Working My Way Back to You

by Doreen Alsen

  She closed her eyes. What didn’t kill you made you stronger.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Dad? Can you tell her now?” Danny’s version of a whisper could not be defined as soft and secret. What the kid knew, the world knew.

  Beth picked up her water and took a slow, deliberate sip. “Tell me what?”

  “Dad says I don’t have to take piano lessons any more.”

  Beth turned horrified eyes toward Jeff. Who wanted to sink into the floor. He cleared his throat. “That’s not exactly what I said.”

  “Yes it is,” Danny said. “You said you’d tell Mom about the piano lessons.”

  Jeff saw virtual lightning flash from Beth’s eyes and fingertips. Way past time for some damage control. “You promised me you’d play something for me.” He concentrated all his focus on Danny. “Go play the piano for me.”

  “Do I have to?” Jeff might as well have said, “Go eat some raw liver.”

  “‘Fraid so. You promised me.”

  Danny started to get out of his chair. Beth cleared her throat. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

  Danny stood next to his chair. He rolled his eyes like the champ Jeff called him. He rolled his eyes all the time these days, like it was his job. “May I be excused?”

  “Thank you. Go and play.” Danny whooped. “I meant the piano.” Danny stopped mid-whoop. “I love to hear you. Play the Bach Two Part Invention you’ve been working on.” Beth smiled.

  Danny glanced at Jeff. The kid clearly expected him to step in.

  “Go ahead, champ. Let me hear what you got.”

  Danny trudged off with all the enthusiasm of a convict going to the electric chair.

  ****

  Beth skewered Jeff with a glare. “Once you hear him play, you’ll know why I won’t let him quit.” No matter what, she wasn’t letting Danny squander his musical talent. “He’s got a rare gift.”

  How dare Jeff come in at the last minute and try to order her around? He’d find out she wasn’t the powerless little girl she’d been ten years ago. Her son was meant to play the piano.

  Danny began to play. Badly. Loudly. Wrong notes and wrong rhythms on purpose. Beth sighed.

  “He’s making mistakes on purpose,” she said.

  “Yeah, even I get that. But, Beth, if he hates the piano lessons so much, talent or no talent, why make him suffer?”

  Beth felt her jaw drop. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “No, I’m not kidding. You shouldn’t make him waste time on something he hates.”

  Beth wanted to take her dinner fork, reach across the table and stab him. “You have no idea what Danny wants or needs. You don’t have the first clue about him.”

  “And that’s my fault, how?” His eyes glittered with rancor.

  Beth had had enough. “I think it’s time for you to leave,” she said, fronting more calmness than she thought was possible. “Go say good night to Danny.”

  “Beth,” he said, his voice laden with exhaustion. “I don’t want to fight with you all the time.”

  “Then don’t.”

  “I want him to have my name. I need him to be Danny Myers. I want to change his middle name to William. What is his middle name anyway?”

  “Paul. After the apostle.” She forced herself to keep it together. “We need time to work things out. I don’t want to keep you from Danny. I haven’t denied you any time with him. As for last names, he probably will want that too and be thrilled to have his middle name changed to your father’s.”

  “Good.” He stood and took his plate over to the sink. “Here’s the thing. The fall break is next weekend. I want to take Danny to Addington to meet my mother and Cookie.”

  “You’re crazy, right? Your mother must have dropped you on your head all twenty-eight years ago.” Beth couldn’t believe he was serious. “There is no way I’m letting you take Danny to spend quality time with Katie.” Even though she’d known it was coming.

  His eyes went flinty and cold. “Danny will meet the rest of my family. And Cookie is his sister, whether you like it or not.”

  “You can’t take him without me.”

  “I don’t want you to come. It’ll be easier without you.” He shook his head. “You’ve got to work with me on this.”

  Danny ran back into the kitchen. “So can I stop my piano lessons?”

  “That’s between you and your mom, but I don’t see why you can’t take a break from the piano for a while.”

  Danny wrapped his arms around Jeff’s waist, hugging him tight. “Thanks, Dad!”

  What? How dare he? “Danny, it’s time for your homework.”

  “Can I wait until Dad goes?”

  The air started to snap, crackle, and pop around her. “I need to talk to your dad before he leaves. Say good night then hit the books.”

  Both Danny and Jeff seemed to know she had had enough. About time.

  Jeff knelt in front of Danny and ruffled his hair. “Good night, champ. Now go and do as your mom tells you. I’ll see you tomorrow at practice.”

  “‘Kay!” Danny hugged him again. “G’night!”

  “Go get your books and bring them in here. You can work on the table while I clean up the kitchen.” Beth looked at Jeff. “I’ll walk you out.”

  Danny ran to get his books, mercifully out of earshot.

  “I really wish you’d work with me on this,” he said as she handed him his jacket.

  “I really wish you wouldn’t undermine my authority with him.” She folded her arms under her breasts. “I appreciate the back-up you’ve done already, but don’t start to cross me. Danny’s keeping up with the piano.”

  His brow furrowed. “I don’t see why he has to.”

  The urge to slap his face had her palms tingling again. “He’s got talent, real talent. If he keeps up, he can have the career I gave up to keep him. You have to respect that.”

  “That career was your dream. Don’t impose it on him. Let him find his own.”

  She closed her eyes. “Just go, Jeff. Please.”

  “I’ll be in touch.”

  Oh, goody. Something to look forward to. Dandy. Just dandy.

  Chapter Twenty

  Danny had begged and pleaded with Beth to take him to the Sharks’ game on Friday night. She gave in, knowing how much it would mean to him to see Jeff in action. Dressed in jeans and his oversized black and silver Lobster Cove Sharks hoodie, Danny could not sit still. He wiggled and fidgeted like someone dropped fire ants down his pants.

  He’d wanted Beth to wear the same thing, but she didn’t have anything like that, so Danny made her dress in the school colors.

  Clad in black jeans, a gray Irish fisherman’s sweater, and a purple ball cap she’d pulled her ponytail through the back of, Beth remembered that last year in Addington when she went to every game Jeff played.

  He was her first kiss, her only boyfriend, her only lover.

  She’d adored him.

  Now, sitting in the stands, all those feeling rushed back, the love, the adoration, the obsession. She trembled with the force of those emotions.

  She did not welcome them.

  Not one little bit.

  Danny nudged her shoulder then pointed down to the sidelines. “Look, Mom! There’s Dad!”

  Beth followed Danny’s gesture down to the field. Yep. Jeff was down there looking at a clipboard. He’d dressed in a pair of black dress pants, a lavender button down shirt with a silver tie, covered by a black blazer.

  He’d always looked scrumptious to her. She’d thought him the most handsome boy in the world.

  He’d only improved with age.

  The opposing team, the Ellsworth Eagles, ran onto the field, spurred on by their cheerleaders, kicking it into high gear in their maroon and gray uniforms.

  A hush came over the crowd as the Sharks cheerleaders moved into place carrying a huge paper covered wooden frame. The paper was painted with picture of a shark on the hunt, toothy mouth open wide, and the words Fig
ht! Score! Win! Go Sharks!

  The pep band launched into Queen’s ‘We Are the Champions,’ and the hometown boys ran through the frame, tearing the paper as the Sharks burst on to the field.

  The crowd leapt to its feet, screaming and clapping. Teenage girls in black, silver, and purple uniforms cartwheeled back to their places on the sidelines.

  They faced the crowd and whipped the Sharks’ fans into a frenzy. Danny was one of those fans. He whistled and cheered with the loudest of them. Pride radiated out of him, pride that he was the coach’s son. Beth’s heart jumped up and lodged in her throat. She’d never seen her son so intense, so captivated.

  Her son had fallen in love with his father.

  She tried not to feel jealous, since Danny had finally gotten his dearest wish, a father.

  That Jeff was back in her life didn’t make a difference as long as her son was happy.

  Boy, she really was a liar.

  It had been just the two of them, she and Danny, for so long. She mourned the loss of that closeness. Danny watched the game with a focus Beth hadn’t seen in him before. Ever. Danny was all about the game.

  And against her will, Beth was all about the coach. She couldn’t take her eyes off him. She wanted to hate him. It would make her life so much easier. Instead she was drawn to him more than ever; damn her hormones.

  Half time came and went. She let Danny get food from the concession stand, something she’d never let him have before. He just wore her down. And, in the current situation, she didn’t want to be the parent who always said no.

  Since Jeff had become the fun parent.

  She’d stretched her rules, but it felt a lot like bribing Danny. Actually, truth to tell, it was exactly like bribing Danny. She glanced at her son and was again struck with how much Danny already admired Jeff. Emulated Jeff.

  Loved Jeff.

  The future shrouded in uncertainty, Beth wanted her perfectly controlled life back. Didn’t look like that would happen anytime soon.

  “Mom, can we go with the team to the victory party at Lobster Lanes?

  “You’re not part of the team, Danny. Besides, it’s past your bedtime and the Junior Sharks have a game tomorrow.”

  “I can so go. Dad will let me.”

  “Dad’s not got the last say here, I do. Dad or no dad, it’s a party for high school kids, and in case you hadn’t noticed, you’re not one.”

  “But Mom!” His blue eyes were filled with rebellion.

  “No. We’re going home.”

  ****

  The Sharks won by the skin of their teeth. Way from satisfied, Jeff fumed.

  He’d been painfully aware of Beth and Danny in the bleachers. Too distracted by their presence, he could barely keep his attention on the game. Thankfully, Ellsworth blew it in the last quarter. He had to get his head back on straight. To not concentrate on his son in the stands.

  Not to mention his son’s mother. He knew she’d been watching him and it really wrecked his focus.

  “Hey Coach!” Jeff looked to his left to see Ethan, his best running back. “You coming to the Lanes for a victory celebration?”

  “You know I am. The pizzas are on me!”

  “Schweet!” Ethan pasted a shit-eating grin on his face. “We almost blew it tonight but you got us through. Thanks for believing in us.”

  “You guys did all the work. I only cracked the whip a time or two.” His team had a lot of heart that was for sure.

  It only took a couple of minutes to get to Lobster Lanes and Sal’s Pizzeria. Sal already had ten huge pies hot and ready for them, extra cheese, pepperoni, veggie and a Sal’s special, one loaded with everything, all smelling gloriously of garlicky tomato sauce, melted mozzarella, and spicy sausage.

  Food worthy of the gods.

  Soon their tables were piled high with sodas, plates and pizza and the guys were letting off steam while celebrating their win. It brought him back to his high school days quarterbacking for the Addington Minutemen, hoping Beth could stay a little longer after sneaking out of her father’s house to go to the game. She and Katie would come together. Sometimes he and Beth left the after party early, just wanting to be alone.

  Katie. He’d told Beth the truth, that he didn’t know Katie had turned them in. He’d been such a sap. And sap that he was, he gave in to nostalgia. So he’d looked up and saw Beth and Danny in the stands. He wished they were both here with him now.

  He wanted the whole father and son experience with Danny that he hadn’t gotten with his own dad, since he’d died when Jeff was so young.

  The door to the bowling alley opened. Jeff glanced to see the newcomer, and son of a bitch. All his blood rushed to his head in a huge whoosh.

  Danny. What the hell? He strode over to his son. “Hey, Danny. Didn’t expect to see you here.” He looked past Danny’s shoulder. “Where’s your mom?”

  Danny’s chin jutted out. “She’s at home. I came by myself on my bike.”

  “What? She let you ride your bike, at night, all by yourself, to come here?” Disbelief mixed with temper snapped at him.

  The boy looked at his feet. “She doesn’t know,” he mumbled. “I snuck out.”

  “You what?” Jeff roared and Danny flinched. “You wait right here and don’t move a muscle.”

  Danny started to say something but Jeff cut him off at the pass. “Not one word, not one muscle.” Jeff wanted to throttle the kid. He went to the counter and had Sal run his credit card to pay for the team’s food, then marched back to deal with Danny. “Come with me. I’m taking you home.”

  “I don’t want to go home. I want to be here with the team.”

  “Quiet, kid. Not another word.”

  He got Danny settled in his truck, loaded his bike in the back, and pulled out of the parking lot. When he could trust himself to talk, he said, “This will never happen again. You will not sneak out of your mother’s house, especially at this time of night to ride your bike God knows where. You got that?”

  Danny stared straight out the front window and didn’t answer.

  “I asked if you understand what I’m saying.”

  “Yeah,” Danny whispered, his head bent low. The kid looked miserable. Good.

  He pulled up in Beth’s driveway and parked behind her car. He was still angry with Danny, but he was also pissed beyond all belief that the kid could sneak out and his mother didn’t even notice he was missing. His hands shook with it.

  Jeff didn’t bother to knock he just opened the door and dragged Danny in behind him. “Beth!” he yelled. “Guess who I’ve got here with me!”

  “Jeff?” Beth appeared in her hallway, wrapped in a long pink terry cloth robe. Wet tendrils of her hair framed an angelic face covered in confusion. “Why are you here?” Her eyes widened when she saw Danny. “Danny?” She looked at Jeff. “What’s going on?”

  “Our son snuck out of the house and rode his bike all the way to Lobster Lanes so he could party with the team. At ten o’clock at night.” And in case she didn’t notice it… “In the dark.”

  All the color left her face. “Danny—you did this?”

  “Unless he has an evil twin,” Jeff said, “he did this.”

  “Beth stared slack-jawed at her son. “Why?” She walked to him. “How?”

  Danny did the best imitation of a mute Jeff had ever seen, and he was having none of it. “Tell your mother what you did.”

  No one disobeyed Jeff Myers when he used that voice.

  “I pretended to go to bed and waited until you were taking a bath to sneak out,” he mumbled to the floor before glancing at Jeff for some back-up.

  Wasn’t happening. “Do you know what could have happened to you?” Jeff worked hard to keep from yelling at the kid.

  Beth covered her mouth with her hand. She gripped the couch with her other one. “Danny, you could have gotten hurt.”

  Danny wouldn’t look at her.

  Oh, no. “Danny, answer your mother.”

  She kneeled in front of D
anny and took a deep breath as she put her hands on his bony little shoulders. “Why did you do this?”

  The kid tossed his head and wrenched out of Beth’s grasp. “I wanted to go to the party and you wouldn’t let me.”

  “That doesn’t mean you can do dangerous things to get what you want. What if someone ran you over?”

  “I wore my helmet. I have reflectors on my bike.”

  “Not enough, Danny.” Jeff inserted himself into the scene. “You were wrong.” He rubbed his chin. “I don’t know about tomorrow’s game. If I can’t trust you on something like this, how can I know you’re going to follow the rules during the game?”

  “I can, Dad! I can follow the rules!”

  “Then you have to prove it by following your mom’s rules.”

  Danny looked from Jeff to Beth. Then he focused all his attention on Jeff. “Okay.”

  Beth stood. “Go on now and get into your pajamas. I’ll be back to tuck you in when I’m done talking to your dad.”

  “I don’t want you to tuck me in,” Danny muttered as he left.

  Jeff waited until Danny was out of sight. “How could you not know he was missing? What kind of mother loses a kid? You have one job, know where your kid is. It’s not rocket science.”

  “I put him to bed and like I usually do on a Friday night, I brewed a cup of tea, ran a bubble bath and spent a little me time relaxing. I’m not accountable to you.”

  The thought of a naked Beth inside a hot tub filled with bubbles, wearing only a welcoming smile, flitted across his mind. He pushed it to the way back.

  “Is he getting too much for you?” Jeff steeled himself to deal with the temper that would surely come from her. “What happened tonight is unacceptable.”

  “What? Of course it’s unacceptable. I’ll deal with it.” Her blue eyes sparked with fury.

  “I wonder if you can handle him any more. He clearly doesn’t respect you.”

  “You stupid jerk,” she ground out. “I never had any problems with him until you showed up.” She pointed to the door. “You barely know him. You can take your judgmental butt and leave my house. And don’t you ever talk to me like that again.”

  “You’re not getting rid of me that easily. The boy needs a strong hand. I’ve got two of them. I won’t let you cut me out.”