Crossing to it, he tried to make as much noise as possible so his unexpected arrival wouldn’t alarm her. She was waiting for him at the door of the studio, her expression amused.
“I suggest you never try out for a job that requires sneaking up on people,” she said. “You’d be a terrible covert operative.”
“I didn’t want to take you by surprise,” he said.
“You didn’t, though I am a little surprised that you’re here at all.”
“Do you mind?”
“A visit from a handsome man? Never,” she said at once. “Come on in and have a seat. I’ll clean the paint off me and we can have some tea.” She took a closer look at him. “Or a drink.”
“Tea will be fine,” he assured her. “Mind if I look around?”
“Be my guest. You displayed great insight when you bought one of my paintings a while back. I’d like to hear what you think of these.”
Cal wandered from canvas to canvas, surprised by her switch to oils and a far splashier palette than he’d seen in her prior work. “You’re trying something new,” he said carefully as he stood back to try to get the full effect. “Why?”
She came up beside him. “You don’t like them?”
“I didn’t say that. I was just wondering why you’d make such a dramatic shift in style.”
“Boredom,” she suggested. “Maybe I wanted to see if I have something different in me.”
“Are you happy with the results?”
She linked her arm through his and studied the canvases along with him. “Artistically I think they’re just fine,” she said, then grinned up at him. “But I have to say they leave me cold. Sometimes people should just stick to what they know.”
“And sometimes it takes a change to make them see that.”
She gave him a knowing look. “But you didn’t come over here to see what I was up to in my studio, did you? Is this about Maddie?”
He nodded.
“Then shouldn’t you be talking to her about whatever’s on your mind?”
“I have,” he said. “And I will again. I thought maybe you could offer another perspective.”
“I try to stay out of my daughter’s business,” she said, then grinned again. “But if you want to talk about your business, I’m all ears. Let’s get that tea. I might even have a couple of slices of pecan pie left. Interested?”
“Did you bake it?”
“Heavens, no! I know my limitations,” she said with a laugh. “This came from the bake sale at church. It’s excellent.”
Once they were seated at the kitchen table, Cal looked around the basically sterile, purely functional room and couldn’t help comparing it to the cozy warmth of Maddie’s kitchen.
“Quite a contrast, isn’t it?” Paula said. “Maddie set out to make her home everything ours wasn’t. She knew instinctively what it took to make a home, even out of that Townsend mausoleum.”
Before he could reply, she gave him a penetrating look. “Are the two of you having problems?”
“I’m not sure there’s going to be a two of us,” Cal said candidly. “There seems to be a lot of opposition piling up.”
“From whom?”
He told her about his run-in with his principal, and then Maddie’s.
“And you think that’s going to scare Maddie off?” she concluded.
“I’m almost a hundred percent certain it will. She’ll walk away to protect me, whether I want her protection or not.”
“Let me ask you something,” Paula said slowly. “And I’m not asking as some sort of overprotective mother. I’m asking because I think you need to know the answer. I know Maddie will need to know it.”
“And the question is?”
“Is this just a game to you?”
“Maddie asked me something very similar tonight,” he said.
“And?”
“I’ll tell you what I told her—that there’s something important going on between the two of us, and I will not walk away from it because a bunch of busybodies object.”
“No matter the consequences?”
He looked her squarely in the eye. “No matter the consequences,” he said firmly. “At least for me. If I think Maddie’s going to be hurt, I might have to rethink that.”
She smiled at him then. “I like you, Cal Maddox.”
“The feeling is mutual.”
“Maddie will not make this easy, not only because some gauntlet has been thrown down, but because she’s been badly burned by Bill’s stupidity. You’ll need to give her time. Maybe a lot of it.”
He grinned at that. “Hey, haven’t you heard? I’m young. I have lots of time.”
“I wouldn’t go around reminding people of the age thing,” she advised lightly. “It’s bound to make a few folks uncomfortable.”
“Are you one of them?”
She laughed. “Hardly. I envy my daughter. If I were a few years younger or you were a few older, I might even give her a run for her money.”
He stood up and winked at her. “I’ll keep that in mind if things don’t work out so well with Maddie.”
Paula’s expression sobered. “Make them work, Cal. I think you’re going to be good for her.”
He dropped an impulsive kiss on her cheek. “I promise to try,” he said.
And all the way home, he pondered just what he needed to do to give Maddie everything she deserved and not more chaos that she didn’t need.
Noreen was fluttering around their cramped apartment as if she were about to entertain the governor of South Carolina. It was driving Bill nuts.
“Sweetheart, will you please calm down?” he pleaded. “It’s dinner, not a gala for two thousand.”
“But it’s the first time all three of your kids will be having dinner in our home,” she said. “I want everything to be perfect.”
He saw the mixture of hope and panic in her expression and immediately took her in his arms. “Wanting ‘perfect’ is almost a guarantee that something will go wrong,” he chided her. “Relax. However it turns out, we’ll be fine.”
She lifted her gaze to his, every insecurity in her eyes. “I want to believe that. I really do,” she declared. “But I know how much your children matter to you and I’ve gotten in the middle of that. I want to make things right.”
“You can’t do it by trying too hard,” he told her. “Tonight’s just one more step on a long road, nothing more. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself, or on them.”
He was still surprised that all three kids had agreed to this dinner. He detected Maddie’s hand in it. She must have called on all her coaxing skills to pull it off.
“Are you sure fried chicken will be okay?” Noreen asked him. “I mean, I know most kids love fried chicken, but maybe burgers would have been better. Or pizza. We could still order pizza.”
He rested a finger against her lips. “Hush. Dinner will be fine. You make incredible fried chicken. They’ll love it.”
The doorbell rang and Noreen jumped.
“Oh, God, I’m going to throw up,” she said and ran from the room.
Bill stared after her, wondering if it was her pregnancy or nerves behind the nausea. Probably some combination of the two.
He opened the door and Katie threw herself at him.
“Daddy, Daddy, I missed you so much,” she said, clinging to him.
Bill hoisted her up, then held out his hand to his sons, determined to act casual. “Kyle, Ty, glad you could make it.”
“We can’t stay long,” Ty said at once, brushing past him. “It’s a school night.”
“I know. Dinner’s almost ready. It’s fried chicken. I told Noreen that’s one of your favorites.”
“I love fried chicken,” Katie announced.
“Me, too,” Kyle said, shooting his brother a look that dared Ty to contradict him.
“Well, come on in and have a seat. Noreen will be out in a minute. Would you like to take a look around the apartment? Last time you were here, you didn’t rea
lly stay long enough to get a good look at the place.”
“What’s to see?” Ty asked. “It would fit in our living room.”
So, Bill thought, resigned, Tyler was here, but he was intent on making things difficult.
“It may be a little small,” Bill agreed, refusing to rise to the bait. “But Noreen’s got a real knack for decorating. Once we move, I think she’ll have a chance to prove that.”
Kyle studied him with a stricken expression. “You’re going to move?”
Katie seemed to sense the sudden tension. “No, Daddy. You can’t move. Not again.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and clung with all her might.
“Shh, baby,” he soothed. “Not far away. I just meant that when the baby comes, we’ll need someplace bigger, but it will be righ there in Serenity, I promise. You’ll still seeme all the time.”
Katie studied him with watery eyes. “Promise?”
“Promise,” he said.
“And we all know what your promises are worth,” Ty muttered.
Bill frowned at him. “That’s enough,” he said sharply. He wanted tonight to go smoothly for all their sakes, but he’d just about reached his limit with Ty’s attitude.
Noreen breezed into the room just then, her cheeks flushed, her eyes overbright. “Hello, everyone. I’m so glad you could come tonight.” She focused on Ty. “Maybe you could help me get dinner on the table.”
Bill watched his son struggle between the sharp retort on the tip of his tongue and the good manners he’d been taught. For the moment, the manners triumphed. He followed Noreen into the kitchen. Bill watched them go with a mix of admiration for Noreen’s gumption and fear over the potential for fireworks.
Instead, the only sound coming from the kitchen was murmured conversation until Noreen called out that dinner was on the table.
To Bill’s amazement and relief, she managed to keep the conversation flowing smoothly throughout the meal. Even Ty was drawn in, albeit with obvious reluctance. The fried chicken was a hit, as were Noreen’s potato salad, coleslaw and the apple pie she’d baked for dessert.
“Mom’s going to be outside in five minutes,” Ty said eventually. “We need to go.”
“First there’s something we wanted to discuss with you,” Bill said, locking gazes with his oldest son, silently commanding him to remain where he was.
Three pairs of eyes stared at him expectantly. Bill knew what he was about to say wouldn’t really come as a shock, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t likely to stir up a hornet’s nest. He almost regretted his promise to Noreen to get into this tonight, especially after everything else had gone so smoothly.
Finally he drew in a deep breath and just blurted it out. “Noreen and I want to ask all of you to be a part of our wedding.”
Ty stood up from the table so quickly his chair tumbled over backward. He left it there.
“No way!” he said furiously.
Bill gave him an imploring look. “I really would like it if you and Kyle would stand up for me, be co-best men.”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Ty said, regarding him with disgust. “Do you really think putting us in tuxedos and parading us in front of a bunch of people like we’re all happy about you getting married will make them forget what you did to Mom?”
“It’s not about that,” Bill said. He knew it was up to him to make this work, but he cast a helpless look toward Noreen. Maybe she could think of something to say to smooth things over. Instead, she remained stoically silent.
Bill struggled to find the words that would reach his son. “A wedding is about new beginnings,” he told him. “We want you guys to be a part of ours. And it won’t be a big wedding, just a few friends and you guys.” He smiled at Katie. “We’d like you to be our flower girl. Noreen’s even picked out a gorgeous dress for you.”
Katie looked from him to her brother, clearly torn. “I want to be a flower girl,” she said wistfully.
“Then do it,” Ty exploded. “Do whatever the hell you want, but leave me out of it.”
He slammed out of the apartment.
“I’d better go after him,” Bill said, casting an apologetic look at Noreen.
“Forget it, Dad. I’ll go,” Kyle said. “He won’t listen to you right now. Besides, Mom’s probably waiting.”
Bill sighed heavily. “Will you talk to him?”
“I can try,” Kyle said. “But I think you’d better count us out, except for Katie.”
Bill stared at him, trying not to let his disappointment show. “You, too?”
Kyle shrugged. “Sorry.” He held out his hand. “Come on, Katie. We need to go.”
“Now?”
“Yes, short stuff, now.”
“Can I still be in the wedding?” she asked plaintively.
Bill gave her a weary smile. “We’re counting on it,” he said quietly.
As she and Kyle left the apartment, he felt as if his heart had just been splintered in two.
Noreen came around the table and wrapped her arms around him, then rested her head atop his. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“Me, too.”
“Maybe they’ll change their minds,” she said hopefully. “The wedding’s still a month away.”
But when he felt a tear splash against his cheek, he knew she didn’t believe that any more than he did.
15
Ty was grimly silent when he climbed into the car after leaving his dad’s. The slam of the car door said a lot, but Maddie knew better than to press him for details about his mood right away. He’d tell her what had happened in his own good time. Or one of the other kids would.
“Are Kyle and Katie on their way down?” she asked.
“I guess.”
“How was dinner?” she asked, figuring that was safe enough.
He slouched even lower in the back seat. “Fine.”
“Your dad’s okay?”
“I don’t want to talk about Dad. I want to go home.”
“I can’t drive off and leave your brother and sister here,” she reminded him, meaning it as a joke.
“Don’t you think I know that?” he snapped, clearly not seeing the humor.
Maddie drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, trying to figure out what might have set Ty off yet again and what was taking the other two kids so long. It wasn’t as if sitting on the street outside Bill’s apartment was her idea of a fun way to spend the evening after a twelve-hour day at work. Maybe Ty had caused another scene and Kyle and Katie were trying to smooth things over with their dad.
“Mom?” Ty said, sounding surprisingly hesitant and very young.
“Yes.”
“Is the divorce final?” he asked. “I know you and Dad did all the paperwork and stuff, but you’ll tell us when it’s final, right?”
“Yes, of course,” she said. “Why? Did that subject come up tonight?”
“Not exactly.”
He fell silent, and Maddie waited for what seemed like an eternity.
“It’s just that Dad said he and Noreen are getting married,” he finally explained.
Ah, she thought, so that was it. Astonishingly, she felt no punch-in-the-gut sensation at the news. Her only concern was for Ty.
“You knew that was going to happen sooner or later,” she said gently.
“But it can’t happen before the divorce is final,” he said. “So that means it’s going to be final soon. I mean, they didn’t give us a specific date or anything, but they wouldn’t be planning a wedding if the divorce wasn’t going to be final for months, right?”
“I have no idea what their timetable is, though I’m sure your dad would like to marry Noreen before the baby comes,” she admitted. “As for the divorce, I haven’t been keeping track. Helen would probably know.”
“Don’t you even care?”
She met his troubled gaze in the rearview mirror. “Ty, once the decision was made, I had to accept that the marriage was over and that your dad was moving on,” she said, car
eful to keep her tone neutral. “I’m sure seeing the final decree will be upsetting, but I’ve tried to make peace with what’s happened.”
Despite what her mother had advised, Maddie still didn’t want her kids to know how distraught she’d been in the first couple of months after she’d learned about Bill’s betrayal. What good would it do? Those feelings were mostly in the past now, anyway. If she dredged them up, the kids would only feel more compelled to choose sides. Ty had already done that and it was clearly tearing him up. And now the sad truth was, she honestly didn’t care anymore about what Bill did with the rest of his life, except where it concerned their children.
She caught a glimpse of the frown on Ty’s face and knew he’d been expecting more of a reaction.
“But shouldn’t it be a big deal or something?” he asked. “You guys act like it doesn’t even matter, like it’s just a bunch of details and paperwork. You always taught us that getting married was, like, this huge commitment.”
“And it is,” she assured him. She struggled to find the right words. “My marriage to your dad will always matter. I loved him with all my heart for a very long time, and because of that, I have you, Kyle and Katie. Nothing matters more to me than our family. And I am very sad that your dad will no longer be a part of my life in the same way, but part of growing up is learning to accept change, whether we like it or not.”
“Change sucks,” Ty declared.
She smiled at that. “Yes, sometimes it does,” she agreed. “But we have to accept it, nonetheless.”
“I don’t think I can accept this one,” Ty said, sounding miserable. “I can’t stand up for Dad while he marries her.”
Now Maddie felt as if she’d been punched in the gut. “Your dad wants you to be his best man?”
“Me and Kyle,” he said. “And he wants Katie to be the flower girl.”
“I’m sure it would mean a lot to him,” she said, fighting the sting of tears. Dammit, she didn’t want her kids to be a part of that travesty of a wedding ceremony, but saying so would be wrong. She wouldn’t allow herself to do anything that would widen the divide between the children and their dad. To do so would smack of petty revenge and she wanted desperately to rise above that.
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