Maddie listened to the conviction in her friend’s voice. She wanted desperately to believe her, but after the day she’d had, she didn’t have the energy to do much more than eat shrimp and finish the glass of wine Dana Sue had poured for her. When she’d swallowed the last bite and taken the last sip, she stood up and gave Dana Sue a fierce hug.
“Thanks for being here for me.”
“Anytime. You were there for me when my marriage broke up. This is the least I can do for you.” She studied Maddie worriedly. “You’re not going home to sulk and undo whatever good I’ve done here today, are you?”
Maddie laughed. “No.”
“What, then?”
“I’m going to go home and crunch some numbers and see if all three of us have lost our minds.”
A grin spread across Dana Sue’s face. “Well, hallelujah!”
“I haven’t said yes yet,” Maddie warned.
“But you’re on the verge of it. I’m calling Helen.”
“Don’t. She’ll just come over and pester me. It’ll ruin my concentration.”
“Okay, okay. I won’t call her tonight, but I’m telling her first thing in the morning. Then you’re all coming here after church to celebrate. I’ll bring Annie and you bring your kids and your mom. We’ll turn it into a party.”
“Let’s hold off on any celebrating. It might turn out to be a wake, if I decide the numbers don’t make sense.”
“We can wait but you won’t,” Dana Sue said confidently. “You seem to have forgotten how you helped me to squeeze every last penny till it squealed when I was opening this place. I’m sure you’ll be just as creative with Helen’s capital and my contribution.”
Maddie shuddered. “Creative is not a word I like to hear associated with bookkeeping.”
“Whatever,” Dana Sue responded with a dismissive wave of her hand. “We’re going to open a health club. How wild is that?”
“Pretty wild,” Maddie confirmed.
Maybe flat-out insane.
Cal knew Maddie Townsend the same way he knew all the parents of the kids on the team, which was to say better than most teachers knew the parents of their students but far from well. Maddie had always impressed him by never missing a game and being one of those rare adults who didn’t torment their kids with unrealistic expectations or him with irrational harassment when their sons were on the field. Her husband was the same way.
Today for the first time when she arrived in his office for their scheduled appointment he noticed deep shadows under Maddie’s eyes and a nervous tic in her cheek. Despite the care she’d taken with her appearance, which would have passed inspection at some fancy Junior League function, she seemed uneasy about meeting with him.
“Should we wait for Dr. Townsend?” he asked.
“He’s not able to be here,” she said tightly.
Cal heard a faint note of bitterness in her voice. “Oh? I’ve never known him to miss a game or a meeting.”
“Actually, I didn’t tell him about this one. Tyler asked me not to.”
“I see,” Cal said, though he wasn’t sure he did. “Is there some sort of problem between Ty and his father?”
She regarded him with misery and embarrassment in her eyes. “You may as well know that Dr. Townsend and I are getting a divorce.”
Cal knew his mouth must have gaped at that, because she gave him a wry look.
“I know,” she said. “I was shocked, too, and I lived with him.”
“I’m sorry.” The words seemed inadequate, but what else was there to say?
“Not your problem. Could we just focus on Ty, please?”
“Actually, I’m beginning to see what’s going on with him,” Cal replied. “He’s been having a lot of trouble with school lately. I’m sure his other teachers have been in touch with you about that.”
She shook her head. “I had no idea. He’d mentioned something about a couple of bad baseball practices, but that’s it.”
“Well, I’m sure they’ll contact you before things reach a crisis stage—or perhaps you should take the initiative, just in case…”
“Just in case what?”
“Kids have been known not to take home notes they don’t want their parents to see.”
“Surely Tyler wouldn’t,” she began, then shook her head. “Of course he would. I’ll call the other teachers as soon as I get home.”
Cal gave her an encouraging smile. She looked as if she could use some moral support. “Hey, he’s a good student. A few bad grades don’t mean the end of the world. He’ll catch up. More troubling to me is his complete lack of interest in his game. He excelled in his classes because he’s smart, but he excelled in baseball not just because of talent, but because of his passion for the game. He seems to have lost that.”
She sighed. “I thought as much, based on some of his comments to me, but to be honest, I have no idea what to do about it. Baseball was always something he and his dad shared. Bill’s not particularly athletic, but he loved the game. He started taking Ty to Atlanta Braves games when he was a toddler. Then he coached him in Little League. I tagged along, but I didn’t absorb much about the finer points of the game.”
Cal gave some thought to the implications of that. “So, now that his dad’s moved out,” he suggested slowly, “Ty’s rejecting baseball—either deliberately or subconsciously—the way he thinks his father’s rejected him?”
She regarded him with surprise. “Why, yes. I think that’s it exactly.” She leaned toward him as if he might have other answers to life’s mysteries. “What do we do about it?”
Cal hated to admit it with her looking at him so hopefully, but he was as much at a loss as she was. Identifying the problem was a snap compared to solving it, but at least he now knew what he was dealing with. “Let me think about that and get back to you, okay?”
She nodded. “Anything you can suggest will be greatly appreciated. I wish I’d come to you sooner, but the divorce isn’t something I’ve wanted to talk about.”
Cal regarded her with sympathy. “No one does, which is probably why kids internalize their feelings.”
“You’re right again. Believe me, I want to see that old spark back in Ty’s eyes when he walks onto a ball field. He needs baseball right now.” She studied Cal worriedly. “He mentioned you might pull him from the starting rotation.”
“I’ll have to if he doesn’t get his concentration back, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Now that I understand what’s going on, hopefully I can come up with some way to get him back on track. Maybe this is none of my business, but is the divorce final?”
“The paperwork’s done, but we don’t have the decree yet.”
“Are things settling down some at home, though?”
“Some,” she said in a tone that conveyed the opposite.
“They will,” he said, feeling a sudden need to reassure her. It was almost as powerful as his desire to get Tyler back in his pitching groove. “I’ll be in touch soon, Mrs. Townsend.”
“Call me Maddie, please. I’d just as soon not be reminded of anything Townsend right now,” she said, giving him a wry smile. “Besides, it makes me feel ancient.”
Cal laughed at that. “You’re hardly ancient.