The Changeup (Men of the Show) (18 page)

“Because I’m dating Chase, who is a younger man, somehow that equates to me being a child molester.”

Karen scowled as she sat down across from her. “What?”

“Oh, yeah, and it gets better.” She took a deep breath and wiped at her tears. “And now I apparently have to choose between my job and Chase.”

“Wait a minute, wait a minute.” Waving her hands, Karen shook her head as if trying to shake out the fuzziness. “Let’s back up here. Start from the beginning and tell me exactly what happened.”

Maddie sniffled and slowly started to recount what had happened, starting with the phone call the day before. When she finished, she sat back in her chair and gave a big sigh. Every time she relived it, it seemed to get worse.

Karen stared at her in disbelief, her mouth literally hanging open. “I can’t believe this,” she finally said.

“You and me both.”

“Well, I hope you told Mark to shove it up his big fat ass,” she said with certainty.

Maddie gave her a fleeting, uncomfortable glance before focusing on her fingernails.

Hearing no confirmation, Karen pushed her hands away forcing her to make eye contact. “You
did
tell him that didn’t you, Maddie?”

She closed her eyes in frustration before sliding her chair out and pacing to the middle of the kitchen. “I couldn’t! I told him I would get back to him.”

“What?” Karen cried as she hopped up and stood in front of her. “I can’t believe you are even thinking about this! The things he accused you of are disgusting. He had no right to do that.”

“Well, he didn’t actually
accuse
me,” Maddie said weakly.

“The fact that he even said it is bad enough.”

“I can’t lose my job, Karen. I have Bree to think about.”

“Maddie, you have more than enough people to help you out. Chase, me—”

She cut her off before she could go any further. “I will not ask Chase for help,” she said heatedly. Taking a calming breath, she shook her head. “And I’ve already leaned on you too much.”

Something in her words struck Karen as odd. “You
are
going to talk to Chase about this, right?”

Maddie cringed a bit before turning away and walking back to the kitchen table, keeping her back to Karen. “This is my issue, not his. I don’t need to put this on him.”

Karen rolled her eyes. Her friend was so thickheaded sometimes. “Maddie, you two are dating now and since his presence is what triggered this issue, he deserves to be in the know.”

She spun around. “No! I won’t do that to him. He has enough to worry about that I don’t need to bore him with my small problems.”

“Small problems? Mad, are you hearing yourself?”

“This is my issue and I will fix it. I don’t want him to think that he has to help me out of every situation.”

“So what are you going to do then?”

That took the wind out of Maddie’s sail and she slouched back down in defeat. “I don’t know,” she whispered.

The ringing of the phone interrupted them and panic flashed on Maddie’s face as she read the display. “It’s Chase,” she cried.

“Well, answer it,” Karen said simply.

“I can’t talk to him right now. I can’t....he’ll know something’s up.” She shoved the phone at Karen. “You answer it. Tell him I’m out running errands or something.”

“Nope, not doing it.”

“Karen, please. Just do it this once. I swear I won’t ask you to do this again,” she pleaded.

“Fine,” she said as she stuck her hand out for the phone. “Hello?”

Maddie listened as Karen told Chase that she was out running errands and tried to figure out what she was going to do. As far as she was concerned, she had no options—she couldn’t lose her job and she couldn’t lose Chase.

Karen threw the phone down on the kitchen table and pointed at Maddie. “He doesn’t deserve that, Maddie. He’s been nothing but honest and straight with you. He deserves the same in return.”

Karen was right and she knew it, but Maddie didn’t know how to stop. It seemed matters were out of her hands now and she could only watch helplessly from the sidelines as her world fell apart around her.

* * *

A few days passed after Mark’s talk with her and Maddie had yet to put any clear thought toward her predicament. Any time she started to deliberate on it, she quickly became overwhelmed with despair and anger, and couldn’t think clearly. As far as she could tell, she was stuck in an impossible situation. On the one hand, she couldn’t even consider quitting her job, even as a matter of principle, but on the other hand, she couldn’t even begin to contemplate moving on from Chase. Neither was an option in her opinion, which left the situation without a solution.

It didn’t help that every time she talked to Chase, she couldn’t completely keep the strain from creeping into her voice. More than once, he’d asked what was going on and she tried to assure him that everything was all right and she was only tired. She wasn’t sure how much longer he was going to buy that excuse before he started demanding she tell him the truth.

She missed him more than anything. She and Bree watched every game, hoping for a glimpse of him sitting in the dugout if he wasn’t pitching and they talked to him each night, but it wasn’t enough. It sickened her when she realized she was going to have to make a decision and that she needed to be secure in that decision before he returned, because once she saw him, it was going to be that much more difficult to remain resolute.

After dinner, she walked around the family room, picking up the clutter that forever seemed to exist no matter how much she cleaned up, when someone knocked at the door. Bree, watching TV, looked up at her mom.

“Who’s that?”

“Not sure.” Maddie frowned as she walked over to the door. When she saw who was standing on the other side, a feather could have knocked her over.

“Kyle,” was all she could say.

He stood before her, flawless, tall and handsome, his dark hair perfectly in place and not a wrinkle in his black linen pants or white dress shirt. He flashed a bright smile at Maddie as he stepped in. Once the sight of him would have made her tingle, but now it only made her angry.

“To what do we owe this?” Maddie asked tightly. Kyle never showed up unannounced, so she knew he had an agenda.

“Oh, I thought I’d stop over to see my girl.” His eyes trailed over her as one brow arched, taking in her disheveled appearance before turning to Bree. Kneeling down, he reached out to her, his discomfort obvious. “There she is. Can I get a hug?”

Maddie watched as Bree gave her father an unenthusiastic hug. She would have lunged herself at Chase, laughing and smiling, but with Kyle she was timid and hesitant. As nice as it was that he was claiming he wanted to see their daughter, she knew better.

“Huh,” she said as she walked over and sat on the back of the couch crossing her arms. “Are you sure there isn’t another reason for this visit?”

His piercing blue eyes flashed before he grinned to cover his irritation. Standing up, he kept his hand on Bree’s shoulder. “Well, perhaps there is something you and I need to talk about.”

Maddie rolled her eyes. “That’s what I thought. Bree, would you give your father and me a moment alone, please?”

Bree looked more than happy to retreat to her room and leave her parents alone. Kyle watched her walk down the hallway before turning back to Maddie. “She looks great. She looks more like you every day.”

“Why are you here, Kyle?” she asked, not in the mood for small talk.

“What’s going on with you and that Rockets player?” he asked as he casually shoved his hands in his pants pockets.

Not again
, Maddie thought, but she forced herself to remain impassive. “How is this any of your business?”

He arched his brow as if it were obvious. “Well, you’re not my business, but Bree is.”

“And what does this have to do with Bree?”

“Well, let’s just say I’m not sure his lifestyle is exactly suitable for a young girl.”

Maddie stood up and shook her head. She felt like she was back in Mark’s office. Again, the issue of Chase was coming up from someone who had nothing to do with either him or her. “What lifestyle is that?”

“Oh come on, Maddie. You know how it is—all the traveling, all the press. The girls.”

“No, I don’t know. Whenever he’s around, he’s been nothing but attentive and doting to Bree which is more than what I can say about you.”

He clenched his teeth together, trying to tame his anger. Kyle always thrived on being able to keep his cool and he wasn’t about to let her push his buttons. “I agree I’ve been less than attentive, but maybe I want that to change.”

“Oh, please! That couldn’t be further from the truth.”

“Maybe you’ll believe me once you hear from my lawyer,” he suggested with a cold smile.

She stopped and stared at him in disbelief. “What? Your lawyer? What for?”

“It’s simple. I don’t want our daughter to be exposed to that lifestyle, and if you continue to date him, then I’ll be forced to take you back to court and contest the custody agreement.”

Fear, dread and heart-stopping panic pulsed through her at the thought of Bree bring taken away from her. “Are you really that much of an asshole, Kyle? Really?”

He shrugged easily. “I’m just doing what’s best for my daughter. It’s nothing against you.”

“It sure feels like it is,” she said, her voice wobbly.

Kyle gave her a long hard look before turning around and walking to the front door. With his hand on the knob, he turned back to her. “Think about it, Maddie. I think you’re smart enough to know what the right thing to do is.”

Maddie watched as he walked out, shutting the door behind him. She’d wanted to call his bluff by pointing out he hadn’t even said goodbye to the daughter he was suddenly so concerned about, but she was too overwhelmed to even speak.

Walking back to the kitchen, she tried to process everything that had just transpired. What if he wasn’t bluffing? What if he truly intended on taking her to court to fight for custody of Bree? She could not lose custody of her daughter, it would kill her, but she also couldn’t afford the cost of a lawyer, especially if she was contemplating quitting her job.

Starting to shake, she realized she was sobbing uncontrollably and slid down the nearest wall to the kitchen floor with her head in her hands. The happiest time of her life had become the absolute worst time of her life. It seemed as if everything in the universe was joining forces to block her attempts at any sort of happiness. Her time with Chase was more than she could have ever asked for. He made her feel alive, young and free, but apparently, it wasn’t to be and she was supposed to be alone. There was no other reason that could explain why everything was stacked against her.

Feeling a timid hand on her arm, Maddie jerked her head up and Bree’s look of concern filled her vision. “Mommy, are you okay?”

Unfolding herself, she hugged her sweet little girl tightly. This was the only true thing in her life. She would never let anything come between them and, with that, she knew she had her answer.

Chapter Eighteen

Driving home from the airport, Chase was anxious to see Maddie and Bree. It’d been a long, draining road trip and the Rockets had only managed to win half of their games. He’d managed to secure his twelfth win of the season, but it didn’t matter. It was the team’s record that got them to the postseason, not his.

Toward the end of the trip, Maddie had become more and more distant each time they spoke. He tried to call every chance he got, but he could feel her pulling away each time. He hoped it was only due to the extended separation between them and nothing more, but there was empty feeling in the pit of his stomach that he couldn’t shake. Something wasn’t right.

Chase pulled into the spot in front of her place and cut the engine. He was exhausted and wanted to crawl into bed, but he couldn’t do that until he saw them.

He climbed out of the car and made his way up the walk to her door. He hesitated for a moment before raising his fist and knocking. When it flew open, he found himself looking down at Bree’s bright, smiling face and he felt his heart lighten.

“Chase!”

Throwing open the screen door, she leaped into his arms and buried her face against his neck. “I’ve missed you so much!”

He squeezed her back. “I’ve missed you too, kiddo.”

Sitting back, she bounced in his arms. “When can we play catch?”

He grimaced playfully. “Oh man, you’re going to kill me, girl. I just got back!”

Bree giggled and hugged him again. It was then he spotted Maddie watching them from the kitchen. His heart sank into his stomach and the tension doubled. She looked distraught and he knew immediately that his gut was right, that something bad was about to go down. His eyes never left hers as he released Bree and placed her gently back on the ground.

“Hey,” he said quietly.

“Hi,” she said flatly.

He noticed that she didn’t move from where she was. The family room was like an ocean between them. He wasn’t sure he wanted to find out what he would encounter in the middle once he stepped away from the security of his shore.

“How are you?” he asked.

Rather than answer, she scrunched her face up, unable to fight the tears any longer, and disappeared into the kitchen.

He sighed and looked down at Bree who was anxiously watching their exchange. He tried to smile reassuringly, but he could feel himself falling short. He gently squeezed her small shoulder before forcing himself to walk into the kitchen. He found Maddie standing at the sink staring out the window overlooking the backyard, her face as blank as the sea of darkness on the other side.

Chase stopped next to her and waited. When she finally looked up at him, her eyes were red and swollen. She’d obviously been crying for a while. “Do you want to tell me what’s going on?”

Fresh tears sprang to her eyes as she squeezed them shut and clenched the edge of the sink with her fingers. Taking a deep, steadying breath, she forced herself to turn and look at him. “We need to stop seeing each other.”

He didn’t move, but his eyes narrowed. “And why is that?” he asked calmly.

She swiped at her face impatiently. “Because we just do, okay? Because I said so.”

“Because you said so? And that’s it, huh? I don’t get a say in any of this?”

“Chase, don’t make this harder than it is. Please...I’m begging you...” she broke off.

Her plea cut at him, but he wouldn’t let it stop him. He wasn’t going to lose her without a fight. “I’m sorry, but I feel like I deserve a little more explanation than ‘I said so’.”

“It’s not going to work, okay? I’ve had some time to think things over and I realized it’s for the best if we go our separate ways.”

“I hear you, Maddie, but what I want to know is why, and you don’t seem to be able to answer that.” His voice hardened as his patience quickly grew thin.

“I can’t answer it, okay?” she cried as she beat her chest with her palm. “It’s just something I feel. Something I know we have to do.”

Chase snapped, unable to tame his anger anymore. He was exhausted from the road trip and this was the last thing he needed. “This is bullshit, Maddie! Come on! You expect me to say okay and walk away because you
feel
like it’s the right thing to do even though you’re standing there looking pitiful.” He yanked off his ball cap and raked his fingers through his hair. “This is fucking unbelievable.”

Maddie watched him as he paced away from the counter and tugged his hat back on his head before turning around with his hands on his hips. “What happened while I was gone?” he asked trying to will patience back into this voice but failing. “You promised you would talk to me before making any decision. You promised me and I trusted you!”

“Nothing happened!”

“I don’t believe you!”

“Well, then I don’t know what to tell you.”

He stood staring at her, before shaking his head. “So, you want to end things, just like that? Like nothing ever happened?”

Maddie shook her head vigorously. “No, no,” she said as she reached out to him. “Not like nothing ever happened. I won’t ever forget what happened. Ever.”

“Well, you could have fooled me.”

“Please, Chase. This is hard for me too.”

“But at least you know why!” he exclaimed. “All I have is a ‘feeling’. ‘Hey, Chase, why did Maddie break up with you?’ ‘Oh, I don’t know, she had a feeling’,” he scoffed. “Give me a fucking break.”

“I’m sorry, Chase. I really am.”

He loomed over her, his eyes dark with anger. “Well, sorry isn’t good enough, Maddie.” Spinning on his heel, he strode out of the kitchen. “I can’t deal with this right now.”

She remained where she was, and jumped when he kicked the front door so it slammed against the wall before storming out. Standing in the middle of the kitchen, she let her crushing grief consume her. She sank down into a fetal position on the floor and cried her soul out.

* * *

Sometime later, it could have been hours or minutes, she felt Bree shake her shoulder.

“Mommy? Mommy, Aunt Lenore’s here.”

Sitting up, Maddie saw Lenore looking down at her with alarm.

“What on earth is going on, Maddie? Honey, get up off the floor.” Lenore leaned down to help her up and into the family room where Maddie collapsed onto the couch, sick with misery and her legs unable to hold her own weight.

“Bree, honey, be a sweetheart and get a glass of water for your mother.”

As Bree ran into the kitchen, Lenore brushed the hair away from Maddie’s face, her eyes warm with concern. “Tell me what happened, honey.”

Maddie hiccupped as she tried to stop her sobs, but she felt so empty and desolate that she could do nothing more but shake her head. Bree returned and handed Lenore some water. “Thank you, dear. Now why don’t you go play in your room for a bit while I talk to your mom. Everything’s going to be all right.”

Bree gave her mother a worried look before quietly retreating to her room. Maddie took the glass her sister was holding and took a tentative sip as she tried to bring herself under some semblance of control. After a few minutes, she was finally able to speak, her voice weak and strained from emotion.

“You don’t need to lecture me, I’ve already ended things.”

“Lecture you? What on earth are you talking about?”

Maddie gave her a knowing look through red, bleary eyes. “Give me a break. You knew about us, Chase and me. Don’t try to pretend otherwise.”

She gave an insulted gasp. “I knew, Maddie, but I didn’t come over to lecture you. Quite the opposite, actually. I just wanted to talk to you.”

“You mean talk at me.”

Lenore puffed herself up. “Well, it sounds like you have quite a bit of hostility built up toward me.”

“Look, Lenore, I know you and you were not going to come here just to talk to me about Chase. You were going to come here and defend Sandy, who I’m sure you feel was treated like dirt.”

“Well, can you blame me? She’s my daughter and of course, I’m going to defend her. You would do the same for Bree.”

Maddie was tired and emotionally drained, and she really didn’t want to be discussing this right now. She gave a deep sigh. “Whatever, Lenore. It doesn’t matter anymore, that’s what I’m telling you. I broke up with Chase and I’m sorry if you and Sandy still believe she’s been slighted.”

Lenore sat back and tugged the creases out of her crisp tan pants. “Well, I’m sure it’s for the best anyway. The boy was practically a child, for crying out loud.”

Maddie narrowed her eyes at her sister. “Chase was the most mature person I’ve met in a long time. He’s more mature than a lot of people more than twice his age.”

Lenore rolled her eyes. “Where could it have gone? I mean, really, did you believe he would want to marry you and start a family with you? Come on, Maddie. Let’s be realistic here.”

“And why couldn’t that be reality?”

She gave a half laugh and shook her head. “Boy, he did a good one on you if he had you believing that—just like he did with Sandy.”

“What did he make Sandy believe?”

“Oh, you know. That they had a future together and that he would take care of her.” Lenore waved her hand at her. “The same lines he fed to you.”

Maddie jumped off the couch, anger surging through her, feeding fire to the cold barrenness inside her. “He didn’t say any of that to me, Lenore. Chase doesn’t
feed
lines and he doesn’t need to. He’s open, straightforward and honest, which is a lot more than I can say about Sandy.”

Lenore stood up slowly. “What are you accusing Sandy of? Lying?”

She counted off on each finger. “Lying, exaggerating, refusing to see reality...would you like me to continue?”

“I can’t believe you would take the word of some boy over your own niece!”

“I’m sorry, Lenore, but that’s the way it is.”

Lenore’s face was red, her usual composure shattered. “I didn’t realize you were this far out of touch with reality. It appears we’ve all done you a favor or else you would have completely turned your back on your own family, on Bree.”

“Bree? How was I turning my back on Bree?”

“You were only thinking of yourself and what you wanted with no regard to anyone else! Sandy, Bree...anyone. You’ve been very selfish.”

Maddie looked at her only sister as if she had two heads before walking over to the door and holding it open. “Just hearing a comment like that clearly indicates to me that you have no idea what you’re talking about. You don’t know me, obviously. I would
never
turn my back on my daughter. I consider her with everything I do. She’s mine and if Chase had a problem with that, I wouldn’t have hesitated to show him the door. But, as it was, he embraced her as his own, and in the short time he was around, spent more time with her than Kyle has in nine years.” She stopped as she thought back to the night at Lenore’s house where she first met Chase. “As a matter of fact, I seem to remember you telling me that Chase was ‘different’ and he
should
spend time with Bree.”

“Well, that was before I knew what kind of person he really is.”

Maddie scoffed as she shook her head in disgust. “It doesn’t matter anymore. I was forced to choose and I did.”

“It was the right choice.”

“You know, Lenore,” she said with an irritated huff. “I don’t even care what you think. As long as it doesn’t affect you, Tom or the kids, you’re happy. You don’t care about my happiness. You never have.” She gave the door a little jiggle. “It’s time for you to leave now.”

Lenore huffed as she leaned down to grab her purse. Striding over to the door, she paused right next to Maddie. “You’re wrong. I do care about your happiness, but not when it comes at the expense of others. You were hurting too many people by your poor choices and I couldn’t let that happen to Bree.” She smiled sweetly before Maddie could slam the door in her face.

Standing with the door at her back, Maddie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She couldn’t believe that Lenore would actually stand there and tell her she was looking out for Bree’s best interest. She had some nerve to play that card when it was never, ever about anyone else—only Lenore.

It didn’t matter anymore. Chase was out of the picture so Lenore had to be ecstatic about that. She’d gotten what she wanted without having to do the dirty work and so all was right in the world, according to Lenore. Now Maddie had to figure out how to put her life back together.

* * *

His head throbbed. Chase’s cap felt as if it was squeezing the blood out of his brain, and he took it off while rubbing at his temples, willing the pain to go away. His eyes watered and he felt nauseated, but he refused to give in. He had to stay busy, stay focused and then he could get past it.

He took a deep breath and tugged his cap back on his head. Standing upright, he toed the rubber and looked down the length of the bull pen at Matt, who was crouched and awaiting his throw. Reeling back, he tried to put everything he had behind the throw even though he felt as if he had weights tugging down on his arms and legs.

They were working on his sinker and he had yet to nail one. Either he threw it too wildly, watching as the ball spiked the ground in front of the plate and launched in the opposite direction to the backstop, or the ball simply sailed in a straight line into the Matt’s glove without any downward motion. He knew he’d hit bottom, though, when he threw the ball and watched as it fell flat right in front of the plate like he had gently tossed it underhanded.

“Fuck!” he yelled in frustration as he launched his glove at the bull pen wall and stormed off the pitcher’s mound.

Matt stood up and propped his catcher’s mask on top of his head. “Why don’t we take a break, Patty?”

Chase closed his eyes and concentrated on taking deep breaths as he faced the wall with his hands on his hips. He was seeing red and he wanted to throw his fist through the first thing he saw. Ever since the day he’d stormed out of Maddie’s place, he felt nothing but sick and angry. He didn’t want to see anyone and he definitely didn’t want to talk about it. Any time anyone asked him anything, that person quickly backed off as soon as he saw the flash in his eye that said he was precariously close to the edge.