Addie looked to where Mary sat staring off into space. If dudes cried, Ronnie would have become a little misty-eyed when Addie walked over to her grandmother, crouched down in front of her and patted her hand to get the woman’s attention. He couldn’t hear what Addie said but Mary knew it was her granddaughter—a look of recognition flashed in her eyes right before the normal look of confusion took its place. Addie hugged Mary briefly and then walked back over to the group and took her position. Mary went back to staring off into space but Addie gave her best performance yet.
When they finished the routine Ronnie said, “You asked me to tell you honestly what I thought of the routine you came up with for this competition, Addison. Well that right there was pretty damn good. Hell, I think Sergeant Buck would even be impressed.”
The kids performed the routine again several times, including the flips—everything but the stunts that they had worked on nearly every other practice. The residents enjoyed the show, and the kids even appeared to be enjoying showing off for their audience. Tomorrow they would put everything together and hope that it all fit into something that would allow the team to place in the competition. From the performances he’d seen online, if they could pull off the stunts, they stood a good chance.
* * *
Saturday morning found Ronnie sitting on a bleacher seat next to Kayla in a large high school gym watching Addie and her teammates warm up. Looking around, he did not see any boys on the other teams, but there were a few in the stands cheering for other schools. He was also pleased to see many members of the football team from Addie’s school, though their coach was absent.
There were around twenty school districts represented, which made the gym pretty crowded by the time the event started. Addie’s school was set to do their routine somewhere in the middle. Ronnie grew a little alarmed when the announcer for the event started calling out each team, including the names of the cheer advisors. Maybe the announcement of Addie’s team—or at least the part about him being the coach—would go unnoticed by Kayla and the parents of the other kids on the team.
After the sixth team in a row finished without doing nearly half of the complicated stunts that Addie and Kaitlyn had insisted they needed to be able to do, he felt the telltale signs of being taken for a fool settling within his stomach.
He had watched videos online through ESPN coverage of high school cheer competitions, but he hadn’t specifically asked about what this competition required. Addie and Kaitlyn wouldn’t look at him now that he knew the truth, but at this point it didn’t really matter. Addie wanted to win, and based on what he was seeing so far, they should. Only one other team did anything close to the complicated stunts they had been practicing for weeks now.
Watching the kids’ excitement as it got closer to their time, he couldn’t stay mad at the two girls. Much like his sisters had always done, Addie had simply left out key facts when explaining things to him. She had effectively manipulated him into doing her bidding. He felt like a dog at the end of a short leash with the kid, but for whatever reason, it didn’t bother him any more than when his own family manipulated him. At least until he watched Rusty step inside the doorway at the far end of the gym with Sergeant Buck muzzled and on a leash next to him, followed by Seth and Ian.
Holy hell…what were they doing here?
Ronnie was so focused on the sight of his army buddies that he nearly jumped out of his chair when Kayla said, “Addie asked me to invite them. She said to tell you that someday you would thank her for this.”
Looking to where the kids sat, he noticed every one of them looking at him with mischievous grins on their faces. Unable to say or do anything without creating a spark of confusion in Kayla that would erupt into a blaze of questions he wasn’t ready to answer, he sat there staring back at his team. Catching Addie’s gaze, and after seeing her ear-to-ear grin, he mouthed the words “state line.” She merely laughed at him and then began giggling with two other girls.
“Everything okay?” Kayla asked innocently, clearly oblivious to the prank that had been pulled on him by a bunch of high school cheerleaders.
“Yeah, I’m fine. You okay?” he asked in deflection.
“I should have thought to tell you to bring a book or something. These things can take a while and sometimes seem pretty repetitive,” Kayla said.
When it was finally time for the kids to take the floor, the announcer introduced them—and identified Ronnie as their coach. Suddenly he felt several sets of eyes on him. Including Addie’s and Kayla’s. Perhaps if he didn’t act guilty, the announcement wouldn’t matter. That might have worked if the kids on the team hadn’t taken to the floor by marching and chanting “Sergeant Brown” and then clapping in rapid succession. That display prompted those students in the stands who came in support of the team to chant and clap, as well. Deviant little shits.
Making the best of the situation, he smiled and waved his arm in the air in a gesture of acceptance. The team settled into their positions and, as embarrassed as he was, he couldn’t stop watching them. Their cheer was flawless and loud. The flips and jumps were in the best synchronization he’d seen from them yet. Something close to pride settled in by the time the dance portion began. Even the boys on the team seemed to be having fun.
When the team finished their routine, the whole gym seemed to come alive with people cheering. Especially those around where he sat. Several people even leaned in and patted him on the back. Just as everything settled down, he glanced at the door to the gym and noticed Ian and Seth grinning and talking to each other…probably planning the first of many jokes he would have to endure. Rusty, however, nodded and then headed out the door with Buck following behind him. Ian and Seth smiled at Ronnie and then followed Rusty out of the gym.
Daring to look at Kayla, he was surprised to see her eyes brimming with unshed tears.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were coaching Addie’s team?” she asked.
Ashamed to admit that he’d been embarrassed for the very same hypocritical reason the football players hadn’t wanted to be on the team, he simply looked at her. Was this going to end just as he’d expected now that she knew?
“I realize I’m not the world’s best mother and that I don’t always know everything that is going on with my child but you…you should have told me about this. How can I trust you with Addie if you aren’t being honest about things?” She sniffed.
So it was okay for her to keep secrets from Addie, but it was not okay for him to keep this from her.
He hadn’t liked any of the secrets, and probably should have come clean during football season, but he hadn’t wanted to pressure her. He’d wanted to give her time to take what they had seriously.
And she was pretty damn good at secrets herself.
“You want honesty, Kayla? I honestly think you don’t want Addie to know about us because you never wanted this thing between us to be about more than sex. Honestly, that is the only reason you have an issue with me coaching your daughter’s cheerleading team. Otherwise, you would have been honest with Addie about us from the get-go. So point fingers at me, go ahead. It gives you the out you’ve been looking for. I told you. I’m a big boy. I can take it,” he said, getting up and heading out the door.
Chapter Nine
“What do you mean he left?” Addie asked in shock.
“I… He must have had somewhere else to be,” Kayla replied.
“That’s crap, Mom, and you know it. Did you break up with him or something?” Addie asked. “He wouldn’t have just left before they announced the winners. He had to know we were going to at least place, and he wouldn’t have just left…something made him mad. Do you think our joke of inviting his friends made him angry? He didn’t look like he was mad about it so why would he just leave? Why?”
It wasn’t like Kayla was trying to piss off Ronnie. She had talked to him about how badly it bothered her to miss so many things in Addie’s life because she was always working. He could have said somet
hing about coaching then. The fact that he had supported Addie and helped her achieve something that meant a great deal to her and the entire group of teenagers wasn’t what bothered Kayla. She just would have liked to have heard about the practices and been part of the coaching process, at least vicariously, through him.
Why had he been so upset when she questioned him about it? He had said that it was up to her when and if she wanted to say something to Addie about them dating—or whatever they were doing. From the sound of it, Addie already had the 411 on Kayla’s growing feelings for Ronnie so the cat was out of the bag. If he wanted Addie to know so badly why hadn’t he just said something?
“What do you mean break up with him?” she asked Addie.
“I don’t know who you think you are playing, Mom. You guys are always staring at each other all hot and heavy. I’m not stupid and I’m not a child. Did you guys have a fight or something?” Addie asked. “It wasn’t about me, was it?”
Why, oh, why did the child have to be so perceptive? It might have started out about Addie, but realistically it was about not being honest with each other—about coaching, feelings and where this thing between them was heading.
“No, just grown-up misunderstandings. Dating isn’t easy at any age, especially when you’re as out of practice as I am. I don’t think I’m really cut out for it,” Kayla finally said with a sigh.
“I’ll mind my business, Mom, but I think he really likes you, and from what I see, you like him back. So I don’t know what the problem is, but I hope you fix it quickly. Ronnie rocks as our coach, and we are going to need him for the state competition! Oh, my God! We are going to State, Mom! And it’s thanks to him and Sergeant Buck,” Addie said, barely able to stand still and contain her excitement.
“Just give him a day or so to calm down and he’ll call. If not, then I will talk to him when he drops you off on Monday. I put in my two-weeks notice, but James was so mad, he told me to just take my vacation time and go. I am going to clean out my old office on Monday afternoon and stop by my new office, so Ronnie will pick you up. I don’t go back to work until after the holidays, though, so I’ll be available to pick you up from school starting Tuesday until after winter break. Don’t worry, honey. We’ll figure this out,” she replied.
By Monday morning she was concerned that whatever issues she and Ronnie had weren’t just going to work themselves out. He hadn’t called during the rest of the weekend and she’d lost sleep for the second night in a row. She’d almost called him the previous evening until she realized it was after midnight. After dropping Addie off at school this morning, she again contemplated calling him as she drove back home but wasn’t sure what time he got up.
When she got back to the house and pulled into the garage, she realized this week would be a good time to go through some of the junk being stored in the second parking spot and decide what should be thrown out or donated. As she got out, she noticed the chairs to her mother’s table had been completely sanded and refinished. They looked fantastic, but the table hadn’t been refinished yet. Maybe she could use that as an excuse to call him…every other reason just felt awkward.
Just as she headed into the house to give him a call and change into something more comfortable for cleaning, her cell phone rang. The display on her phone said Man Maid.
“Kayla, this is Rusty Hawkins with Man Maid.”
“Yes,” she said, her heart picking up its pace. Had something happened to Ronnie? Was he quitting because he was angry with her?
“Ronnie is going out of town this week to visit his family in Georgia. He is also going back to school in a couple of weeks. He tested out of several classes and will be taking an online course to catch up so he can start mid-semester. I’m not sure how much time he will have after that since he’s going to be in school full time so I wanted to offer you the option of having a different person clean your residence,” Rusty said.
Ronnie was quitting on her. He was just using his friend to do it for him. Wow…that was rich. Well, with her new job she would have more time and energy. She could handle her household, Addie, her mother’s care and anything else that life threw at her—without Ronnie. She had done it all these years—long before he’d come into their lives—and she would be doing it long after he was gone.
“No, thank you, Mr. Hawkins. I actually just got a new job that will give me more time at home so I can take over the reins from here,” she replied. “Please feel free to use me as a reference for your business, though, and thank you for calling.”
This was the closest thing she could imagine to being punched in the stomach. Had Ronnie been looking for a way out? If he was already signed up for school then he had been planning his exit for a while—just something else he’d failed to tell her about. Why not just tell her that he wasn’t into a relationship? Why not just tell her he didn’t want to work for her anymore rather than picking a fight and storming out?
She had plenty of projects that she hadn’t had time to work on in a while and this week she could use the distraction. Yet the more she worked, the angrier she got, so she ended up cleaning out her old office and visiting her new place of employment earlier than she had planned so she could pick up Addie after school. The worst part about the way Ronnie had quit would be telling Addie, which was exactly why she hadn’t wanted Addie to know about her and Ronnie in the first place.
Ronnie was a big boy all right—a big heartbreak was more like it. But Kayla had known that going in. Anyone who looked that good was a heartache waiting to happen for someone like her. How many times would it take her to learn that lesson? She had vowed after her last failed relationship nearly a decade ago that, aside from the occasional date, she wouldn’t pursue anything serious until Addie was grown.
Yet somehow she had let Ronnie in. Their time together might not have been anything more than casual sex to him, but she had lost her heart.
By Thursday, Kayla was ready to go back to work. Addie asked daily about Ronnie and if he had called yet. Kayla had finally broken the news to her that it wasn’t looking like he would be coming around anymore. In typical Addie fashion, she had acted as though it didn’t bother her, but Kayla could tell Addie was as heartbroken as she was over the news.
Her mother behaved even more oddly than normal over the course of the week. Mary had taken to roaming around at night trying to find a way out of the nursing home. When the staff would try to get her settled back down, she would become combative and have to be sedated.
Kayla was stretched thin, trying to deal with Addie’s quiet introverted attempts at dealing with disappointment, her mother’s unusual behavior and her own heartbreak. The stress of it all only served to make her ache for Ronnie even more. That was what she deserved for being dependent on him in the first place.
She spent the whole next week cleaning out the garage, going through clothes and household items, doing some much needed shopping and getting ready for the upcoming holidays. As she pulled into the school parking lot to pick up Addie from her last day of school before winter break, Kayla didn’t see Addie outside. After parking, she went in search of her daughter. Stepping inside the building, Kayla caught the eye of the principal, who excused himself from the man he was talking to and approached her.
“Hello, Ms. Clark. I wanted to let you and Sergeant Brown know how thrilled we were with the win at competition. It meant a lot to the team and the whole school, really. The students and staff feel like we’ve finally put ourselves on the map. The team was even in the paper. Did you see?” He smiled. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of Sergeant Brown but he hasn’t returned my calls. The team cannot practice without adult supervision. They have to have an advisor. To be honest, with how well they did, I was hoping he would continue working with them and get them through the state competition. Do you know if he got my messages?”
“Uh, I don’t know, but I will have him call you if I see him,” she finally answered. “I know he was out of town, visiting family. Perhaps h
e will call you after the holidays.”
God forgive her, but this was an excuse to call Ronnie. It was a flimsy one, but after two weeks of nothing she would use any excuse handed to her just to hear his voice.
She eventually found Addie in the hallway surrounded by a group of students all stressing about preparing for the state competition without Ronnie. They all looked worried, and Addie looked to be almost in tears.
Stepping into the middle of the group and nearer to Addie, Kayla said, “I’ll tell you what—I will call Sergeant Brown and see what he has to say so at least you will know for sure if you need a new advisor or not.”
“Hey Yo, Addie’s mom! That would be way cool. You two should just kiss and make up. Sergeant Brown has to coach us for State. He’s a boss,” said a boy who was leaning up against Addie in a possessive boyfriend-like fashion. This was the same boy who had helped throw her daughter up in the air and then catch her at competition.
Kayla recognized the look of interest the boy gave to her daughter and a small part of her panicked. Would Addie be smarter than she’d been at that age and resist the temptation to grow up too fast? She and Addie had talked about sex, boys and protection and all those uncomfortable topics, but that had been when it seemed unlikely. Now that it was a possibility, perhaps it was time to bring up the conversation again.
“I will see what I can do, but we need to go, Addie,” she said, pulling Addie’s arm so that she moved away from the boy.
“See ya, Chase,” Addie said with a wave as she followed Kayla to the car.
They got in and buckled up. Addie looked at her and said, “Are you really going to call him? Did you guys make up?”
Addie sounded so hopeful that all Kayla could do was smile weakly at her. Was it possible that Addie had grown as attached to Ronnie as she had? As Kayla opened her mouth to answer, her cell phone rang. Digging the phone out of her purse, she noticed the call was from the nursing home.
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