“What’s that?” He stiffened, his forearms flexing.
“The high school coach left, and they have no one decent to train them—well, except Mr. Praetor. They should make it to state this year, the first time in almost a decade, and Andy hopes to get noticed by college scouts.”
“Old man Praetor? Can he still walk?”
“He uses a scooter most of the time.” She shrugged. “Will you do it?”
He slammed the toolbox shut. “Do what? You haven’t asked me anything yet.”
“Will you coach the high school football team?”
He stood, stretching his arms over his head. “No.”
A rippling of anxiety traveled the length of her arms and legs. “No?”
“No.” He snagged the toolbox and headed toward the house. “As much as I’d like to help Andy, can’t you see I don’t have time to eat or sleep, let alone play ball?” At the edge of the field close to the barn, he stopped and eyed the land. “There was a time when all I wanted was to work this land. Now all I want to do is get away from here. The desire is as dead as this place. After five generations, it’s now beyond repair, yet I’ve been charged with the impossible task of restoring it.”
“I can help,” she blurted before she could stop herself. What was she doing? The last place she wanted to be was the farm.
With Tanner.
Working side-by-side.
Alone.
“Unless you can fix that combine, the roof of the barn, harvest the land, there isn’t much you can do.”
She didn’t like to be dismissed, and she didn’t like letting her brother down. No matter how much she didn’t want to be around Tanner and all the feelings that she’d thought were long gone but were bubbling to the surface, she would swallow her pride for Andy. She’d been detoured from her plans to be a dancer on Broadway. She wouldn’t let him be dismissed from his ambitions. With phone in hand, she marched to find cell reception at the little spot near the front porch. Once three bars popped up, she dialed.
“Who’re you calling?” Tanner approached her with an inquisitive eyebrow lifted.
“I’m more capable than you think. Stop acting like you’re all alone. You’re in Sugar Maple. Here, you’re never alone.”
“Hey. What’s up?” Stella asked.
Mary-Beth spoke before Tanner could stop her. “You know how you’re running a tab at the café? Well, I’m cashing in. Come to the McCadden Farm after I close up shop, and bring your tools. You’re going to fix an engine for me.”
“What kind of engine?”
She shrugged, as if Stella could see her.
Tanner shook his head. “I don’t need any help. I just need to work without interruption.”
“The kind that runs a combine to harvest corn.”
“Cool. I think I can manage that.” She hung up without another word. That was her way, on to the next task without a goodbye. Pleasantries had always made her uncomfortable.
“Okay, now, I freed up enough of your time to go check out the football team after school. I’ll meet you at the high school at 3:30 sharp. Don’t be late.” She hoofed it to her car without looking back.
“I didn’t agree to this,” he shouted after her.
“I’ll have men here Saturday to fix the barn roof, and I’ll be here after football practice and after the morning coffee rush to help with harvest and care for the animals.”
“Why would any men in town help with the roof? It won’t happen. I need to stay here.”
She about-faced. “Your excuses are over. The wedding will be here, so they had already spoken about working on the structure of the barn. Again, we’re a town family. Despite you abandoning us, we’re still here, and we don’t turn our backs on anyone. We would’ve been here sooner, but your father wouldn’t accept the help. You call me stubborn?”
Without giving him a chance to answer, she hopped into her car and tore out of there. The entire way back, she felt the whiplash of emotions. She’d gone out there to ask for a favor she’d hoped he’d refuse, only to order him to do it anyway. What was she doing?
When she reached the coffee shop, she discovered Carissa and Felicia loitering outside, pretending to walk the town square. “What’s going on?”
“We heard,” Carissa stood on the curb and looked down at Mary-Beth with sympathetic eyes.
Felicia snagged her in a friend embrace and ushered her into the coffeehouse, as if heat lightning would strike them both on this cloudless fall day. “Tell us what happened. What’s going on?”
“I don’t know.” Mary-Beth collapsed into a chair and eyed her muddy shoes. “One minute I’m convincing myself that I have no choice but to go ask Tanner to coach high school football so that Andy can get a college scholarship but planning on convincing him it’s a stupid idea, but then I find myself begging him to do what I don’t want him to do. And then I convince him by offering to work side-by-side in the fields with the man who still churns up old feelings, turns me around like a fair ride, and spits me back out to clean up the mess. What am I doing?”
Carissa eased into the chair at her side. “You’re working through a lot of feelings you ignored for many years. It’s not going to be easy, but I’m glad.”
Mary-Beth found herself twisting her bangles so hard she caused her arms to turn red. “What? Why would my torment make you happy?”
Felicia settled in at her other side. “Because, hon, you’ve never moved on, and we want you to feel what we feel in our lives. That magical person who makes the world brighter, happier, and more fun. You’ll never have that as long as you cling to those old feelings you had for Tanner. Now you can work past them.”
For the first time in her life, the smell of coffee churned her stomach. “I can’t even make a cup of coffee he likes.”
“What?” Carissa asked with a hint of confusion.
“Nothing. Never mind. It’s not important.”
Felicia slid a hand onto her arm. “The Coffee Whisperer finally met her match. No surprise. You have no idea who he is today.”
“Did you offer to work with him to get to know him better?” Carissa asked in the softest, barely audible voice.
The room fell silent—not even a car passed outside or a person waved through the window. “Of course not. Tanner McCadden is nothing more than a boy I grew up with who I need to help my little brother. He owes me that much at least, after running off and breaking his promise to me.” She shot up and headed for the espresso machine.
“Then there’s no reason for you to worry. You’re simply helping out an old friend at his farm. Nothing too foreign about that in Sugar Maple. Right?” Felicia offered.
“Right.” Mary-Beth snagged a ton of supplies and lined them all up in front of her.
Her friends closed in around the counter. Carissa leaned in, studying all the potential ingredients. “What’re you doing?”
“I’m figuring out the perfect cup of coffee for Tanner. It can’t be hard. The man’s easy to figure out. Small-town football hero runs off for a better life and only returns when he discovers his family farm is failing. Kind of a no-brainer, right? I mean, I’m the Coffee Whisperer being featured on Knox Brevard’s show.”