Part 17 (2/2)
A chill swept Chanel's body. Coach Talbot.
”Uh huh. Okay. I can let him know you called. Is there-,” before she could finish the sentence, there was a quick knock on the front door before it opened. Maddox peeked around the corner into the kitchen with a grin and a handful of wildflowers. Ugh, she wanted to puke. ”Wait, never mind. He just walked in. Hang on.”
Maddox's smile faded as Chanel stepped across the room and handed him the phone, trading it for the flowers. ”It's him,” she said softly.
”K,” he said and pressed the receiver to his ear. ”Hey, Coach.”
Chanel busied herself with finding a large mason jar for the flowers, trying to look like she wasn't listening to her life fall apart. They knew this call was coming. It was no secret fall practice usually started at the beginning of August, but for some reason she'd foolishly hoped this year would be different. A selfish part of her hoped maybe Talbot wouldn't take him back.
”Uh huh, yeah,” said Maddox, leaning against the bar on the living room side, his broad back to Chanel. ”Well, it's definitely been a game changer up here.”
There was silence as he listened. Chanel arranged the white daisies and yellow arrowroot in the jar, discreetly tossing the lupine in the burnable garbage. Mitch would have a fit if he found that plant in his house. It was a noxious weed to cattlemen, causing their cows to abort their unborn calves if ingested.
”Yep, I'll be there. Thank you.” Maddox ended the call and turned to face Chanel. Those blue eyes she'd grown to love were serious. ”Practice starts Sat.u.r.day. Guess your dad gave me a glowing report in an email over the weekend.”
Chanel nodded, her throat too thick to speak. Maddox rounded the counter and took her in his arms.
”This doesn't change anything. Remember what we talked about?”
The front door opened, and Mitch appeared a moment later. After taking in the scene he said, ”Guess Talbot called.”
Chanel felt Maddox's hand on the back of her head, stroking her hair, his chin resting on the crown. His chest rumbled when he affirmed Mitch's statement.
”I'm really proud of you, son.”
”Thank you,” Maddox replied.
”Even if you did manage to steal my daughter in the process.”
Chanel peeked around Maddox's wide body to see her dad grinning.
”I saw it coming from a mile away,” Mitch said. ”You're so much like your mother, Chel.”
That was it, the tears flooded her eyes, and she buried her face back in Maddox's chest. Maddox gave her a squeeze and said to Mitch, ”She was a firecracker too?”
”Yep, for sure. And we had the city country thing going too. Margo loved the city. She never lived anywhere large, but she visited New York once and never got over it. But, somehow she managed to stand living out here with me.”
Chanel pulled back and hunted down a roll of paper towels to wipe her eyes. Being compared to her mom was the biggest compliment someone could give her, and Mitch comparing her and Maddox to him and Margo was overwhelming. He was putting a lot of faith in their fledgling relations.h.i.+p.
Tears quelled for the moment, Chanel made her way across the kitchen and hugged her father. Then looking between two of the three men she loved most, she said, ”Let's eat.”
Maddox could hear the murmurs and clinks of Mitch and Chanel doing the dinner dishes. Mitch had given him permission to use his computer to send a couple of emails. The office was tidier than it had been before. There was only one dirty coffee cup, and the papers had been arranged into neat stacks. A person could even sit in one of the chairs on the opposite side of the desk. Chanel must've tackled it at some point.
He hadn't taken the time to check his messages since that night in early May. It was a little depressing to find he didn't have many. There was one from his mother thanking him for checking in but no real news of what she and his dad were up to. Hollace had written in early June, leading off with a string of profanity cursing Maddox's sentence to the ranch and going on about how stupid Coach was. After a rundown of the daytime beach and nighttime club scenes, he turned the topic to country b.i.t.c.hes. Were they s.e.xy? Were they easy? Maybe he should come up and see if he could score with a couple. Everyone knew how much blue-collar folks idolized football players. The email put Maddox's teeth on edge. Even Lila deserved better than Hollace. He'd need to put him in his place at some point. It was hard to believe he'd been a lot like his friend three months ago. Finally, there was a message from Coach Talbot containing the fall practice and game schedules.
After composing a brief note to his parents and including the game schedule, Maddox wrote to Hollace. He'd catch some flack for sure, but he felt the need to prepare his friend to meet Chanel and educate him a bit about rural life.
As if sensing his thoughts on her, Chanel appeared in the doorway. ”You about done?”
”Just finis.h.i.+ng up,” Maddox said and pushed send. He logged out of the email program and nodded at the photo of Chanel and her mother beside the monitor. ”I love that picture of you and your mom. You look just like her.”
”Thanks.”
Lacing his fingers with hers, he suggested a walk, and they headed out into the warm evening. The last rays of the day's sun smudged the darkening sky with orange and purple. They had four nights left together.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO.
As always, there was a lot of work to do, but Chanel told Mitch she needed to get some things done around the house, which was true. She'd also promised Christine some help in the garden. It was peak harvest and canning time. Plus, she wanted to call Bert and have a long conversation. With the time difference, it was usually too late to do so in the evening, and now, she was saving her nights for Maddox.
As she dialed the familiar number, Chanel realized Bert hadn't called her once this summer. In years past her friend had called a couple times a week, running up overage charges on her cell phone, which in turn required Bert to take extra s.h.i.+fts at the department store where she'd worked. Chanel was determined to find out why she'd been dodging her.
Bert picked up just before the call went to voicemail. ”Hey! Nice timing. You caught me on my lunch break.”
”Perfect. That's what I was aiming for. How are you?”
”Good. They're keeping me busy.” Bert's answer was short and sweet, just like every other one had been this summer when it pertained to her life. Her friend had been much more animated when the spotlight was on Chanel.
Deciding her news could wait, Chanel said, ”Tell me about it.”
”Well, I've been promoted from purse dog walker and coffee fetcher to overseeing my boss's calendar and a lot of her communication. I'm also co-managing the company closet, which means I'm a librarian of clothing and accessories.”
Chanel could hear the excitement in her friend's voice. ”That's wonderful!”
”This has been such a great opportunity,” Bert said.
There was a beat of silence, like something wasn't being said. Then Chanel remembered Bert referring to the right person making you stop and think the last time they spoke. ”So, I'm thinking you have more to tell me. Like maybe, there's a new special someone in your life.”
Bert released a breathy laugh. Chanel couldn't decide if she sounded nervous or happy. ”Bert? You're holding back on me. Unless I track you down, I don't hear from you. And when I do get a hold of you, you don't tell me much about what's going on in your life.”
”Yeah, I'm sorry, Chanel. I did meet someone, and he's great. I met him at my first photo shoot. He was the photographer-,”
”Wait a minute,” Chanel interrupted, ”he was the photographer at a big New York shoot? That means-,”
It was Bert's turn to railroad the conversation. ”Yes, he's about fifteen years older than me. But, he is so great. He's funny and smart, and we're interested in the same things.”
Chanel wished her friend wasn't on the other side of the country. She could hear the same giddiness she felt in her chest in Bert's voice. ”And you love him.”
”Whoa there, cowgirl! This is New York. People do not fall in love over the course of a summer. We're just having fun.”
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