He let his breath go, only realizing then he'd been holding it. Shit, it was only the second point of the first game. He needed to settle down. And he knew that was all Gaby needed. If she could hold serve here, she'd calm down a little.
But the next three points went Davina's way and she broke Gaby's serve to go one up in the first set.
Aurora continued coddling Max's arm. "She's just nervous. I mean, my goodness, look at all this." She nodded to the packed stands, and the throngs of people milling in between the courts beyond the court wall. Up above were windows lining the side of the main building that formed two sides of the court. Along with the broadcast booths, players and other industry types had access to that area. The windows were full of observers, even for a lowly first-round match such as this one. The crowds were bigger than anything they had in juniors, even for the championship games. He wondered what it would feel like to be on Centre Court. He returned his attention to the game as Davina prepared to serve, and mentally crossed his fingers that Gaby would have a chance to find out.
The second game went quickly. Too quickly. Davina served two aces to easily hold her service game at love, not giving a single point to Gaby. "Come on," he whispered under his breath. "You can do this." Coming in today, he'd just wanted Gaby to do her best and to come away, if not with a win, then with a match she could be proud of. He knew she'd be disappointed with anything other than a win, but he didn't want her to get bageled, either.
Gaby took the first point on her next serve, playing the same baseline game she'd done before, running Davina from side to side. Her serve for the second point was an ace. Max pumped his fist by his side. Good, good. Gaby turned then for another ball and didn't even glance up at the players' box. Her face was sheer determination now, as the crowd, the circumstance, everything else began to shrink back a little. That's the way, he thought. Stay focused, settle into your game. Make her run for the money, dammit.
She continued her punishing baseline game, not letting Davina into the net, and went on to hold serve. It was two—one, Davina, but now Gaby was in it.
In what seemed like a blink, Davina went on a tear, serving several blistering aces and attacking the net like a Rottweiler. And before Gaby could adjust, Davina was serving for the first set, up five games to two. With her serve on fire, as long as Davina kept her serve and volley game up and Gaby stayed pinned to the baseline, Max didn't see where Gaby was going to be able to work her way back into this. She was lucky to have held her serve twice. She hadn't come close to threatening Davina's.
Gaby made her work in the next game, but Davina ended up taking the first set, six games to two. It wasn't embarrassing by any stretch, but he knew Gaby had a better game than she was showing. And even after everything they'd been through the past couple of weeks leading up to today, he didn't want her experience here to end so abruptly. Certainly not like this. "Give her a match, Gaby," he murmured. "Come on, remember what Tess told you."
There came a voice by his ear. "And here I thought you'd prefer she never even met me."
Max had been so caught up in the match he hadn't heard the murmur that rippled through the crowd as a very well-known face made her way to the players' box. With all eyes and very likely one or two cameras trained their way, he could do little but welcome her.
Aurora went to scoot over, but Max squeezed her arm gently. "That's okay, Tess can sit on your right."
Smile easily in place, Tess squeezed past Max and Aurora, taking her seat just as the first game of the second set began. There was a hush as Davina served.
Max turned his attention back to the match, but his thoughts were scattered. He wanted to demand Tess tell him exactly what she'd said during her little on-air stint and why she'd done it in the first place. Right after he asked how in the hell she'd gotten into the players' box. Davina served an ace, and Max quickly glanced to his right. Tess had a press pass around her neck. And she'd apparently banked on him not making a scene in the middle of Gaby's match when she'd decided to join them regardless of his request that she stay away.
Davina sent her next serve blistering to the outside, but Gaby was Teady. She stabbed left and kept the ball in play. Max forgot all about Tess as he watched the rally unfold before him. Both players were focused, both were going for every shot. Come on, Gabs, he silently rooted. Make her earn it.
Davina won the point, earning a sigh of disappointment from Aurora, and something muttered from Tess. He tried not to think about it, focus on the play. But Davina went on to easily hold serve and it was Gaby's turn again.
"Has she been pasted to the baseline the whole time?" Tess asked him, leaning slightly in front of Aurora.
"She's doing what she does best," Max replied, not wanting to get into a discussion about this. He'd save all of it for later, when he intended to have a very involved discussion with her.
"And losing," Tess retorted.
"She'll turn it around." From the corner of his eye, Max saw Aurora settle back a little, allowing them more room to talk in front of her, a small smile playing around the corners of her mouth. Otherwise, she was all innocence, simply watching a tennis match as if nothing was going on.
Which begged the question, just what was going on? She had to have known Tess was in the announcers' booth earlier. Which, he supposed, made it clear which side she was on in this little power struggle. Not that this came as a huge surprise.
"Yes!" Tess announced, accentuating the comment with a little fist pump.
Max's attention flew back to the game. Dammit, he'd missed Gaby's serve. Her second ace of the match, too. Which he neatly blamed on Tess. If she'd just kept her nose out of this like he'd asked, he wouldn't have been distracted. Hell, he didn't care if she stayed on air all day or watched every single match. Except this one. He and Gaby had worked a long time toward moments like this and he wanted to focus on it, dammit. Enjoy it. Live every second of it. Revel in it.
"Come in," Tess whispered fiercely. "Short-court her."
Max watched Gaby serve again. Davina got it back.
"Short, Short balls," Tess urged, her voice barely reaching past Aurora to his own ears.
He was so finely tuned in to her, he couldn't block her voice out. Of course, she was right on the money, which didn't make it any easier. She was only saying exactly what he was thinking.
Gaby went on to win the game, but only because her serve got her some free points. It was one game to one, second set, best of three.
"She's doing quite well now," Aurora piped up, as the serve went back to Davina.
"She needs to pressure Davina on this serve, make her think a little bit out there," Tess said, never taking her eyes from the court. "She's making this too easy on her."
At that moment, Gaby turned to take a towel from a ball girl, so she could wipe her face as the afternoon air grew decidedly humid. She glanced up to the box, and apparently spied Tess for the first time. She gave the briefest of smiles, then tugged on her earring. A signal, maybe? From the corner of his eye, he saw Tess grin. Since when did they have signals? "Be careful," he said, "or they'll think you're coaching from the stands."
"I'm not her coach," Tess shot back, not even bothering to look at him. "Make her play, dammit!" Tess said an instant later, as Davina ripped her serve right down the tee and Gaby returned it neatly at her opponent's feet.
"Right," Max said, grinning, and knowing it wasn't entirely in response to Gaby being up a point on Davina's serve for the first time. "For someone who spends a lot of time denying she's a coach, you sure think, talk, and act like one." The words were out before he realized he'd spoken his thoughts out loud.
"Well, you of all people should know looks can be deceiving. Yes!" she exclaimed a second later, pumping both fists, then grinning broadly, as Gaby finally came into the net on a second short serve from Davina and made her pay in short, brutal fashion. "Break her, baby, break her," Tess intoned softly under her breath.
And yet Max heard every word. "Bloodthirst
y," he found himself murmuring back, just as quietly.
"Damn betcha," he heard in return, while keeping his eyes riveted to the court. He was almost hyperaware of the woman seated two down to his right, who was apparently just as wired into him at the moment, despite her focus being so intently on the court below. Appearances deceiving, indeed. And he was liking it a damn sight more than he had any right to.
Two points later, all three of them were on their feet, shouting approval as Gaby broke Davina at love. Tess threw her arm around Aurora's shoulder in a quick squeeze, but as they took their seats to ready for the next point, she glanced over the older woman's head and made full, direct eye contact with Max for the first time since her arrival.
Her bright green eyes were shining and her smile was wide and beckoning. He didn't know quite what to do with that beckoning part, nor the fact that he wasn't all that averse to being beckoned.
He sat back down, smiling absently at Aurora as she squeezed his knee in excitement, and blamed it all on the rush of adrenaline. Just as soon as they were off this court, she'd be getting a piece of his mind… and nothing else. Right now, it was all about Gaby, who was up two games to one, now on her serve and on the brink of going up three to one.
Aurora clapped her hands. "Come on, Gabrielle. You can do this."
With the help of two well-placed serves, Gaby took the game quickly.
"Now take it to her," Tess muttered. "Don't stand around back there and give her the whole court to work with."
Davina's first serve was an ace.
Aurora sighed, but Tess nudged her "She's fine. She'll hold up."
Max heard the whirring of cameras and looked down to see the field of photographers—the heretofore very small field, given the relative lack of importance of this match—had grown slightly. Tess's appearance, most likely, he thought.
Gaby returned well on the second point, forcing the error from Davina.
"That's my girl," Tess said, nodding in approval.
My girl, Max thought. Gaby was his girl. Sister, anyway.
Davina tried to pull Gaby out wide on the next point, but on the first short ball, Gaby came in toward the net with a vengeance.
"Yes!" Tess shouted, leaning forward.
Max was on the edge of his seat, too, as the two players traded several fierce volleys at the net before Gaby lobbed her for the winner.
Gaby's fist pump as she turned back to the baseline matched Tess's exactly. As did the grin the two of them briefly shared before Gaby once again took up her stance, awaiting the next serve.
Spooked by the teenager's surge of confidence, or perhaps just tightening up a little as it looked like the set was slipping away from her, Davina choked and double-faulted on the next point, giving the game to Gaby, who was now up four—one, with only two more games needed to take the second set.
The crowd was getting into it now, clearly rooting for Gaby, because she was the underdog, or because she had a famous face in her players' box, or a little of both. Max had no idea. But he knew never to underestimate the power of having the crowd behind you… or against you. He was just thankful they were rooting for her. He glanced around the court and noticed the stands had filled in almost completely. Had word gone around so quickly that Tess Hamilton was in the stands?
He turned his attention back to his sister. Or was the buzz partly for Gaby? Whatever the case, she seemed to feed off the energy that was rocking the stands now and easily held her service game at love.
"One game away from a third set," Aurora said, clapping her hands, sending her bracelets jangling.
Max found himself glancing over at Tess, and caught her doing the same to him. When she smiled, it was one of excitement and pure joy. It was the first time he could recall seeing her so open and carefree. There was nothing calculating or mischievous there. And he found himself wondering what she'd been like when she was younger, early on in her career, when she was eager and new to the ways of the tour, much like his sister was now.
Tess was still eager, and the hunger, the competitive drive that had led her to win a handful of the same trophy Gaby was playing toward today, still shone clearly in her eyes. Only now all of Tess's energy and focus was directed at his sister.
Max pulled his gaze from Tess's, and looked down at Gaby as she went into battle to take this match to a third set, He wondered for the first time if maybe Tess was helping Gaby as a means to continue her own battles on the court of play, battles she could no longer fight herself.
Wasn't that why a lot of players turned to coaching? Tess insisted she wasn't a coach. But watching Gaby out there, clearly benefiting from the brief amount of time Tess had spent with her, and watching Tess, clearly completely invested in the outcome of this match… he had to wonder if maybe she was protesting too much.
She might not want to coach, and Lord knows she didn't need a job… but maybe this wasn't about needing a job. Maybe it was about needing to be needed. And needing to have the adrenaline rush of winning, even if it was by proxy.
So why the television appearance today? Why flaunt herself, and by association, his sister, in front of the press, inviting more attention and therefore more pressure on Gaby? His thoughts flipped back the other way. Maybe she really didn't have Gaby's best interest at heart. Max felt his own heart settle firmly back in its proper spot as reality set back in. Maybe she just wanted to stay in the public eye, maybe that was her adrenaline rush now. And she was only excited about getting Gaby into the second round for the increased visibility it would bring her. A chance to continue her swan song in the public forum.
"Oh, my goodness," Aurora said, squeezing the lifeblood out of his hand. "She's going to win the set!"
And sure enough, on a short serve from Davina, Gaby charged the net again. Davina, clearly rattled, guessed wrong and stabbed right, as Gaby neatly dumped it over the net to the left.
The crowd leaped to its feet as the cool British umpire calmly called the set in favor of Miss Fontaine. Aurora hugged Tess, Max hugged Aurora, and Tess hugged them both.
Looking past Aurora straight at him, Tess said, "She's gonna take this, Max. She's gonna do it!" She hooted. "Davina will be lucky to get two games off her in the next set. Bet you."
And without knowing exactly why, he said, "I'll take that bet."
Tess cocked one eyebrow. "Oh? A betting man? I wouldn't have thought you had it in you."
Why was he smiling at her? Encouraging her? What was wrong with him? "Life is a gamble, right?" he heard himself say.
Tess's expression turned smug as they settled back in their seats. "Okay, Mr. Risk Taker, what's the bet?"
"Gaby moves on to the second round, you stick with her."
Tess looked surprised. "I wouldn't abandon her. What kind of bet is that? Except, of course, coming from you, asking me to stay on must seem like a major capitulation. But still, not exactly a wager."
"I wasn't done yet." Now Max's smile spread to a grin, and he had the distinct pleasure of watching Tess shift back a bit. Something he doubted she did very often, in any part of her life,
"Okay, what else?"
"You're getting paid to coach." She started to object, but he talked over her. "We're paying you to coach, okay? My job is to take care of the rest. So for the duration of the tournament, for however long Gaby is in it, you'll coach her, but you'll answer to me in any matters pertaining to Gaby that don't directly relate to coaching. And you'll stick with whatever I decide. That includes all press and media decisions."
Tess held his gaze, clearly not thrilled with the bet, but unable to back down from the challenge, "We have to get her past this match, first." She turned her attention back to the game.
Max kept his attention squarely on her. "So… we have a deal?"
Tess glanced briefly at him. "Don't look too smug yet, Risk Boy. I haven't named my terms if you lose."
"If Gaby loses, out business arrangement is over, so—"
"I didn't say if she loses, she won't lose
. Davina is on the ropes and going down for the count. The only part left up for grabs is how badly Gaby takes her. I said she'd win six games to two or better. That was my bet. If she takes more games than that to close this deal, you win."
Then she flashed him that grin again. The one that was calculated, mischievous, and all those other things that made his stomach knot up a little. It took a little extra rationalization to come up with why his heart was knocked a bit off balance, too. Surely he'd figure that out later.
"She takes this set six—two or better, then you're dancing to my tune for the duration."
Max wasn't entirely sure how he'd ended up with the short stick again. Something of which must have shown on his face.
Aurora patted his knee, a consoling expression on her face. If you discounted the twinkle in her eyes. "You did your best, dear. But she maneuvers people around for a living. You were outmatched."
Max ignored Tess as she folded her arms and settled back into her seat, clearly certain she'd bested him once again.
"Besides," Aurora added, "Gaby is the real winner either way, right? And isn't that all that matters?"
For a brief moment, Tess and Max traded glances… and in that moment, he wasn't sure either one of them could have answered that one convincingly.
Thankfully, they didn't have to. "She's serving," Aurora announced excitedly, bracelets jangling as she grabbed Max's hand in one of her own, and Tess's in the other. "Oh, I'm not sure I can take much more of this."
Less than twenty minutes later, an exultant Gabrielle Fontaine all but skipped to the net to shake hands with her opponent. Her defeated opponent. Then turned and shot the biggest smile of her career straight at her brother, and at Tess, as she pumped her fists over her head in victory. Max, Aurora, and Tess were all on their feet cheering. The rookie upstart had made it into the second round. The notorious Graveyard Court had once again claimed another victim.
Not So Snow White Page 23