Home in Carolina

by Sherryl Woods

  Not that he’d asked, but Maddie had. In her own subtle, maternal way, she’d chided Annie for not being big enough to put her personal feelings aside, at least for this one thing.

  Annie sighed heavily. Sometimes being the bigger person really sucked. And right at this moment, she wasn’t a hundred percent sure she could pull it off.

  When his dad pulled into the parking lot at Sullivan’s, Ty winced. He’d never given a thought to where they might be going for dinner, but naturally his father would choose the fanciest restaurant in town, even if it was run by his ex-wife’s best friend and the mother of the woman Ty had betrayed.

  “Dad, maybe we should go someplace else,” Ty suggested.

  “Why? I thought you loved the food here.”

  “It’s the best in town, but I don’t think I’m too popular with Dana Sue these days.”

  His father looked blank.

  “Because of Annie,” Ty explained with exaggerated patience. “I hurt her.”

  His father still looked bewildered. “I thought that was just some teenage crush she had on you.”

  Leave it to his father to be so self-absorbed he’d missed the obvious. “We dated all through college. We were planning a future,” Ty told him.

  “Officially? Was there a ring on her finger?”

  “You can’t be that insensitive,” Ty said, regarding him with dismay. “Then again, you didn’t even let the ring on mom’s finger stop you from cheating.”

  His father frowned at that. “I thought we’d put that behind us a long time ago.”

  “I thought so, too. Maybe this dinner is a bad idea. We seem to be operating on different wavelengths tonight.”

  There was no mistaking the disappointment in his father’s expression. “Look, I’m sorry if I sounded insensitive. I guess I just hadn’t realized how serious things had gotten between you and Annie. Let’s just go in, have something to eat, and you can fill me in on that or we can stick to your rehab.”

  Ty nodded slowly. “Let’s stick to baseball,” he said eventually. “Just promise to get between me and Dana Sue if she comes charging out of the kitchen.”

  Bill chuckled. “I can do that much for you. Dana Sue doesn’t scare me.”

  “She probably should,” Ty said dryly.

  Inside Sullivan’s, it was crowded, but his dad had made a reservation and they were immediately led to a table. Silence seemed to fall in their wake. When the waitress arrived, she greeted Bill cheerfully, then faltered as she recognized Ty.

  “I didn’t expect to see you in here,” she said, then flushed. Her tone turned stiffly polite. “Sorry. Can I get you something to drink?”

  “Iced tea is fine,” Ty said.

  “Nothing stronger?” his dad asked.

  “I’m still taking painkillers,” Ty told him.

  Bill frowned. “Shouldn’t you be off those by now?”

  “I was off, but once I started rehab, I needed them again. I’ve been pushing myself hard.”

  “Maybe you should slow down. You want to let that shoulder heal properly. Pain’s an indicator that something’s not right. Does your surgeon know you’re working out as much as you are?”

  “It’s all good, Dad. Everybody and their brother has chimed in on this plan, including the team doctors and trainers.” Of course, some of them agreed with his dad that he needed to slow down, but Ty wasn’t about to mention that.

  “Okay, then. I just don’t want you to have a setback.”

  “Believe me, that’s the last thing I want, either. That’s one reason I could meet you tonight. I took a night off from working out.”

  For the next couple of minutes, they studied the menu, then ordered the catfish special. After that, they stuck to chitchat about the Atlanta Braves and how the team was doing without Ty in the pitching rotation. Years ago, Bill had been his biggest booster, coaching him, playing catch with him in the evenings, cheering him on at the games, at least until Ty had balked at Bill bringing his pregnant girlfriend to the games with him. He figured now it was good that they still had baseball in common.

  “How’s your mother?” Bill asked eventually.

  “She’s great,” Ty said, noting the wistful expression on his dad’s face. “I know you regret the way things turned out.”

  Bill nodded. “My own stupid fault.”

  “What about you? Are you seeing anyone?” Ty asked.

  “I go out, but the truth is no one holds a candle to your mother. I wish I’d known that sooner.”

  “That’s how I feel about Annie,” Ty admitted. “I loved her, but I threw it away for no good reason.”

  “You still in love with her?” Bill asked after the waitress brought their meals. “Because if you are, don’t wait too long to fight for her. I did and look what happened. Your mom wound up with Cal.”

  Ty asked something he’d often wondered about. “If it hadn’t been for Cal, do you think you and Mom would have tried again?”

  “Maybe,” Bill said. “But what-ifs and maybes are pointless. That’s why you need to go after what you want when it counts.”

  “Interesting advice coming from you,” Dana Sue commented, arriving at their table in time to overhear Bill.

  “How are you?” Bill asked her. “The food was excellent, as always.”

  “It was fantastic,” Ty confirmed. “Better than anything I’ve ever had anywhere else.”

  Dana Sue turned her gaze on him. “And you have gotten around, haven’t you?”

  Ty winced at the bite in her voice. He opened his mouth to apologize, but to his surprise, she leaned down and kissed his cheek. “I’m glad you’re home, Ty.”

  He regarded her with surprise. “You are?”

  “For your mother’s sake, of course.” She leveled a less friendly look at him. “Just watch your step with my daughter,” she said in that same sweet tone. “Otherwise, that injury to your shoulder will seem painless compared to what I’ll do to you.”

  She sounded so serious, so vicious, despite that syrupy tone, Ty couldn’t help it. He chuckled.

  She gave him a chiding look. “How long have you known me?”

  “My whole life.”

  “Have I ever lied to you?”

  “Not that I’m aware of,” he said.

  She patted his cheek. “Keep that in mind.”

  And then she walked away.

  Ty glanced at his father, who looked vaguely shaken. “Told you she was scary.”

  “You messed with her kid’s heart,” Bill said. “I guess if I’m being honest, I don’t blame her.”

  “Did you ever worry that Grandma Paula was going to tear into you?”

  Bill chuckled. “All the time, son. All the time.”

  For the first time, Ty felt the faintest hint of sympathy for his father.

  8

  Rather than going to lunch, Annie stopped by her father’s store on her midday break. She found Ronnie in the back room, unpacking a shipment of tools. He looked up, grinned when he saw her, then immediately sobered, probably because of her grim expression.

  “Something tells me you’re not here because you need a hammer or a paintbrush,” he said. “What’s on your mind?”

  She shoved aside a stack of catalogs on his disorganized desk and perched on the corner. “How’s business?”

  To his credit, her dad actually managed to keep a smile from forming at the too-casual inquiry. “You looking for a career change?”

  “No, I’m making conversation,” she replied, her tone grumpy.

  “Okay, then, I’ll play along. Business on the construction side is real good. Hardware sales are slow.” His gaze narrowed. “Didn’t we talk about this the other day?”

  “I’m trying to show an interest in your work,” she claimed. “Things could have changed since then.”

  Ronnie set aside the box he’d been unpacking and pulled up a chair. “Let’s skip the small talk. What’s really on your mind?”

  She considered more evasion but decide
d it would be a waste of time. They both knew why her mood was so sour. “Ty,” she said succinctly, grabbing a paper clip off the counter and twisting it out of shape until it finally snapped. She tossed it into the trash can and picked up another. “Isn’t it always about Ty these days?”

  Her dad’s gaze narrowed. “Has he been bothering you? If he has—”

  Annie cut him off with a shake of her head before he could offer to have a talk with Ty. That wasn’t what she wanted. At least, she didn’t think it was. She’d already heard a few rumors about Ronnie confronting Ty in Wharton’s, though no one seemed to know for sure what had been said.

  “He exists,” she said bleakly. “That’s pretty much all it takes to bother me.” She reached for another paper clip, but her dad hurriedly moved it out of reach.

  “Your mom told me Maddie was going to offer you some time off.”

  “She did. I turned her down.”

  “Maybe you should reconsider.”

  She shook her head. “What’s the point of going someplace else? I’ll still be thinking about him day and night, wondering if Elliott’s doing the right rehab stuff.”

  Her dad looked surprised by that. “This is about the rehab for his shoulder? Are you saying you want to step in?”

  “I don’t want to,” she insisted.

  “You think you should?”

  She met her dad’s gaze and nodded. “I feel like I owe him. Do you remember the day he skipped school and risked Cal’s wrath so he could come to the hospital and talk to me? Cal could have kicked him off the team for that. Back then, baseball was all Ty cared about and he took the chance, anyway. Maddie reminded me of that today, not that I needed to be reminded.”

  “Listen, kid, we all owe him for how determined he was to help you beat your eating disorder, but I don’t want you making yourself miserable to pay back an old debt. I doubt Ty expects that, either. He hasn’t said that, has he?”

  “No, but Maddie has. She made me feel so guilty, Dad, and she wasn’t even mean about it. You know how she is. She sort of dropped the idea out there, and now I can’t shake it.”

  “You know I love Madelyn, but she’s wrong this time. Once Ty cheated on you and broke your heart, I think that old debt was pretty much wiped out.”

  “On the flip side,” she began, thinking aloud, “if I help him, he might get better faster and leave town.”

  Ronnie gave her a knowing look. “Is that what you want? Do you really want him gone?”

  Annie frowned at him. “Of course. Why would you even ask such a thing?”

  “Because sometimes being miserable is all we have left of what used to be. When I first got back to town, you were sick and your mom and I were barely speaking, but I knew I had to be here. It was better to be right here, even with her hating me, than to be away and alone.”

  Annie thought about what he was saying. In a way, her dad was right. Having Ty home was a constant reminder of everything awful that had happened between them, but in some ways it was better than not seeing him at all. Then she spent way too much time wondering what he was up to, who he was with. At least here, she’d know almost immediately if he was out with anyone else. The fact that she still cared about that really was annoying.

  She regarded her dad wistfully. “How can I still be in love with him? Am I a total idiot?”

  “No more than your mother was for taking another chance on me.” His expression turned wry. “There are some who’d say she was nuts for doing that. Helen comes to mind, though I think we’ve finally made peace. What I know for a fact is that real love can survive almost anything, even a betrayal as deep as what Ty did to you. Don’t worry about what anyone else thinks, not your mom and me, not Maddie, not the whole nosy town. Listen to your heart and do what’s best for you. If you love Ty, then find some way to forgive him.”

  She nodded. It made perfect sense. She knew what her heart was saying. What she didn’t know was whether or not it could be trusted. Even more important, she didn’t know if Ty could be trusted.

  Ty walked into The Corner Spa and looked around for some sign of Annie. He couldn’t seem to help himself.

  “She’s gone,” Elliott said, joining him and guessing what his survey was all about.

  Ty didn’t even try to hide his disappointment. “I keep thinking she’ll mellow.”

  “If you want her to take over your workouts, you’re going to have to grovel,” Elliott said.

  “It’s not even about that. You know what you’re doing. We’re making progress.”

  “Not fast enough to suit you,” Elliott said. “I know my limitations, Ty. Annie could get you where you need to be faster.”

  “Well, that’s not going to happen. I’d settle for just bumping into her more frequently and having a few civilized conversations.” He met Elliott’s sympathetic gaze. “Pitiful, huh? A man willing to accept a few crumbs from a woman.”

  “Hey, I’ve been there. When I first met Karen, she wouldn’t give me the time of day. Her attitude had nothing to do with me specifically, but her ex had been a disaster. She wasn’t about to take a chance on another relationship, not with two kids to worry about. I made up any excuse I could to spend time with her. Fortunately there are a lot of matchmakers in this town.” He grinned. “They helped.”

  “Unfortunately all those inveterate matchmakers are almost as mad at me as Annie is,” Ty lamented. He shook off his mood. “Let’s get to work. Maybe if you make me sweat enough, I’ll get her out of my head, at least for a couple of hours.”

  “I’m a tough taskmaster, not a miracle worker,” Elliott replied.

  Ty knew exactly what he was saying, because it was definitely going to take a minor miracle to fix this mess he’d created. And with every day that passed, his confidence that he could win Annie back slipped a little more.

  Helen couldn’t remember ever feeling more exhausted and frazzled. She’d taken on too many cases as a defense mechanism to prove to herself that Flo’s arrival wasn’t going to disrupt her life. As a result, she was worn-out at the end of the workday and in no mood for her mother’s endless complaints, accumulated during a day of boredom.

  Each night, Helen barely made it inside before her mother wanted to know what they were having for dinner.

  “I normally don’t eat this late,” she told Helen when they eventually sat down at TV trays in her mother’s room. “In Florida, my friends and I always took advantage of the early-bird specials.”

  “Well, I don’t get home until six. After I spend some time with Sarah Beth and get her settled for the night, it’s usually seven-thirty by the time I can grab something to eat. Since Erik’s working, it never seemed to matter much. But since you prefer to eat early, I’ll ask Mrs. Lowell to fix a meal for you before she leaves.”

  Flo looked dismayed by the suggestion. “I don’t want to eat alone. Besides, Letitia can barely fix a sandwich. Heaven knows what she’d do to a whole meal.”

  Helen regarded her impatiently. “Then what do you want?”

  Her mother pushed her food around on her plate, then finally met Helen’s gaze. “Maybe Erik could send a little something over from the restaurant,” she suggested hesitantly. She pressed the idea, proving she’d been thinking about it for some time. “Then you wouldn’t have to cook, and we could eat the minute you walk in the door. You’d still have time with Sarah Beth before her bedtime. You know she doesn’t have to be in bed so early, anyway. It’s not as if she has to go to school in the morning.”

  Helen bristled at the criticism of her child-rearing skills. “Routines are important for a child,” she said, recalling how seldom they’d kept to one when she was young. She’d been determined to make sure Sarah Beth always knew she could count on consistency in her life.

  Of course, when she’d kept Karen’s two children briefly a couple of years ago when Karen had nearly fallen apart under stress, she’d quickly discovered that routines and schedules often went right out the window when faced with the reality of
active kids. Erik had actually been the one to teach her to loosen up a little, though even he hadn’t been able to break her entirely of her need for organization and schedules.

  Flo met her gaze. “Do you really think your life would have been so much better if I’d been a stickler for rules and timetables?”

  “I thought so then,” Helen admitted. “And the books say that kids need to know they can count on things.”

  “I did the best I could,” Flo said defensively. “Call me crazy, but I thought paying the rent and putting food on the table, and maybe saving a little for college, was doing right by you.”

  Helen sighed. “It was, Mom. I know you worked way too hard to do all of that and I appreciate it, but sometimes I wished that things could have been different. I needed you, I guess.”

  Flo looked taken aback by her declaration. “You had me. You were all I thought about.”

  “But you weren’t around, and I knew that was my fault. I think maybe I felt guilty, seeing you so tired from trying to make sure I had everything the other kids had.”

  “It wasn’t your fault. It was the way things had to be,” Flo corrected. “You were my world, and I wanted your life to be so much better than mine had been.” She gestured around at the lovely guest room filled with expensive furniture, luxurious bed linens, a large flat-screen TV. “Look at all this. You’re able to have a home I could only dream about. I’m so proud of everything you’ve accomplished. I just worry sometimes that you’ve let it become more important than it should be.”

  “My priorities are in order,” Helen replied defensively, even though she knew that hadn’t always been true.

  “If you say so,” Flo said doubtfully.

  Helen tried to look back at the past from her mother’s perspective and realized that Flo truly had done what she thought was best for the two of them. If they hadn’t been the same choices Helen might have made, that didn’t make them wrong. In fact, as her mother had just pointed out, many of the blessings in her life now were due to the sacrifices back then. The least she could do was make a few changes to her precious routine to accommodate her mother for a few weeks.