“I vote yes,” Dana Sue said.
“Count me in,” Helen said.
Cal grinned at Maddie. “If I get a vote, it’s yes, too.”
Maddie regarded them all with unease. “Don’t you think that might be a little too in-your-face for tonight? Some people are still unhappy about Cal and me.”
“Absolutely not,” Helen said emphatically. “I think a celebration is called for, and Wharton’s is where we’ve always held celebrations.”
Maddie knew when she’d been overruled. “Okay, then. Wharton’s it is. I think I’ll call Mom and tell her to bring Katie and Kyle and meet us there. They should be part of this, too.”
She drew her cell phone out of her purse and called her mother.
“The meeting’s over?” Paula asked.
“A few minutes ago,” Maddie confirmed.
“And?”
“The board gave Cal a vote of confidence,” Maddie reported. “We’re all heading to Wharton’s to celebrate. Can you bring Katie and Kyle and join us?”
“Katie’s already asleep,” her mother said. “But Kyle could walk over and meet you there. It’s only a few blocks and it’s still light out.”
“Perfect. Thanks, Mom.”
“Anytime. I’ll be glad to see him out of here. He’s beaten me at five straight games of hearts. He tells those corny jokes of his and gets me to laughing so hard I can’t concentrate.”
Maddie stopped in midstride. “Kyle’s been telling you jokes?” she asked.
“Sure. Why are you so surprised?”
“Because for the longest time after Bill left, he stopped telling them. Maybe he’s finally getting back to normal.”
“Or just figuring out what the new normal is,” her mother suggested. “I’ll tell him about Cal. He’s been worried. He’ll meet you at Wharton’s. I’ll call you back on your cell when he leaves the house so you can be watching for him.”
When she’d tucked the phone back in her pocket, Cal regarded her with curiosity. “Everything okay?”
“Better than okay. Kyle’s been telling Mom some of his jokes. It’s the first time he’s done that since Bill left. For the longest time, he’d pretty much stopped laughing.”
Ty overheard her and groaned. “You really think that’s a good thing? Kyle’s jokes are dumb.”
“They are not,” Maddie insisted. “I predict we’ll see him on
Saturday Night Live
someday.” She tousled Ty’s hair, even though he tried to duck out of reach. “It’ll be on right after you play in game one of the World Series.”
Ty grinned at that. “When you dream, Mom, you dream big.”
Maddie glanced up at Cal and thought about a few of the dreams she’d been having about him lately. “Yeah, I do,” she said.
Cal winked at her. “Nothing wrong with that. People with big dreams work harder to make them come true.”
When they walked into Wharton’s, Grace hurried over to greet them. “I heard what happened at the meeting tonight, Cal. I couldn’t be happier for you.”
Maddie was tempted to point out her role in spreading at least some of the gossip that had necessitated the meeting in the first place, but what would be the point? Grace loved to talk. It was as much a part of who she was and why Wharton’s had endured all these years as the friendly service her husband gave in the pharmacy.
Grace helped them pull two big tables together and saw them settled. “Chocolate milk shakes all around, I imagine.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Cal said. “Anybody want anything else? This is on me.”
Ty grinned at him. “In that case, I could use a burger. Making a speech is hard work.”
“Come to think of it, I’d like a burger, too,” Cal said. “I was too nervous to eat before the meeting.”
Ty regarded him with surprise. “You were nervous, too?”
“Sure. Give me a ball and bat and I know what to do. Standing up and talking to folks, especially when it really matters like tonight, well, I’d rather choke down a bucketful of worms.”
“Hey, maybe we should go on one of those TV reality shows,” Ty suggested. “You know, the kind where they make you eat gross stuff.”
“If you do, you’re on your own,” Maddie declared with a shudder just as her phone rang. It was her mom telling her Kyle had left the house.
“Amen to that,” Dana Sue added. “I wonder what’s keeping Annie. I called her, and she said she’d walk over and meet us here, too.”
“Don’t bother ordering a milk shake for her,” Ty said, immediately drawing a worried look from Dana Sue.
“Why do you say that?” she demanded.
“Because she never drinks them,” Ty responded innocently. “She just stirs the straw all around until the shake melts, then finds someplace to dump it out.”
Dana Sue exchanged a worried look with Helen and Maddie.
“I didn’t know that,” she said.
Ty suddenly looked guilty. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything. I just figured she didn’t really like ’em but ordered one just to fit in. It’s no big deal.”
“It’s okay, Ty,” Maddie soothed. “Dana Sue, try not to make too much out of it. I’m sure Ty’s right, that she orders them because everyone else does, then changes her mind about wanting it after taking a sip or two.”
“Do you honestly think my penny-pinching daughter who saves all her money for clothes would waste money that way?” Dana Sue said heatedly. “I’m telling you, she’s—” She broke off when Annie came through the door, Kyle right on her heels. They’d apparently met along the way.
Maddie studied the girl intently and saw why Dana Sue was so worried. Annie was about the same height as her mother, five-five or so, and couldn’t weigh more than a hundred pounds if that. Her clothes hid the fact that she was too thin, but there was no disguising that her face was beginning to look gaunt.
Still, when she smiled, her face lit up and it was almost possible to think that Dana Sue was imagining that Annie had an eating disorder.
“Hey, Coach, I heard the good news,” Annie said. “Congratulations! The whole thing was bogus in the first place.”
“Thanks,” Cal said.
Annie gave Maddie a kiss on the cheek. “Bet you’re relieved, too.”
“I am,” Maddie confirmed.
“Was Uncle Bill at the meeting?” she asked, still using the honorary title she’d given him, just as she called Maddie and Helen her honorary aunts.
“I didn’t see him,” Maddie said. “Why?”
Annie grinned wickedly. “I just figured he was probably eating his heart out, knowing you’re with somebody as cool as the coach now.”
“Annie!” Dana Sue protested, then chuckled herself. “He
was
there. I saw him and Noreen in the back.”
Ty frowned. “Dad was there with Noreen?”
Dana Sue nodded. “Don’t make a big deal out of it, Ty. I’m sure your dad was there to lend his support to Cal. And I’m also sure he was very proud of the way you spoke up.”
Annie gave Ty a look that Maddie recognized as hero worship. She was barely a year younger than Ty, and there was no mistaking her feelings for him—and the fact that he was oblivious to them. Maddie hoped he wouldn’t inadvertently hurt Annie’s tender heart one of these days.
“You got up in front of everybody and made a speech?” Annie asked him with awe.
“It was no big deal,” Ty said.
“It was a big deal to me,” Cal corrected. “And I think it impressed the board, too.”
Grace returned then with their milk shakes and the burgers for Cal and Ty, then looked at Kyle. “Burger and shake for you, I imagine.”
“You bet,” Kyle said eagerly.
Then Grace turned to Annie. “What about you, young lady? You want a milk shake, too?”
Maddie watched Dana Sue observe her daughter with bated breath as she waited for Annie’s answer.
“No, it’s late,” Annie said eventually. “I’ll just have some water with lemon.”
“Come on, Annie,” Dana Sue encouraged. “It’s a celebration. Have something more than that.”
Annie scowled at her mother. “I don’t want anything else,” she said forcefully. “Maybe you can eat this late but I can’t.”
“That’s okay,” Helen said, stepping in before the battle of wills could escalate. “Annie’s right. I’ll probably be up half the night if I finish this entire milk shake.” She deliberately pushed it away, though she’d taken only a few sips.
Dana Sue sighed, but she let the subject drop.
Maddie’s gaze kept drifting toward Annie as they sat there. She barely touched her water, but her conversation was animated. In most ways, she seemed like a perfectly healthy teenager, but Maddie wasn’t convinced that Dana Sue wasn’t right to worry about her. Something wasn’t entirely right.
Cal leaned closer. “Stop worrying,” he whispered in her ear.
She regarded him with surprise. “What makes you think I’m worrying?”
“I can see the way you’re watching Annie and I can practically hear those wheels in your head grinding away,” he told her. “Dana Sue’s on top of this.”
“You think so?”
He nodded. “And she has all of you for backup if she needs it.”
“Then you think there’s a problem, too?” she said, meeting his gaze.
Cal didn’t deny it. Instead, he merely said, “It’s nothing that’s going to be solved tonight, okay?”
Maddie nodded. But first chance she had, she was going to do some research on eating disorders and pass it along to Dana Sue. Maybe they were all wrong, but she would hate herself if they did nothing and something bad happened to that beautiful child.
I
t was midafternoon the next day before Maddie had a chance to take a break from work. They’d been overwhelmed with new members in the morning. Apparently word of Cal’s exoneration had spread, and now everyone, including a couple of those who’d walked out on Monday, wanted to join The Corner Spa. Helen had cynically suggested that they were hoping to achieve the same results Maddie had, since she’d so obviously toned up lately and managed to snag herself a hunk like Cal.
“I don’t think Cal is after me for my amazing body,” Maddie had replied. “If he is, he’s in for a major disappointment. Some things simply can’t be fixed at this late date.”
“I watched him last night,” Helen assured her. “I doubt there’s anything about you that could disappoint that man. He’s yours for the taking. If a man ever said about me what Cal said to the school board about you, I’d have the ink dry on our marriage license before the end of the day.”
Maddie had merely rolled her eyes. “You are so far ahead of yourself on that. I’m not even sure you can call what Cal and I do dating, much less courting. We’ve never been to a movie or a play or even out to dinner, unless you count pizza
after the games. Marriage seems pretty far down the road. Besides, my divorce isn’t even final yet.”
“But with a chassis like Cal’s, I imagine you could get to the end of that road in record time,” Helen said with a wicked grin, then added, “And the divorce will be final in a couple of days.”
Maddie sucked in a deep breath. “What do you mean the divorce will be final in a couple of days?” she asked, taken aback by how quickly a twenty-year marriage could be ended. “Based on what you said the last time I asked, I thought it wouldn’t be for a few more weeks, at least.”
“That was the timeline,” Helen confirmed. “But Bill’s lawyer’s been hurrying it along, and I saw no reason to put up any roadblocks,” Helen said. “Gotta run. I’m due in court.”
Throughout the busy day, Maddie hadn’t allowed herself to ponder Helen’s comments about Cal or the news about her divorce. Thankfully she’d had too much to do. And in the few minutes of downtime she had managed to find, she’d done some research on eating disorders. Reading through it in the late afternoon, she was more alarmed than ever about the possibility that Dana Sue’s daughter was anorexic or bulimic.
“Jeanette, can you keep an eye on things around here for a while?” she asked. “I need to take some papers over to Dana Sue.”
“Not a problem,” Jeanette said, as eager as always to do whatever was asked of her. “I have some clients coming in for treatments, but I can use the room down here and listen for the phone.”
“Thanks,” Maddie said, grateful for Jeanette’s calm, willing demeanor that acted as a balm to Maddie during the sometimes frantic days she had juggling the spa’s increasing
demands. “If anyone calls for me, I should be back in an hour at the most.”
“Take your time.”
Maddie walked the few blocks to Sullivan’s New Southern Cuisine at a brisk pace. It really was amazing just how fast and how far she could go these days without needing to stop and catch her breath. The workouts she’d been snatching at the gym were paying off. Her body might not be as taut and firm as a twenty-year-old’s, but she was in darn good shape for forty. Maybe if she took Elliott Cruz up on his repeated offer to give her free personal-training sessions, she could even fix up those few remaining problem areas.
At Sullivan’s, she found Dana Sue in her cramped office, a large bowl of bread pudding in front of her.
“Uh-oh, you caught me,” Dana Sue said, looking guilty. “I needed comfort food.”
“You need to remember that carbs are bad for you,” Maddie corrected, regarding her with concern. “Have you tested your blood sugar today?”
“No,” Dana Sue admitted.
“What is wrong with you?” Maddie snapped impatiently. “Are you as determined as your daughter to kill yourself?”
Dana Sue immediately dropped the spoon and burst into tears.
“Oh, God, I am so sorry,” Maddie whispered, stepping over a box of aprons and kneeling down to wrap Dana Sue in her arms. “I don’t know what I was thinking. That was cruel.”
“No, you’re right,” Dana Sue said between sobs. “I’m setting a terrible example for Annie.” She grabbed a wad of tissues from the box on her desk and mopped her eyes. “I was praying that I’d gotten it all wrong about Annie, but last night
I could see in your eyes and in Helen’s that I wasn’t wrong. You’re both as worried as I am.”
“Yes, but it’s not too late to fix this, sweetie. I did some research. That’s why I came over, to bring it to you.” She gestured toward the folder she’d dropped on the floor. “We can talk about it if you want to.”
Dana Sue shook her head. “And before you say it, I’m not in denial. It’s just that I’ve spent hours and hours on the computer myself. I’ve probably read whatever you have in there. I’ve even tried talking to Annie, but she blows me off. I’m at my wit’s end.” She pointed to the half-eaten bowl of bread pudding. “Thus the need for comfort food. If we’d had macaroni and cheese on the menu today, I’d have had that with a side of mashed potatoes.”
Maddie snatched up the half-empty bowl. “I’ll be right back.”
“Where are you going?”
“To dump this out and bring you back something that might actually do you some good. Do you have the makings for a grilled-cheese sandwich in that fancy restaurant kitchen of yours?”
Dana Sue regarded her with horror. “You are not cooking in my kitchen.”
“I can make a grilled-cheese sandwich, for goodness’ sakes,” Maddie protested. “Or if you don’t trust me with that, how about a chicken Caesar salad?”
Dana Sue stood up and brushed past her. “Not in
my
kitchen,” she repeated. “I’ll make the sandwich. You want one, too?”
“Sure,” Maddie said, following her across the deserted restaurant.
She had to admit as she watched Dana Sue work that there was a huge difference in the end product. She would have slapped a slice of cheese between two slices of bread and grilled it in a pan. Dana Sue’s sandwich was in a whole different category. She used freshly baked sourdough bread, added some grilled peppers and jalapeños, then layered it all with Monterey Jack cheese and tucked it into the oven.
She worked with a kind of nervous efficiency that told Maddie she was still upset. And when the sandwiches were in the oven, she picked up a sponge and began cleaning everything in sight.
“Dana Sue, the kitchen is spotless.”
“You never know when the health department might show up,” Dana Sue countered. “They’re never going to find a crumb much less a single trace of grease in here, not even when we’re at peak volume in the dining room.”
“I doubt they could find anything they’d disapprove of with a magnifying glass,” Maddie commented. “Now sit down and talk to me. There’s no point trying to avoid this.”
Dana Sue sat with reluctance, then cast a look filled with misery at Maddie. “What am I going to do about Annie?”
“Let’s worry about you for a minute first,” Maddie said. “Do your blood test.”
“I will, after I eat.”
“Now, Dana Sue.”
“Oh, for pity’s sake,” Dana Sue grumbled. “The kit’s in my office. I’ll be right back.”
When she came back a few minutes later, her face was pale. “It was high,” she admitted. “Who knows what it would have been if you hadn’t stopped me from binging on that bread pudding.”
“I know you hate this, but you have to think about what you’re eating,” Maddie told her. “Not just for your sake, but for Annie’s. The problems may be very different, but they both involve food. Have you told her about the diabetes?”
“I don’t have full-blown diabetes, not yet anyway,” Dana Sue said. “I’m borderline. I can still control it with diet and exercise.”
“Then all the more reason to get this under control before you do need insulin,” Maddie replied calmly. “Have you told Annie?” she repeated.
“No,” she admitted.
“Maybe you should. Maybe you could work together to tackle the issues both of you are facing.”
“Annie won’t even admit she has a problem,” Dana Sue reminded her. “Until she does, I don’t know how to help her.”
“Yes, you do,” Maddie corrected. “We’ve talked about this before. If she won’t go to Bill because she’s mad at him or because she thinks she’s too old for a pediatrician, take her to Doc Marshall. Let him give her some cold hard facts about the damage anorexia or bulimia can do to her body.”
“You’re right,” Dana Sue said. “That’s what I need to do. It’s just that she gets so upset every time I say anything, it makes me wonder if I’m all wrong. What if I take her and there’s nothing wrong? What if she’s just going through some sort of growth spurt and her weight will catch up one of these days?”
“Then you’ll find that out. The more important question is, what if you’re right and she’s in serious trouble?”
Dana Sue glanced toward the clock on the wall. It was after five. “I’ll call Doc in the morning.”
“Call him at home now,” Maddie insisted. “I have his num
ber.” She pulled her address book from her purse and gave Dana Sue the number, then waited as she dialed.
“No answer,” Dana Sue said, then hung up.
Maddie frowned at her. “Why didn’t you leave a message?”
Dana Sue flushed guiltily. “I’ll call him later. I promise.”
“You have to, sweetie.”
“I know.” Dana Sue retrieved their sandwiches from the oven and looked at hers with distaste. “I don’t think I can eat this now.”
Maddie picked it up and handed it to her. “Yes, you can. In a few minutes this kitchen is going to be chaotic. You don’t want to pass out midway through the dinner rush, do you, especially now that you’ve gotten rid of your sous chef? If you can’t keep up with the orders, it’ll definitely be bad for business.”
Dana Sue gave her a wobbly smile. “You really are bossy, you know that?”
“Just part of my charm,” Maddie told her. “Now, I need to get back to the club. I left Jeanette holding down the fort by herself.”
“She’s become a real asset, hasn’t she?” Dana Sue said. “It feels almost as if she could be an honorary Sweet Magnolia, she fits in so well with us.”
“I don’t know what I’d do without her,” Maddie admitted. “She’s taken on a lot more responsibility than she signed on for, especially now that she’s not driving back and forth to Charleston. I still feel awful that her relationship fell apart over this job.”
“She doesn’t seem that broken up about it,” Dana Sue said. “In fact, I’ve seen her in here having dinner with Elliott. I think there’s something going on there.”
Maddie regarded her with surprise. “Really? You think so? I haven’t noticed anything between them at the spa. In fact, they barely speak. I thought maybe they didn’t like each other much.”
Dana Sue grinned. “Your relationship radar is not as fine-tuned as mine, and besides, maybe they’re being discreet at work. How would it look to the members if the hunkiest man at the spa is obviously smitten with someone else? It would destroy the fantasies that get them through the crunches and weight machines.”
“Obviously I need to get my radar tuned up,” Maddie said. “I’ll be more observant when I get back there.” She glanced at her watch. “And I’d better hurry, too.”
“I appreciate your coming over here,” Dana Sue said. “I needed to hear all that stuff.” She studied Maddie intently. “Now, would you mind if I gave you some advice?”
“Can I stop you?”
“Not likely,” Dana Sue replied. “Don’t let what a few narrow-minded people in this town have said keep you from throwing caution to the wind with Cal. He’s a good guy, Maddie. A really good guy.”
“I don’t need you to tell me that.”
“No, but you may need your friends to tell you that you’d be a fool to let him get away.”
“What makes you think I’d do that?”
“I saw Bill last night, remember? He didn’t look happy.”
There was something in Dana Sue’s tone that rattled her. “Meaning what?” Maddie asked.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if he decides one of these days that he wants you back.”
Maddie stared at her incredulously. “Don’t be ridiculous.
He’s about to marry his pregnant girlfriend. They’ve been together for almost a year, so it must be the real thing, especially if he was willing to tear his family apart over her.”
Dana Sue didn’t look impressed by her argument. “Your marriage didn’t break up until seven or eight months ago when he told you Noreen was pregnant. Before that, he thought he could have his family and his girlfriend, too. Have you heard anything about them setting a date?”
“Not a date,” Maddie said. “I’m sure he’s waiting till he knows exactly when the divorce will be final, but he did ask Kyle and Ty to be his best men.”
“Don’t hold your breath,” Dana Sue murmured, her skepticism plain.
“Come on,” Maddie protested. “Do you really think he’s not going to go through with it? How would it look if he walked away from Noreen now? In Bill’s world, men can make all kinds of mistakes as long as they do the right thing in the end.”
“Maybe so,” Dana Sue agreed. “But like I said, he didn’t look happy.”
“There are bound to be some rough patches,” Maddie said. “That doesn’t mean he’s about to bolt on Noreen. And it certainly doesn’t mean he wants to come back to me.”
“I’m just saying, if he does, don’t be in a big hurry to dump a man like Cal to go running back to Bill. There’s no comparison between those two.”
Maddie honestly didn’t believe the issue would ever come up. Even so, on her way back to the spa, she couldn’t help wondering how she would feel if it did. A few months ago she might have seized the opportunity to save her marriage, to rekindle things with the father of her children, but now?
And if she were being totally honest, she knew her ambivalence wasn’t all about Cal, either. She’d changed, mostly for the better. She doubted Bill would be comfortable with any of those changes. In fact, given some of his comments about the spa and her general change in attitude, she was sure he disapproved of the new, more self-assertive Maddie.
But what if he
could
handle the newly self-confident businesswoman she’d become? a nagging voice persisted. Maddie sighed. It simply wasn’t something she’d allow herself to consider.