Maddie brightened. “Really?”
Jeanette grinned. “I told you I know how to organize this kind of stuff. And once we do that friends-and-family special the week before we open, I think we’re going to be booked through summer,” she said. “I might have to hire additional help beyond what we’ve talked about, especially if we want to add herbal body wraps.”
“There’s no money in the budget for even one more person yet,” Maddie warned. “Besides, it’ll do people good to know that we’re booked so far in advance. That just adds to the aura that we’re the hottest new spot in town.”
“Which we will be,” Dana Sue said. “Now, let’s talk food. Look at the class schedule, please.”
Maddie handed a copy to Jeanette and looked over her own sheet.
“Oh, my God, sign me up,” Jeanette murmured eventually.
“I may not want to know how to cook these things, but I sure want to be around when you’re serving them up.”
Dana Sue laughed. “Which one sounds the best?”
“Desserts, of course,” Jeanette said. “Can you really do a bread pudding that won’t send me to carbohydrate hell?”
“I think Erik has the recipe just about down pat,” Dana Sue said. “Maybe I’ll have him make it for next Tuesday when we get together, and you can tell me what you think.”
“Count me in,” Jeanette said. “I haven’t touched bread pudding since I left home, but even the thought of it makes my mouth water.”
“If you can’t make it till next Tuesday, we do serve it at the restaurant,” Dana Sue told her. “Of course, for now it’s still the old-fashioned, full-calorie version complete with a scoop of homemade cinnamon ice cream on top.”
Jeanette stared at her with openmouthed awe. “I am so there.” She turned to Maddie. “Will you come with me? Just for dessert. My treat. You’ll still be at home in time for dinner with the kids, if you can eat another bite after all that decadence.”
Maddie started to decline, then decided that a half-hour indulgence was well deserved after the long weekdays she’d been putting in. She could take some home to the kids, too. Bread pudding was one of Katie’s favorites, and Erik’s version of it had earned her daughter’s devotion. She begged for the treat whenever they went to the restaurant.
Dana Sue grinned at her. “I’ll make up a to-go carton for Katie,” she said, as if she’d read Maddie’s mind. “I’ll even put it in a cooler so the ice cream won’t melt.”
“Then let’s get out of here,” Maddie said. “There’s nothing on this desk that can’t wait till tomorrow.”
And her quandary over Cal could wait another day, too.
Maddie and Jeanette were just finishing up their bowls of bread pudding when Betty Donovan left her own meal, crossed to their table and pulled out a chair without waiting to be asked.
“Excuse me for interrupting,” the high-school principal said with a brief glance at Jeanette, “but I really need to speak to Maddie.”
Jeanette gave Maddie a questioning look, then stood up. “I need to be going anyway. Thanks for coming with me, Maddie. I’ll settle up with Dana Sue on my way out.”
“See you in the morning,” Maddie told her, then drew in a deep breath as she turned to face the principal. “What’s this about? I assume it’s nothing pleasant. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been so rude to my friend.”
Maddie had known Betty for years. The woman was as uptight now as she’d always been, but she’d never been flat out rude before. Betty blanched at Maddie’s comment.
“I’m sorry. You’re right. I could have handled that better,” she admitted. “I had a lousy day at school and I assumed you wouldn’t want someone else hearing what I have to say, so I chose to be direct.”
“Then by all means, continue being direct,” Maddie said tightly. “Is this about Tyler?”
“No, from everything I hear from his teachers, your son’s doing better in school these days. I assume your husband laid down the law.”
“You assume wrong. Bill’s not much help in the discipline department these days. Come on, Betty, whatever’s on your mind, just spit it out.”
“Okay, then. It’s about you and Coach Maddox.”
Maddie immediately tensed. “What about us? Not that there is an
us.
”
“Oh, please, you can hardly deny that there’s something going on between you,” Betty said.
“I most certainly can—and do—deny it,” Maddie retorted. “He’s Ty’s coach and my friend. That’s it.”
“That’s not the way it looks to the other parents. They’re convinced that Ty is getting preferential treatment from the coach because you and Cal are so cozy. I field a dozen calls after every game you attend. It’s as if you’re rubbing the relationship in people’s faces.”
Maddie held on to her temper by a very fragile thread. “I shouldn’t even dignify that with a response, but I will. My son is the best pitcher on our team. Any preferential treatment he might get—and frankly I doubt it’s any—is because of that and nothing else. To suggest otherwise demeans not only my son but Coach Maddox. The coach can stand up for himself, but I will stand up for my son, so you need to tell those busybodies reporting to you to get a life and stay the hell out of mine.”
She stood up and tossed her napkin on the table, hoping the other woman didn’t see that she was trembling. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to pick something up in the kitchen and get home to my kids.”
Betty stood up, too. “I’m just trying to give you fair warning,” she said, not backing down. “I’m sure you don’t want this to get ugly.”
“It can only get ugly if you let rumors and innuendo become more important than facts.” Again, she started to walk away, then turned back. “You have a lot of influence with the parents, Betty. You’re in a position to put a stop to this. Show some backbone and do it.”
It was probably the right thing to say, but it was a mistake. Maddie knew it the instant she saw the flash of fire in Betty’s eyes. They might never have been friends, but now Betty would definitely consider her an enemy. Not that Maddie cared, but she didn’t want it having repercussions at school for her kids.
Before Maddie could offer a more tempered remark, Betty said, “I’ve warned Cal about this, too.” Her expression was triumphant when she saw she’d taken Maddie by surprise.
“When did you speak to him?” Maddie asked.
“A few weeks ago. He wasn’t inclined to take me seriously, either. I thought, having lived here all your life, you might be more sensible. Obviously I was mistaken.”
“What is it you think we need to do?” Maddie asked. “Put up a banner at the games denying we’re involved?”
“Simply staying away from the games might be a start,” the principal suggested.
Maddie regarded her incredulously. “My son is the star pitcher. I won’t be banished from his games because people choose to gossip.”
“Up to you,” Betty said with a shrug. “At the very least, I would suggest you avoid any more cozy little get-togethers with the coach at Rosalina’s.”
“Where an entire town is apparently watching everything we do,” Maddie responded. “What could possibly be more out in the open than that? We’re not snuggled up in the corner. We’re not all over each other. We’re not sneaking around behind anyone’s back. My relationship with Cal is completely aboveboard. We haven’t done a thing I would be ashamed for my children or anyone else to see.”
“How many times has Cal ridden to your rescue lately when it comes to Ty?” Betty asked.
“Is that a crime, too?” Maddie was bewildered. “I’d think you’d be thrilled to have a teacher who genuinely cares about his students.”
“Cal’s concern for Ty is admirable,” Betty admitted grudgingly. “It’s the depth of his relationship with
you
that I question.” She leveled a look into Maddie’s eyes and there was a faint trace of sympathy in her expression. “I know you’re going through a tough time, Maddie. Bill has behaved abominably. I really do understand that, but think about the harm you could be doing to Cal if you come to rely on him too much.”
“What kind of harm?” Maddie asked slowly, though she already knew.
“If enough parents get stirred up, whether their attitudes are justified or not, the school board will have no choice but to examine whether Cal belongs in this school system.”
Maddie’s mouth fell open. She hadn’t expected that. A censure of some sort, perhaps, a stern warning from the school board chairman even, but firing him? It was absurd.
“You’d fire him?” she demanded, making no attempt to hide her incredulity. “Over a couple of pizzas with a parent? That’s insane.”
“It could come to that,” Betty declared grimly. “It’s not the pizzas. It’s the appearance that there’s much more between you. As I said earlier, there’s a standard in Serenity that we expect our teachers to adhere to.”
And as Maddie knew all too well, in a town like Serenity, appearances were sometimes all that mattered.
“Let me ask you something,” Maddie said. “Are you this interested in the social lives of all your teachers?”
Betty flinched. “I’ve warned other teachers from time to
time when their behavior caused talk,” she said stiffly. “We expect the staff at the high school especially to set an example, and Coach Maddox should be an exemplary role model.”
“Did you mention to him before you hired him that you expected him to remain celibate and preferably alone for the duration of his teaching days in Serenity? Is there some morals clause that specifies that?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I never mentioned any such thing. But if parents lose confidence in a teacher or a coach, I have no choice—”
Maddie cut her off. “You always have a choice. If it’s not about some morals clause that’s probably not enforceable even if it does exist, then it’s the fact that he’s seeing
me
that’s the real problem.” The color that bloomed in Betty’s cheeks proved she was right.
“This is personal, isn’t it?” Maddie went on. “You’ve never gotten over the fact that Bill chose me over you, have you? Well, now that you’ve seen how that turned out, perhaps you should thank your lucky stars.” She leveled a look into the other woman’s eyes. “I know you and everyone else in this town has gotten used to me being the dutiful wife who’s easily cowed, but trust me, you do not want to make an issue out of this. I’ve lived in this town even longer than you have and I know about
all
the scandals, including a few I’m sure you’d like to see remain buried.”
She whirled away to the sound of Betty’s sharply drawn breath. She made it into the kitchen before the trembling in her limbs nearly felled her. Clutching the stainless-steel countertop, she bit back the urge to scream.
Dana Sue rushed over and put an arm around her. “What on earth? Are you okay?”
“I will be,” Maddie said grimly. “But I’d get Betty Donovan out of here if I were you.”
“Why?” Dana Sue shook her head. “Never mind. I’m on it. Do you need anything before I get back?”
“Nothing, though you might want to lock up the knives.”
Dana Sue cast such a frantic glance toward her sharply honed carving knives that Maddie smiled, despite her outrage.
“Just teasing, I swear,” she assured her friend. “But not about getting that woman out of here. If I see her again before I leave here, I won’t be responsible for the scene I cause.”
“Give me five minutes,” Dana Sue said. “Kicking her to the curb will be my pleasure. I never did trust her. She was always a Goody Two shoes.”
The immediate display of loyalty bolstered Maddie. Her warning to Betty to back off had been pure bravado, but now, with Dana Sue’s unquestioning support, she knew she could fight Betty, the school system or anyone else she had to.
She just prayed it wouldn’t come to that.
M
addie was calmer by the time Dana Sue returned to the kitchen.
“She’s gone,” Dana Sue said. “Now, would you mind telling me what the hell she said to get you this upset? You haven’t let Betty Donovan get under your skin like this since she announced she was better wife material for Bill than you were way back in tenth grade.”
Maddie didn’t think she could repeat Betty’s accusations and warnings right now, not without getting all stirred up again just when she was finally getting a grip on herself.
“Could we talk about this another time?” she pleaded. “I need to get home to the kids and make dinner. I’m already running late.”
She could tell from Dana Sue’s determined expression that she wasn’t going to get off that easily, but just then the restaurant’s sous chef shouted that the orders were starting to back up.
“I need some help in here!” he said in a commanding way that immediately captured Dana Sue’s attention.
Judging from her expression, he’d also stirred her ire. Maddie didn’t know the man Dana Sue had hired just a month ago
to help in the kitchen, but she had a hunch he wouldn’t be around long. This kitchen was Dana Sue’s domain. Her new pastry chef was an easygoing man who’d fit in perfectly, but this guy clearly had some control issues that guaranteed he and Dana Sue would be butting heads in no time.
Casting another scowl in the man’s direction when he repeated his demand for help, Dana Sue muttered, “Okay, okay,” as she moved back to the food preparation area. Even as she began to work, her gaze strayed back to Maddie. “I’m not forgetting about this,” she told her. “I will see you first thing in the morning.”
Needing the reprieve, Maddie would have agreed to just about anything. “Fine,” she said.
“Your cooler’s by the door,” Dana Sue called after her.
Maddie stared at her blankly. “Cooler?”
“With the bread pudding and ice cream for Katie,” Dana Sue reminded her with exaggerated patience.
“Of course,” Maddie said. “Thank goodness one of us has a functioning brain.”
She picked up the cooler and fled, knowing she was only postponing the inevitable.
Unfortunately, while she escaped Dana Sue’s inquisition, she ran right smack into another potential minefield. Cal was waiting for her at the house.
“Is there a problem?” she asked as she exited the car trying to ignore the little
zing
that zipped through her at the sight of him. He was wearing faded jeans that hugged his thighs and hips, a navy blue T-shirt that made his eyes bluer than ever, and his hair was damp as if he’d just taken a shower. He looked so thoroughly male and she was feeling so rebellious, she was tempted to grab him and head for the nearest motel.
She knew she wouldn’t, of course, but she had a hunch that
zing
was going to be even more difficult to resist now that she knew he was essentially forbidden.
“Nope, no problem,” he said, sliding his hands into his pockets, an innocent enough gesture that had the electrifying effect of stretching denim taut over a very intriguing bulge. “I just gave Ty a ride home from practice and decided to stick around till you got here.”
“Any particular reason?” she asked, dragging her gaze away.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you.”
“Not long enough,” she muttered.
He regarded her with a puzzled expression. “What?”
“Nothing. You may as well come on in,” she said ungraciously, then winced at her tone. She tried to counter it with a smile. “You can talk to me while I get dinner on the table.”
He followed her into the house and immediately began to set the table. She glowered at him.
“Did I ask for your help?”
“No, but I was brought up to pitch in,” he said, his tone even.
“So were my kids, but you don’t see them rushing in here,” she grumbled. She didn’t need more evidence of his thoughtfulness, not when she was trying to remember he was off limits.
He paused and stared at her. “Is something wrong, Maddie? You seem a little tense and out of sorts.”
“I’m fine,” she insisted, her back to him so he wouldn’t be able to read her expression. She was a crummy liar. Everyone said so.
He walked up behind her, not really crowding her, but making her all too aware of his presence. Her whole body hummed. Her response had to be the aftereffect of her con
versation with Betty. It just had to be. She could not want this man this much.
“Maddie?” he said softly, then waited until she released a sigh and turned to face him. “What’s going on?”
She barely resisted the urge to throw herself into his arms. Since doing such a thing would inevitably wind up leading down a path that was already stirring up more trouble than either of them could handle, she stood there rigidly, carefully avoiding his gaze.
“I’m waiting,” he said, then tucked a finger under her chin and forced her gaze to meet his. “Talk to me.”
“I don’t want to,” she said, aware that she sounded as petulant as Katie.
Cal chuckled. “Do it, anyway. You’ll feel better. I promise.”
“No, I won’t. Once this can of worms is opened, neither one of us is going to feel better.”
He looked taken aback. “What can of worms is that?”
“You and me and the Serenity Board of Education,” she said succinctly.
“Excuse me?”
Since it was obvious he wasn’t going to be satisfied until she explained completely, she decided to get it over with. “I had a little run-in with Betty Donovan earlier. She wants to make a mountain out of this molehill,” she said, gesturing from him to her.
“Us,” he said flatly. “Dammit, I thought I’d told her to get her nose out of my business.”
“I’m sure you did,” Maddie said. “But stopping Betty when she’s on a self-righteous mission is like trying to slow a runaway freight train by waving a flag at it.”
“What did she say to you?”
“In a nutshell? That we’re behaving inappropriately and setting a bad example for the children of this community.”
“That’s hogwash!”
“Well, of course it is,” Maddie said. “But that doesn’t mean she can’t make trouble for you, Cal. A lot of trouble.” She met his gaze. “Which means you can’t just show up here anymore. And I can’t have pizza with you after the games. I’ll turn to somebody else if I need help with Ty or leaky pipes or anything else. I will not let you jeopardize your career.”
“You let me worry about my career,” he said fiercely, then hesitated. “Or is there more at stake, Maddie? Has she threatened you, too?”
“No, only with the harm that I might be bringing down on you,” she admitted. “There’s nothing else she can hold over my head, except for the threat of a little embarrassment. I think I neutralized that.”
He gave her an odd look. “Meaning?”
“Let’s just say there are a few things in Betty’s past she would prefer never came to light.”
His lips twitched. “Do tell.”
“Not a chance. I’m saving those big guns for when and if we need them.”
“You surprise me,” he said.
“You didn’t think me capable of blackmail?”
“Something like that.”
“I like to think even some of us baseball moms are capable of hidden depths,” she told him.
He cupped her face in his hands and studied her with a look she couldn’t quite interpret.
“Amazing,” he murmured right before he lowered his mouth to hers.
Even though she’d fantasized about such a kiss, even though she’d been anticipating it for some time now, Maddie was pretty sure her heart stopped. When it started again, it thundered in her ears. And all the while Cal’s mouth moved over hers, tasting, savoring, lingering sweetly in a way that produced astonishing heat. Her hips swayed into his, fitting snugly against an impressive arousal. The shock of that had her stumbling back and thinking of what would happen if the kids wandered in.
“We can’t,” she said, turning away, her cheeks burning.
He laughed. “Oh, darlin’, I think we’ve just proved we can.”
“You know what I mean,” she said impatiently. “Didn’t you listen to a word I’ve been saying?”
“Every one,” he said dutifully, though the corners of his mouth were twitching up.
“Well, then?”
“I’m not letting anyone dictate what I do in my private life,” he told her.
“Is this some kind of weird challenge now?” she demanded. “I’ve been declared off limits, so now you want me?” She told herself it was irrelevant that she’d had a similar thought about him only a few minutes earlier.
Cal’s lips curved again. “Hardly.”
“You don’t want me?” she asked, furious at the sudden self-doubt that stirred in her.
He reached for her hand and deliberately placed it over the zipper of his jeans. The denim was straining to contain the evidence of just how much he wanted her.
Again, thinking that her kids could walk in, she jerked her hand away. “Stop, Cal. The kids are here.”
“Okay, you’re right, but look at me,” he commanded.
Maddie forced her gaze to his.
“I couldn’t fake that if I wanted to,” he said, his expression serious. “And so you know, I’ve wanted you that badly since the first day I set eyes on you. I even remember what you were wearing when you climbed up into the stands at Ty’s first game. A pink blouse that should have looked all prim and proper, but you’d tied it at the waist and there was a tiny little bit of flesh showing. I couldn’t take my eyes off that.”
Maddie swallowed hard. “I see.”
His gaze burned into her. “Do you? Do you understand that I won’t walk away from this—from us—without a fight?”
What on earth was she supposed to say to that? she wondered.
Bring it on?
Cal left Maddie’s before the kids came down to dinner. He didn’t want to have to hide his fury over Betty Donovan’s open declaration of warfare from them. Nor did he want to have to disguise the way he was feeling about their mother. Things were confusing enough for all of them right now. He totally got why Maddie would worry about that, as well as Betty’s threats.
What he wanted to do was barge into the principal’s home and give the woman a piece of his mind, but that wasn’t smart, either. He’d been around Serenity long enough to understand that there were certain politics at work here. He needed to handle this just right or he could lose everything—his job and a woman with whom he was falling in love.
Just thinking about the L word should have stopped him in his tracks, but it didn’t. He actually smiled. That’s when he realized that he wasn’t just falling in love with Maddie. He was
already head over heels in love with her. He didn’t know how or why that had happened, but he wasn’t going to fight it. No, he was going to fight
for
it.
Still pondering that amazing truth, he drove aimlessly for a while down two-lane country roads that wound through pine trees and palmetto groves, the last red glow of the setting sun filtering through them. For most of the drive, the green landscape was broken only by the occasional field with a farmhouse or double-wide trailer sitting on the property, but to his dismay there seemed to be an increasing number of clear-cut acres obviously about to be turned into housing developments or strip malls.
Eventually he found himself back in Serenity and in front of Paula Vreeland’s house. Every light was blazing, which told him she was home. Since there weren’t a dozen cars in the driveway, he also assumed she was alone. He’d instinctively felt a certain connection with her the first time they’d met. Now that he knew she was Maddie’s mother, the connection felt even stronger. Maybe she could offer a fresh perspective on all this.
His knock on the front door went unanswered. He wandered around to the back and spotted what had to be her studio. There, too, lights were blazing.
Crossing to it, he tried to make as much noise as possible so his unexpected arrival wouldn’t alarm her. She was waiting for him at the door of the studio, her expression amused.
“I suggest you never try out for a job that requires sneaking up on people,” she said. “You’d be a terrible covert operative.”
“I didn’t want to take you by surprise,” he said.
“You didn’t, though I am a little surprised that you’re here at all.”
“Do you mind?”
“A visit from a handsome man? Never,” she said at once. “Come on in and have a seat. I’ll clean the paint off me and we can have some tea.” She took a closer look at him. “Or a drink.”
“Tea will be fine,” he assured her. “Mind if I look around?”
“Be my guest. You displayed great insight when you bought one of my paintings a while back. I’d like to hear what you think of these.”
Cal wandered from canvas to canvas, surprised by her switch to oils and a far splashier palette than he’d seen in her prior work. “You’re trying something new,” he said carefully as he stood back to try to get the full effect. “Why?”
She came up beside him. “You don’t like them?”
“I didn’t say that. I was just wondering why you’d make such a dramatic shift in style.”
“Boredom,” she suggested. “Maybe I wanted to see if I have something different in me.”
“Are you happy with the results?”
She linked her arm through his and studied the canvases along with him. “Artistically I think they’re just fine,” she said, then grinned up at him. “But I have to say they leave me cold. Sometimes people should just stick to what they know.”
“And sometimes it takes a change to make them see that.”
She gave him a knowing look. “But you didn’t come over here to see what I was up to in my studio, did you? Is this about Maddie?”
He nodded.
“Then shouldn’t you be talking to her about whatever’s on your mind?”
“I have,” he said. “And I will again. I thought maybe you could offer another perspective.”
“I try to stay out of my daughter’s business,” she said, then grinned again. “But if you want to talk about
your
business, I’m all ears. Let’s get that tea. I might even have a couple of slices of pecan pie left. Interested?”
“Did you bake it?”
“Heavens, no! I know my limitations,” she said with a laugh. “This came from the bake sale at church. It’s excellent.”