14 Valentine Place

by Pamela Bauer

  He grinned, remembering how he and his brothers would pray for days like this so that school would be closed. He imagined a lot of kids were waking up and wishing this particular record-breaking snowfall hadn’t happened on a Saturday.

  As the public service announcements continued to appear on the TV, he realized that other activities had had to be postponed. Dylan didn’t pay much attention to the names rolling by until he saw Diandra’s School of Dance and the word Closed behind it. That was the studio where Maddie taught, which meant she would be at home today rather than at work. Again Dylan grinned.

  When he heard movement in the hallway and on the stairs, he knew the bathroom was now free. When he stepped inside the hot, steamy room, he could tell who’d been in the shower before him. The air was thick with the aroma of strawberries, the same fragrance he’d noticed in Maddie’s hair. Only today it was more potent, teasing his senses and arousing his hormones.

  It lingered while he showered and shaved, a constant reminder of her presence in the house. Not that Dylan needed any reminders. She was already in his thoughts far too often and with good reason. She was beautiful, sexy and smart. And taken.

  Thoughts of the unknown Jeffrey had him grimacing. Any man who chose to spend two weeks writing a paper when he could be with a woman like Maddie had to be one card short of a full deck. Or suffering a shortage of testosterone.

  It was probably the latter. Maddie was not the kind of woman to put up with any man who wasn’t her intellectual equal. From the way she spoke about her relationship with Jeffrey, Dylan got the impression that it was more of a convenience than a passion. He shook his head. He didn’t understand how any man could look at Maddie and be content with simply being friends, or how she could settle for anything short of an all-consuming love. He wondered if she even knew what she was missing?

  A short while later when Dylan found her in the kitchen, he had to remind himself that it wasn’t his responsibility to show her. Not that the thought hadn’t crossed his mind.

  Today she wore a ribbed turtleneck sweater in a shade of purple that was the perfect foil for her dark hair. A pair of black knit pants hugged her legs like a second skin and on her feet were a pair of black satin slippers.

  “Good morning,” she said when she heard his footsteps.

  “Hi. What are you reading?” he asked, noticing she had a book open on the table.

  “It’s a biography of Eleanor Roosevelt.”

  “Interesting lady.”

  “Yes, she was.” She closed the book and rose. “What would you like for breakfast?”

  “You don’t need to get it for me.”

  “If you’re expecting Krystal to help you, she’s got the flu. I doubt she’ll be out of bed today.”

  So she’d only offered because Krystal wasn’t available. He should have known. She hadn’t missed a chance yet to let him know that she was only helping him as a favor to his mother.

  “I don’t eat much for breakfast,” he told her. “I’m sure I can manage to pour myself some cereal without creating any havoc.”

  “Probably, but why don’t you let me get it for you?” she said, going over to the cupboard and pulling out a bowl.

  “Because I’d rather get it myself.”

  His brisk tone had her shoving her hands to her waist, looking as if she were contemplating arguing with him. She didn’t. She simply shrugged and said, “If that’s what you want to do.”

  “If I did what I wanted to do, it would create all sorts of problems, especially for your Jeffrey,” he couldn’t resist saying.

  Color brightened her cheeks. She walked over to the table, scooped up her book and pulled it close to her chest. “I’ll be upstairs if you have any problems,” she said coolly.

  She started out of the kitchen, but he stopped her. “Aren’t you forgetting about my exercises?”

  She gave him an impatient glance. “I thought since Jason’s home he could help you.”

  He snickered. “If he were up. I’ll be lucky to see him before noon. The doctor said it was important to exercise regularly. It’s been more than twenty-four hours since I last did them.”

  She sighed and set the book down on the table. “All right.”

  As she came closer, he caught another whiff of the strawberry shampoo that had permeated the bathroom. Her hair was still damp from the shower, falling to her shoulders in loose curls. He wondered if they felt as soft as they looked.

  As she had done yesterday, she provided a gentle touch, carefully moving his arm and providing the passive resistance he needed. And his body reacted to her nearness. He liked being close to her, watching her move with the grace of a ballerina. Most of all, he liked being touched by her.

  “I see the snow canceled your dance classes again today,” he said, wanting to engage her in conversation while she went through the exercises with him.

  “It sounds as if the whole city is pretty much shut down,” she remarked, keeping her eyes on his arm.

  “So what are you going to do all day?” he couldn’t resist asking.

  “Oh, I have things to do,” she said as she lifted his arm forward.

  “What things?”

  “Laundry, for one.”

  “What about after the laundry’s done?”

  “Housework.”

  He groaned. “Please tell me my mom didn’t ask you to pick up after me.”

  “No, I’m sure she thinks you’re old enough to straighten your own room.”

  “I don’t have a room. Jason came home, remember?” he reminded her. “So after you do this housework, then what are your plans?”

  She shrugged. “I’ll probably finish my book.”

  “Want to watch a movie with me? I’ve got a stack of DVDs in my suitcase,” he suggested, wishing she’d look at him instead of focusing on his arm as if it needed all of her concentration.

  “You’re bored again, are you?” She still didn’t look at him.

  “You think I only want to spend time with you because I’m bored? Maddie, I don’t need a companion to become engrossed in a film.”

  For one brief moment her eyes met his, then she quickly looked away. “Thank you for the offer, but as I’ve already said, I have other things to do.” As they finished up the last of his exercises she said, “There. How’s that?”

  He slipped his arm back into the sling. “Better, thanks.”

  “If you don’t need me for anything else, I’ll go upstairs.” She again reached for her book. “What time would you like lunch?”

  “Lunch?” He shrugged. “Whenever you eat is fine with me.”

  “All right.” And without so much as a glance in his direction, she left.

  Dylan wasn’t sure whether he should be pleased or not. Maddie was going to make him lunch. That part pleased him. The fact that she was only doing it because Krystal had the flu was the part that didn’t.

  MADDIE CLEANED her closet and her drawers. Then she stripped all of the linens from her bed and laundered them. Every time she went downstairs to the laundry room, she expected to see Dylan in the living room. Only he wasn’t there.

  She’d looked in the kitchen, but it was also empty. She didn’t want to be curious as to where he was, but she couldn’t help herself. Certainly he hadn’t gone outside to try to shovel? She pushed aside the curtains on the window over her bed and looked to the sidewalk below.

  There was no sign of him. What was he doing? she wondered. On her third trip to the laundry room she wandered down the hallway leading to the bathroom and noticed that Leonie’s office door was ajar. Tentatively she craned her neck around the edge to peek inside.

  “Looking for anyone in particular?” a voice said from behind her.

  Startled, she turned to face Dylan, who carried a laptop in his left hand. “Yes—you. I wanted to tell you that lunch will be ready in about half an hour. Is that convenient?” It wasn’t what she’d planned at all, but she couldn’t tell him the truth because she knew he’d take great pl
easure in the fact that she’d been looking for him.

  “Half an hour will be fine, thanks,” he said in a very businesslike manner.

  “Good. You like chili?”

  “Texas style?”

  “No, North Dakota style.”

  He gave her a half grin. “Never had it, but I’m not worried. So far I’ve been impressed with everything that’s come out of North Dakota.”

  He was flirting with her again. She wondered if he was able to not flirt with a woman? “I’ll see you in about half an hour.” She stepped around him, determined not to respond to the charm that was as tempting as a hunk of chocolate.

  She hurried back upstairs, where she put the freshly laundered sheets on her bed, then checked on Krystal. Her roommate’s health hadn’t improved.

  “Feel like eating anything? I could heat up some chicken soup,” Maddie offered.

  Krystal flung an arm over her forehead. “Just let me die in peace, Maddie.”

  “Is it that bad?”

  “It’s worse. Thank God we have half a bath upstairs. It would be awful if Dylan saw me like this.”

  Maddie chuckled to herself. How like Krystal. No matter how miserable she was feeling, she still worried about her appearance.

  “I can’t believe I got sick and missed my big chance at impressing him,” she said with a groan.

  “You’ll have plenty of time. He’s going to be here a whole month.” Maddie didn’t want to ask, but she couldn’t resist saying, “Besides, didn’t you do that last night? I heard a lot of laughter coming from the first floor.”

  “Don’t I wish,” she said on a sigh. “That was Jason you heard laughing. Dylan spent most of last night in Leonie’s office using his laptop. Jason says he’s a workaholic.”

  “Maybe in the eyes of a nineteen-year-old he is.”

  “I don’t know, but I would have liked to have had the chance to get him to think about something other than work.” She reached for the tumbler of water and took another sip. “He didn’t get this flu bug, did he?”

  “I saw him this morning. He looked fine,” Maddie assured her.

  “What about Jason? He’s the one who shared my pizza.”

  So it had been Jason, not Dylan, she’d been with in the kitchen. Maddie couldn’t prevent the tiny beam of satisfaction the information gave her.

  “I haven’t seen him this morning. Are you telling me Jason ate pizza after I had already fed him a ham and cheese sandwich?”

  “You know guys. Bottomless pits when it comes to food.”

  “I thought he was going out with his friends last night.”

  “He did—after the pizza was gone.” She reached for a tissue and blew her nose. “Maddie, you should leave. I don’t want you catching this.”

  “Are you sure I can’t bring you something to eat?” she asked.

  “Maybe later. Right now I just want to sleep.” And with another groan Krystal turned her head into the pillow.

  Maddie knew as she left the room that any hope she’d had that Krystal would make a miraculous recovery was gone. More than likely, she was going to get stuck taking care of Dylan tomorrow, too. It was both a pleasant and disturbing thought.

  When she went downstairs to make lunch, it wasn’t Dylan, however, sitting at the table. Jason was eating a bowl of cold cereal, the sports page of the newspaper spread out on the table in front of him.

  “Hi, how are you feeling?” Maddie asked.

  “I’m feeling good, thanks.”

  “I’m glad to hear that. Krystal came down with the flu this morning. She was worried that she may have given it to you last night,” she said as she reached into the freezer for a packet of frozen chili.

  “Uh-uh. I feel fine. Although, I’d probably feel a whole lot better if I had some of your homemade bread.” He gave her a smile that had the potential of being as dangerous as his older brother’s.

  “Sorry. I think your brother scarfed down the last of it yesterday.” She placed the freezer bag of chili on a plate and set it in the microwave. “There should be bagels in the fridge. Or if you want, you can have some of this chili I’m heating up for Dylan.”

  “Thanks, but it’s a little early for chili. A bagel would be great, though. I don’t suppose you’d want to toast me one, would you?” Again there was that cajoling smile.

  “You want blueberry or cinnamon and raisin?”

  “Blueberry with cream cheese and jam,” Jason answered.

  “Could you make that two?” Dylan’s deep voice startled Maddie.

  “Sure. The chili’s in the microwave,” Maddie said, opening the refrigerator so she could focus on food and not Dylan. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched him walk over to the table and sit down next to his brother.

  “What did you do? Have a fishing accident?”

  Jason made a face. “That’s almost funny.”

  Maddie could see by the teasing grin on Dylan’s face that’s exactly how he meant the words to be taken.

  “Don’t those things hurt?” he asked, motioning toward the two gold rings in his brother’s eyebrow.

  “Not as bad as when I had the tattoo put on my butt,” Jason shot back.

  Maddie was curious to hear what Dylan’s response would be, only he didn’t get a chance to continue the brotherly ribbing because the phone rang.

  “Hi, Mom. How’s it going?” he said when he’d picked up the cordless, causing both Maddie and Jason to look in his direction.

  Jason, however, didn’t just look at his brother. He jumped up from the table and ran over to Dylan. He was shaking his head and motioning in a gesture that said he didn’t want his mother to know he was home.

  Dylan paid no attention. “Jason’s here. He came home for the weekend. You want to talk to him?”

  The teenager reluctantly took the phone, but not before glaring at his brother. Maddie popped a bagel into the toaster and pretended not to notice the looks being exchanged between the two brothers.

  Neither son talked to Leonie for very long, nor did either of them ask Maddie if she wanted to say hello.

  As soon as the conversation had ended, Jason faced Dylan and demanded, “Why did you tell her I was here?”

  “Is there a reason I shouldn’t have?”

  “Yeah. The semester just started. She’s probably thinking something bad happened if I’m home already.”

  “Did something bad happen?” When his brother didn’t answer, Dylan said, “Jason, are you in some kind of trouble.”

  “No.”

  “Then why didn’t you want Mom to know you’re here?”

  Again there was a hesitation. Maddie could see by the look on Jason’s face that he had something to tell his brother.

  “It’s none of your business, so butt out,” he finally said sullenly, then sat back down at the table and returned to the sports page.

  Dylan wasn’t about to let the matter end. “If it concerns Mom, it’s my business. Maybe you’d better tell me what’s going on.”

  “It’s nothing to you,” he said. “Next month you’ll be gone again and it won’t matter.”

  “It matters now.” Dylan calmly stood over him. “Why don’t you tell me what the problem is.”

  “Because it doesn’t concern you,” Jason said stubbornly, then began eating the bagel Maddie had toasted for him.

  “Is it your grades?” Dylan asked, but his brother didn’t answer, so he pulled out a chair and sat down. “Look, I’m not asking because I want to give you a hard time. I’m your brother. If there’s something I can do to help you, I’d like to do it.”

  Jason eyed his brother suspiciously, as if contemplating whether or not he should confide in him. Finally he said, “If you must know, I’ve decided to quit school.”

  Maddie expected Dylan to explode in anger. To her surprise, he simply said, “In the middle of the term? Hasn’t Mom already paid for this next semester?”

  “She’ll get some of the money back. It’s still early.”

 
; “Then you’ve already officially withdrawn?”

  “No. I’m going to do that on Monday when I go back to get Brandy.”

  “Brandy?”

  “She’s my girlfriend,” Jason explained. “She’s going with me to California.”

  Just then the timer on the microwave sounded. Maddie was forced to give her attention to the chili and didn’t see the look on Dylan’s face.

  “California? And how do you plan to get there?” she heard him ask.

  “In my car.”

  “Your car?”

  “Dad’s old one. Mom said I could have it. I’m not supposed to take it to school, but she never said I couldn’t take it to California,” he stated, using the logic of a nineteen-year-old boy.

  Maddie sneaked another glance at Dylan. His face showed no emotion, leaving her to wonder what was going through his head.

  “Just why are you going to California?” he asked evenly.

  “To get jobs.”

  “What kind of jobs?”

  “We don’t know yet, but we’ll figure something out. Brandy wants to be an actress. She’s been in all the school plays.”

  “So now she’s ready to head for the big time.” Dylan’s voice remained calm.

  Maddie didn’t think it was going to stay that way much longer. He looked as if he was about ready to let his younger brother have it. Not wanting to be present when that happened, she said, “I’m going to leave this chili on warm until you’re ready.” She started toward the door, but Jason stopped her.

  “No, Maddie. Don’t go. You understand what I’m talking about. You told me you dropped out of college to be a dancer.” He looked at her with an appeal in his eye.

  “My situation wasn’t quite the same as yours, Jason,” she told him, aware of Dylan’s eyes on her as she spoke.

  “But you understand, right?” Again he looked at her like a puppy wanting to be comforted.

  “I know it’s tough to make the kind of decision you’re making,” she evaded. “You want to do what you think is best for you.”