LITMIR.BIZ

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      4

      When the doorbell rang just after lunch on Saturday, Maddie gladly left it to the kids to answer the door. She had no desire to face Bill after the frustrating week she’d had. These days she didn’t want to see him when she was at her best, much less when she was feeling defeated.

      She was about to run a hot bath for herself when she heard Tyler’s raised voice from the front hall.

      “What the hell are you doing here? We don’t want you in this house!”

      Horrified by his language and his attitude, Maddie rushed from her bathroom wrapped in an old terry-cloth robe, her hair piled atop her head in a haphazard knot. “Tyler Walker Townsend, what on earth?” she said, then came to an abrupt stop beside him as she spotted the very pregnant Noreen standing on the doorstep.

      Maddie had first met the young nurse when she’d interviewed candidates for the job in Bill’s office. She’d been impressed by the woman’s résumé and composure. In the weeks after Bill had hired her, Maddie had noticed the woman’s efficiency and her warmth with the young patients. She’d had no idea that Noreen’s attentiveness had extended to her husband.

      On the two occasions when she’d seen Noreen since discovering the woman’s involvement with Bill, Maddie had been struck by how self-possessed she seemed, even dressed in her end-of-the-day wilted nurse’s uniform. Now, despite her designer maternity outfit, she looked far less sure of herself. There were patches of red on her cheeks from embarrassment and her eyes were shadowed with distress. She looked even younger than her twenty-four years.

      “Dad sent her to pick us up,” Tyler said, his body radiating outrage. “I’m not going anywhere with her. And neither are they.” He scowled at Kyle and Katie, who were standing nearby in wide-eyed dismay. Kyle whirled around and ran upstairs. Katie promptly burst into tears and flung herself at Maddie.

      “I miss Daddy!” she cried, hiccuping with sobs. “When is Daddy coming home?”

      Despite her disapproval of her son’s tone, Maddie couldn’t help wondering the same thing Tyler had asked: knowing how his kids felt about her, why would Bill send Noreen in his place? Even as she tried to soothe her daughter, she pinned Noreen with an accusing look.

      “Where is their father?” she asked.

      “Bill was tied up at the hospital,” Noreen explained, clearly shaken by Tyler’s verbal attack and Maddie’s cold reception. “He asked me to pick up the kids. I didn’t think it would be a problem.”

      “Well, you can forget it,” Tyler said. “We’re not going anywhere with you!”

      “Tyler!” Maddie said sharply. She kept her gaze on Noreen’s face, trying very hard not to let it stray to her protruding belly. “Obviously, this was a bad idea. Tell Bill he’ll have to arrange another time to see the kids.”

      “But I don’t understand,” Noreen said. “Saturday afternoon is his time. It says so in the divorce settlement. He went over all the terms with me.”

      “That’s right,” Maddie agreed. “It’s his time, not yours. Now I think you should go. Your presence here is clearly upsetting my children.”

      “Please,” Noreen said. “Can’t we talk about this? I’m just giving them a ride, Maddie. Bill will be really upset if he misses his time with them.”

      “He’ll just have to get over it,” Maddie said, refusing to back down. “Maybe next time he’ll arrange to be here himself.”

      For an instant, she almost felt sorry for the other woman. Maybe it was of her own doing, but even Maddie could recognize that Noreen was caught in an impossible situation.

      Noreen’s lower lip trembled. “I just don’t get why they hate me so much,” she said miserably.

      Maddie looked at her son. “Tyler, take Katie in the kitchen and get yourselves a snack, please.”

      “But, Mom,” he began. At a warning glance from her, he sighed and took Katie from her arms.

      When Maddie was certain they were out of hearing, she turned back to Noreen. “You’re a pediatrics nurse, Noreen. Surely you must have taken some child psychology courses.”

      Noreen nodded. “Yes, but I still don’t get it. Whenever they stopped by the office to see their dad, they were always such great kids. I thought they liked me.”

      “I’m sure they did when they thought of you as their father’s nurse,” Maddie said.

      When Noreen still looked confused, Maddie added, “I’m sure Bill will explain it to you. He used to have a functioning brain and at least a tiny bit of sensitivity.”

      Satisfied that the barb had hit its mark, she quietly closed the door in the woman’s face, then went to deal with her kids.

      In the kitchen, she pulled Katie onto her lap, then tried to compose herself before facing Ty.

      “Young man, if I ever hear you speak to another adult the way you spoke to Noreen just now, you’ll be grounded for a month.”

      Ty looked as if she’d slapped him. “She had no business coming here,” he said defensively.

      “That’s not the point. We’ve had this conversation before, but you don’t seem to have gotten the message. My children are respectful of adults, period.”

      “Even when they’re nothing but—”

      “Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” she told him. “Go upstairs and check on your brother while I try to get Katie calmed down.”

      A half hour later she was physically and emotionally drained from walking the tightrope between what she knew was right and the vicious words she wanted to utter herself. She needed a break and the kids needed a distraction. Bracing herself for a slew of questions she didn’t want to answer, she called her mother. If she’d been willing to babysit once, maybe she could be persuaded to do it again.

      “What’s wrong?” Paula Vreeland asked the second she heard Maddie’s strained voice.

      “What makes you think something’s wrong?” she said. That was the way her relationship with her mother went. Even the most innocent question had a way of getting her hackles up. Maybe it was because she always sensed some inherent disapproval in her mother’s tone, if not her words.

      “You sound as if you’re on your last nerve,” her mother said. “What’s Bill done now?”

      Since there was little point in denying her husband’s role in her mood, Maddie gave her mother an abbreviated version of the scene that had just played out on her doorstep.

      “It’s plain he wasn’t thinking, but women are usually more sensitive to these things. What on earth possessed Noreen to think that she’d be welcome at your house?” her mother demanded.

      “I doubt she thought about it at all,” Maddie responded. “I imagine she was just doing what Bill told her to do.”

      “Or she wanted to rub this situation in your face,” her mother said heatedly. “Isn’t it enough that she destroyed your marriage?”

      “Apparently not,” Maddie said.

      Paula drew in a deep breath. “Okay, there’s no point in belaboring the woman’s lack of good sense. What can I do to help?”

      “The kids could really use a change of scenery,” Maddie said. “I hate to ask, but would you mind taking them to your place for a few hours? It won’t be the same as going to their dad’s, but maybe it’ll distract—”

      “How about I take them to Charleston instead?” her mother offered. “We’ll see a movie, eat hamburgers and greasy fries and I’ll bring them home exhausted.”

      Maddie was surprised. “Are you sure?”

      “Believe

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