Satellite of Love (34 page)

“I never sleep well when my husband is out of town.” Theresa shuffled together her papers and put them back in her briefcase. “I always think if I walk around another corner, he’s going to be there and, of course, he isn’t. How long will he be away?”

“He may come visit about the time school starts. Depends on what the situation is with the trials.”

Theresa raised an eyebrow. “Really? He would stay away to improve your chances in court?”

“He left early to improve my chances in court.”

“Well, that’s awfully supportive of him.”

No, it was just awful. She folded her hands on the table and tried to calculate how many minutes were left until he called again. Too many.

“What do you plan to do with your time? It can get very depressing just sitting around waiting.”

“I’m going to take some classes. I’ve been working on a Masters degree. Or I might run away from home and join the circus.”

Theresa laughed like she believed Maureen was joking. “Well, I’m glad to hear you have plans. I’ll talk to you again in a week and let you know how things are progressing.”

Maureen showed her out and then leaned against the door. It was awfully supportive of him to leave to help her, but she’d much rather have him here supporting her. She fished the keys out of her pocket. They hadn’t left her since he had. Last night when she’d been trying to sleep in her too big bed, they had been on the table, lit by the neighbor’s security light.

This was stupid. He loved her enough to leave even though he didn’t want to. She loved him and didn’t want to be apart from him just to prove a point. Even if she won, she lost. She searched the house for her cordless phone. It was on the bookshelf. “Hi, Linda,” she said when her friend answered. “What are you doing?”

Linda hesitated. “Nothing.”

Maureen chose to ignore the hesitation. “Theresa just left. We’re suing the newspaper too.”

“Really?”

“They printed that the school board had complaints and the school board isn’t producing them.”

“Yeah, well, should have checked facts, I guess.”

“It’s really frustrating that I’m guilty until proven innocent.” Why had she called Linda? Kaitlyn wouldn’t have gotten her all wound up. Jeanette would have asked if she wanted to come over and swim to distract her. Kathy would have taken her shopping. Linda was just going to get her angry.

“What’s worse is that it’s nobody’s beeswax. So you’re dating some super hot musician. What does that change about your teaching?” Linda asked.

“I know.”

“It’s like they want to fire you on an ethics violation and you haven’t had the good taste to show up to teach stoned. This isn’t the nineteenth century. Teachers don’t have to conduct all their dates on the front porch where the whole town can see them.”

“I know.” Now she knew why she’d called Linda. She needed a reason.

“You have a right to your life.”

“I do. And I’m a good teacher.”

“You are a great teacher. Your class had the best scores in the building on the stupid tests. If they’re gonna fire somebody over that, then they need to fire whoever had the class with the lowest scores.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary.”

“No, but neither is what they’re doing.”

She paced behind the couch. “True. And if they were going to fire someone over ethics violations—”

“Oh, oh, the coach at the high school.”

“Uh huh.”

“I don’t know why they let him near girls. If he isn’t doing something yet, it’s only a matter of time.”

“I know.” She adjusted a pillow. “So you think I have a pretty good chance in court?”

“If there is any justice in this world, the school board and the paper will settle because if you go in front of a judge with your record, you’ll will mop the floor with them.”

“Can you watch my house?”

“Why?”

“I’m going to go on tour with Michael.”

Linda laughed. “You go. Send me postcards.”

Maureen threw a few things in a bag and tossed it in the car. Running back into the house one last time, she located the tour book he’d given her so she would know where he would be. The directions to the hotel and the venue would work just fine once she got Tampa. This time when she parked in front of the garage, Tony walked out.

“Hi, Maureen, what’s up?”

“I need the Satellite.” She climbed out with her bag in her hand.

“What…for.” Tony’s eyes fell on the bag. “I thought you were supposed to stay in town to look good for your lawsuits.”

“I’m going to let my lawsuits handle themselves. Where’s the Satellite?”

“Around the side. Are you sure this is a good idea?”

Maureen walked around the side of the building to the weedy lot where he parked cars while he waited for their owners to come pick them up. Her old car sat there with a For Sale sign in the window. The Satellite was parked next to it. “I’d rather lose and be happy than win and be miserable.” Overheated air washed across her face as she opened the Satellite’s door.

“It’s a long drive.”

“Fine.”

“Shouldn’t you call ahead?”

“I’ll do that when I get closer.” When she sat in the driver’s seat, it fit like a glove. Even before she started the engine, she knew what it would sound like.

“Well, wait a minute.” Tony shifted from one foot to the other. Rusty and Eric leaned around the side of the building to watch the excitement. Tony kept stalling, and when she reached for the door handle, he jumped to attention. “I just got the badge this morning. I figured Bear would want to put it on himself. Let me get it for you.”

Maureen started the engine. It did have a lovely, heavy purr. A lot like Michael.

Tony came back around the building with something in his hand. “Here. Bear will know what to do with it.”

Maureen traced her finger over the little piece of plastic that spelled out the words “Satellite of Love” in aerodynamic sixties type.

“And if you get tired, you pull off and get some sleep. At a nice hotel, not a motel.” Tony pushed her door closed. “There’s no hurry. The Tampa show isn’t until tomorrow anyway.”

“Thanks, Dad.” Grinning at him, she slipped the car into gear.

* * * *

“What the fuck is that?” Jason demanded.

Bear turned toward the sound. It sounded suspiciously like his car. What would his car be doing in Florida in the underground parking at the venue? The whole band was here now. Marc and Ty came out early and they’d spent yesterday at Disney World. Though he hadn’t been able to talk Marc into the Mickey ears, he’d found a great barrette for Maureen. Brian and Jason had arrived just in time for sound check. Afterward they’d come out to the bus to check things over because Rudy swore something was wrong. Nothing looked out of place.

Except the candy apple red nineteen seventy-two Plymouth Satellite coasting past the parked rigs and stopping in front of the bus.

Bear glared at Rudy, who was smirking. “You dick. You knew.”

“Of course I knew. How do you think she got in here?”

Maureen climbed out of the car and leaned on the roof. “Hi, baby.”

Bear ran around the car, grabbed her and spun her around. Setting her back on her feet, he leaned his forehead on hers. “What are you doing here?”

“I missed you.”

“I missed you too.”

“What about your lawsuit?”

“Everything will work out the way it’s supposed to. Besides, there are schools in California. Here, Tony sent this.” Maureen angled her hand between them and opened it.

He had to lean back to see what she was holding. Satellite of Love. Perfect. Bending her back, he kissed her. She was still summer and fine wine and the audience screaming for a second encore in the pouring rain.

Perfect.

Christa Maurice

For my seventh birthday my brother gave me The Eagles’
Hotel California
and I was completely enchanted by the title track. No clue what it meant, but I loved it and my fate was sealed. Unfortunately, as a hard core introvert, performing onstage in any capacity was off the table as a career choice. So I turned to writing and spent many boring college lectures detailing the adventures of Touchstone in the margins of my notebooks. Years later I decided to do something with them and wrote what became
Heaven Beside You
. These things do tend to get out of control with me. A fun side project that kept me entertained while I was teaching English in Korea turned into a series that I was working on through a stint in Chile, the US and the Middle East. And I’m not slowing down.

When not writing, I like to travel so much that I recently had to have pages added to my passport. I also enjoy eating, reading and listening to music. Often simultaneously.

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One spurned editor, one groveling prodigal artist and one hundred thousand eavesdropping fans.

Lindsey Cartwright didn’t set out to become the Wicked Witch of Comics. But then she fell for hot-shot artist Kent Farrington…and got dumped. When he walked out, he left her with no explanation and zero sense of humor.

Kent knows he’s got a hard road ahead if he wants to win Lindsey back. He’ll need to catch her at the perfect time, in the perfect place. What could be better than the biggest comic book convention of the year?

WARNING: Nosy fans, extreme cinnamon buns and vulgar lemons.

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Katherine lost one hero in the line of duty — can she risk loving another?

Katherine Pelham’s fiance was a police officer, shot and killed during a robbery. Left with a house she can’t afford, she must rent out the first floor to solve her money woes. Before she can finishing putting up the For Rent sign, along comes a man who seems interested in more than just the apartment.Fireman Jack Connelly is in a bind: he’s rescued a dog, and his lease doesn’t allow pets. The new apartment would be great. The new landlady, even better…