“Not even a tiny bit amusing,” Cal said. “Stop worrying about this, Maddie. I’ll handle Betty. What about you? Are you okay?”
“Actually I’m mad as hell, but I don’t think going over to the paper and ripping Peggy’s bleached-blond hair out by the handful would be an appropriate response. A picture of that would probably make the wire services.”
“Might be worth it,” he commented. “I know I’d like to see that.”
“You have weird taste in entertainment,” she responded, but she was smiling. “I need to go. Helen, Dana Sue and Jeanette and I are planning our strategy for dealing with the situation. I just thought I ought to fill you in, so you’d know what to expect if you set foot out your door today.”
“One thing before you go,” he said. “Do the kids know?”
“No, I haven’t been home since I saw the paper. We don’t have it delivered, so they won’t see it.”
“Don’t you imagine there might be some calls at the house? Their friends might be only too happy to spread the word,” Cal said. “Want me to go over and field any calls?”
Maddie considered the offer for about two seconds, then sighed. “Bad idea,” she told him. “I think my house is the very last place you ought to be today, but you’re right that someone needs to be there until I can get back. I’ll get my mother to go over.”
“Will I see you later?”
As much as she wanted to see him and draw on his
strength, Maddie knew there was no way to do that without adding fuel to the fire. Nosy neighbors were probably already staking out her house and his.
“I don’t think so,” she said. “We need to keep our distance till this dies down.”
“You honestly believe it’ll die down?”
“Eventually.”
“Well, don’t expect me to wait forever, Maddie. I’m not going to let a little gossip ruin what we have.”
“Sweetie, this isn’t a little gossip,” she told him glumly. “It’s a killer hurricane. The winds are just now kicking up. You wait and see.”
She’d seen it before. Once this kind of thing took off, there was no stopping it till it destroyed everything in its path.
Maddie and the kids were in a pew near the back of the church on Sunday morning when Cal slid in beside her. As he nodded to Ty and Kyle, she regarded him with dismay.
“You didn’t say anything about coming to church this morning,” she murmured as the congregation stood for the processional.
“Last-minute decision,” he said, holding a hymnal where they could both see it. “After our conversation about what Peggy wrote in yesterday’s paper, I figured you’d disapprove.”
“I have to admit I don’t think it’s the smartest decision you’ve made lately.” She nodded toward the church members who were sneaking looks in their direction. “Are you trying to deliberately set tongues wagging?”
“Actually I was hoping that people who come to church might be more open-minded and tolerant, especially if they see we’re not trying to sneak around behind anyone’s back.”
Maddie bit back a sigh. “You are such a dreamer.”
Cal grinned. “That’s me, the eternal optimist. Now sing, darlin’, before tongues start wagging that we’re here on a date, rather than participating in the service.”
Though she had a whole lot more she wanted to say, she found her place in the hymn and dutifully sang. She was surprised when Cal’s voice blended with hers. This time when the folks closest to them turned and looked their way, there were at least one or two nods of approval and encouragement.
At the end of the service, when Reverend Beale reminded everyone of the fellowship gathering in the church hall, Cal glanced her way.
“I don’t think so,” she said tightly, knowing that he wanted to continue this ill-advised public declaration.
“The best way to silence gossip is to confront it,” he told her as the congregation began to file out. “We don’t have anything to hide, Maddie. Scurrying out of here will make it look as if we do.”
“Staying will make it look as if we’re flaunting an affair right under their noses,” she countered.
He grinned. “But we’re not having an affair.”
“Yet,” she muttered.
Cal’s grin spread. “That’s the most promising thing I’ve heard in ages. Come on, sweetheart, I feel like some cake and coffee.” He raised his voice to draw Ty and Kyle’s attention. “I’ll bet the kids would like something to eat, too, right, guys? And Katie will probably go to the social hour after Sunday school, right?”
“Yes, but there’s plenty of food at home,” Maddie said before they could answer. “We’re having Sunday dinner at two.”
“But it’s lots more fun to have dessert first,” Cal taunted. “Be wild, Maddie.”
She wanted to be, she really did, but she knew this town and these people. If she and Cal walked into the social hall together, it would be open season on the two of them. It was as good as admitting that Peggy was right, that they were an item and they didn’t care what anyone thought. Cal was obviously ready to make such a public announcement. She wasn’t sure she was, not when she understood the potential consequences more clearly than he did.
Just then Helen walked up and linked her arm through Maddie’s. “Cal’s right. Katie’s waiting inside. Now’s not the time to chicken out,” she whispered, then beamed up at Cal and tucked her other arm through his. “Let’s go stir things up.”
“Okay, okay,” Maddie said. “But I want to go on record as saying that this is a really bad idea. We’re not taking into account the impact this will have on the kids.”
“It’s okay, Mom,” Ty said. “Kyle and me can handle it. What Peggy wrote in the paper was mean and it was nothing but a bunch of lies.”
Maddie flinched. “You saw the paper?”
Ty rolled his eyes. “Are you kidding? At least ten kids from school called us before Grandma even got to the house. The first one read it to us. After that I hung up on everyone else.”
Cal regarded him with approval. “Good for you.”
Maddie didn’t even know what to say. “I had no idea,” she said eventually. “I’m sorry.”
Kyle shrugged. “It’s no big deal, Mom. Dad pretty much got us used to hearing all sorts of bad stuff.”
Maddie frowned. “All the more reason for me not to put you through any more of that. There’s no way I’m going to drag you into that social hour now.”
Helen gave her a chiding look. “If you don’t fight for what
you want, who will?” she said. “Today’s the day to take a stand and let folks know that your private life is your business and no one else’s.”
“Amen to that,” Cal said.
Maddie frowned at Helen. “You’re just hoping this will erupt into some sort of harassment lawsuit or something so you can charge into court and defend us.”
Helen feigned dismay. “The thought never crossed my mind,” she insisted, then winked. “But you do have my number if either of you need it. It would make my day to haul Betty Donovan into court by the seat of her starched knickers.”
Maddie chuckled despite herself. “That is an intriguing image, all right.”
Cal gave Maddie a lingering look. “Okay, the boys and I are up for this. How about you? Tell the truth, Maddie. Don’t let us pressure you into doing something you’re going to regret.”
“Hey, I’m as eager to put a few people in their places as you are,” she said with grim determination. “I just hope we don’t all live to regret it.”
Cal, Maddie and Helen had debated the wisdom of joining the fellowship hour for so long that Ty and Kyle had tired of it and gone on ahead, clearly anticipating the outcome of all the talk. When Cal and Maddie finally did walk in, the entire crowd fell silent. Even on a ball field when thousands were waiting for him to make a play or get a hit, Cal had never felt more the center of attention. He’d rather be standing flat-footed, taking a called third strike, than facing the animosity he felt in this room where people were expected to put on at least an appearance of warm-spirited generosity and friendliness.
Leaving Maddie and Helen just inside the door, he spot
ted Kyle and Ty by a table laden with baked goods. They looked a little shell-shocked.
“Coach,” several men murmured with a nod as he passed, but not one engaged him in conversation, probably due to the sharp-elbowed digs their wives had given them.
At the table, Ty and Kyle were already setting down their empty plates.
“This sucks,” Ty said. “I guess Mom was right. It was a mistake to come. I’ll go find Katie.”
“Yeah,” Kyle agreed. “Why’s everyone mad at us? Gossiping is bad enough, but it’s like they’re blaming us for you liking Mom.”
“No one’s mad at you,” Cal said.
“Okay, but they’re acting all crazy because of you and Mom,” Ty said. “They think you’re sleeping together.”
Cal gave him a hard look. “What do you think?”
Ty shrugged. “Mom’s not that dumb.”
Cal winced at the assessment. “I thought we had this conversation. You told me you wouldn’t be upset if your mom and I were dating.”
“But everybody thinks there’s more going on,” Ty said. “Me and Kyle have heard them talking. They’re joking about why Mom would want to be with a guy as young as you. They figure you’re some hot stud or something. I told you it was going to be weird.”
Cal clung to his patience. He didn’t want to have to defend himself or Maddie to her children, but thanks to that damn newspaper column, combined with human nature, it was evident he was going to have to.
“Age doesn’t have to be an issue in a relationship,” he explained. “Life experience is what counts.”
“Yeah, well, Mom’s got a
lot
more life experience than you,” Ty said. “Why would you want to date her?”
Cal decided it would be wildly inappropriate for him to point out that their mom was hot. Instead, he said, “Because she’s funny and smart and caring. Those are the qualities that really matter in a woman. Those are the qualities that’ll last.”
Ty gave him a knowing look. “I guess it doesn’t hurt that she looks good in shorts, though, does it?”
Cal tried not to grin. “Nope, it doesn’t hurt,” he admitted. He met Ty’s gaze man-to-man. “I made you a promise the other day. I intend to keep it.”
“What promise?” Kyle demanded, clearly not trusting a lot of promises made by grown-ups these days.
“That I will do my best never to hurt your mom, and she and I will do our best never to hurt you,” he told them. “So, despite what anyone else might think, is it okay with you if we spend some time together?”
“It’s not up to us,” Kyle said, sounding resigned. “Adults do what they want to do.”
“In the end, everyone should always make their own choices, yes,” Cal agreed. “But what you think does matter to us and it will always be an important consideration in whatever we do.”
Ty regarded him with a perplexed expression. “Can I ask you something?”
“Anything,” Cal said.
“How come all these people in here are making such a big deal about you and Mom in the first place? It’s not like you’re cheating on anyone the way Dad did.”
“Double standard,” Cal admitted. “Men think they can do things women can’t. And before you ask, no, it’s not fair.”
Just then they heard a commotion from across the room. Cal turned to see Helen backing Betty Donovan into a corner.
“Oh, brother,” he muttered and headed over there, Ty and Kyle right on his heels.
Cal arrived just as Reverend Beale interceded, spreading inane platitudes far and wide, all the while casting a disapproving look in Maddie’s direction.
“Time to go,” Cal said, swooping in just as Maddie looked as if she wanted to join in the fray. “Ty, find your sister.”
“Go ahead,” Helen encouraged, then turned a frown on the principal. “I have a few more things I want to clear up here.”
Taking his cue from Maddie’s panicked expression, Cal grasped Helen’s arm and guided her out of the hall before she could make matters worse.
Outside, he looked from one pair of tumultuous eyes to another. “What the heck happened in there?”
“Hell froze over,” Maddie said tersely.
Cal stared at her. “I beg your pardon.”
Helen chuckled, her tense expression relaxing. “Maddie told Betty it would be a cold day in hell before she let an uptight prig like her dictate who she could and couldn’t see.”
“Uh-huh,” Cal said, still waiting for the punch line.
Maddie shrugged. “She told me to get out my winter coat because she was about to prove me wrong.”
Before he had any idea just how furious Maddie was or what she intended, she grabbed a fistful of his shirt and dragged him close, then pressed her mouth to his. Heat shot through him, but he had enough reasoning power left not to let himself get too carried away right there on the steps of the church.
“Not that I’m complaining, but what was that for?” he asked, struggling to catch his breath when she finally released him.
“I am so tired of letting other people control my life,” she said, her cheeks flushed. “That was my declaration of war.”
“An interesting approach,” he said, then draped an arm over her shoulders. “But maybe we ought to go home before you get any other ideas.”
She shot him a defiant look. “I will not be bullied.”
“Good for you,” he declared, fighting a smile.
“Yeah, Mom, way to go,” Ty added, back and holding Katie’s hand. He grinned at Cal. “Is it okay if I deck anybody who brings up this subject at school?”
“No,” Cal and Maddie said in unison.
“Too bad,” Ty said, and walked on ahead to join his brother.
Once they’d walked the half mile to her house, Maddie seemed a little less sure of herself. Inside, she lifted her gaze to his. “I just made things worse, didn’t I?”
“I suppose we’ll have to wait and see,” he told her, then touched a finger to her lips. “Just so you know, though, it was definitely worth it.”
“Really?”
“Oh, yeah.”
The corners of her mouth curved upward. “Good to know.”
F
ive women quit the spa on Monday morning. Not one of them would meet Maddie’s eyes when she announced her intention.
Fighting a rising tide of panic and already debating what to do about the PR disaster, Maddie wasn’t prepared for the arrival of Helen and Dana Sue at midday. Judging from their dire expressions, they’d heard about the defections and concluded, as Maddie had, that she was a liability for The Corner Spa.
“You heard,” she said grimly. “You don’t have to say it. Having me involved with this place is going to be the kiss of death. I’ll quit.”
“You most certainly will not,” Helen said fiercely.
“We’re here to close ranks,” Dana Sue explained. “Now change into your workout clothes and let’s get in there and work up some sweat. We’ll all feel better.”
The last thing Maddie felt like doing was working up a sweat, especially when it also meant being the object of more speculative stares. She wanted to hide out in her office instead. “I don’t know—”
“This is no time to run off with your tail between your
legs,” Helen said, essentially repeating the advice she’d given Maddie on Sunday. “You’ve done absolutely nothing wrong. You’re spending time with an available man. If that were a sin, every woman in this town would’ve sinned at some time or another, including the very proper Agatha Nixon.”
Maddie rolled her eyes. “I think we all know that she’s probably never done anything more with a man than bake chocolate-chip cookies for him.”
Dana Sue grinned. “Are you saying you and Cal have gone beyond the cookie-baking stage?”
Helen immediately frowned at her. “Not the point,” she said. “Whatever heat these two generate is their business. I don’t care if they blow up the damn oven.”
“Well, of course,” Dana Sue said, looking miffed. “I was just teasing.”
“Not the time for it. We need an immediate show of solidarity.” Helen studied Maddie. “You do want this man in your life, don’t you?”
“Yes,” Maddie said, then heaved a sigh. “But not if it’s going to cause all this trouble.”
“That must make Cal feel all warm and fuzzy,” Helen said with disgust. “If you want him, we’ll figure this out. If you’re just in temporary lust, then get over it and we’ll all go back to work.”
Now it was Dana Sue’s turn to frown. “Geez, Helen, could you be any less understanding?”
“I’m on a tight schedule,” Helen retorted. “If you want understanding, send an e-mail to Dr. Phil.”
Maddie held up her hands. “Okay, you two, that’s enough. I will not have you fighting because of me. I have no idea how all this got so out of hand.”
Dana Sue chuckled. “I can explain it. There are at least twenty women in this town who had their eyes set on Cal, either for themselves, their daughters or their granddaughters. You dashed their hopes—that’s how it got out of hand. Pure, spiteful jealousy, all wrapped up in a pious need to protect our innocent children.”
Maddie hadn’t wanted to believe that about women she’d known most of her life, but she couldn’t deny that Dana Sue had it exactly right. “Well, be that as it may,” she said, “the fact remains that as long as I’m going to be pilloried by the residents of Serenity, my connection to this place is a bad idea.”
“You’re not quitting and that’s that,” Helen declared. “Now, get into your workout clothes and let’s get into the gym. I called Elliott Cruz on my way over here and told him we need him here early today to design a workout regimen for us that will take our minds off our problems. He has an hour before his first appointment.”
Dana Sue grinned at the mention of the personal trainer they’d hired. “Just looking at Elliott’s abs will take my mind off my problems,” she said. “Frankly, I think once women get a look at him, our memberships will go through the roof and all this nonsense will be a thing of the past.”
“And when folks see how you’ve trimmed up, Maddie,” Helen added, “they’ll know exactly why Cal’s attracted to you. You’ll be a walking advertisement for this place.”
“People are
canceling!
” Maddie cried.
Helen waved dismissively. “And a dozen more will join just to see what all the fuss is about,” she said confidently.
“If you’re so sure of that, why did you rush over here?” Maddie asked.
“Because I knew
you
wouldn’t be sure of that,” Helen told her.
Maddie’s eyes stung with tears. “I will walk away if it turns out you’re wrong,” she told them. “I won’t become a liability to you guys.”
Dana Sue grinned. “Have you ever known Helen to be wrong?”
“Once in ninety-four,” Helen conceded. “Paul Colson was not wearing a bad toupee at the annual pink-and-blue ball in Charleston. That actually was his hair, poor man.”
Maddie recalled the incident vividly. On a bet, Helen had tried to snatch Paul’s hair from his head. For her antics she’d suffered several embarrassing moments and the threat of a lawsuit.
“Do you have any idea how much I love you guys?” Maddie told them, sniffing. She reflected how often her friends gave her occasion to say this. Very often.
“Well, of course you do,” Helen said briskly. “Treadmill in five minutes. I mean it. I’m paying Elliott for a private session.”
Maddie was there in four, braving the curious or downright antagonistic looks of the other women working out. When Elliott joined them, his muscular body taut and trim, his coal-black hair almost shoulder length, he immediately drew their attention away from Maddie.
As the workout progressed, with Elliott issuing commands and demonstrating various machines in a way that showed off his bulging muscles, Dana Sue made an effort to draw a few of the other women into a conversation about their high-school days. The antics of the Sweet Magnolias seemed to be the highlight. Even women from neighboring towns had heard their share of tales about Helen, Dana Sue and Maddie at their most outrageous young selves.
“Not bad,” Elliott said eventually. He winked at Helen. “I expect to see more progress the next time we work out.”
“If I progress any further, I’ll probably collapse,” Dana Sue said.
“Hey, no defeatist attitudes allowed in here,” Elliott chided. “Now I see that my next client has arrived, so I’ll see you ladies later.”
After he’d crossed the gym, drawing admiring gazes as he went, Helen regarded the dozen or so gaping women with a satisfied expression, then winked at Maddie. “I think our work here is done.”
“Thank you,” Maddie said, giving her a hug.
“We didn’t do anything except get in our workout a few hours early and offer a little eye candy to the paying customers,” Helen said. “Call us if you need us back over here, okay? Moral support is part of our deal.”
Cal spent most of Monday enduring speculative looks from his fellow teachers and some serious ribbing from a bunch of teenage boys who clearly had no idea just how serious the situation was. All of it was getting on his nerves, along with the deafening silence from Betty Donovan’s office.
School was out in fifteen minutes and he had yet to be summoned into her presence for another stern lecture. He wanted to believe she’d thought better of her stance, but a reality check told him she was just mustering her forces.
Twenty minutes later, as he waited on the ball field for his players to show up for practice, school board chairman Hamilton Reynolds walked over to the bench and sat down beside him. He looked as if he’d just been pulled off a golf course and wasn’t all that happy about it.
“You’ve gotten yourself into a real pickle,” the seventy-year-old retired banker said, though without the kind of rancor Cal had been expecting from the man who’d put his own reputation on the line to bring Cal to Serenity.
“I’ve been spending some time with a woman,” Cal conceded. “I’m not sure why that’s such a big deal.” He met the older man’s gaze. Ham Reynolds had become a friend, one of the few Cal counted on for total honesty. “Or why it’s anyone else’s business.”
“I like you, Cal. You know that. I think Serenity is lucky to have you,” Ham said with sincerity. “So I’m going to explain a few facts of life to you. This isn’t New York City or Hollywood, where anything goes. We care about who influences our children in this town.”
Cal barely resisted the urge to remind him that Bill Townsend was a damn
pediatrician,
which put him in a position to influence as many impressionable kids as Cal could. But nobody was raising a ruckus about his illicit affair with his very young nurse.
Ham gave him a knowing look. “I know you’re just itching to throw Bill Townsend’s relationship back into my face, and you’d have a point. Want to know the difference?”
“I’d love to hear it,” Cal admitted.
“You’re a Major League ballplayer. Bill Townsend gives them
shots,
for Pete’s sake. How many kids do you think like or respect him for that?”
“I’m a
former
Major League ballplayer,” Cal corrected.
“My point is that your past sets you up on a pedestal for a lot of these kids. Not only that, you’re coaching a winning baseball team and that gets you a lot of attention in this town and around the region. You need to think before you engage
in some kind of hanky-panky with the mother of one of your players.”
Cal met his gaze. “Would it help if I told you that I did think before I started spending time with Maddie? I thought about what an incredible mother she is, what a charming, intelligent woman, and what a raw deal she got from her husband. I thought about how her kids needed someone steady in their lives, not to take the place of their dad, but just to be there for them. I started out by wanting to be her friend, maybe a mentor for the kids, and somewhere along the way, I fell in love with her.” He held Ham’s gaze. “I will not apologize for that, not to you, not to the school board.”
Ham looked visibly shaken by his declaration. “You saying you intend to marry Maddie?”
“We haven’t discussed it,” Cal said. “Despite what you’ve read in the paper and heard around town, we’re still finding our way with each other. There is no affair, Ham. I give you my word on that. What there is, is a strong friendship I don’t intend to lose, and maybe a whole lot more.”
“Then you’d ignore me if I advised you that the smart thing would be to stop seeing her?” Ham said.
“Yes.”
Ham’s gaze remained steady. “She’s that important to you? You’d give up your job, if it came to that?”
“Without a single hesitation,” Cal told him.
For the first time since he’d sat down beside Cal, Ham’s expression softened. “Well, I’ll be damned.”
“Is it going to come to that?” Cal asked him. “Are you going to fire me?”
“I don’t have that power,” Ham said. “It’s up to the school board.”
Cal gave him a wry look. “I may not have been in Serenity all that long, but even I know that they follow wherever you lead.”
“You’re giving me more credit than I deserve, especially in a situation like this,” Ham said. “Some parents are riled up. I’d say the next school board meeting could get ugly. And there are at least some on the board who don’t like to go against public opinion. They don’t need to have the law on their side. They’ll just act and worry about any legal consequences later.”
“Come on, Ham. Lay it on the line. Which way is this going to go?”
“I can’t say for sure,” the older man insisted. “But you come into that meeting and tell them what you told me, and I’ll fight to keep you on staff.” He shrugged. “Have to say you’re right about one thing.”
“What’s that?”
Ham grinned. “I don’t lose many battles I set out to win.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” Ham cautioned. “Thanks to all this commotion, a special meeting’s been called for tomorrow night at eight. If I were you I’d come in there prepared for a fight. Think of it as game seven of the World Series, ninth inning, with everything on the line.”
“Not that there’s any pressure,” Cal said, laughing.
“You can handle it, son. I’ve seen you in plenty of tough spots.”
Cal thought back to the day Hamilton Reynolds had walked into the rehab center where he’d been hiding out as much as recovering from his injury. The old man hadn’t shown him an ounce of pity, just said he’d heard that Cal had
his teaching credentials and they could use a man like him back in Serenity to coach their high-school team. He’d thrown Cal a lifeline and it appeared he was doing it again.
“No matter how it goes, I want you to know I appreciate everything you’ve done for me,” Cal told him.
Ham clamped a firm hand on his shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “You’ve never let this team or this town down. I intend to see that folks remember that. There’s not going to be some ridiculous witch hunt on my watch.” He stood up and glanced toward the field, where Ty was throwing one strike after another. “That boy as good as I think he is?”
Cal grinned. “Even better.”
“Wouldn’t be, if you hadn’t been here to guide him. Remember that, you hear me?”
Cal watched the old man go, then turned around to face the team, all of whom were pretending they hadn’t noticed the visit from the chairman of the school board.
Ty left the mound and walked over to him. “Was that about you and my mom?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Cal said.
Ty looked disappointed. “You promised you’d be straight with me.”
“You’re right,” Cal said. “Okay, there’s going to be a special meeting of the school board tomorrow night to discuss all the talk that’s been stirred up.”
Ty’s expression turned worried. “Are you in trouble? Are they gonna fire you?”
“I’m sure it won’t come to that,” Cal said, praying that he wasn’t placing too much confidence in Ham Reynolds’s powers of persuasion.
“Does Mom know?”
“Not yet,” Cal admitted. “And I’m thinking maybe she doesn’t need to know. It will only upset her.”
Ty gave him a knowing look. “Do you really want to be around when she finds out later?”
Cal chuckled. “You’re a very smart kid. I’ll talk to her after practice.”
He’d just have to find some way to make sure she didn’t hold herself responsible for putting his career in jeopardy, not when the truth was that he’d gone after her with his eyes wide open.