Stealing Home

by Sherryl Woods

  In a way it made their few stolen moments alone even more tantalizing. There was so much promise in the fleeting touches, such tenderness and consideration in the way Cal took his cues from her, demanding nothing, but hinting at so much more.

  Finally she looked into his eyes. “You envisioned a different outcome, didn’t you?”

  His slow smile warmed her.

  “I’m with you,” he said. “That’s enough.”

  “It’s too soon for anything more,” she said with regret. “And there’s no time, anyway. The kids will be home soon. I need to be there.”

  His gaze held hers. “We’ll go then, as long as you promise me a rain check when the time is right.”

  “You have it,” she said without hesitation, then stood up.

  Cal rose from the water, as well, and caught her hand before she could step out of the tub. “One more thing,” he said.

  She held her breath at the heat in his eyes. “Yes?”

  He cupped a hand behind her neck and touched his lips to hers. The simmering awareness that had been there all day flared into a full-fledged inferno. The water in the hot tub felt ice-cold by comparison.

  When he released her, he ran a thumb along her cheek. “Just that,” he said.

  That kiss kept her floating all the way home. It sizzled in her memory, overshadowing the far more chaste kiss he gave her at her front door.

  “Good night, Maddie.”

  She knew his leaving was for the best, but she wasn’t ready for him to go. She settled for inviting him to dinner the following Tuesday.

  “Are you sure?” he asked.

  “Of course, why?”

  “How do you think the kids will react?”

  “They’ll be thrilled,” she said confidently.

  Cal still looked doubtful. “If it turns out you’re wrong about that, let me know.”

  “I’m not wrong,” she assured him, but after he’d gone, she began to have her own doubts. Maybe it was too much to expect them to embrace yet another change in their lives, no matter how innocently she presented it.

  Determined to deal with the subject head-on, she mentioned the invitation as she, Ty and Kyle sat at the kitchen table having milk and cookies after Katie had gone up to bed.

  Ty looked at her as if she’d announced plans to race around the streets of Serenity stark naked. “You what?” he asked.

  “I asked Coach Maddox to join us for dinner this Tuesday,” she repeated.

  “You can’t be serious,” he said, obviously dismayed. “Why would you do that?”

  “I thought you liked Coach Maddox,” she said, perplexed by his reaction. “He’s been over here before.”

  “As my coach!” he shouted. “Not with you! This is like a date or something.”

  “Not really,” she denied, hating that they were reacting exactly as she’d feared they might. “It’s dinner. We’re friends. It’s not the big deal you’re making it out to be.” Okay, okay, maybe she wanted or even expected things to be different, but friends were what they were right now. Period.

  Hot-tub fantasies aside, she amended.

  Ty clearly wasn’t appeased.

  “Sure,” he said sarcastically. “Dad has his special friend and now you have yours. Way to go, Mom!” He tore out of the room and thundered up the stairs, then slammed the door of his room to emphasize his displeasure.

  Maddie stared after him, then turned around to see Kyle regarding her warily. “Not you, too,” she said.

  “It is a little weird, Mom. He’s Ty’s coach. And he’s way younger than you.”

  “I invited him to dinner,” she said defensively. “Not to move in.”

  Kyle gave her a look that was wise beyond his years. “Don’t you think that’s how it started with Dad and Noreen, too?”

  16

  Maddie spent most of Sunday afternoon at home working on designing the invitations for the spa’s grand opening. To stay within her self-imposed printing budget, she’d found samples of elegant but less costly paper and was going to print the invitations on her computer, assuming she could design something classy enough to suit her partners. She had half a dozen alternatives for Helen, Dana Sue and Jeanette to decide among when they all came by for Sunday supper. And one or two of those were pretty impressive, if she did say so herself.

  She was just finishing up and tucking everything into a file folder when everyone showed up.

  “Where are the kids?” Helen asked as they all followed Maddie into the kitchen.

  “Eating pizza upstairs,” Maddie admitted.

  “Banished to their rooms?” Dana Sue asked. “What did they do?”

  “To be honest, both of the boys are furious with me, so I figured having them at the table would spoil our appetites.”

  “What brought that on?” Jeanette asked. “Anything you want to talk about?”

  Maddie hesitated, not sure she wanted to tell them about their reaction to her inviting Cal for dinner until she’d had more time to think about it and decide what she ought to do. She knew Helen and Dana Sue, at least, would have strong opinions. Jeanette might be more circumspect, but she was learning to hold her own with the rest of them, so even she might not be counted on to keep silent.

  She delayed answering by handing each of them bowls and plates to sit on the dining-room table. She’d baked a chicken, made a pear-walnut-and-blue-cheese salad and grilled some vegetables. It was probably the healthiest meal she’d ever set before them. The kids would have hated it.

  “Ty’s figured out that there’s something going on between you and Cal, hasn’t he?” Helen guessed as they all sat down to eat. “And he’s comparing it to what his dad did.”

  Maddie stared at her, startled by her intuition. “How did you come to that conclusion?”

  Helen shrugged. “It was bound to happen.”

  “Why? Cal and I haven’t really done anything,” she said, tired of making the same denial over and over. “We’ve never even gone on a date. I just asked him to come to dinner on Tuesday. I figured I owed him for everything he’s done for me and Ty.”

  “No, you wanted to spend an evening with him at your table to see if he fits in,” Helen corrected. “At least be honest with yourself about your motives.”

  Maddie started to argue, then sighed. “Okay, maybe.” She regarded her friends with dismay. “I wasn’t expecting such strong reactions from the boys. They were appalled. Should I cancel?”

  “Absolutely not,” Dana Sue said vehemently. “If you do, the kids will know that all they have to do to chase off any man is pitch a fit. I’ve had exactly five dates since I kicked Ronnie to the curb and Annie has hated each and every one of them on sight. Not that her opinion doesn’t matter, but we’re talking about my life here. It’s hard enough getting to know someone new and giving them a fair chance without having your kids chime in. Any dates I have from now on will not involve meeting my daughter until I know if they have staying power.”

  “And we already know that Cal has staying power,” Helen said. “Dinner can only be a good thing. He knows the kids already. He’ll overlook it if they start out resenting his presence. I imagine he’s been in trickier situations. He deals with teenagers all the time.”

  “I suppose,” Maddie said doubtfully. She picked at her food.

  “Okay, what else is wrong?” Helen demanded. “It’s not just about the kids’ reaction, is it?”

  “Maybe I’m being foolish,” Maddie admitted. “I mean, what kind of relationship can I have with a man who’s so much younger than I am? I’m not cut out for a fling.”

  “Come on, Maddie, get serious,” Helen scoffed. “Is that all you think Cal is interested in?”

  “I don’t know,” Maddie said candidly.

  “I don’t think you’re giving him enough credit,” Helen told her. “Stop worrying. Don’t pin a label on what’s happening or anticipate problems that might not arise.”

  “I already know it will be a problem with the school syst
em,” Maddie said glumly. “Betty Donovan will make sure of that.”

  “Cal knows she’s on the warpath, right?” Helen asked.

  Maddie nodded.

  “Is he worried?” Dana Sue asked.

  “Apparently not.”

  “Then you shouldn’t worry, either,” Dana Sue advised.

  Maddie turned to Helen. “Will he have a legal leg to stand on if they do try to fire him?”

  Helen grinned. “He will if he hires me,” she said. “Stop borrowing trouble. Don’t make excuses to stop this before it even gets started. I predict Cal Maddox will be the best thing that ever happened to you.”

  Jeanette, who’d been quiet for some time, nodded. “If he’d ever looked in my direction, I surely wouldn’t turn him down. Face it, Maddie, every female in town is bound to be a little jealous if you two go public. Just smile and let them wonder what they’re missing.”

  Maddie chuckled despite her concern. “You are very bad.”

  Jeanette grinned. “So the man in my life likes to remind me.”

  “Is this mysterious guy of yours coming to the opening?” Dana Sue asked her. “We’re dying to meet him.”

  “Oh, he’ll be there,” Jeanette said with what sounded a lot like grim determination. “In fact, I’m hoping once he sees Serenity, he’ll want to move here. The commute from his place in Charleston is getting really old.”

  “And if he doesn’t?”

  Jeanette’s expression sobered. “Then I might have to rethink some things.”

  “You wouldn’t leave us, would you?” Maddie asked, not trying to hide her alarm.

  “No way,” Jeanette said. “I love what we’re doing here. If I leave anything, it would be Don. I don’t think I can stay with a man who doesn’t totally support what I want to do.”

  “And you think he doesn’t support you in this?” Maddie asked.

  Jeanette shrugged. “He’s been ticked off about the amount of time I’ve been spending at the spa. He says it’s cutting into our time together, which it is, but that won’t be forever. I’m beginning to think he’s basically a pretty selfish man.”

  “Or maybe he just doesn’t do well with change,” Maddie suggested, hating the idea that they’d come between Jeanette and someone who was important to her. “Give him some time to adjust.”

  “I am, which is why I haven’t dumped him already,” Jeanette told them. “Opening day is his chance to come through for me.” She shrugged, her expression wistful. “We’ll see.”

  “Men are a complication, aren’t they?” Dana Sue said with a sigh, then grinned. “But when they’re good, they’re worth it.”

  “Amen,” Helen and Jeanette said.

  Maddie wasn’t so sure. She thought of the turmoil her kids were in between Bill’s behavior and the new role Cal might be playing in her life. Maybe things would be a whole lot easier for all of them if she kept all men at arm’s length and just resolved to be the best single mom in Serenity.

  Then, again, how much fun could a cranky, discontented single mom possibly be?

  Bill arrived at his office on Monday morning after stopping by the hospital to check on a patient who’d had an emergency appendectomy on Sunday evening. Noreen was waiting for him with an oddly expectant expression on her face.

  “What’s going on?” he asked as he slipped out of his jacket and put a white lab coat over his shirt. Some days he didn’t bother with the lab coat, but this morning there hadn’t been one decently ironed shirt in his closet. Noreen didn’t have Maddie’s knack with an iron. He supposed he was going to have to start taking his shirts to the dry cleaners if he expected them to be starched and pressed the way he liked them. It was just one more change in his life he was going to have to accept.

  Noreen closed the door to his office. “I heard something this morning that I thought you ought to know,” she said as if she could barely contain herself.

  He frowned at her eagerness to share some nonsense she’d picked up around town. “Gossip?” he asked disdainfully. “Noreen, you know how I feel about that.” For one thing he figured people in their position had no business talking about anyone else.

  “I know, I know,” she said. “But I really think you should make an exception for this. I stopped by the drugstore for breakfast since we didn’t have any eggs in the house. The whole place was buzzing.”

  Bill resigned himself to hearing what had everyone in town stirred up. It didn’t take much, especially not with Grace Wharton willing to stir the pot.

  “Maddie’s having an affair with Cal Maddox!” Noreen announced, her expression gleeful. “See, I told you you’d want to know.”

  “That’s absurd,” he said emphatically, but the story resonated a little too much. His knees suddenly felt weak. He sat down hard, then considered the possibility that there could be some element of truth behind the gossip. He’d seen the two of them together more than once himself. He’d even sensed some kind of spark there. Still, he felt the need to deny the rumor. “She has to be a decade older than he is. What could he possibly see in her?”

  Noreen gave him a pitying look. “No wonder your marriage was on the rocks when we met if you couldn’t even see how gorgeous and desirable your wife is.”

  “Believe me, I know how attractive Maddie is,” he said tightly. He’d felt more than a few sparks himself lately, quite possibly because he knew she was now out of reach.

  He focused on Noreen. “Come on, think about it. You know Maddie would never do something that would make her the object of ridicule, not after what you and I did to her. Sure, she’s spent a little time with Coach Maddox, but an affair? That’s nuts. People in town just like to talk.”

  “Maddie and Cal were over at that spa till all hours on Saturday night,” Noreen said, a triumphant gleam in her eyes. “Grace saw them leaving together. Then Cal told someone yesterday that the place has an awesome hot tub, that he’d tried it out himself on Saturday. Now, you tell me if that doesn’t sound as if there’s something going on.”

  Bill felt his stomach plummet. He knew better than to listen to even half of the rumors that flew around Serenity, but if there was even a tiny chance that this one was true, he had to take it seriously.

  “Go tell my first patient I’ll be right with them,” he said curtly. “I have a call to make.”

  Noreen frowned. “You’re calling Maddie?”

  “Well, of course I’m calling Maddie,” he said impatiently. “Did you think I’d let this pass?”

  He could tell from her expression that she’d had another mission in mind. No doubt she’d wanted him to accept that Maddie had moved on. She hadn’t intended to make him jealous.

  Which, of course, she hadn’t, he told himself. He was not jealous of anything Maddie might choose to do with her life. He just didn’t want to see the mother of his children make a fool of herself.

  Yeah, right. That didn’t exactly explain the dismay that was eating at him when he picked up the phone.

  Maddie was in the midst of one crisis and had two more on hold when her cell phone rang. She fumbled in her purse trying to retrieve it while she finished up with Skeeter on the other phone. She punched the talk button, told whoever it was to hang on, then finished up with the cantankerous plumber.

  “Friday,” she told Skeeter. “That’s absolutely the final deadline. The grand-opening party is a week from Friday and we open for business on the following Monday. I’ve got the inspector scheduled for 9:00 a.m. this Friday, so everything has to be in working order. We cannot afford not to pass inspection.”

  “I promised you everything would be ready, didn’t I?” Skeeter grumbled. “I’ve been passing plumbing inspections in this town since you were in diapers.”

  “You also promised me that the toilets would be installed last week,” Maddie retorted. “They’re still sitting in boxes.”

  “Today,” he assured her. “I’ll be there in an hour. I just have to get Mitzi Gleason’s drain unclogged before she pitches another hi
ssy fit.”

  “One hour,” Maddie agreed. “Otherwise, I’ll hunt you down at Mitzi’s and it won’t be pretty.”

  Skeeter laughed.

  “I am not kidding,” she assured him and hung up, then put the cell phone up to her ear. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

  “What the hell is going on over there?” Bill demanded. “I don’t have all day to sit around and wait for you.”

  “You could have hung up,” she suggested mildly. “That’s what you usually do.”

  “This is too important. I need to see you,” Bill announced in that commanding tone she knew all too well. “I have a half hour at noon.”

  “Well, I don’t. I’m at work. I’m no longer at your beck and call,” she snapped, in no mood to indulge his imperious demands.

  “Then I’ll come there,” he said. “It won’t leave much time, but we have to deal with this.”

  “Deal with what?”

  “You and Coach Maddox, that’s what,” he said. “Are you out of your mind, Maddie?”

  It was one thing for her teenage sons to have issues with her inviting Cal over to dinner. It was another thing entirely for her ex-husband to think he had any say whatsoever in the matter.

  “May I remind you yet again that your chance to control my behavior ended when you decided to walk out the door.”

  “The man is ten years younger than you are,” Bill said.

  “Noreen is sixteen years younger than you are,” she returned.

  He ignored that. “I warned you before about this,” he said self-righteously. “You’re making a fool of yourself, Maddie. And you’re embarrassing your children. I can only imagine what Ty must think. People all over town are talking about you and his coach cavorting around in some hot tub. Noreen heard about your affair when she was at Wharton’s this morning.”

  “Noreen is now reporting to you when she hears gossip about me? How lovely! I wish someone had been kind enough to share the news of your affair with me. I might have been more prepared when you announced you wanted a divorce.”