyler suddenly regarding her as the enemy, she didn’t feel even a tiny bit good about it.

Since everyone in Serenity seemed to be aware that Maddie was most likely going into business with her two best friends and opening a fitness club for women, she assumed the real-estate agent, an old high-school friend, wouldn’t balk at letting her into the Hartley place so she could get a better idea of what renovations were going to be needed.

It took less than five minutes for her to get a call back from Mary Vaughn Lewis.

“Sugar, I’ve been expecting to hear from you,” Mary Vaughn said. “Helen said I was to let you in whenever you wanted to see the place. I can meet you there in about ten minutes, as soon as Gaynelle finishes blow-drying my hair. Will that work for you?”

Maddie chuckled. “Since I know you’d never be seen in public with a single hair out of place, take fifteen minutes. I’ll walk over.”

On her way, she admired the bright pink, purple, white and red splashes of azaleas just popping into bloom thanks to the early spring heat wave. People in Serenity spent a lot of time in their gardens, even at the most modest homes. No one
hired professionals. Kids earned extra money by cutting grass, weeding and mulching for elderly neighbors. Some of the azalea bushes were so old and so well nourished that they’d virtually overrun the smaller yards.

At the Hartley home, though, only one lone azalea had survived the years of neglect. Its dark pink blossoms provided a sign that there was still some life left in the place.

Maddie opened the front gate and grimaced at the screeching protest of the rusting hinges. She made her way carefully over the weeds growing up through cracks in the sidewalk. Dressed for the place’s state of disrepair, she sat down on the front steps to wait for Mary Vaughn. As she waited, she tried to envision the front yard once again being a velvet carpet of green grass, the rosebushes back in bloom and the old wooden fence being upright white pickets. They could put wicker chairs and tables on the porch. She’d seen some cushions with big splashy roses on a dark green background that would be perfect.

She was so lost in her mental planning that she jumped when a shadow fell across the walkway right in front of her.

“About time you got here,” she teased, then looked up, expecting to see Mary Vaughn. Instead, Coach Maddox stood there, his lips twitching with barely concealed amusement.

“I had no idea you were waiting for me or I would’ve been here sooner,” he said.

Maddie winced. “Sorry. I thought you were the real-estate agent. She was due here fifteen minutes ago.”

“Have you ever known Mary Vaughn to be on time?” he asked.

“Actually she’s usually pretty prompt when there’s money on the line.”

“Unless I’ve got the rumors all wrong, the money from this sale is all but in the bank. That must be why she stopped me and asked me to tell you it would be another hour before she could get here. She has to show a house to someone who only has an hour to spare this morning.” He reached into a pocket and retrieved a key. “Not to worry, though, she sent this along.”

Maddie reached for the key, but the coach didn’t release it. Somehow her hand wound up entwined with his. Enough electricity zapped between them to light the high-school ball field on a game night. Maddie’s gaze locked with his as she grappled with the unexpectedness of her attraction to a man she barely knew. She supposed at some point she’d appreciate that her hormones hadn’t died with her marriage, but right this second she wanted to sink through the porch floor. Given the rotted state of the boards, it wasn’t entirely wishful thinking.

“Um, Coach, are you going to hand over that key? Or do I need to arm wrestle you for it?”

“That could be interesting, but actually I was hoping to get a look at the place with you,” he said, releasing the key. “I’ve always wondered what this house was like inside.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be at school?”

“This is my planning hour. I usually try to get out for a walk or a run. It clears the cobwebs out of my brain. I’m not a morning person. If it were up to me, school would start around noon.”

Maddie grinned. “Ty would agree with you about that.”

“And you? When are you at your best?”

“The crack of dawn,” she admitted. “My brain turns to mush later in the day.”

He shook his head with a sad expression. “Ah, irreconcilable differences already. That’s not good.”

Maddie stared at him. “What?”

“Just teasing you, Mrs. Townsend.”

“Oh,” she said, feeling foolish. “But it’s Maddie, remember?”

“Something tells me I ought to keep calling you Mrs. Townsend,” he responded, his gaze never leaving hers.

“Why?” she asked, furious at the nervous hitch in her voice.

“To remind myself that you’re a parent and I’m a teacher.”

Maddie swallowed hard at the realization he was struggling with the same inappropriate attraction she was. “You could be right,” she said, then tore her gaze away. “If you have a couple of minutes, come on inside and I’ll give you the five-cent tour. I’m afraid it’s not worth much more than that now.”

“Sure,” he said readily, following her into the house. He stopped barely inside the front door. “Man, this place is something.”

“A mess?” Maddie asked.

“Not at all. It’s got great bones. Tell me what your plans are for each of the rooms.”

“Helen could do that better than I can,” Maddie told him. “I’ve only been through the place once. That’s why I came back this morning, to check out the validity of my first impression and make some notes on how extensive the renovations would need to be. Why don’t you tell me what you see as we walk through. It’ll be good for me to hear another perspective.”

Cal shrugged. “Sure. I can do that. Should I keep a budget in mind or let myself go crazy?”

“I’m not sure we have the budget for crazy,” she admitted.
“Stick with practical. If this were going to be your gym, what equipment would you want? What extras would really matter?”

“Remember, I’m a guy and into sports,” he said as if there were any doubt about that. “I might not want the same things your clientele is interested in.”

“Still, I’m interested in your ideas and impressions.”

To her amazement, his perceptions of the uses to which each room could be best put dovetailed nicely with her own. She suspected he’d choose dull, neutral colors for the walls, and he did. He was a guy, after all.

“Did I hear correctly that this place is only going to be for women?” he asked eventually.

Maddie nodded.

“Too bad. Men are pretty much sick of Dexter’s gym too.”

“Then open your own club,” she suggested. “We want someplace special just for women.”

“Have you come up with a name?”

She shook her head. “I haven’t even agreed to this project yet. I suppose a name is one of the first things we’ll have to discuss if we move forward.”

“What’s keeping you from jumping into this with both feet?” he asked.

“Fear of failure,” she said honestly. “I’d especially hate to fail with Helen’s money on the line.”

“Is she worried about that?”

“No.”

“And doesn’t she have a reputation for being a good judge of character?”

Maddie nodded.

“Well, then, maybe you should trust yourself at least as
much as your friend trusts you.” He glanced at his watch. “I need to get back to school. Thanks for showing me around.”

“No problem.”

He started toward the door, then turned back. “Thanks for getting your husband to come to practice the other day. It made a world of difference for Ty. A word of caution, though. Don’t think everything’s back on track just because of one good afternoon.”

“Oh?”

“Ty’s a teenager. Rebellion’s second nature. Add in his issues with his dad and it’s only a matter of time before the situation turns volatile again.”

Maddie knew he was right, but she wanted to cling to the illusion that things were under control, at least for now. “Will you warn me if you hear anything at school or if he gives you any problems at practice? I’m trying to keep a closer eye on his grades, but Ty’s gotten pretty good at keeping important things from me. And maybe especially now, since I told him there’d be severe consequences if he doesn’t get his grades up. He might very well keep trying to hide notes or report cards from me.”