Stealing Home (9 page)

“I could really hate you for that,” Helen grumbled.

“You’ll thank me when you get a good report from Doc Marshall next time you see him. Now, I think we should go for a long walk. I’ll go get dressed. You call Dana Sue.”

“Fine, whatever,” Helen responded. “Just hurry up so we can get out of here before it gets so hot we melt. You know how Dana Sue complains if she sweats.”

“Well, she’ll just have to get over it. From now on we’re all about sweat,” Maddie said. “Isn’t that the whole point of our spa?”

“I imagine our mamas would insist we merely glow. Southern girls are not meant to sweat,” Helen drawled, sounding exactly like her mother, who was now “glowing” at a retirement community in Boca Raton, where she spent her days playing tennis and golf, all thanks to Helen’s money.

“We won’t get in shape by just glowing,” Maddie countered. “I’ll be back down here in ten minutes. Tell Dana Sue we’ll be by to pick her up in twenty.”

“It takes twenty minutes to walk to her house,” Helen protested.

Maddie grinned. “Exactly, which is why we’re going to jog.”

Helen groaned. “My God, we’ve created a monster.”

Bill was sitting in the living room when Maddie got home from her walk with Helen and Dana Sue. She’d left the two of them at Dana Sue’s commiserating about her conversion into a drill sergeant.

“I didn’t expect to find you here,” she told Bill after she’d grabbed a towel out of the guest bathroom and dried her face. “I thought you were going to call before coming by.”

“I’m scheduled to pick up the kids,” he said. “Do you want me to call for that, too?”

“No, I suppose not. Aren’t they ready to go?”

“I told them I needed a few minutes alone with you first,” Bill explained.

“Oh?”

“I didn’t expect to hear about you cavorting around town with Cal Maddox, Maddie.” Bill’s tone was scathing. “What on earth were you thinking? He’s our son’s coach, for god’s sake!”

“And your point is?”

“You’ll embarrass Ty.”

She cut him off. “You really do not want to go there,” she said. “If you do, I’ll be forced to say some very unpleasant things about Noreen’s untimely arrival at the ball field last night.” Ty had admitted to her that that had been the reason for his disappearance. He’d gone to the ball field to think things through. She’d promised not to tell his dad, but maybe Bill needed to hear about it.

“I know it was a bad scene,” he admitted. “I’m sorry. I had no idea she was going to show up. She’s not the least bit interested in baseball.”

“But you are,” Maddie said. “And she knew I would be
there. Do you honestly think she wants the two of us there together without her supervision?”

“Apparently not,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “Maddie, I have no idea what to do. I really don’t.”

“Oh, please, you’re not some helpless victim, Bill. Just tell her to stay away,” she suggested. “She’s a grown-up. I’m sure she can handle it. Those games are about your son, not about her insecurities. Her presence on his turf upsets him even more than when you insist on trying to throw them together. Surely you saw that for yourself.”

“Of course I did,” he said. “And if I hadn’t, Coach Maddox made it plain enough after he had his chat with Ty on the field.” He gave her a weary look. “I heard he pitched great after we left.”

“He did. I’m sorry you had to miss it.”

“Maybe you and I could alternate going to the games,” he suggested.

She stared at him incredulously. “Just so you can take Noreen? I don’t think so.”

“No, that’s not what I meant. It’s just that if you’re not going to be there, maybe she won’t feel so insecure about me going without her.”

Maddie hated letting that woman have that much power over them, but after some thought, she was forced to concede that maybe a compromise was in Ty’s best interests. “I’ll go along with that for now, but only for Ty’s sake, not yours and not Noreen’s,” she said. “That changes at the end of the season if they’re playing for the championship. We both need to be there for those games.”

“Sure,” he said, looking relieved. “Maybe by then the divorce will be final. I think that will help, too. Noreen’s still got
it in her head that you want me back. I doubt she’ll believe otherwise till the ink’s dry on the divorce decree.”

Maddie gave him a bland look. “Want me to put it in writing for you now? I don’t want you back, Bill.”

“Because you’ve suddenly developed the hots for Coach Maddox?”

She held on to her temper by a very fragile thread. “No, because you’re an idiot,” she snapped and headed for the stairs. “Get the kids and let yourself out. And leave your key on the table. Don’t come by again without calling first, not even for one of your scheduled visits with the kids.”

“Maddie…” he called after her.

Ignoring him, she went into the bathroom and turned on the shower so it would drown out whatever excuses he might be making for having suddenly turned into the biggest jerk in all of South Carolina.

Well, that certainly hadn’t gone the way he’d expected, Bill thought as he drove away from home. Not home, he corrected. Maddie’s house. He had to get used to the idea that he no longer lived there, no longer had the right to come and go as he pleased, even if it was the home that his parents had lived in before them, and his dad’s folks before that. Maddie had certainly made it abundantly clear that he was no longer welcome there. Reluctantly, he’d left his key behind, just as she’d asked.

Worse, the kids had refused to go with him. Apparently they’d overheard enough of his argument with Maddie to be more ticked off at him than usual. Maybe not Katie, but she wouldn’t go, either, not with Ty and Kyle giving her warning looks.

He debated going back to Noreen’s apartment, but the prospect of being shut inside that cramped space all afternoon set his teeth on edge. He’d promised her weeks ago that they’d find someplace bigger before the baby came, but he’d been putting it off. Maybe on some level, he was the one who kept hoping Maddie would decide she wanted him back. Hearing about her date with Cal had pretty much squelched that fantasy.

Helen, who normally got on his last nerve with her smug, wise-ass mouth, had been right about one thing during that acrimonious settlement meeting. He and he alone was responsible for the mess his life had become. It was up to him to make the best of it.

Hitting speed dial on his cell phone, he called Noreen. For better or worse, she was the woman in his life now. He owed her. And if he thought about it hard enough, he could even recall a time when he’d loved her or at least been infatuated enough to leave his marriage for her.

“Hey, sweetie, where are you?” she asked.

He bit back an impatient retort, telling himself it was entirely possible her question had been nothing more than an innocent inquiry. “I was just driving back home and decided I’m starved. Want to meet me for lunch? The kids aren’t with me.”

“Really?” she asked.

Bill winced at the pleased surprise in her voice. When had she realized that their relationship no longer meant as much to him as it did to her? He needed to work harder at changing that, for both their sakes.

“Sure. What sounds good to you?” he asked.

“Just about everything,” she admitted. “My appetite’s gone through the roof.”

He laughed. “Yeah, I remember…” His voice trailed off as he realized she wouldn’t want to hear about his memories of Maddie’s pregnancies. “How about we take a drive over to the coast? We’ll find someplace outside to have a burger and fries, maybe take a walk along the beach.”

“That sounds wonderful,” she said, though her voice had gone flat. She must’ve known he’d been about to talk about Maddie.

“I’ll swing by and pick you up. I should be there in a couple of minutes.”

“I’ll be ready,” she promised. “Love you.”

“You, too,” he said, regretting he couldn’t put more feeling into the words.

God, he’d made such a mess of things, and all because for a very short time Noreen had made him feel young again. Maddie was right. He was an idiot. And now a whole lot of people he cared about were paying the price.

“I never liked him,” Maddie’s mother declared when Maddie stopped by to pick up the kids from another consolation visit after they’d refused to go anywhere with Bill.

When Maddie had asked them what they wanted to do, all three said they wanted to spend time with their grandmother. Fortunately her mother had readily agreed to take them to lunch and rent a video for them, once again surprising Maddie. She was equally surprised by her mother’s claim that she’d never liked Bill.

“You did, too,” Maddie said. “You adored Bill.”

“Did not,” Paula insisted, sitting back on her heels in her garden, her gloved hands covered with dirt and her eyes flashing.

There was no question that this well-tended garden with its bright splashes of snapdragons, delphinium, verbena and exotic flowers Maddie couldn’t even name was her mother’s milieu. And even streaked with dirt, she looked amazing. Wisps of hair had escaped her straw hat and curled about her cheeks. Her dark blue eyes were the same shade as the delphiniums.

“I said I liked him for your sake, because for some inexplicable reason he seemed to make you happy,” her mother told her. “Your father and I always thought you deserved better.”

“At the moment, I can’t argue that,” Maddie said. “But I loved Bill. For most of the last twenty years he was a great husband and a terrific dad. When I’m not busy being furious, I can admit that a part of me still loves him.”

“You’ll get over it,” her mother said brusquely. “Just think about him cheating on you. That ought to keep your dander up and your sorrow at bay.”

Maddie shook her head. “You’re not being overly sympathetic, Mom.”

“You don’t need sympathy. You need a swift kick in the pants. Find a job you love, then go out and find yourself someone new. I always liked what that writer Dorothy Parker had to say.”

“Which was?”

“Living well is the best revenge.”

“I have a job. I’m surprised you haven’t heard.”

Her mother met her gaze. “You mean that spa you, Helen and Dana Sue intend to open?”

“Then you
did
hear.”

“I had no idea you were serious about that.”

“Well, we are,” she replied with a touch of defiance.

“It’s a great idea,” her mother said.

Expecting disapproval, Maddie was about to utter another defiant comment when she realized what her mother had said. “You think so?”

“Well, of course I do. The town can use a place like that.” She pulled the gardening gloves off her hands, which were rough and worn from yard work, despite her sporadic attempts to protect them. She held them out for Maddie’s inspection. “I would give anything to have someone do a warm-wax treatment on these poor old hands of mine, then give me a proper manicure.”

Maddie grinned at her. “Your first one’s on the house,” she promised.

“You all won’t get rich giving things away,” her mother chided.

“We will if you go out and tell your friends how fabulous we are,” Maddie countered.

Her mother chuckled. “I knew that business degree wasn’t a total waste.”

“Then you were the only one holding out hope it would come in handy,” Maddie said dryly. “At least a few things are coming back to me. I just wish I knew how to handle everything else that’s going on.”

“Such as?”

“I think Ty’s in real trouble,” she admitted.

“He’s a teenager. It comes with the territory,” her mother replied. “Maybe you don’t remember your teens that well, but I do.”

Maddie shook her head. “No, it’s more than that. One minute he’s blowing off baseball, acting like he doesn’t care
about it. The next he’s back on track. I never know what to expect.”

“Again, he’s a teenager. Kids’ interests change every twenty minutes at that age.”

“Mom, you know better than that. Ty’s lived and breathed baseball since he was in Little League. And then there’s what happened last night.” She gave her mother a brief rundown of Ty’s disappearance, leaving out the part about Cal rushing to the rescue.

“His coach is worried about him, too,” she summed up.

Her mother’s eyes immediately brightened. “Now
there’s
a hottie, Madelyn. Maybe you should have yourself a fling with him.”

Even though the same thought had crossed her mind, she felt compelled to utter a protest. “Mother! He’s ten years younger than I am if he’s a day.”

“So what?”

She used Bill’s objection. “He’s Tyler’s coach.”

Her mother grinned. “Again I ask, so what?”

“It would be…” Words failed her.

“Hot,” her mother said. “I think I can guarantee that.” She gave her a penetrating look. “And from what I hear, you know it, too. Otherwise you wouldn’t be spending time with him. I know all about the two of you huddled together at Rosalina’s last night.”

“Of course you do,” Maddie said, resigned to the fact that there probably wasn’t a single human being in Serenity who didn’t know about it. “We had pizza after a game, surrounded by a bunch of kids. Does everyone in town have an opinion about that?”

“I’m guessing yes. Cal’s a very popular young man. A lot
of women in Serenity have their sights set on him. A lot of mothers are gearing up to do some serious matchmaking.”

“You included, apparently.”

“Well, why not?” her mother demanded. “What’s good for the gander is good for the goose. A fling with a man like Cal would undoubtedly put some color back in your cheeks.”

Maddie sighed. She’d come over here hoping that for once her mother would act like, well, a mother, rather than a free-spirited woman who lived by her own rules. Growing up with Paula Vreeland, a talented botanical artist and gardener, had been unconventional in many respects. Her mother and father were more likely to take her on an impromptu trip to a gallery opening in New York or a tour of a world-class botanical garden than to an amusement park. Dinner was often leftover caviar and pâté from some party they’d hosted for friends and artists from Charleston, rather than meat and potatoes.

In the quiet, traditional town of Serenity, they’d been regarded with a certain wariness. Only the fact that both had been born and raised right here and had extensive family throughout the state had kept them from being labeled eccentric and treated as outcasts. There had been plenty of times as a kid when Maddie had craved normalcy.