Stealing Home

by Sherryl Woods

  “I won’t do it,” Ty said fiercely. “It would be like saying I think it’s okay for him to be with Noreen.”

  “He’s going to be with her, whether you approve or not,” she reminded him. “Wouldn’t it be better to deal with that, instead of waging a losing battle?”

  “Do I have to?” he asked, sounding the way he had at five when he’d been told to apologize for not sharing a toy.

  “I can’t make you,” she conceded. “But the only person you’re hurting is yourself.”

  “And Dad,” he said with a touch of defiance.

  “Oh, sweetie, what’s the good of that?”

  “I want him to hurt the way we do,” he said.

  “But in the end, it won’t change anything,” she said. “It’ll just make a lot of people miserable on what should be a happy occasion.”

  “Are you going to go to the wedding?”

  “No,” she said flatly. Not that there was any chance Bill—or more specifically Noreen—would want her there.

  “Then why do I have to?” Ty asked.

  “Because you’re very important to your dad and he wants you there. Sometimes you have to be mature enough to do things just because they’re important to someone you love.”

  “Growing up sucks,” he grumbled.

  Maddie chuckled. “Yep, sometimes it does.” And tonight was definitely one of those times.

  That conversation was still fresh in Maddie’s mind when Cal showed up at the spa a few days later. She’d checked with Helen, and Ty’s assumption had been right. She would soon be a free woman. Would that make any difference at all in her relationship with Cal? Would she allow herself to look at him differently? Would he panic and take off the instant he knew she was truly available? Would the talk about them around town die down if Bill had remarried and she was single? Maybe part of the simmering attraction they both felt was that for right now their relationship was wrong. Until she had those divorce papers in her hand, she was still married, even if reality said otherwise.

  She met his gaze and felt that fluttering in her stomach that told her the attraction wasn’t dying anytime soon.

  “I thought you’d be here,” Cal said, holding out a bag filled with still-warm pastries from the bakery and two cups of very strong coffee. “And since you’ve been getting over here at the crack of dawn, according to Ty, I figured you hadn’t had breakfast.”

  “Shouldn’t you be at school?” she asked, accepting the coffee and trying to ignore the tempting, sugary scent of the pastries. Even if she’d skipped breakfast for a week, she shouldn’t touch those.

  “The kids are tied up with standardized testing all day,” he said. “I’m supposed to be making lists of all the equipment and checking it out for next year, but I decided to take a break and sneak over here to see how things are progressing.”

  Maddie seized on the neutral topic. “Did you look around? What do you think?” she asked, eager for his impression. She thought the place was amazing, but she welcomed an outside viewpoint.

  “The place looks incredible,” he told her. “I can’t believe what you’ve accomplished in such a short time. I haven’t peeked at the locker area or treatment rooms, but the workout area is topnotch. That’s first-rate equipment in there. Mitch says you’re still on track for opening in two weeks.”

  Maddie shuddered at the reminder. “He might be on track, but I feel as if I’m on a runaway freight train. I have checklists of my checklists and not nearly enough things are getting crossed off on any of them.”

  “Anything I can do to help?”

  “Not unless you want to unpack and fold several dozen towels,” she said. “Or figure out a way to display a few dozen cases of lotions and creams.”

  “I could do that,” he said.

  She regarded him with astonishment. “You really would, wouldn’t you?”

  He shrugged. “Why not, if it would help?”

  She wanted to tell him that Bill would never have deigned to put himself out like that. Instead, she merely said, “Thanks anyway, but I’d better leave that to Jeanette. She seems to have her own ideas about where everything in the treatment area belongs. Besides, she likes to ooh and aah over all the creams and oils. She doesn’t want anyone else to touch them.”

  He grinned at the faint testy note in her voice. “Ah, she’s challenging your control, is she?”

  Maddie winced at his perceptiveness. “Something like that.”

  “You hired her because she has certain skills, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then let her do her job and check those things that she can do off your list.”

  “Did you really come over here just to bring me coffee and ply me with sage advice?”

  “No, I came to ask you if you’re coming to tomorrow night’s game. It’s a big one.”

  “Ty mentioned it, but it’s Bill’s turn.”

  He frowned. “I think it would mean a lot to Ty if you were both there. It would mean a lot to me if you were there.”

  She studied him curiously. “Any particular reason?”

  He leveled her a look that could have seared a steak. “Do you really need to ask?”

  She felt herself flush. “In that case, are you sure my presence wouldn’t be a distraction?”

  “Probably, but it would definitely be worth it.” His gaze locked with hers. “Come to the game, Maddie.”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  “If you do, I’ll spend all day Saturday over here being your personal slave. You can assign me to all the last-minute, dirty little chores that need to get done.”

  She grinned at him. “An intriguing offer,” she admitted. “What do you get out of any of this?”

  “Time with you,” he said candidly. He stood up and leaned across her desk until his mouth was scarcely an inch from hers. “And if I’m very, very lucky maybe I’ll even be able to lure you into that hot tub I hear you had installed upstairs.”

  He brushed a quick kiss across her lips, then backed away. “Think about it,” he said, and then he left.

  Maddie stared after him, her lips on fire. The man really was dangerous. Think about it, he’d said so damn innocently. As if that image of the two of them sharing the hot tub weren’t indelibly burned into her brain. She couldn’t recall the last time temptation had been so irresistible.

  Cal was surprised when Maddie actually showed up at the game on Friday night. He hadn’t been sure if she’d rise to his challenge. The fact that she had gave him hope.

  Maddie had shown up in a pair of conservative khaki shorts, a prim little blouse tucked into the waistband and a pair of sneakers. He wondered if she’d chosen that outfit to remind him of what he’d said about what she’d been wearing the first night he’d seen her. There were plenty of women in the stands wearing less, but Maddie was the only one who kicked his hormones into overdrive.

  Because of that, he kept his gaze deliberately focused elsewhere, at least until he spotted Bill Townsend climbing into the stands to sit beside her. Then he could hardly manage to drag his gaze away. He hadn’t counted on the streak of jealousy that seeing those two together would set off.

  He kept stealing glances, wondering if she and Bill were merely being civil or if there was still something between them. He couldn’t imagine being married to a woman like Maddie for twenty years and having three kids, then walking away as if none of it mattered.

  “Coach?”

  Cal dragged his attention away from the bleachers to Luke Dillon. “What?”

  “The umpire wants to see you at home plate.”

  “Sure,” Cal said. He glanced around at the players. “You guys ready to play some ball?”

  The question was met with a loud cheer that made him smile. “I thought so.”

  He met with the umpire and the opposing coach, then sent his players onto the field. From the moment Ty threw his first pitch, Cal knew he was seeing something special. Nobody was going to hit that fastball. And his curves wer
e catching the corners of the plate. This time when Cal glanced into the stands, his gaze sought out not Maddie but a scout from his old team. Patrick O’Malley gave him a wide grin and a thumbs-up, confirming every instinct Cal had ever had about Ty’s talent.

  At the end of the game, Patrick was waiting for him.

  “Are you sure that boy’s only sixteen?” the scout said wistfully. “I’d sign him tonight if I could.”

  “Sorry. He’s still got two more years of high school left, but come with me and I’ll introduce you to his parents. It won’t hurt for you to get to know them now. If he’s as talented as we both think he is, you’re going to want to establish a relationship with his folks.”

  He led Patrick over to Maddie and Bill, who were congratulating Ty. Because he didn’t want the boy to hear their conversation, he sent him off to join his teammates, then turned to Maddie and her soon-to-be ex-husband

  “Bill, Maddie, I’d like you to meet Patrick O’Malley. He’s a scout for the Braves. I invited him tonight to see Ty pitch.”

  Maddie regarded him with surprise. “Is that why you were so insistent I be here tonight?”

  He nodded. “I knew Patrick would want to meet you. He’s as impressed by Ty as I thought he would be.”

  “But Ty’s still in high school,” she protested.

  “It’s never too early for me to start keeping an eye on a player,” Patrick told her. “Your son has what it takes to go pro, right out of high school if that’s what he wants.”

  Maddie’s expression froze. “You mean he’d skip college?”

  “Maybe delay it,” Patrick said. “We’d have to see where things stand in a couple of years.”

  Maddie turned to Bill, her gaze narrowed. “Did you know this was a possibility?”

  “Any kid dreaming of going pro wants to believe it’s possible,” Bill said. “But it doesn’t happen that often.”

  “And not with my son!” Maddie said fiercely. She frowned at Cal. “From the day Ty was born we’ve planned and saved for him to go to college. That is not going to change. How could you do this without even discussing it with me?”

  “I thought you’d be pleased,” Cal said honestly, taken aback by the genuine outrage in her voice.

  “Do I look pleased?” she demanded. “My son will go to college and that’s that. Once he’s graduated, that’s the time to have this conversation.” Her gaze locked with his. “We’ll discuss this another time. I’m out of here.”

  Cal would have gone after her, but Patrick held him back. “Let her go. You know that’s how a lot of parents react at first. Heck, you were smart enough to turn down the chance to go pro straight out of high school yourself. Don’t blame her for feeling that way about her son.”

  “I’ll talk to her,” Bill promised. “She’ll come around if it’s what’s best for Ty.”

  Cal wondered about that. He’d seen something in her eyes he’d never expected. Maddie looked as if he’d betrayed her when all he’d wanted was to give her son the opportunity of a lifetime. He’d been thinking like a coach, not a parent. Since Patrick was right about his having made a different decision for himself, his lack of foresight when it came to Ty made him question whether he was the right man for a woman with three kids, after all.

  “I have never been so furious with someone in my entire life,” Maddie declared to Helen and Dana Sue the next morning. Cal’s presumption had kept her awake all night. Somehow Ty had found out who Patrick O’Malley was and why he’d been at the game. Because of Cal her son’s hopes had soared, then come crashing back down when Maddie had to tell him that what Cal was promising wouldn’t happen.

  Now her son was furious with her and she was wondering why she’d ever believed that Cal truly had her family’s best interests at heart.

  “I imagine he thought you’d be excited for Ty,” Dana Sue suggested.

  “Well, of course I am,” she huffed. “It’s amazing that a professional scout thinks he’s that good.”

  “Then why is what Cal did so wrong?” Dana Sue asked.

  “He went behind my back,” she said. “I’m Ty’s mother. He should have consulted me.”

  “Maybe he didn’t trust his own objectivity,” Helen suggested. “Maybe he didn’t want to say anything till he knew how the scout would react.”

  “Why are you two defending him? Do you honestly think my son should skip college to play baseball?”

  Helen took her shoulders in a firm grip and steered her to a chair. “Sit. Now listen to me. No one is saying that Ty has to skip college. No one knows what will happen over the next two years. He could decide he wants to be an astronaut or something.”

  Maddie rolled her eyes. “Not likely.”

  Helen frowned. “I’m just saying that it’s pretty amazing to know he might have an opportunity that a lot of young athletes can only dream about. Maybe you should be grateful to Cal for making that happen instead of jumping all over him.”

  Dana Sue nodded. “Come on, sweetie. A professional baseball scout thinks your son is capable of going pro! How cool is that?”

  Maddie sighed. “Very cool,” she admitted eventually. “I guess the prospect just caught me off guard. It forced me to face the fact that Ty will only be mine for a couple more years, then he’ll be off on his own, whether it’s playing ball or going to college. I’m not ready for that. And the reality is, if baseball is what he wants, once he turns eighteen, I won’t have that much say about it, anyway.”

  “Letting go won’t be easy,” Dana Sue agreed. “Sometimes I worry myself sick wondering what kind of choices Annie will make once she’s on her own. I’m not convinced she’s making very good ones now.”

  Maddie was instantly alert to the worried note in Dana Sue’s voice. “Such as?”

  “It’s the eating thing. She seems to be putting food in her mouth, but she keeps losing weight. Something’s wrong, I just know it. If it keeps up, I’m terrified she’ll end up in the hospital.”

  “Has she been to see Bill?” Maddie asked.

  Dana Sue made a sound of exasperation. “She says she’s too old to see a pediatrician and that he’s a jerk for what he’s done to you.”

  “I can’t argue with that,” Maddie said. “But what about Doc Marshall?”

  “To be honest, I’m afraid to push it,” Dana Sue said. “I’m afraid it’ll just make things worse between us. We’ve always been so close, but now she thinks anything that comes out of my mouth is automatically suspect.”

  Maddie grinned. “She’s a teenager. She’s only a little bit younger than Ty, and look at the grief he’s been giving me. What did you expect?”

  Dana Sue’s expression turned wistful. “Gilmore Girls, I guess.”

  “It’s a TV show,” Helen reminded her. “Maybe I could take Annie to Charleston for a girls’ day out. We haven’t done that for a long time. We could shop, go to lunch. If she’s got an eating disorder, maybe I can pick up on it.”

  Dana Sue’s expression brightened. “Would you do that? She loves going places with you. I’ll pay for whatever shopping she does.”

  “No, it’s my treat,” Helen said. “I love spoiling Annie, Maddie’s kids, too. They’re all I’ve got.”

  “You’ll have your own one of these days,” Maddie assured her.

  “How?” Helen asked. “With my social life, it would take a miracle. And since I’m the same age as you guys, time is running out. Things start getting pretty dicey after forty.”

  “Then we’ll make you a miracle,” Dana Sue said. “You’d be a great mom.”

  “I’m a self-absorbed workaholic,” Helen countered. “That is not good mom material.”

  Maddie gestured around them. “But this place is going to change that. We’re going to fix your health and your priorities.”

  Helen looked doubtful.

  “We are,” Dana Sue promised. “You wait and see.” She turned back to Maddie. “And you’re going to work things out with Cal.”

  “I don’t know
why you’re so sure of that,” Maddie said. “After the way I treated him last night, I doubt he’ll even speak to me.”

  “You’re wrong about that,” Helen said, her lips curving into a grin. “Gotta go.”

  “Me, too,” Dana Sue said, hurrying off after her.

  Maddie turned slowly to see what had sent them fleeing and spotted Cal standing in the doorway.

  “Safe to come in?” he inquired.

  Relief spilled through her. “Sure, though I have no idea why you’d want to after last night,” she told him. “I overreacted.”

  “Not really. I caught you off guard and I’m sorry. I was trying to do a good thing.”

  “I know that,” she said. “But in the future…”

  “In the future, I’ll run anything having to do with your kids by you first,” he promised.

  “Thank you.” She studied him curiously. “Is that the only reason you came by?”

  He shook his head. “I told you I’d help out around here today. Just tell me what you need me to do.”

  She recalled the reward he’d claimed to want—some time alone for the two of them in the hot tub. “And the hot tub?”

  His gaze held hers. “I’m counting on it.”

  Her heart skipped several beats as she looked into his eyes. “Cal,” she began, her voice oddly choked.

  “Yes, Maddie,” he said, amusement lacing his voice.

  “I, um, have a really long list of chores around here today. The kids are spending the day with their dad, but they’ll be home right after dinner.”

  “Then we’d better hurry,” he said, still not looking away.

  Oh, sweet heaven, she thought, her heart thundering. It took every ounce of self-restraint she possessed not to toss her stupid list in the trash and haul the man straight upstairs.

  In the end, Maddie did what she always did—the responsible thing. And by the time she and Cal finally made it upstairs, put on their swimsuits and crawled into the beckoning hot tub, they were both so beat, they were content merely to sit silently side by side and let the water soak away their aches and pains. As electrifying as the occasional brush of his thigh against hers was, as amazing as it felt to have him link his fingers through hers, neither of them had the energy to do more.