15 Valentine Place. Pamela Bauer
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seeing him at all during semester break?”
She shook her head. “We’re both too busy, although we might go to the Saint Paul Sunday Chamber Music Series next week.”
“He mentioned that his parents were coming for a visit.”
“Another reason we won’t be together. His mother has a way of seeing things in a relationship that aren’t there. I call it wishful vision.”
“She’s hoping that you and Jeffrey are more than friends?” Leonie asked with a lift of her brows.
Maddie began clearing away the measuring cups and spoons that littered the counter. “He’s an only child and his mother is ready to be a grandmother. Need I say more?”
Leonie smiled. “Then it’s a good thing she lives nine hundred miles away, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is,” she said, rinsing the dirty dishes before putting them into the dishwasher. “Jeffrey and I don’t need that kind of pressure.”
“So he’s uncomfortable with her attitude, too?”
“Of course he is. He knows I’m not ready for that kind of a relationship. And neither is he.”
“Are you sure? About his feelings, I mean?” Before she could answer, Leonie held up one hand. “You don’t need to answer that, Maddie. I’m not supposed to wear my romance coach hat when I’m out of the office and you certainly don’t need advice when it comes to love.”
“You weren’t wearing your business hat. You were just being you,” Maddie insisted. “And looking out for the daughter of an old friend.”
Leonie smiled affectionately. “You are so much like your mother. I think she’d be happy to know that you’re staying here with me, don’t you?”
Maddie nodded, a lump forming in her throat. Even though it had been four years since her mother had died, she still couldn’t think about her without feeling the pain of her loss. “When we were kids she used to always tell us that if we ever were in trouble, we should call you.”
“Well, I’m glad you came to me—even if you weren’t in trouble,” Leonie said. “If you hadn’t suggested I rent out some of the rooms in this big old house, I’d still be a lonely, grieving widow. Sharing my home with women was exactly what I needed to move on after Frank died.”
The women Leonie referred to were the college students who’d rented rooms in the house at 14 Valentine Place. At one time there had been four of them, but now there were only two, Maddie and a hairstylist named Krystal Graham, who had moved in while she was a student at a cosmetology school nearby.
“You did all of us a favor, Leonie. Finding affordable housing near the university can be a nightmare,” Maddie remarked.
“But if it weren’t for you girls, my life would be quite different than it is today,” she said with a grateful smile. “I don’t think I’d be a romance coach if you hadn’t been here to encourage me.”
“Oh, I bet you would have. And the reason you’re so good at what you do is that you and Frank had such a wonderful marriage.”
Leonie sighed. “It’s hard to believe he’s been gone over two years.”
The sadness in her eyes tugged at Maddie’s heart. “He’d be proud of you if he could see what a success you are. And I doubt he’d be surprised.”
“You mean unlike my sons? I don’t think any of them expected their mom would get paid for dishing out advice on romance,” she said on a chuckle.
“No, but they’re all very proud of you, too.”
“Three of them are anyway. Dylan doesn’t really know the extent of my business.”
“You haven’t told him?” Leonie’s oldest son wasn’t exactly the black sheep of the family, but he was a stray one, having left home at eighteen. Seeing how close Leonie was to her other sons, Maddie found it puzzling that her landlady’s relationship with her firstborn was strained.
“It really hasn’t come up. When we do talk on the phone, there are always so many other things to catch up on.”
“You’re not worried that he won’t approve, are you?”
“What’s there not to approve?” she said, spreading her hands in the air.
“I like that attitude,” Maddie said with a grin. “I was only fourteen the last time I saw Dylan, but if I remember correctly, he was a pretty smart guy. I think he can deal with the fact that his mother’s a successful businesswoman.”
“I’m going to find out. He needs to have surgery on his rotator cuff and has decided to have it done by an orthopedic specialist here at the university hospital.”
“He’s coming back to Minnesota?”
“Mmm-hmm. Next week.” Leonie went on to explain how he’d injured his shoulder while working as an engineer for an overseas construction company. “Garret offered to have him stay at his place, but you know the crazy hours he keeps as a resident. I told Dylan he had to come here, that we have plenty of room.” She fixed Maddie with an inquisitive look. “His being here won’t make you uncomfortable, will it?”
“No, not at all.”
“Good. I know I’ve only had women living here since you moved in, but I figured there’s never been a problem when Jason’s come home so there shouldn’t be one when Dylan is here, either.”
Jason, Leonie’s youngest son, was a sophomore in college. Maddie could have pointed out that having a nineteen-year-old drift in and out was not quite the same as having a thirty-one-year-old man around, but she simply said, “Of course there won’t be a problem. This is a big house and since you’ve remodeled the upstairs and put in the private entrance, it’s more like separate apartments.”
Leonie nodded in agreement. “I know, but I like it when you and Krystal share my house with me. I enjoy our girl time and I don’t want you to feel as if you can’t come downstairs because there’s a man in the house.”
“That won’t change anything,” Maddie assured her.
Leonie smiled. “Good. I’ve called the plumber to see if he can get the bathroom upstairs finished before Dylan arrives.” She tried unsuccessfully to stifle a yawn, then glanced at the clock. “No wonder I’m tired. Look at the time. As much as I’d like to sample that fudge tonight, I’m afraid I’m going to have to wait until tomorrow.”
Maddie nodded and wished her a goodnight’s sleep. As she finished cleaning up the kitchen she thought about what Leonie had told her. In a week there would be a man in the house.
Not just any man, but Dylan Donovan. Memories of a tall, thin boy with brown eyes flashed in her mind.
She’d come to stay with the Donovans for the summer so that she could enroll in a dance program here. For Maddie it had been a dream come true. A chance to leave her small town in North Dakota for the big city and to take a class at one of the top ballet schools in the Midwest.
The only down side had been that she had to spend a summer living with a family of four boys. She’d grown up in a house of women, and the thought of being around boys twenty-four hours a day had made her uncertain and shy.
Especially seventeen-year-old Dylan. Not only was he city smart, he was the cutest guy she’d ever set eyes on and that summer she’d spent nearly every hour she was awake fantasizing about what it would be like to be his girlfriend. Convinced she’d die of humiliation should anyone discover how she felt about him, she’d worked very hard to pretend she didn’t like him at all.
Not that she had needed to worry. Dylan had no reason to notice a fourteen-year-old with braces and a shape not much different than that of his twelve-year-old brother Garret.
Unfortunately, it was Garret who had