Welcome to Serenity

“I didn’t ask you to come in,” he muttered, but he was talking to a dead line. His office door was already opening…and closing.

With her short, steel-gray hair, rounded figure and penchant for flowered blouses and pastel slacks, Teresa looked as if she ought to be home baking cookies, but she ran this office with the efficiency of a drill sergeant. Right now she was regarding him with motherly dismay.

“If you and I are going to get along, you have to pay attention when I talk to you,” she scolded. “Or at the very least, read what I write on that calendar I give you every morning.”

Tom winced. “Sorry,” he murmured, shuffling papers until he found the neatly prepared schedule for his day that he’d barely glanced at. He’d jotted his own notes on an At-AGlance calendar. This meeting wasn’t on that.

“Okay, here it is,” he confirmed, finding it on Teresa’s schedule. “Cal Maddox, high school baseball coach.” He stared up blankly. “Why does he want to see me? I don’t have anything to do with the school system.”

Teresa gave him an impatient look and gestured toward the paper.

“Regarding starting a Little League program in the town,” he read aloud.

She nodded. “I do my job. You need to get used to my system.”

Tom barely contained a grin. In most places he’d worked, it was the boss who got to devise the system. “I’ll try,” he promised dutifully.

She regarded him with blatant skepticism. “We’ll see,” she said with a little huff. “Shall I send Cal in now?”

“Please do.”

A minute later, the coach walked in, a grin on his face. “What’d you do to tick off Teresa?”

Tom hesitated, then shrugged. “Almost everything I do ticks off Teresa. Most recently I failed to read her notes.”

Cal held out a callused hand, shook Tom’s, then said, “Just so you understand, Teresa’s been essentially running Serenity for the past fifteen years. You’re an interloper.”

“She was town manager?” Tom asked, startled by the information. “No one mentioned that.”

“No way,” Cal said, laughing. “But your predecessors pretty much let her run the show. If you actually expect to do this job your own way, you’ll have to ease her into it.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Tom told him, grateful for the insight. It put a new spin on the uneasy relationship he’d had with his secretary since his arrival. He gestured toward a chair. “Have a seat. What can I do for you? Teresa’s note said something about starting a Little League program.”

Cal handed him a folder. “It’s all in there. I’ve described the benefits to the town, the costs, the businesses who’ve committed to sponsoring the teams, the other communities that have similar summer programs.”

“What do you need from me?”

“Start-up funding,” Cal said. “That figure’s in there, too. And I need another coach. I figure we’d have enough kids for at least two teams, one for the younger boys, another for the older boys.”

Tom gave him a questioning look. “You’re suggesting I coach?”

Cal nodded. “You did play ball at Clemson, didn’t you? First base, as I recall.”

Tom gaped. “How on earth do you know about that? I only played college ball for a year before I was injured and had to give it up.” Then his eyes widened. “Cal Maddox?” he said, the name finally sinking in. “You played for the Atlanta Braves?”

Cal nodded. “Briefly. I was sidelined by an injury, too, but I was there when the scouting reports on you came in. You were a hot prospect, which I figure qualifies you to coach Little League in Serenity. Will you think about it?”

“First you need to have a Little League program in place,” Tom said. He gestured toward the folder. “I’ll go over your proposal this weekend and see if it fits in with the budget the town’s about to finalize, then we’ll talk again.”

“Fair enough,” Cal told him, standing up to leave.

“Hey, before you go, you’re an athlete. Where do you go to get a good workout in this town?”

The confident man before him looked oddly disconcerted by the question. “If you swear never to repeat it, I’ll tell you,” he said at last.

“Confidentiality is my middle name,” Tom assured him.

Cal leaned closer as if he feared Teresa or someone else might overhear. “I sneak into The Corner Spa after hours.”

Tom stared at him incredulously. “You’re kidding me! I’ve been told in no uncertain terms that the place is off limits to men.”

“It is,” Cal confirmed. “I’m married to one of the owners. She pretends not to notice that I borrow her key from time to time. Of course, if anyone ever catches me in there, I suspect my wife would throw me to the wolves and deny knowing me, much less admit she gave me tacit permission to sneak in.”

Tom laughed. “Sounds like an interesting relationship.”

“You have no idea,” Cal said. “Maddie’s a fascinating woman and the best thing that ever happened to me. I’m sure you two will cross paths before too long, especially if we get this Little League thing pulled together.”

“I’ll look forward to it,” Tom said. “And I’ll be in touch within the next week or so about your proposal.”

“Thanks. Enjoy your weekend.”

Tom thought about the formal event ahead of him tonight and the inevitable lecture from his father likely to be on tomorrow’s agenda. Enjoyment didn’t enter into any of it.

Jeanette had gotten through yet another day without crossing paths with Maddie. She was hoping to keep it that way. She’d picked up her tote bag and purse and was headed out the side door when Maddie appeared.

“Sneaking off?” she inquired lightly.

Jeanette grinned. “I was trying to.”

“Can you stay for a minute?”

“Is that a request or a command?”

“A request, of course,” Maddie insisted. She held up two glasses of tea and a clear box that held two cranberry-orange scones, Jeanette’s favorite. “I brought bribes.”

Jeanette released a sigh and turned toward the outdoor patio, Maddie following on her heels.

After they were seated, Jeanette took a bite of the light, flaky scone, then frowned. It was still warm. “Where’d this come from? I know we didn’t have scones in the café today. I checked.”

“I asked Dana Sue to whip up a batch and send them over,” Maddie admitted. “They just arrived a few minutes ago, straight from the oven.”

“You really are desperate for me to serve on this Christmas festival committee, aren’t you?” Jeanette said as she savored another bite. Between the comfort food and Maddie’s bribes she was going to be as big as a blimp.

“At the moment, I’m more interested in why you’re so opposed to the idea. I’ve been giving you some space and thinking about our conversation, and I don’t believe your reaction had anything to do with taking on a little extra work for a couple of months. Am I right?”

When Jeanette remained silent, she prodded, “So what was it about?”

Because she absolutely didn’t want to get into that, Jeanette looked Maddie in the eye. “I’ll do it.”