15 Valentine Place

“Is that the voice of experience speaking?” Leonie asked, propping a hip against the counter.

“As a matter of fact it is. I remember this one guy I dated. He had huge sideburns.” She laughed. “You should have seen how my friends teased me about that. They nicknamed him Elvis. Anyway, we started going out in July and by the time Christmas came along we—” She stopped in mid-sentence as a hissing sound alerted her to the fact that the fudge mixture was bubbling over the rim of the pot.

“Oh no! It’s not supposed to do that! I sprayed the edges with vegetable oil.” She groaned, frantically lifting the pot off the burner. “Now look at the mess I’ve made!”

Leonie reached for a sponge. “Don’t worry about it. That old stove has seen worse spills than that.”

“Be careful,” Maddie cautioned as Leonie mopped up the gooey liquid. “The burner’s hot.”

“Ooh, this is painful,” Leonie agreed.

“You didn’t burn yourself, did you?”

“No, I just hate to see good chocolate go to waste.” Leonie licked her finger.

“I should know better than to try to cook and talk about my old boyfriends at the same time,” Maddie said with a sigh.

“Speaking of boyfriends, I saw Jeffrey in the post office this morning,” Leonie said, rinsing out the sponge at the sink.

Jeffrey Anderson was a teaching assistant in the English department at the university, but he was more of a friend to Maddie than a boyfriend. In the past six months they’d grown closer and she’d been patient, hoping that what had started out as a friendship would turn into something else, but so far not even his poetry, which he wrote especially for her, could kindle the flame of romance between them.

“Were his eyes glazed over?” she asked, her attention on the fudge. “He’s been working night and day on his thesis.”

“He did look a bit frazzled. He asked me to give you a message, but I’m wondering if it’s safe… I mean, we don’t want to lose any more of the fudge, do we?”

“No need to worry about that. It’s done.” Maddie peered closely at the candy thermometer before removing the pot from the stove and setting it on a wire rack to cool.

“In that case, he said to tell you he misses you,” Leonie told her.

“He misses his back rubs, especially now that he’s spending long hours bent over the computer working on his paper.” Maddie added a chunk of butter to the mixture.

“You aren’t 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.”