by Ciara Knight
And she would never make him decide. This time, she’d make the choice for him. She placed the ring inside the tin box and returned it to the hidden compartment. It was time to let go of the dream that would never be and move on with her life. And football was not her life.
She climbed down and walked through the dark woods, holding her lantern and allowing the tears to flow. It was time to mourn so she could heal. When she parked behind the coffee shop, she could hear the cheers from the diner and smiled, happy for her brother and for Tanner.
“Why did you leave without talking to me?” Tanner called down from her apartment steps above the shop.
She froze. She’d known she’d have to face him eventually but had thought she’d at least have until morning. “I thought you’d be celebrating with the team.”
“Not without you. None of it is worth anything without you.”
He took the steps two at a time and landed at the curb by her side. “I never asked for him to come here and offer the coaching job to me. I won’t take it.”
“Yes, you will. I’ll never keep you from your dreams.” She forced her voice not to waver, despite her fading desire to remain strong.
He grabbed her arms and squeezed, as if to make her focus on him and him only. “I love you,” he said.
“I love you, too. That’s why you need to go. Please, speak with them and check out the job offer. If it isn’t our time to be together, that’s okay.”
“If not now, when?” He released her, stepping back and clutching his head as if a sudden migraine would strike him down. “Don’t do this. Give us a chance.”
“I am, by letting you go.” She rose onto her toes and kissed the corner of his mouth. “Call me. I’ll need your advice with Andy’s future.”
“I’ll do better than that. We’ll take him to colleges together to see what’s out there,” Tanner yelled after her, but she rushed up the stairs, into her apartment, and shut her door before she changed her mind.
When Andy returned home, she refused to give him any clue about her heart being broken because of football, not when he was on a high. “Why didn’t you join us to celebrate?”
“I didn’t want to crowd you. It was your moment, your time to be with your friends and enjoy your victory. I was so proud of you tonight, though.” Mary-Beth forced the brightest smile she didn’t feel.
“What’s wrong?” Andy asked. “Did Coach Tanner break your heart again? I don’t care what kind of opportunity he dangles in front of me. He can’t treat my sister that way.”
“Stop.” Mary-Beth couldn’t help but laugh. A stress-relieving, wild kind of laugh.
“What’s so funny?”
The teenage boy she’d been charged to care for had been her everything the last couple of years.
“Nothing. It’s just that you’ve grown up into a handsome, charismatic, amazing young man who I’m lucky to have as a brother.”
Andy huffed and plopped down on the sofa. “You mean the kid you’ve been stuck with since our parents took off?”
“Don’t be so hard on them. They’re just trying to live life the best they can. That’s all any of us can do.”
“Wow, who are you? Since when do you defend the ’rents?” Andy apparently already forgot about charging out to defend her honor. He yawned. Obviously, the football high was fading.
She sat by his side and tossed the afghan over him. “You know having you here hasn’t been a burden at all. It’s been a joy in my life. I hope you’ll come home from college whenever you can visit. I’m so glad we had these years together. I’m so proud of you.”
They snuggled up on the couch, and Andy was asleep before he could mumble something about being a college football star. His words drove her from the living room, and she went down to her shop.
Unnerving quiet filled the empty shop, except for the drip that she needed to fix at the sink. She’d been happy here running her coffee shop, and she could be happy here again.
The night lasted an eternity, with the orange globe of the harvest moon shining through the front windows. The moon she once thought she’d see from the front porch of the farmhouse while watching her children run around chasing fireflies.
In the morning, Andy came down before school and joined her for breakfast. “You know, I’ll be graduating at the end of this year, and I have friends I can live with until then. You don’t have to stay. I can take care of myself now.”
She jolted out of her wayward sadness and looked at him. “No. Not happening, so get that out of your head. I want to keep you as long as I can. I’ll be the big sis you have to beg to stop sending you food and visiting campus for every event. You can’t get rid of me. I’m like good old-fashioned Sugar Maple syrup that sticks to you until you wash me away.”
He laughed, which made her laugh, but the joy was fleeting.
“Do you really think they’re going to offer him the job? I mean, he’d be one of the youngest offensive coordinators in the history of college ball.”
The pride in his voice hadn’t escaped her. “He’s that good. And he deserves it. I’m happy for him.”
Andy downed the last of his milk and cleared his plate. “You know, Knoxville isn’t that far. It isn’t like he’s returning to Indiana.”
“I know, but it isn’t about that.” Mary-Beth took a sip of her coffee, savoring the feel-good pumpkin, cream, and cinnamon. “He needs to be free to focus on his life, not be trapped in a small town. When we were kids, all he wanted to do was break free of this place. We had plans to take on the world, but to be honest, once I was apart from him, I realized I didn’t want all that. I wanted home and family and community. We weren’t meant to be together. We’re too different. It’s time for me to be me and him to be him.”
“Even if it makes you both miserable?” Andy asked with the innocence of youth.
She had no answer, so she pulled her best motherly card. “You better go before you’re late for school.”
All day, she mindlessly served clients, but her heart wasn’t in it. Several orders were mixed up, and she burned her hand on the milk frothier. Ugh. She needed to get a grip. Tanner McCadden was never going to turn down the opportunity of his career to be home with her and a teenage boy, a farm, and small-town community. Not when he’d tasted the sweet flavors of success.
Chapter Thirty
For several days, Tanner tried to convince Mary-Beth that they could work through this, but she wouldn’t listen. The only thing left to do was to go speak with the powers that be at UT.
The drive through the beautiful mountains with his windows down made Tanner feel free and alive. It reminded him of his first day returning to Tennessee. The charm of the south without the small-town suffocation. Not that he had hated growing up in Sugar Maple. There were just not any opportunities except working yourself to death on the farm like his father had.
Tanner pulled over at an overlook and reached for his phone to share a picture with Mary-Beth but stopped himself. She’d made it plain that he needed to go after his dreams and that she wouldn’t speak to him again unless he did. Of course, she was right. He’d worked so hard to move up in the industry. Always the first one in and the last one out the door every day. All the other coaches had families and responsibilities, but his life was football. It had been for as long as he could remember.
The drive continued to weave around the peaks, and mist floated in with a damp, lonely feel to it. He shut the windows and concentrated on the road ahead. This was his big break. He wanted to share it with someone, but his mom couldn’t leave the farm for the day, and he’d assumed Mary-Beth wouldn’t agree to accompany him. He wouldn’t have gone at all if she hadn’t insisted. But now, the excitement of the opportunity made him believe she was right.
He wasn’t even sure how this meeting would work since he’d let his agent go after he left UT. Tanner had given up on the entire political mess, but he was sure the man who worked for dozens of other coaches would hop right in with the knowle
dge he’d been offered an offensive coordinator job at such a young age. What agent wouldn’t want that on their record?
A zap of excitement shot through him and he turned onto Volunteer Street. Not winning-play adrenaline, but definitely enough to make the hair stand at attention on his arms. Nyland Stadium stood like a beacon in the center of the university, pumping life into the campus. Football wasn’t just a sport; it was the energy of Knoxville.
He parked his car, remembering the first day he’d arrived to coach. Driving onto the beautiful campus, he’d felt like he’d come home after a long sabbatical in the north. The warm southern sun on his face, friendly people who waved at every corner, the at-home feel of the Smoky Mountains in the backdrop. In that moment, he’d regretted remaining at Notre Dame for college, but they had been good to him, even after his injury. The grounds had been more foreign beauty, with an old-world feel, where UT welcomed you with its southern charm. He was a good ole southern boy grounded in his firm roots of farm life, but all those years ago, he’d thought he couldn’t return home a loser when he’d left to be a winner.
With the afternoon sun piercing between the large brick buildings and the crowds of people swarming between classes, he thought he’d feel energized and excited, but he missed the quiet rippling of the lake and the sound of hummingbirds buzzing around his front porch eating sugar water from his mom’s feeders.
This wasn’t about farm life; this was about his career. His chance to prove himself worthy for the first time since his freshman year. Mary-Beth had opened a business and owned her life. He’d been assistant to someone else for years. Now, though, he could do something. He could mold an offensive line the way he wanted to while working with the Offensive Coordinator.
Jackson greeted him at the door with an outstretched hand. “Glad you could make it. This is a little unorthodox, but since this is a unique situation, I thought I’d have you come in to say hi to the coaches and chat with them for a bit.”
“Sounds good to me.” He followed the man to his future, leaving Mary-Beth, the farm, and Sugar Maple reluctantly behind.
“Don’t tell them I said this, but this is a formality. The uppity-ups already decided this job is yours, and the coaches think you’d be able to slide into the former offensive coordinator’s position since he left abruptly due to family obligations.”
“I hope he’s okay.” Tanner remembered the man fondly. They’d worked together last year.
“Yes, all is good. His wife was transferred overseas, and he’s decided it was the right move for the family. He’d been considering retiring for a while.”
“Great.”
“You ready?”
“Yes.” He was more than ready. It was what he had set out to do years ago, and today, he’d be one of the youngest offensive coordinators in college football history. That would allow him to keep his head high for a long time.
The garden looked like a set for the ending scene of a romance movie. The garland was strung through the wood of the arch trellis and the newly constructed pergola. Ms. Horton’s wedding would be memorable. They’d waited decades to be together. They deserved this, so Mary-Beth put on a happy face and dove into work. It was nice to be out at the farm in the fresh air instead of the coffee shop for a change. There was no reason to be open anyway, with most of the town working on the farm.
“You don’t have to be here. We’ll cover for you,” Carissa offered, holding a basket for Felicia.
“I wouldn’t be anywhere else. Felicia, you’ve outdone yourself. How did you do all this?”
She eyed the tall, handsome, ex-con-turned-boyfriend who hammered away at the altar. A twinge of jealousy mixed with happiness for one of her best friends collided into a menagerie of emotions that took her breath.
Carissa placed the basket on the ground and touched Mary-Beth’s shoulder. “You sure? We can totally cover for you.”
“No, seriously. I want to be here.” Mary-Beth went to work painting the barn with Stella and Jackie. Well, Jackie took on a more supervisory role.
Andy climbed the ladder to reach the beams, causing Mary-Beth’s nerves to hitch. “You be careful up there. You’re not invincible, you know.”
“I hear you, Par-sis.”
“Par-sis?” she asked.
Andy shrugged, paint falling from his brush into a squealing Jackie’s hair. “Yeah, you’re not just a sister. You’re the closest thing I have to a parent but better. So, you’re my parent sis, Par-sis.”
“Clever, really,” Jackie drawled while using a rag to try to rid her auburn hair of brown stain. “I thought you had housebroken him.”
“You know, he’s standing ten feet above you. I’d be careful what you say,” Mary-Beth teased.
Jackie huffed and marched outside.
“Now that she’s gone, spill it. How did Tanner’s meeting go?”
Mary-Beth shrugged. “Don’t know. He hasn’t returned or called. I’m sure it went well and that’s why he’s still there.”
“Really? Are you trying to convince us or yourself?” Stella gave her the hip out, I-know-you-too-well look.
Knox entered the barn with an apprehensive expression.
Mary-Beth dropped her paintbrush into the tray and wiped her hands on a rag, ready to escape the confines of chatter in the barn. “I’m sorry about the show.”
Knox looked to Stella and then said in a rehearsed tone, “Don’t worry about it. No big deal. I’ll come up with a new angle.”
The smell of paint fumes and disappointment made Mary-Beth’s stomach churn, so she escaped to the fresh air. Everywhere she turned, there were more people giving her the sad, poor-girl-was-dumped look.
A car door slammed and her beath caught, but at the sight of Seth walking toward her, disappointment saturated her mood.
“Hey there. Can we talk?”
She shrugged. “Sure. What’s up?”
He escorted her away from the crowd and the Sugar Maple gossip tree. “Listen, I’m sorry about what happened with Tanner. The guy’s an idiot.”
“Is that what you drove all the way out here to tell me in dress pants and an expensive shirt and tie?” she asked.
“No. I came out here to talk business with you.”
“You did?” Before she knew it, she found herself leading him down the path to the tree house.
“Listen, I’ve been on the road and on planes for two solid days visiting various coffee shops. But there are none like your place. I’d like to start a chain of Maple Grounds but call it the Coffee Whisperer. You’ll consult on all beverages and agree to tour once a year to create new blends during PR events.”
“What? My little coffee shop is a small-town novelty. It can’t be some sort of big chain.”
“I know numbers, and I can tell you now that it can and it will give you enough money to hire help and retire early. Like twenty years early. I’ll run all day-to-day business stuff, and you create the beverages and do the tour. That’s it.”
Her brain twisted around the idea and what it meant. As much as she loved her coffee shop, it was time to have some freedom. Working from four in the morning until nine in the evening, seven days a week, was starting to wear on her. Not to mention she wanted time to go visit Andy at whatever college he went to. “How long until I start seeing profits?”
“A year or so.”
“And how large will the profits be?”
“Small in the beginning, but based on my analysis, it’ll grow quickly. The coffee market is tough, but you have a unique spin, and people are tired of the same chain on every corner. It’s a good time to invest in this, and it’ll allow me to focus on what I want to do with the rest of my life. It’s a win-win for us both.”
She thought about the jealousy Tanner would feel with this arrangement, but he wasn’t here to express his displeasure. And at the end of the year, when Andy went to college, she’d be able to visit Knoxville more often. “And you won’t have any rights to my existing shop?”
“N
o, that will remain in your complete control. It’ll all be in the contracts that you’ll have your own lawyer look over.”
She shot her hand out. “Deal.”
“Great! I’ll have the paperwork drawn up.”
“Sounds good. That is, once I have a lawyer.” She laughed. A floating kind of lightness—like she’d inhaled a hundred helium balloons—took over her body. In that moment, she didn’t have to give up her financial independence, or any independence at all. She could have her man and never struggle the way her mother had. “Will you excuse me? There’s something I have to do.”
Without waiting for an answer, Mary-Beth darted to the not-so-secret hideout and climbed the steps to the tree house, fell to her knees, slid the secret door to the right, retrieved the tin box, and opened it. Inside sat the tarnished gold ring with diamond chips. The most beautiful sight she’d ever seen.
With shaking hands, she lifted it from the box and slid it onto her ring finger. It didn’t fit, though. It slid halfway on but wouldn’t go over her knuckle.
“What are you doing?” Tanner’s voice echoed in the small space, pounding against her psyche until it registered that he was in their tree house, not in Knoxville.
She tossed the tin box aside with a bang and crawled to his side, where he slipped in and sat on the floor. “Tanner. You don’t have to choose between your dream and me. I don’t have to choose either. We can have it all.”
His gaze traveled from her head to her toes, as if he searched for the answers. He was breathing heavy from climbing the ladder, but she couldn’t give him space to breathe, not when she needed to be near him, next to him. With him.
“What are you talking about?” he asked.
“I have an investor who is opening a coffee chain, and I can afford to hire help. We’ll only have to do long distance for the rest of this year, and then I can come stay with you and come here to check on things once or twice a week.”
“But you said you didn’t want to be my football shadow, that you wanted to have your own accomplishments in life.”
