Stealing Home

by Sherryl Woods

  “The rain caught me just as I came around the corner of the building,” he told her.

  He started to release her, but she kept him still by resting her hand against his cheek. “No, don’t let go,” she whispered, her gaze locked with his. “I was just thinking about you.”

  “Were you?”

  She gave him a rueful look. “We’re the talk of the town.”

  He winced. “Sorry again.”

  “Not your fault,” she said. “I gather we were spotted leaving here Saturday night and then you mentioned something about the hot tub to someone.” She grinned. “You can imagine how it went after that.”

  “How’d you find out? I’m sure someone was only to eager to tell you,” he said.

  “Bill called.”

  “That must have been awkward,” he said, searching her face.

  “That’s one word for it.” For some reason, standing here with Cal’s arms around her, instead of feeling guilty or angry, she felt good. Very good, in fact.

  Cal brushed a strand of hair from her face. “We could really give them all something to talk about,” he suggested, a glint in his eyes.

  Maddie laughed. “Believe me, I’ve considered that.”

  “And?”

  Since he was so close and felt so wonderful, she rubbed a thumb across his lower lip, then traced her fingers over the faint and oh-so-masculine stubble on his cheek. “Probably a bad idea,” she confessed eventually. “Not that I’m not tempted.”

  “Me, too,” he said. “But I trust your judgment. Besides, I had a visit from your son this afternoon. He cut his history class to have a little heart-to-heart with me.”

  Maddie groaned. “Oh no, what did he say?”

  “He wanted to know just how far things had gone between us. Those weren’t exactly the words he used, though.”

  This time she did back up a step and covered her face with her hands. “I am so sorry. I knew he was upset about me asking you to dinner, but I had no idea he’d confront you.”

  “I think it’s good that he did,” Cal said. “Now it’s all out in the open.”

  She studied him. “What’s out in the open?”

  “The fact that I would like to spend more time with you.”

  Her heart stilled, then pounded. “You told him that?”

  “Yes, and I told him that if things got serious between us, I would talk it over with him and his brother and sister.”

  Maddie felt as if she were still on the treadmill and it was running away with her. She couldn’t keep up.

  “I can’t do this,” she whispered, suddenly panicked by how quickly things seemed to be moving.

  He regarded her with confusion. “Do what?”

  “You, me, any of this. It’s too complicated. We have to call it off. Not that there’s anything to call off. I mean, we haven’t done anything to apologize for, not really.” She couldn’t even look him in the eye as she rambled on, embarrassed by her son’s behavior, her assumptions, pretty much everything, including her own steamy fantasies.

  “But after we talked, Ty said he’s okay with me coming to dinner tomorrow,” Cal protested.

  “It’s more than that,” she insisted. “Could you just go, please? I can’t think with you here.”

  He didn’t budge. “Maybe you shouldn’t be thinking. It’s been my experience that too much thinking keeps people from being in touch with their real feelings.”

  “We don’t have real feelings for each other,” she said, wishing it were true. “We’re infatuated, maybe in lust. That’s it.”

  “Speak for yourself,” he told her.

  “I am. Please go,” she begged, failing to keep the note of desperation from her voice.

  “Not until we talk this through,” he said stubbornly.

  “There’s nothing to talk through, Cal. It has to stop now.” Before she fell head over heels in love with him.

  She glanced up and caught the frown on his face.

  “Okay, let’s deal with this one thing at a time. Are you canceling my invitation to dinner? That seems to be what triggered all of these doubts.”

  She sighed heavily, but managed to keep her tone firm. “Yes, I am definitely canceling dinner. I had no idea a simple invitation would get so complicated.”

  “Why did you ask me in the first place?”

  “I wanted to thank you for being such a good friend to all of us,” she said. When he regarded her with skepticism, she shrugged. “Okay, I wanted to spend a normal evening with you and my kids.”

  “What’s changed?”

  “I explained that. The boys got all worked up. Bill’s in a frenzy. The whole town’s talking about us. I’m not sure it’s worth adding any more fuel to the fire. It’ll just create problems.”

  “For whom?”

  Now, that was the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question. “Mostly for you, I think.”

  “I’m not worried,” he said.

  “Only because you don’t understand how small-minded people in small towns can be once they get a whiff of scandal.”

  He regarded her with amusement. “Me coming to dinner will create a scandal?”

  She knew it sounded ridiculous, but he obviously didn’t truly grasp how badly things could get blown out of proportion. “Not by itself, no, but along with everything else—the parents thinking you’re giving preferential treatment to Ty because of me, the whole hot-tub story, the get-togethers at Rosalina’s—yes, that can be twisted into something ugly.”

  He looked disappointed in her. “So you’re going to let people with nothing better to do than gossip dictate what you do? I thought you were stronger than that.”

  “Strong? Me? You must have me confused with someone who’s not going through a divorce and dealing with three kids who are a mess because of it.” She regarded him intently. “I have to think about the boys. It’s been confusing enough for them lately. And then there’s Katie. She’s heartsick that her dad’s not home. Besides, it’s not as if you and I are…” Her voice trailed off.

  He grinned. “As if we aren’t what? Dating? An item? Lovers?” His gaze held hers. “Serious?”

  She gasped.

  “The town gossips aren’t the only ones who’ve made that leap, Maddie. It’s crossed my mind, too. Not five minutes ago, as a matter of fact. Hasn’t it crossed yours?”

  When she didn’t answer him, he let the silence drag on.

  “Okay, yes,” she admitted eventually. “It’s crossed my mind.”

  “But?”

  “It would be complicated,” she repeated. “Very complicated.”

  He studied her with a frown. “You’re not just talking logistics, are you?”

  “No. I think the reactions we’ve gotten to this dinner invitation pale by comparison to the commotion that going any further with the relationship would cause.”

  “And that matters because…?”

  “Your job, for one thing. We already know that your principal is eager to make an issue out of us seeing each other.”

  “If I’m not worried about that, why should you be?”

  “Maybe you should be worried,” she told him. “I don’t think you realize how far Betty might go.”

  “Oh, I realize that,” he replied. “But in the end, she’ll lose. And even if she doesn’t, I’ve learned one thing by walking away from baseball—there are always other opportunities in life.”

  “But you’re a good teacher and a great coach,” she protested. “I don’t want the kids to lose you.”

  “Frankly, neither do I,” he admitted. “But we’re talking about my personal life, not some crime I’ve committed. I can handle a little heat, if it comes to that.” He tucked a finger under her chin and held her gaze. “Come on, Maddie, you’re going to have to come up with a better excuse than that to break things off.”

  “Okay, then, my kids,” she said. “I can’t put them through any more turmoil.”

  “I get that,” Cal said quietly, his gaze steady. “I reall
y do. And believe me, I am not suggesting we turn their worlds upside down by doing something drastic. But don’t you think if we did a few things together—dinner, a picnic, a ball game, whatever—they might get used to me being around? Something tells me your ex wasn’t that considerate. He didn’t let them get used to much of anything before he announced he was marrying Noreen, did he?”

  “No. I think that’s what hurt most of all,” she conceded. “It was just dumped in our laps. One day we were a family and the next day we weren’t. And to top it off, Bill had a whole new family waiting on the sidelines. He still can’t understand why the kids are so resentful.”

  “Well, I do understand that,” Cal said. “And I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get them used to the idea of you and me together.”

  Amazement and a faint hint of longing spread through her. “You almost sound as if you’re thinking long-term,” she said, wonder in her voice.

  “I am,” he admitted. “I have been from the minute I thought I had a chance with you. I respect you, Maddie. You’re all about family. It would be wrong to offer you anything less.”

  “I don’t know what to say to that,” she whispered, shaken and more than a little intrigued. She hadn’t even allowed herself to fantasize about a serious relationship with Cal.

  “Does knowing what I want scare you?” he asked.

  She lifted her gaze to his, then answered from her heart. “Not half as much as it probably ought to.”

  He smiled. “Then how about I walk home with you and say hello to the kids. Nothing else, just hello.”

  “That’s it?”

  “That’s it.” He winked at her. “Of course, if it goes well, I’ll be over for dinner tomorrow night.”

  “You’re one of those ‘give the man an inch and he’ll take a mile’ guys, aren’t you.”

  “Apparently so.” He studied her. “Is it a deal?”

  “Maybe you should kiss me again,” she suggested.

  “To seal the deal?”

  “To remind me of why I’m suddenly willing to throw caution to the wind for you.”

  He laughed. “I can do that,” he said and covered her mouth with his.

  The kiss stole breath and thought and apparently common sense, because in that moment, with his lips on hers and his heart beating strong and sure beneath her hand where it rested against his chest, just about anything seemed possible.

  A reporter from the Serenity weekly newspaper was sitting in Maddie’s makeshift office, her tape recorder running as she interviewed Maddie, Dana Sue and Helen about why they’d decided to open a fitness club in Serenity.

  “I suppose each of us had her own reasons,” Helen said. “But the one thing we all agreed on was that the women of Serenity need a place they can go to get healthy, a place where they feel pampered and maybe even make new friends.”

  “It’s definitely about more than getting a good workout in pleasant surroundings,” Dana Sue said. “It’s going to be a gathering place for women, someplace where they’ll feel totally comfortable letting their hair down.”

  “No men allowed, then?” Peggy Martin asked.

  “Not after our grand opening,” Maddie confirmed.

  Peggy turned to her. “Does that mean there will be no more late-night visits by Coach Maddox?” she inquired, her saccharine tone belying the glint of malice in her eyes. “I understand he’s been a regular here lately.”

  Before Maddie could gather her composure and answer, Helen stood up. “I believe you have everything you need,” she told Peggy. “I’m due back in court in an hour.”

  “But she didn’t answer my question,” Peggy said, even as Helen snapped off the tape recorder.

  “No, she didn’t,” Dana Sue replied. “Because she knows you asked it because you’ve got a burr up your butt because Cal never gave you a second glance.”

  Peggy looked as if she had a whole lot more she wanted to say, but Helen latched on to her elbow and guided her to the door.

  “Thank you so much for coming by,” Helen said through clenched teeth. “I’ll be speaking to your boss later about our advertising plans in the Serenity Times.” She gave Peggy a hard look. “Or not.”

  Maddie winced at the less-than-subtle threat. When Helen had escorted the reporter out the door, Maddie turned to Dana Sue. “She shouldn’t have done that,” she murmured. “Now we have an enemy.”

  Dana Sue shrugged. “We were bound to have one or two.”

  “But it might be better if they didn’t work for the local paper,” Maddie said wryly.

  “Oh, I imagine Walt Flanigan will keep Peggy’s worst instincts in check,” Dana Sue said. “He’s more concerned about advertising revenue at the Times than he is about Peggy’s right to target a local business in her newspaper column. She was out of line. This was an interview for a feature story about The Corner Spa, Maddie, not about your personal life. If she wants to stir up real trouble, she ought to dig around for some corruption at city hall. I hear Mayor Lewis had dinner with the woman whose company is bidding on the town’s office-supply contract.”

  Maddie chuckled despite herself. “That’s his wife, and you know it. And she only wins that contract after competitive bidding. Howard’s a stickler for that. He even recuses himself from the vote.”

  Dana Sue grinned. “But with the right spin, anything can be made to seem a little shady. Let Peggy focus her mudslinging tendencies somewhere else.”

  “But she was right,” Maddie said. “Cal was here a couple of nights.”

  “So what?”

  “The Corner Spa is for women,” Maddie reminded her. “We’re building our reputation on that.”

  “Oh, for goodness’ sakes,” Dana Sue said impatiently. “Skeeter and Roy and Mitch have been crawling all over this place, along with all their workers. What’s one more man on the premises before we get the doors open?”

  “We both know Cal wasn’t working when he was here,” Maddie said.

  Dana Sue grinned. “I’d be disappointed if he had been.”

  Maddie rolled her eyes at Dana Sue’s unrepentant expression. “Well, I’ll make sure he understands that he can’t be coming around here after the opening,” she vowed.

  “Maddie, don’t let anything Peggy Martin said get under your skin and ruin what’s happening with you and Cal.”

  “If she were the only one with something to say, I could handle it,” Maddie said. “But she’s just the tip of a very large iceberg.”

  “Sweetie, this is Serenity, South Carolina. Just how long do you think an iceberg stands a chance in the heat down here?”

  Maddie chuckled again, her dark mood finally lifting. “You have a point.”

  “Well, of course I do. Now I’m going to hightail it over to the restaurant and try to get some food prepared before the lunch crowd starts complaining that all we’ve got on the menu is a house salad and dessert.”

  “So, what’s on the menu today?” Maddie asked. “Maybe I’ll stop by.”

  “Great idea,” Dana Sue said. “Showing your face in public is one way to quiet all the talk. And, along with baked pork chops served with mashed sweet potatoes, I’m making a new chicken salad with a lime-cilantro dressing. You can tell me what you think.”

  “Sounds more Southwestern than Southern,” Maddie commented.

  “Don’t tell anyone or they’ll want the chicken in it fried, not baked, and they’ll demand I dump ranch dressing all over it,” Dana Sue said with disgust. “I’m trying to broaden tastes around here.”

  “Well, the menu sounds fantastic to me. Count me in.” Maddie stood up and gave Dana Sue a fierce hug. “I am so glad you’re my friend.”

  “Right back at you.”

  But once she was alone, Maddie couldn’t help wondering whether Peggy Martin’s unanswered question and the way she’d been unceremoniously escorted from the premises were going to come back to haunt them.

  18

  It seemed as if everyone in town had shown up for the grand op
ening of The Corner Spa on Friday night. With no baseball game scheduled, the place was so crowded Maddie could hardly breathe. Dana Sue’s hors d’oeuvres were being devoured at an alarming rate. People were raving about the luxurious atmosphere in the treatment rooms with their subdued lighting and lavender scent, the spotlessly clean locker room and showers, the café with its comfortable tables and chairs and its glass-fronted showcase that would eventually hold a variety of healthy salads, fruit and yogurt parfaits, fat-free muffins and other tempting treats.

  They’d picked up a dozen new memberships in the first half hour. Jeanette was manning the information-and-membership desk for the moment and she was swamped, but she gave Maddie a thumbs-up.

  Maddie retreated outside to try to catch her breath. Within minutes Helen and Dana Sue found her. Helen was carrying three glasses of champagne. She handed one to each of them.

  “Ladies, I think we’re a success!” she said, grinning and clinking her glass to theirs.

  “It’s a party,” Maddie cautioned, unable to let herself relax and enjoy the moment. Too much was riding on this for all of them. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s see if we continue to stay ahead of projections once the doors are officially opened on Monday.”

  “Oh, stop being so gloomy,” Dana Sue scolded. “Have you listened to those women inside? They’re crazy about the place.”

  “And their husbands are green with jealousy,” Helen said. “I even overheard a couple of them vowing to get on Dexter’s case to clean up that gym of his.”

  Just then, Jeanette slipped outside to join them. Her cheeks were flushed with excitement, but her eyes were vaguely troubled. “Here you are. I was looking all over for you.”

  Maddie took one look at her agitated expression and felt her stomach sink. Jeanette was the calmest person she knew. She claimed that practicing yoga and meditation kept her that way, and it was essential for making clients feel soothed and pampered during and after a facial.

  “What’s wrong?” Maddie asked.

  “Nothing major,” Jeanette said.

  Maddie grimaced at the attempt to placate her. Because Jeanette had been on-site every day, she knew better than any of them that Maddie’s nerves were stretched to the limit.