Home in Carolina

by Sherryl Woods

  “I wonder what changed?” Annie said, her expression thoughtful.

  “Apparently she’s engaged and ready to settle down herself. I don’t know if it was her idea or her fiancé’s to get Trevor back in her life, but suddenly she wants to be a mom again.”

  “Maybe for her part of proving that she’s matured is dealing with one very big loose end,” Annie said.

  “Seeing Trevor, making peace with how she handled things, I could understand that,” Ty said. “But she’s after more, Annie. This isn’t a one-time thing.”

  “How do you know that if she hasn’t actually contacted you directly?” Annie asked.

  “I told you she called Jay—twice, in fact. The first time, she just asked about Trevor, how he was, that kind of thing. That was disturbing enough, but the other day she indicated she wanted more contact, maybe even custody.”

  Annie regarded him skeptically. “Do you believe that she’s really settling down, that she’s no longer a baseball groupie?”

  “Last I heard she was in Wyoming. There aren’t any teams real close by, unless you head down to Denver, so maybe she has settled down the way she said.” He hated admitting that she might have changed even that much.

  “And she told your lawyer she’s engaged?”

  Ty nodded. “To some pillar of the community, according to her.”

  Annie gave him a worried look. “Did you mention that to Helen?”

  “No, why?”

  “I just wondered if that will help her case. If she can portray herself as happily married and settled, how would that weigh against a single dad who’s on the road all the time?”

  Ty muttered a curse at the reasonable question. He should have thought of that. “I’ve been managing for three years. Anyone who knows me knows that Trevor has a stable environment with excellent care. Nobody could take better care of Trevor than Cassandra does when I’m away.”

  “But she’s not his mother,” Annie said.

  “And Dee-Dee’s shown no signs that she’s capable of being a good mom, so where does that leave us?” he said, thinking that if Annie had been the one asking for custody, no matter what the circumstances, he wouldn’t have hesitated. He knew with soul-deep certainty that she’d be the best mom ever, that she should have been the mother of his son.

  “Still, I think Helen needs to know,” Annie persisted.

  “I’ll tell her in the morning.” He hesitated, studying Annie. She was turned away so he couldn’t read her eyes, but her posture was rigid. She was obviously upset. “I’m sorry.”

  “For what?”

  “Hitting you with all this. I knew it was a bad idea.”

  “I’m only upset at the thought that someone like her is trying to take away your son,” she told him. She turned and met his gaze, her expression filled with compassion. “It really is lousy, Ty. I wouldn’t wish something this painful on my worst enemy.”

  He smiled at that. “Am I your worst enemy?”

  She hesitated, then shook her head. “Not even close,” she said so softly he could barely hear her.

  His eyes stung with tears. “Oh, Annie,” he whispered, his own voice ragged. He hadn’t felt this close to her since this whole mess had started. He reached out, only to touch her cheek, but alarm flared in her eyes and she inched away from him.

  “Don’t,” she said. “Please, Ty, just don’t.”

  He sighed. “I get it. It’s too soon.”

  “I don’t know that the time will ever be right,” she said.

  “It will be,” he said. “I believe that with everything in me. Just give me another chance, Annie, that’s all I ask. In all my life, the only time things made sense was when I was with you. I want that back.” There it was. He’d actually put it out there for her to accept or reject.

  He had his answer when she stood up without responding and started down the bleachers. “I’ll see you tomorrow night just after eight,” she said, her tone brisk.

  “I’ll be there,” he promised.

  At least she hadn’t canceled the session. It might not be the opening he wanted, but it was an opening. He intended to do everything in his power not to screw it up.

  Annie left the ball field with her emotions in turmoil. Sitting there with Ty in the moonlight, talking about things that really mattered instead of all the inconsequential words they’d been exchanging, had felt good. Right, in fact, just as he’d said. But she simply wasn’t ready to go there yet.

  What she wanted to do most was go home, crawl into bed and savor that instant when she’d thought he might kiss her. Even though she’d backed away, her pulse had raced with anticipation. She’d known then with absolute certainty how dangerous it was going to be to spend time with Ty. She’d made a promise, though, and she intended to honor it.

  Right now, however, she needed to go and check on Sarah. She trusted her dad’s judgment that Walter had himself under control, and she knew Ronnie and her mom would stick around just in case, but she didn’t feel right leaving the task of watching over Sarah to them.

  When she arrived at Sarah’s, the house was still lit up, even though it was nearly eleven. Walter’s fancy SUV continued to block the driveway, and her mom’s car was parked at the curb, which meant she and Ronnie were still inside.

  Rather than ring the bell and wake the kids, Annie walked around to the kitchen door and tapped lightly. She knew they’d all be gathered in there.

  “It’s open,” Sarah called out.

  As Annie opened the door, she saw Walter regarding his wife with dismay.

  “Do you just leave the door open for any crazy person who wanders by?”

  “Annie’s not any crazy person,” Sarah argued. “Who else would it be at this hour?”

  Walter shook his head and turned to Ronnie for support. “Is Serenity that safe? Do you all lock your doors?”

  “I do,” Dana Sue said. “Ever since that rash of burglaries a few months back, I’ve been more careful.”

  “There you go,” Walter said triumphantly. “Will you listen to Dana Sue, please? I can’t be back in Alabama worrying about whether you and the kids are safe.”

  Annie regarded him with surprise. It actually sounded as if he was making peace with the idea of Sarah staying here. She looked around the table. “What did I miss?”

  “I’m going to stop the divorce proceedings,” Sarah told her.

  Annie’s surprise turned to shock. “Really?”

  “Instead, we’re going to try to figure out how things got so far off track,” Sarah said, looking amazingly content with her decision.

  “And you’re going to do that with you staying on here and Walter back in Alabama?” Annie said, trying to imagine how a marriage could be mended long-distance.

  “I’ll be over here on weekends,” Walter explained. “I think we can make more progress without my parents butting in every time we turn around.”

  “Amen to that,” Sarah said.

  Walter actually smiled, and when he did, Annie was able to see a hint of the man Sarah had fallen in love with. That dimpled smile gave him a certain roguish charm.

  “Is Helen on board with all this?” Annie asked, then held up a hand. “Sorry, this really is none of my business. If you all have reached a solution you can agree on, I’m very happy for you.”

  “I did speak to Helen, though,” Sarah said. “And I also spoke to Dr. McDaniels.” She studied Annie worriedly. “I hope you don’t mind. Your mom suggested it. She’s agreed to meet with us every Saturday for the next few weeks.”

  “Why would I mind?” Annie said. “She’s a terrific psychologist.”

  Walter regarded her curiously. “You’ve seen her?”

  “She’s the one who’s helped me during my battle with anorexia. I still meet with her from time to time.”

  He nodded slowly. “Oh, yeah, Sarah told me something about that a long time ago. It must have been tough.”

  Annie nodded. “There are times it still is.”

 
Dana Sue reached over and squeezed her hand, then stood up. “It’s late, folks. I think we need to get home. Ronnie, you ready?”

  He stood up at once and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, then gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I’m always ready to be alone with you, sugar.”

  Annie rolled her eyes at the open display of affection. Though she loved that her parents were close again, sometimes their demonstrativeness made her feel very alone. She wanted what they had, what she’d thought she had with Ty.

  “Well, then, it’s too bad I’m coming home, too, isn’t it?” she teased. “You two are going to have to behave yourselves.”

  Her dad ruffled her hair. “Thank goodness you’re not the boss of us,” he said.

  Annie held back, giving them a head start. Walter excused himself to check on the children, leaving Sarah to walk to the door with her.

  “I just love your parents,” Sarah said. “Your dad’s talk with Walter really made a difference, I think. Who knows if it’ll last, but I want to try, at least. We owe it to ourselves, and especially to the kids.”

  “Earlier tonight I wouldn’t have given you two cents for things turning out this way,” Annie told her.

  “Me, neither, to be honest with you. I know it looked real bad the way Walter came busting in here, but when he’s scared, he gets mad. I think when he got those papers and he realized it really could be over with us and that I’d fight for the kids, it scared the dickens out of him. I’m sure he expected me to just go along with whatever he wanted.”

  Annie gave her a fierce hug. “I hope things work out exactly the way you want them to.”

  When she would have started out, Sarah held on to her arm. “What about Ty? Did you find him?”

  “I did, but we can talk about that another time.”

  Sarah frowned. “Didn’t it go well?”

  “Actually it was a good conversation. We were more open and honest than we’ve been in a long time, but things are more complicated than ever. I’ll tell you next time I see you, I promise.”

  “Then you’d better come by tomorrow,” Sarah said. “Walter’s going back home first thing in the morning.”

  “And after that you’ll be at the spa to do your workout, right?” Annie said pointedly.

  “Right on time,” Sarah vowed. “But you know we can’t talk there, so dinner tomorrow night. Let’s go to Sullivan’s. I’ll see if Katie can babysit.”

  Annie shook her head. “I have to work with Ty tomorrow night. Maybe the day after. I’ll have to see if he’s going to need to work out every day or every other day. Then I’ll let you know about dinner.”

  Sarah regarded her with concern. “Can I offer you one piece of advice?”

  “Of course.”

  “Don’t you dare start building your life around him, Annie, not till you know where things are headed. I don’t want to see you get all caught up with Ty and his problems only to have him take off and leave you behind.”

  “Good point,” Annie said. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t worried about the same thing herself. She just hadn’t wanted to admit that it was a very real possibility that things would go exactly that way. “I’ll be careful.”

  Of course, that was her head talking. Her heart seemed to have a will of its own.

  Helen was still troubled by her conversation with Sarah on the phone the night before and earlier in the day in person. She seemed to suddenly be wearing rose-colored glasses where her marriage was concerned. Call her cynical, but Helen had never seen a turnaround that fast that actually lasted. She almost had whiplash from the speed of Sarah’s change of heart.

  Since Sarah had claimed that Dana Sue and Ronnie had witnessed Walter’s transformation, Helen decided to ask them about it. Fortunately Ronnie could usually be found at Sullivan’s early in the evening on the nights when Dana Sue was working. He’d even been known to pitch in as a waiter when they were short on staff. Mostly, though, he was just there to catch the occasional glimpse of his wife. Helen had to admit, it was kind of sweet.

  “Hey, Counselor, how’s it going?” Ronnie asked when Helen found him in his usual booth near the kitchen. “You here to sneak in a visit with your husband?”

  “Actually I was looking for you and your wife.” She glanced around the busy restaurant. “Probably not the best time to try to drag Dana Sue out of the kitchen, is it?”

  “Let’s just say when I stuck my head in to say hello, I was nearly run down. She, Erik and Karen are operating at top speed tonight. Not only that, some delivery they were expecting didn’t come in, so they had to change specials at the last second. There are some pretty sour moods in there.”

  Helen sighed and slid in across from Ronnie. “Then I’ll settle for you.”

  “I’m honored.”

  “You probably shouldn’t be. I just want to pump you for information. I gather you were around when Sarah’s husband showed up last night.”

  Ronnie nodded. “Well, a few minutes after the fact, but I saw enough.”

  “What did you think? Bad guy? Good guy? Out-of-control guy?”

  “He has quite a mouth on him, I’ll give you that,” Ronnie said. “And he was shouting at top volume when I turned up, but he dropped the belligerent tone pretty quickly when I got him outside. In my opinion, he was scared witless and reacting the only way he knew how to the threat of his marriage ending.”

  “Sarah told me both you and Ty showed up, so he must have alarmed Annie for her to call both of you.”

  “She only called Ty because she was supposed to be meeting him at the spa. He decided on his own to come over.”

  Helen’s brow rose at that. “Interesting.”

  Ronnie sighed. “That’s one word to describe it. I’m worried about those two. Or really about Annie, I should say. Ty can take care of himself.”

  Helen thought of the looming custody battle. “She needs to watch her step,” she said. “Ty’s life is pretty complicated right now.”

  Ronnie studied her intently. “Because?”

  “I can’t say any more than that. Lawyer-client confidentiality.”

  “Well, damn,” Ronnie said. “Is your taking him on as a client because of something that’s going to wind up with Annie getting her heart broken?”

  “Not necessarily,” Helen hedged. “Just tell her to be cautious, okay? She needs to talk to Ty. Maybe she already has.”

  Ronnie’s expression turned thoughtful. “Well, she did go chasing off after him last night, and I do think they had a talk.”

  “Then maybe I’m worrying for nothing,” Helen said. “Getting back to Sarah, do you trust Walter?”

  “If you mean do I think they can work things out, I have no idea. If you’re asking if he’s violent, I honestly don’t think so.”

  “Then giving the situation time and space could be okay,” she said, relieved.

  “It could be,” Ronnie concurred.

  “Thanks,” Helen said, standing up and dropping a quick kiss on his cheek just in time for Dana Sue to emerge from the kitchen and catch her.

  “Hey, keep your hands off my husband,” Dana Sue told her. “The last woman who tried that still worries about what might be in her food when she comes in here.”

  “You wouldn’t poison Mary Vaughn,” Helen said.

  “Not now that she’s back with Sonny, no, but a couple of years back? Hard to say what I might have done.” She slid in next to Ronnie and leaned her head briefly on his shoulder.

  “Tired?” he asked.

  “Dead on my feet and it’s still a madhouse in here,” Dana Sue said. “I need to get back.”

  “Well, I’m going to risk my husband’s wrath and slip in there long enough to steal a kiss from him,” Helen said. “And maybe some apple pie for my mother. It’ll be penance for not getting home on time tonight.”

  “I’ll go with you and protect you,” Dana Sue offered after giving Ronnie a quick kiss. “How are things with Flo?”

  “She’s still impossible,” Helen s
aid, “but I have almost learned to let all the complaints roll off my back. I know she’s in pain and that she’s not one bit happier about these circumstances than I am, so that makes it easier.”

  Dana Sue grinned at her. “You sounded very mature just then.”

  Helen laughed. “I did, didn’t I? Don’t believe it. That woman can reduce me to behaving like a petulant two-year-old in ten seconds flat. Ask Erik.”

  “No need,” Dana Sue said. “He’s told me.”

  Helen sighed. “The rat fink,” she said, though without animosity. In fact, just the sight of his eyes lighting up when he spotted her walking into the kitchen made every bad thing that had happened all day fade.

  “Hey, you,” he said. “You’re late.”

  “She’s been out front schmoozing with my husband,” Dana Sue said. “Keep an eye on her.”

  “Always,” Erik said. “Dinner’s ready to take home for you and your mom. Since you’re late, I added extra apple pie.”

  “You anticipate my every need, don’t you?”

  “I certainly try.” He winked at her. “I’d try to fulfill another one, but it’s crazy in here right now.”

  “Later, then,” she said, picking up the take-out containers he’d set aside. “Love you.”

  “Ditto,” he replied, but he was already distracted, his attention focused on the plates lined up in front of him and the meat and fish cooking on the stove.

  Helen watched him for another minute, enjoying the brisk efficiency with which he worked, the little frown of concentration that knit his very handsome brow and his excellent backside in a pair of snug-fitting, well-worn jeans. Yes, indeed, an excellent antidote to a bad day!

  13

  When Ty arrived at the spa for his first session with Annie, he was surprised and somewhat dismayed to find his mother still in her office.

  “You’re working late,” he said, standing in the doorway. “You can’t do this, Mom. You’re going to wear yourself out. You need to leave here on time, get home and spend time with Jessica Lynn, Cole and your husband.”