Page 122 of Off Court Fix

* * *

The next morning, Maxine is in the shower when I go downstairs to put on a pot of coffee neither of us probably needs, despite the little sleep we got. Adrenaline and nerves were enough to keep me up throughout the night, so I know how restless Maxine slept beside me. She tossed and turned and, under the influence of pending heartbreak, kept reaching out, touching me—a caress of my arm, her leg sliding between mine until I slid over and held her tightly for the final moments of the night.

But I want today to feel normal on some level, so that means it should begin with the sound of the coffee grinder and not the sound of wheels churning up Maxine’s pebbled driveway, which is what I hear before I even reach for the beans.

I abandon the kitchen, making my way to the front door to look out the window and find Maxine’s father parking his car.

I should muttershitunder my breath, ready myself to take up my role as the gardener, like last time. But I do neither of those things because no matter how much I pretend, this isn’t a normal day—it’s our last day together here in our safe spot since tomorrow we head into the city to stay in a hotel while she plays in the US Open. Instead, I open the front door and confront him while he’s heading to the side of the house, undoubtedly to enter through the mudroom like it’s any other day. But today, I don’t hide or pretend.

“You need to leave.” My words bring Ted Draper to a halt, and he slowly turns. “You’re not wanted here.”

He cocks his head to the side and then nods. “Ah, yes, thegardener. Working very hard,gardening,” he mumbles, taking in my open shirt, my wrinkled shorts.

I make my way down the steps. “You’re not wanted here,” I repeat. “Maxinedoesn’t want you here.”

“Oh,” Ted says, lifting his eyes to the house. “And she told you that, did she?” He shakes his head before continuing toward the side door, but it doesn’t take me more than a few quick steps to cut in front of him.

“Whatever you’re here for, whatever you’re trying to force her into, you can take it and—”

Ted cuts in, “I get that you’ve beenspending timewith my daughter, but it’s clear you don’t really have any idea who she is if you think I canforceher into anything.”

“Is that so? Everything she’s done, running herself to the goddamn bone, embarrassing herself, all of it just because she can’t get her own father to see her when she’s standing right in front of his face. She’s jumping through hoops, suffering in silence—”

Ted shakes his head. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I have a pretty good idea about what I’m talking about,” I rebut. “I know Maxine is completely traumatized. So much that she won’t even takeTylenolwhen she’s got a ligament snapped in half and was just cut open todragit back down her leg. And it’s not because she’s scared of turning into her brother. She’s terrified if she does, you’ll turn your back on her just like you did to him.”

My chest heaves with angry breaths as we stand off. Ted remains cool, calm, collected, and all the while I’m thinking my father was a monster because of what he did to me and my mother. But this guy, he’s a monster because of all the things hewon’tdo for her, like love her, win or lose.

Ted pockets his hands.

“Did you call her after Cincinnati? When she went down on that court and then continued to play and hobbled off the court without taking a moment to celebrate, it was clear there was something wrong. Where were you then?”

When he smiles, I’m about to charge Ted, to grab him by the shirt collar and shake him.

“Who do you think sent the box of bandages up to her room that night?”

I don’t want the surprise that hits me to make me falter, but it does, and my head juts back.

Ted takes a step closer to me. “I see a lot, more than you or my daughter think I do. And what I see here? Some, I don’t know, washed-up middle-aged man with a kink for a power trip, preying on my daughter, who is too blind to see you for who you are.”

“And who is that?” I growl.

“An opportunist.”

But how wrong Ted Draper is. The only thing I stand to gain from my relationship with Maxine isMaxine. I’m prepared to lose everything else. I’m about to lose everything else—likely my job at the club, my freedom to prison.

“That’s the pot calling the kettle black, isn’t it? Considering you’re the one taking a cut out of whatever she earns whether she plays or not.”

Ted presses his lips together. “I have a financial relationship with my daughter because Iworkfor her.”

“You don’t work for her anymore. She fired you,” I remind him. “And whatever work you did, don’t pretend it didn’t benefit you more than it didher.”

“What I do or don’t do regardingmydaughter is none of your goddamn business.”

“You’re right.” Maxine’s voice grabs our attention, and I turn to find her on the front step. “It’s not Crosby’s business, no more than what I do with him or on my own isyourbusiness.”

Ted holds out his hands and steps forward, “You were the one—”

---