Working My Way Back to You

by Doreen Alsen

  “Sounds like a job for Granny Nancy.” She stood and put a hand on Beth’s shoulder. “You’re a good mom, Beth. Danny’ll come around because you’ll help him. Bring me a cup of tea in about ten minutes, okay?”

  “You got it.”

  “I knew I could count on you.”

  Beth watched Nancy leave the kitchen. She wondered how different her life would have been like if she had had a mother like Nancy Myers.

  ****

  “I’m hungry.” Cookie’s whining had reached the volume of death threat.

  “Maybe you should have eaten some of the p.b.&j you asked for.” He said it before he thought and paid the price. Cookie crumpled.

  Bashing his head against a wall would be more productive than mediating between these two kids. Dammit! He was good with kids. He led kids. He said jump and they said how high.

  Why were a ten-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl so difficult to keep in line?

  “I’m hungry,” his princess daughter repeated.

  Damn. “How does ice cream sound?”

  “Vanilla with rainbow jimmies?” He knew what Cookie wanted. It never changed.

  She nodded.

  “How about you, Danny? Do you want some ice cream?”

  “Yes, please!”

  His son had a hollow leg. He ate constantly and wasn’t fussy about it. “I’ll be right back.” He unfolded himself from pretzel position he’d been suffering through for the past half hour.

  Relieved for the break, he took several deep breaths while he scooped out vanilla ice cream into bowls and loaded rainbow jimmies over the top of it.

  Ice cream fixed everything.

  He carried the bowls into the living room and put one, with a spoon, in front of each child.

  Cookie dug in with gusto.

  Danny stared at it like it was rat poison.

  Oh, shit. “Something wrong, champ?”

  Danny wouldn’t meet his gaze.

  “C’mon kid. What’s up?”

  Danny still wouldn’t look at him. “I don’t like vanilla ice cream.”

  So much for the kid being a food Hoover who would eat whatever you put in front of him.

  Never mind him being the kid who preached that you should be grateful and eat everything that was put in front of you was refusing to eat vanilla ice cream.

  “I think there might be some chocolate in the freezer,” Nancy said. “Let me go check.” She turned her attention to Danny. “Are rainbow jimmies still okay?”

  Danny nodded. “Yes, please.”

  “I got it.” She shook her head at Jeff. “You stay here and finish the game.”

  Please don’t make me. Please, please don’t leave me alone with them. “Thanks, Ma.”

  She skewered him with a look. “No problem, Dad.”

  Somehow he thought his doting mother was messing with his head. After looking at her face, he knew she was.

  Why couldn’t everyone just cooperate and get along?

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Beth stood in front of the doors to The End Zone and watched Jeff’s truck’s taillights get smaller and smaller as they drove away. She hoped the afternoon at the playground would turn out well and make a good solid step forward with regard to the children’s bonding process.

  It felt like Cookie and Danny were playing good cop/bad cop, trying to keep the ground shifting underneath the grownups. If that was so, they rocked it hard. She just wished Danny would try.

  She ran her hands down the denim skirt and straightened her loden green sweater. She’d worried all week about what to wear when she came to confront her past. In the end, what did it matter? She was no glamour girl and felt totally ridiculous fretting over with pair of sensible flat shoes she should wear to go meet people she hadn’t seen in ten years.

  Uh-oh! She hadn’t been their equal when she knew them. Andi Nelson Kelly had been her mentor and Beth loved her, but she’d never been her equal. She refused to speculate about Jeff’s mentor Mike Kelly, who she knew hated her.

  With a tiny sigh, Beth studied the door keeping her out of The End Zone. One push and she could step inside and see people she’d loved so many years ago.

  More people she’d let down. She took a deep inhale and held it for a time to calm her fraying nerves. It didn’t help.

  Oh, well. She’d just have to open the door and face them. Aaaannnddd … no time like the present.

  One push and she entered the restaurant. The place jumped and hummed with loud voices, laughter and the sound of about ten TVs showing ten different sports and games. The aroma of grilled burgers and French fries hung like a delicious cloud over the room.

  Beth never ate fried food, but smelling the delicious aromas in The End Zone, she truly regretted her decision. Tables filled the majority of the space between the door and the bar. Off to her right a row of booths lined the wall. She craned her neck around to find Andi Kelly.

  As she searched, a blonde woman flew out of one of the booths and launched herself at Beth and gave her a big hug.

  Andi.

  The epitome of elegance, she still styled her hair in an elegant French twist. Even for a Sunday afternoon having lunch in a sports bar she dressed in light gray wool slacks and a periwinkle blue cashmere twin set, the neckline set off just perfectly by the strand of pearls around her neck. A pair of sapphire studs blinked in her ears. She still smelled reassuringly of Chanel No. 5.

  Andi released her and moved an arm’s length away. “Let me look at you.”

  This woman had been her rock, her mentor, her confidante, her savior. When Beth learned she was pregnant, Andi had stepped in and taken her to Boston to see a doctor and bought her first prescription of pre-natal vitamins.

  Thanks to Beth’s father, she’d almost lost her job because of it.

  “You’re so beautiful,” Andi said, a tremor present in her voice. “Come on and join us.” Andi steered her to the booth where she’d been sitting. Beth held her breath.

  Several other people sat tucked in there. Mike Kelly, Andi’s husband, Jeff’s coach and mentor. Mr. Mason, the vice-principal of Addington High School back then, and a very pretty dark haired woman Beth didn’t know, but who seemed to belong to Mr. Mason.

  “Beth.” Mr. Mason slid out of the booth to give her a hug, “It’s so great to see you. We all hoped you were doing well.”

  Beth couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move if she’d wanted to. Frozen in place, again a teen living with an oppressive father, always the good girl, always terrified to do something wrong.

  Oh, God.

  Mr. Mason pulled back, giving her space to breathe. “Here, slide in. Ainslie,” he told the dark haired woman, “this is Beth Pritchard, the brilliant pianist who went to AHS. Beth, this is my wife Ainslie. Her son Ruark is training for a career in opera.”

  “I’m so pleased to meet you,” Ainslie said, her voice dripping with the slow music of the south. “Andi’s been telling us all about you and how talented you are. Maybe we can talk you into accompanying my son so we can hear my baby sing.”

  Beth slid into the spot Andi made for her. “I don’t really play any more. I have a decent sized studio in Maine and play at the local church, but no,” Beth shook her head, which suddenly felt like it weighed one hundred pounds. “I don’t play any more. I had to give it up when Danny was born.”

  And there it was. She knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that these people loved Jeff and had to be so angry with her for lying to him about her son. Jeff’s son.

  “Jeff says your boy is quite a ball player. Throws like he was born a Manning brother. Or maybe even as good as a Nelson brother.” Mike Kelly, the legendary Coach Mike, looked at her with something that might be kindness in his eyes. “When the twins go up to do that football camp next summer, make sure Danny gets some time to work with Brock. He’ll be one hell of a mentor.”

  They all swiveled their heads to look at Mike.

  “What?”

  “Language?” Andi prompted.<
br />
  Beth laughed. “I’m a grownup now. I think I can handle hearing the word hell. I may have even used it a time or two myself, and not in the context my father meant it.”

  Silence.

  She immediately pulled back. After all, he’d tried to get Andi fired. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have mentioned him.”

  “Was it very hard?” Andi reached across the table for her hand.

  “It was.” Beth sat up straight and squared her shoulders. “Worse after my mother died. But please, it’s done and I don’t want to talk about it.” For real. Seriously. “I hear the food is really good and I’m hungry.”

  “Let’s get you a menu.” Andi got out of the booth like a woman with a life and death mission.

  “Bobby’s really charged up the menu for this Addington’s Tables competition. If you thought the food was good before, now just turn it up to eleven.” Mr. Mason chuckled.

  Beth licked her lips. “Mr. Mason, this is the first time I’ve been here. I don’t think sixteen year olds were allowed in back then.”

  Mr. Mason didn’t miss a beat. “I didn’t even think of that. You look so grown-up now and you were always so studious back then.” He leaned back against the booth back. “And please call me Dave. You’re not a student any more.”

  No she wasn’t a student any more. “Dave it is.”

  Andi came back with a menu and handed it to Beth. Everything’s good here. You can’t go wrong.”

  “A Bobby burger with onion rings is as close to heaven as you’ll get here on earth,” Mike offered.

  Andi rolled her eyes. “If you have more refined,” she aimed that word at Mike, “tastes, take a look at the specials. Bobby is really going all out to upgrade the menu.”

  Beth cracked open the menu and tried to read it, but tears prickled her eyes but she’d be damned if she’d let them fall. How could these people treat her so nicely when she’d lied to them all?

  “I don’t know much about your situation.” A southern accent caught her attention.

  Beth snapped up her head to look at Mrs. Mason.

  Mr. Mason said, “Uh, Ainslie?”

  She ignored him. “But I do know about mine. When I moved here from Charleston with three children and no skills except how to dress pretty and plan a party, I felt like I’d hit rock bottom. Do you know why I had to move away from Charleston?”

  Of course she didn’t, Beth thought. Where was this going? “No.”

  “Ever heard of Bobby Lee Logan? Venture capitalist extraordinaire?”

  The name pricked a memory, but for the life of her, Beth couldn’t retrieve it. “Maybe.”

  Dave brought his and Ainslie’s entwined hands to rest on the table. Ainslie gave him a look of pure adoration.

  “Bobby Lee Logan was the Darth Vader of crooks. He made Bernie Madoff look like Elmo, the most adorable Muppet of all.” Ainslie reached for her glass and took a big glug of water. “I trusted him with all my heart and soul, but he robbed and cheated and stole from every single one of our friends. By the time the whole thing was over, I had no friends and no money. Since being a former Miss Carolina isn’t really a career, I had no job skills.” She paused as Dave lifted their entwined hands to kiss her knuckles. “I moved here so the stigma wouldn’t haunt my children every day. It was hard, trust me, it was hard, but we did it.”

  Great story, but, “Why are you telling me this?”

  Ainslie looked at Dave then at Mike, who nodded to her. “I know what it’s like to do whatever you have to for the sake of your precious babies.”

  Beth took a deep breath and pressed her lips together.

  “Ainslie told the truth, even if it is a bit, abrupt, but this is now, and no one at this table holds anything against you, okay?” Mike told Beth. “Let’s not dwell in the past and let’s go from here.” He stopped himself. “Actually, why don’t we just drop all the bullshit from“

  “Mike, little pitchers.” Andi shook her head at him.

  Beth had to laugh again. “Andi, along with the word hell, I think I might have said bullshit before. Who’s all grown up?” She pointed her thumbs to herself. “This girl.”

  “I’m sorry. I still feel so protective of you. It’s going to take a while to get used to the new you.”

  Mike turned his gaze to Andi and his whole demeanor softened. As far as Beth saw and sensed, Mike adored his wife. “Spud. Everything’s okay. Relax and let’s have a meal.”

  A very blonde, perky waitress showed up and took their order. Beth hadn’t had time to even look at the menu, much less understand it, so she went with Mike’s suggestion of a Bobby burger and some onion rings instead of fries.

  Once they stopped talking about her, she breathed easily. They spoke of normal things, everyday things having to do with all things Addington. Dave and Mike talked about stuff at the high school. Ainslie gossiped about the upcoming cooking competition and how Ainslie’s boss, Hope Monahan, the woman who owned the restaurant Ainslie coordinated events for, had started dating her main competitor. It looked like it was getting hot and heavy.

  Andi took Beth’s hand. “I’m sorry about the loss of your music.”

  “I didn’t lose it. I just put it somewhere else.” Beth pulled her hand free. “A lovely dream that a young girl once held close to her heart. I had a choice, Danny versus a career as a concert pianist. In the end there was no choice. Danny has always come first. And he’s way more talented than I ever was. Seriously.”

  Andi’s lips thinned as she pressed them together. After an interminable second or two, she smiled. “I so admire the woman you’ve become.”

  “Y’know, spud? You should challenge Beth to a game of foosball.”

  Andi turned to look at him with the same WTF look in her eyes that Beth knew was in hers.

  Mike only grinned broader. “I know you’ve been practicing,” he told his wife. “Go out there and kick some skinny foosball butt.”

  “But our food…” Andi looked at her husband as if he’d grown two more heads.

  “I’ll let you know when it gets here. Go,” Mike said, his voice now full of meaning. “Take a little time to get to know your girl.”

  Andi traded a significant look with her husband, their bond so thick and undeniable. Beth wanted the same thing with Jeff. They’d made a good start last night, but could she trust it?

  “We don’t have to play foosball if you don’t want to. Mike was just trying to tease me. He does it a lot, but I love him anyway.” Andi threaded her arm through Beth’s.

  “That’s good, since I don’t know how to play.” Where would she have ever gotten the experience? Had her father even known what foosball was?

  She didn’t think so.

  “Hey, Andi, what do you need?” A tall brown haired waitress stopped next to them.

  “Hi Sandy. I’m just looking for a quiet corner so I can catch up with my friend here.”

  Sandy looked around. “There.” She pointed to a tiny table in the corner next to the bar. “It’s the staff break table and we’re busy enough that no one is going on break any time soon.”

  Andi smiled. “Thanks.”

  Beth followed her to the table and they both sat. “I expected Coach Mike to hate me for what I did to Jeff.”

  Andi shook her head. “He understands that you weren’t in control of any of it. He also knows what Katie did to you both—calling your father, telling him you two’d run away. Tim and Katie both came to me and Mike, but I just can’t understand her going to your father, knowing what he intended to do to Jeff.”

  “My father didn’t call the Lobster Cove police. Katie did.”

  “Katie?” Andi goggled at Beth. “She called the Lobster Cove police? I don’t get that girl.”

  “Join the club.”

  Andi was off and running. “Granted, running away wasn’t the right answer. Mike and I took a really painful road trip, in whiteout conditions, may I remind you, to catch the two of you and bring you back home before anyone knew you wer
e missing.”

  “I’m sorry!” Beth slumped back in her chair. “We were so scared of what my father would do to Jeff and so crazy in love and wanted to be together. We were stupid.”

  “You had people here to deal with your father and his plans for Jeff. There was no way Mike would’ve let anything bad happen to him. And he had the nuclear option named Deke Nelson.” Andi sighed. “My father loved Jeff and would have used all his considerable clout to do what had to be done. You’re the one we couldn’t save.”

  Beth swallowed around a great big lump in her throat. “That’s not true. Danny saved me. I did what I had to do for his sake. I would go through all of it again to make sure he was safe with me.”

  “Well, that’s all in the past. What’s going on now?”

  “Pretty much my life revolves around Danny, which is the reason I don’t have a full time job.” Beth shrugged. “I give piano lessons, I play organ at the Catholic church and I work at Happy Thoughts, a sewing, knitting, quilting, whatever you need store.” She chuckled. “If you need it, Jenna, my boss, makes sure she has it.”

  Andi looked very sad. Beth didn’t get it. Oh, well.

  “So it’s a good place, Lobster Cove?”

  “It’s a great place to bring up a child.” It was a great place to live in general.

  Andi sighed. “What a coincidence both you and Jeff ended up in the very same town you ran away to.”

  “Who knows?” Beth confessed to the one person she could always turn to for unconditional love. “I just felt, uh, drawn there. I really can’t explain it.”

  “Well, I for one think it’s fate bringing you two together and giving you a second chance.” Andi twisted the gold band of her wedding ring.

  Did Beth dare to dream about a second chance. Her heart leaped at the sound of a second chance with Jeff. Something she wanted more than anything else in the world right now. “I don’t know about that. We need to be careful and go slow so we don’t give Danny false hope. He adores Jeff. And then there’s Cookie to consider.”

  “Jeff’s a good man, Beth. I know I didn’t think so at first, but we bonded because we both missed you so much.”