A Winning Season

by Rochelle Alers

  “I’m glad we didn’t marry because I doubt whether we would’ve stay together. I don’t need a fair-weather partner who will bolt when the relationship turns stormy.”

  “That would never happen with Sutton, Zoey. I’ve never been one to play matchmaker, but you won’t find a nicer guy than Sutton. And I’m not saying that because he’s my cousin. You can’t imagine how many women have asked me to hook them up with him when word got out that he was divorced. I told them he would not appreciate me setting him up with someone, but that didn’t stop them from asking me over and over. And once they found out that he’d moved back to the Falls, they acted like what my grandmother would call brazen hussies. They came to Powell’s in droves and swarmed around him like locusts.”

  This disclosure piqued Zoey’s interest. “What did he do?”

  “Sutton is the same one you see whenever he’s interviewed. He was polite and charming. He’d signed autographs for anyone that wanted one, and whenever a woman lingered too long he’d excuse himself telling her he had to wait on other customers. After a while, once they realized he wasn’t receptive to their flirting they stopped coming in. He may be the Beast on the baseball diamond, but he’s soft as a marshmallow off the field. His generosity is phenomenal, and he has donated and raised millions for his scholarship foundation dedicated to the at-risk kids he mentors.”

  Zoey wasn’t ready to admit to Georgina that Sutton had volunteered to mentor her brother. “I’ve discovered firsthand how generous he can be.”

  “Yes, my cousin is one of the good guys, but for the life of me I’ll never understand why he married that gold-digging wannabe supermodel.”

  “Wasn’t she a successful supermodel?”

  “Yeah, right. It all depends on who you talk to. Angell was in a Sports Illustrated swimsuit group shot, and if you listen to her brag about it, you’d think she was on the cover. She had what I consider a rather uneventful modeling career. She had been selected to participate in several Fashion Weeks around the world, but that was when she was in college. After the divorce, Sutton’s star rose and hers fell because as Beauty and the Beast they’d become a brand. Agencies wouldn’t book her without her husband, and that really ticked her off. But she had to know that a lot of models age out in their late twenties or thirties.”

  “Most of them except my favorite, Naomi Campbell,” Zoey added. “The woman still owns the runway. I had...” Her words trailed off when her cell chimed a programmed ringtone. “Excuse me, but I have to take this call.” She retrieved her phone from her bag and tapped a key. “Hello.”

  “Good morning, Zoey.”

  She recognized the voice of the agency’s scheduler. “Good morning, Kelly. Do you have an assignment for me?”

  “Yes, but it’s temporary. Alison Harrison has a family emergency and she will be out for the rest of the week. I’d like to know if you’re willing to cover her shift.”

  “Of course. What are her hours?”

  “Seven to two. Her client is Caroline Raab. She’s a retired sixty-two-year-old widowed schoolteacher who is recovering from a stroke that has left her with some memory loss. Alison says she’s really sweet.”

  Zoey wanted to do the happy dance. Sweet she could really do after working with Mrs. Chambers. “Does she live alone?”

  “No. Her college-student grandson lives with her.”

  “Text me her address.”

  “I’m sending it now. And, thank you, Zoey.”

  “Thank you.”

  Zoey ended the call and tapped the message app. Mrs. Raab lived in Beckley. She still did not have a permanent assignment, but she didn’t mind working as a fill-in temp. She dropped the phone into her bag and walked over to the counter where Georgina had set the shopping bag stamped with the shop’s logo.

  “I have the rest of the day to get a jump on my project because I have to go back to work tomorrow. And thank you for the family discount.”

  Georgina combed her fingers through her hair, holding it off her forehead. “Don’t make a liar out of me, Zoey.”

  A slight frown appeared between Zoey’s eyes. “What are you talking about?”

  “You’re real and I see why Sutton likes you.”

  “Thank you, but I think you’re getting ahead of yourself, Georgina.”

  “I don’t think so, Zoey Allen. Even my aunt Michelle heard the rumors about her son kissing the Allen girl and she says she wants to meet you. So, don’t be surprised if Sutton asks you to come to Sunday dinner to meet the family.”

  Zoey couldn’t believe what she was hearing. How could a chaste kiss blow up into something that had Georgina’s family believing she and Sutton were ready to walk down the aisle together? Well, nothing was further from the truth.

  Did she like him?

  Yes.

  Did she want to sleep with him?

  Of course.

  But was she ready to marry him or any other man?

  No.

  Zoey had carefully mapped out her life from the instant she accepted responsibility for her younger siblings, and marriage was not a part of that equation until she became a nurse, and that was still six years away. There were two years before Harper graduated high school and four years for her to earn a BSN and then pass the nursing boards. At thirty-six she would be open to falling in love, becoming a wife and mother.

  She forced a smile she did not feel. “I’m really not ready to meet Sutton’s mother.” She and Sutton were friends and their friendship had not reached the level where she needed and wanted to be introduced to Sutton’s mother. “I’ll stop in again when I finish my project.”

  Reaching out, Georgina hugged her. “Thanks again for joining the campaign.”

  Zoey felt Sutton’s cousin’s warmth and enthusiasm when she returned the hug. “Anytime.”

  She left the shop, stored her knitting purchase in the cargo area of the minivan and decided rather than return home she would drive to the boutique in Charleston where Charmaine had selected her dress for prom. Sutton had promised to take her to an upscale restaurant and Zoey wanted a new outfit to celebrate their first official date.

  Her conversation with Georgina provided her a glimpse into a segment of Sutton’s marriage he hadn’t revealed. But, then she remembered him saying there were things about his ex-wife he still loved. And he wondered if it was her beauty. Georgina had downplayed her cousin’s ex-wife’s modeling career, but photos of the woman did not lie. She was extremely photogenic and beautiful.

  She turned on the radio, tuning it to a station with old-school jams, and sang along with familiar tunes from a decade ago. It was as if she’d turned back the clock when songs that had been popular when she was in high school filled the interior of the van. Those were the happy times when her only concern was maintaining her grades so she could get into college.

  It had taken her a while to accept the curve life had thrown at her and made her aware she was no longer a teenage girl planning her schedules around the Fall Festival and homecoming, but a young woman who had come to acknowledge that she was stronger than she could’ve ever imagined.

  * * *

  Zoey slipped a note under the door to Harper’s bedroom, wishing him luck on his first day as a junior. She had to leave the house an hour earlier because she had to drive to Beckley to clock in by seven. She heard Harper leave the house at five to run with Sutton and return a few minutes ago. The sound of running water coming from behind the bathroom door indicated he was in the shower.

  She left the house and waved to Sutton, who sat on the top step of his porch drinking from a mug of coffee. He was still wearing his jogging clothes. “Good morning.”

  He raised the mug. “Good morning, working girl.”

  “Have a good day.”

  Sutton nodded. “Back at you.”

  Zoey slipped behind the wheel of the minivan, started it
up and backed out the driveway. She’d made an appointment for Saturday to bring the van to Austen & Sons Auto for a tune-up. After going over her accounts, she figured out she could afford to finance a certified midsize used car with a substantial deposit to lower the monthly payments.

  Traffic was heavier than normal with the start of school, and Zoey groaned when the app on her phone indicated a fender bender near the next exit. She sat idling for nearly ten minutes before cars began moving. Following the GPS, she reached her destination fifteen minutes before she was scheduled to start.

  Mrs. Raab lived in a modest unattached one-story ranch house with a two-car garage. She parked her van on the street and walked up to the front door. It opened before she rang the bell and she met the light blue eyes of a young man with a scowl distorting his handsome features. He was totally grunge with ripped jeans, a flannel shirt tied at his waist and a leather choker.

  “You’re late!”

  Reaching into her tote, Zoey removed her ID badge and showed it to him. “No, I’m not. In fact, I’m early because I was told my hours are seven to two.”

  “The other girl always came at six thirty.”

  Zoey struggled to control her rising temper. “I’m not the other girl. Now, will you please step aside so I can introduce myself to your grandmother?”

  Taking a backward step, he opened the door and she walked in. “My grandmother is in her library.”

  Zoey walked through the parlor, living and dining rooms to an area that was set up as a reading room. A frail-looking white-haired woman sat in a cushioned rocker listening to classical music coming from a radio on a bookcase packed tightly with books.

  “Has she had breakfast?”

  “No. It’s your job to feed her.”

  “William! What did I tell you about being rude?” The words were garbled, as if her tongue was too large for her mouth.

  He dropped his eyes. “I’m sorry, Grandma. I’m leaving now. I’ll be back after my last class.”

  Caroline Raab held out her thin arms. “Come and give your grandma a kiss before you go.”

  Zoey noticed the young man’s hesitation before he hugged and kissed his grandmother and suspected he really did not want to deal with the woman under whose roof he resided. The exquisite furnishings in the house had been carefully selected to turn the home into a designer showplace.

  After the scheduler had texted her Mrs. Raab’s address, she had sent her an email with her client’s dietary restrictions and exercise regimen. She was able to bathe, dress and eat by herself, while her grandson was responsible for taking her to her rehab appointments three evenings a week to meet with a speech therapist.

  She hunkered down in front of the woman. “Good morning, Mrs. Raab. My name is Zoey and I will be filling in for Alison until she returns.”

  Caroline rested a hand on Zoey’s head. “You are very pretty.”

  Zoey covered the woman’s hand with hers. “Thank you so much. What would you like for breakfast?”

  “Oatmeal with fruit.”

  She stood straight. “Do you want to eat here or in the kitchen?”

  “I like it here with my books.”

  “Would you like me to read to you after you finish breakfast?”

  Caroline attempted to smile, and it was the first time Zoey noticed that the left side of her face was paralyzed. “Yes.”

  The stroke had affected her ability to speak clearly and given her some memory loss and partial paralysis. Zoey hoped with ongoing rehabilitation she would be able to correct her speech and regain some feeling in her face.

  Mrs. Raab was the complete opposite of her former client and although it was a temporary assignment Zoey knew she would enjoy it.

  Chapter Twelve

  It was Friday, her last day with Caroline Raab as her client, and Zoey wished she could become the woman’s permanent home health aide. She enjoyed reading and listening to music with the retired music teacher. Her late husband had been a navy test pilot who’d lost his life when a jet exploded and crashed in the Mojave Desert. She haltingly told Zoey her daughter, an only child, had struggled with addiction as a college student and finally overdosed four years after giving birth to her only child. Caroline adopted the boy and with the hope that she would afford him a stable lifestyle he hadn’t had with his mother.

  Zoey felt, as an overindulgent grandmother, she had raised a spoiled, ungrateful, entitled young man who merely tolerated the woman. Billy, as he’d asked her to call him, didn’t have Friday classes and whenever she glanced up, he would appear like a specter that never failed to raise the hair on the back of her neck. She was in the kitchen preparing a pasta salad for her client when William crept in. Stick-straight jet-black hair stood up on his head like little spikes. “Is there something you want?”

  “No. I just decided to watch you.”

  “I’m not on display, so I suggest you go watch something else.”

  “You really have a smart-ass mouth.”

  Zoey clamped her teeth tightly to keep from saying something she wouldn’t be able to retract. She had only two more hours and then her shift would be over, and she wouldn’t have to see his smug face again.

  “What’s the matter, Miss Zoey? I should take you with me when I take my grandmother for speech therapy.”

  She’d had enough. “Take a walk, little boy.” She must have gotten through to him when he turned on his heel and stomped out the kitchen. She had tried in vain to ignore his stalking and occasional taunts, but she had had enough. And the only reason she hadn’t gone off on him was because the assignment was temporary, but it would have been ideal if not for the client’s grandson.

  Zoey set the plate with the macaroni salad on a tray in front of Caroline and watched as she fed herself. She’d begun including carbs along the protein in the woman’s diet in an attempt for her to keep up her strength.

  “This is so good,” Caroline said.

  “I’m glad you like it.”

  She waited for her to finish her meal. “I’ll bring you some water.” Zoey had gotten her to increase her intake of water to keep her kidneys functioning well.

  “Thank you, Zoey.”

  Twenty minutes later, she sat across from her client knitting as they listened to the radio tuned to a classical music station. It was Caroline’s favorite time of the day when after lunch she would lie on the recliner and listen to music while Zoey knitted. When she’d questioned Billy if his grandmother still played the concert grand piano in a corner of the living room, he’d revealed she stopped playing years ago after they’d buried his grandfather.

  The clock on a table chimed the hour and Zoey put away her knitting and gathered her tote. “Mrs. Raab, I’m leaving now.”

  The light blue eyes she’d passed along to her grandson stared vacantly into space. “Have a good afternoon.” It was the same thing she said every day.

  “You, too, Mrs. Raab.”

  Zoey left the house and stopped short when she saw that two of her tires had been flattened, and she didn’t have to have an IQ of a genius to know who was responsible. She wasn’t going to confront Billy. To do so would give him the satisfaction that he’d bested her. She took out her cell phone and tapped the number for Austen’s Auto to tow the van back to Wickham Falls. A recorded voice asked that she leave a message.

  Zoey called Sutton next and sighed in relief when he answered after the second ring. “What’s up, sweetheart?”

  “I need a ride back to the Falls. Right now, I’m staring at two flat tires and when I called Austen’s I got their answering service. Can you please pick me up?”

  “Of course. Give me the address where you are. After I hang up, I want you to call Austen’s again. If you can’t reach them, then I’ll contact another garage and have them tow you back here.”

  “Thank you, Sutton.”

  “Come o
n now, Zoey. There’s no need to thank me. You have to know how I feel about you.”

  She smiled despite the dire situation. “Yes, I know. You like me.”

  “Wrong, babe. What I feel goes a lot deeper than liking.”

  Zoey closed her eyes as she tried to slow down her runaway heartbeat. She knew instinctively what he was going to say because it would echo her own feelings. She was falling in love with Sutton Reed despite her resolve not to allow herself to become that involved with him because it would disrupt or derail everything she’d planned for her future. And she knew if he did mention that other four-letter word, it would change everything.

  “And what’s that?” she whispered. The sound of a car’s engine came through the earpiece and it was obvious Sutton was in his car.

  “I’ll show you later. I’m going to hang up so you can call Austen’s back.”

  The line went dead and Zoey tapped the auto body shop’s number. It rang once before a gravelly voice identified the name of the business. She related her problem and the man said the tow driver was out on a run and he would call to let him know where to retrieve her vehicle.

  “Do you need a ride back to the Falls?”

  “No. Someone is coming to get me.”

  “Leave the keys under the driver’s-side mat and lock the door.”

  “How will you unlock it?”

  “Miss, we have tools that allow us to get into most cars. And yours is not one of these new ones that make it almost impossible to break into.”

  Zoey wanted to tell him he didn’t have to remind her how old her minivan was. She opened the door, sat behind the wheel and stared out the windshield. If Billy had cut the tires on her new car, Zoey knew she would’ve gone ballistic. Pressing her head against her headrest, she closed her eyes and waited for Sutton or the tow truck driver—whichever one arrived first.

  * * *

  Sutton maneuvered up along the curb behind Zoey’s van. She got out at the same time he exited his vehicle. She appeared more fragile in the loose-fitting smock and uniform pants, and his heart turned over when he saw lines of tension bracketing her mouth. Sutton held out his arms and he wasn’t disappointed as she moved into his embrace.