Stealing Home

by Sherryl Woods

  “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 abou
t 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.”

  “So I’ll be your early-warning system,” he said. “I’ll tell you if I notice anything or hear about any problems from the other teachers. This time of year, I pay close attention to the grades of my players. And if you ever have any concerns, just give me a call.”

  “Thanks for caring so much about my son,” Maddie said sincerely. “He looks up to you.”

  “It’s not a one-way street,” Cal told her. “Ty’s going to be a baseball superstar one of these days. Being a tiny part of making that happen makes me feel as if my life after baseball has some meaning.”

  Maddie heard an unexpected note of melancholy in his voice and wondered if he even knew it was there. “It must have been tough having your dream end so quickly.”

  “It was baseball, not life or death,” he said cavalierly. “Smart people don’t wallow in self-pity. They find a new dream.”

  “And yours is coaching high-school baseball?” she asked.

  “That’s just part of it,” he said.

  “And the rest?”

  He hesitated, then said, “I think we’ll save that for another conversation. If I’m late getting back to school and my PE class starts running wild on the playground, my coaching days could be over. See you, Maddie.”

  “Yeah, see you.”

  She stood in the doorway and watched as he went down the walk, opened the rusty gate and set off at an easy jog. She watched until he turned the corner and disappeared.

  Mary Vaughn strolled up the sidewalk from the opposite direction. “Whoo-ee, that is one incredible specimen of a man,” she said. “If my heart didn’t belong to Sonny, I would surely take up jogging just so I could run a few laps behind that very fine derriere.” She grinned at Maddie. “How about you, sugar? Does he give you any interesting ideas?”

  “None I care to share with you,” Maddie responded, laughing. In truth, most of her ideas about Coach Maddox were too hot to be shared with anyone, including her best friends. Helen and Dana Sue wouldn’t be shocked, but they would be highly motivated to get her what they thought she wanted. There was nothing a Sweet Magnolia enjoyed more than planning a seduction.

  Maddie was sitting on the floor up to her eyeballs in calculator tapes and notes when her doorbell rang that night at eight. Only Helen and Dana Sue would risk her wrath by showing up at that hour when the kids were winding down upstairs and Maddie wanted nothing more than to relax with a glass of wine and a long soak in the tub. Before she could even scramble to her feet, the two of them walked in, gloating expressions on their faces.

  “I brought Erik’s famous chocolate-decadence cake,” Dana Sue said, holding it out as if it was a peace offering. Her pastry chef had won the hearts of everyone in town.

  “And I brought bubbly,” Helen said, displaying a bottle of very expensive champagne.

  “Are we celebrating something?” Maddie inquired innocently.

  “I told Mary Vaughn to set up the closing on the Hartley place,” Helen said. “It’ll be ours before the end of the month.”

  “Isn’t that fantastic?” Dana Sue asked. “We’re opening our own spa!”

  Maddie wanted to share their enthusiasm, but at the moment she was merely annoyed. “Have either of you actually heard me agree to this yet?”

  “No, but all the signs were there,” Helen said blithely. “Why wait?”

  “Because it’s common courtesy,” Maddie snapped. “You can’t snatch a decision this big out of my hands. I have half a mind to walk away right this second, if this is the way things are going to go, with you two bullying me into doing whatever you want.”

  “Hey, slow down,” Dana Sue soothed. “Nobody’s bullying anybody. Helen can call and back out of the deal right now if that’s what you really want.”

  Maddie sighed impatiently. “No, that’s not what I want. I just want to be asked. I want my opinion to count for something.”

  Helen sat down on the floor beside her. “Of course your opinion counts. That’s why I acted. I could see it in your eyes the other day. You want to do this but you’re scared. I thought maybe it would be easier if the whole decision didn’t rest on your shoulders.”

  Maddie regarded Helen with renewed respect. “You got that?”

  “Well, of course I did. How long have we known each other?”

  “Long enough,” Maddie said. “If I actually count the years, it depresses me. None of us are supposed to be that old.”

  “We’re not old,” Dana Sue said vehemently. “We are in the prime of our incredible lives.”

  Helen laughed. “Indeed we are!” she said, popping the champagne cork. “The Sweet Magnolias are all grown up and about to take this town by storm once again. I think that deserves a drink.”

  “I’ll get the glasses,” Maddie offered, but Dana Sue was already on her way to the kitchen. That was the thing about best friends, she supposed. Sometimes they just acted without waiting to be asked. How could she be mad at them for that?

  “Do you know how much I appreciate you two?” she asked when Dana Sue returned with three of her best crystal champagne flutes.

  “Enough to go into business with us?” Helen pressed.

  “Even more,” Maddie said with heartfelt sincerity. She lifted her glass. “To the Sweet Magnolias.”

  “To us,” Dana Sue said.

  Maddie sipped her champagne and giggled as the bubbles tickled her nose, robbing the moment of its solemnity.

  “What now?” she asked.

  “I think we should name this fancy new place of ours,” Dana Sue said. “It’ll make it seem more real. We can’t refer to it as the old Hartley place forever
.”

  “You’re right,” Helen said. “We need to get some buzz going.”

  “I don’t think buzz will be an issue in Serenity,” Maddie said wryly. “Everyone in town already knows what we’re up to. Just today Coach Maddox asked why we couldn’t let men in, too. And I doubt he’s even lived here long enough to be very high up on the town grapevine.”

  Helen gave her a speculative look. “Coach Maddox, huh? Another meeting to discuss Ty?”

  “No, he brought me the key to open up the house. Mary Vaughn was running late.”

  The other two women exchanged a look.

  “Interesting,” Dana Sue said.

  “Isn’t it, though?” Helen said.

  Maddie gave them a disgusted look. “Whatever you’re thinking, forget it. We need to concentrate on coming up with a name, remember?”

  “Cal Maddox is a name,” Dana Sue taunted.

  “Ha-ha,” Maddie replied. “Do we want to call it a gym, a fitness club or a spa?”

  “A spa,” Helen said at once.

  Maddie regarded her doubtfully. “Are you sure that’s not too fancy for a place like Serenity? People might think we’re too expensive or exclusive or something.”

  “She has a point,” Dana Sue said. “We don’t want women thinking we’re too uppity for them.”

  “Then work with me,” Helen said. “Put something with it that tones that down, something simple that makes it seem accessible to everyone.”

  Suddenly Dana Sue’s eyes lit up. “I have it!” she said enthusiastically. “Where is this house?”

  Maddie tried to grasp her point. “On the corner of Main and Palmetto.”

  “Exactly,” Dana Sue said. “So why not call it The Corner Spa?”

  “It sounds cozy,” Maddie agreed slowly. “Helen? What do you think?”