Chapter 36
Maya – a woman who’s about to get the surprise of her life
Maya
I frown when I notice how crowded Nova and Hudson’s chalet is. Paisley pats my shoulder.
“Don’t be afraid. Pretend this is one of your romance novels.”
If she only knew. I always pretend my life is a romance novel. It’s the only way I can manage to enter rooms with large groups of people.
“Thanks.”
“Always. I’m always here for you.”
She is. I have a great group of friends. But Sophia and Chloe aren’t around as much anymore since they’ve found love. And now Nova is all loved up, too.
Soon I’ll be all alone again. Paisley will probably fall in love before me, too. It’s kind of hard to fall in love when you’ve been obsessed with a boy you went to high school with for most of your life.
A boy who’s now a man in the military and is always stationed overseas. Mostly in really scary places he won’t tell me about. A man who is merely my pen pal buddy. And will never be more.
Paisley herds me toward the bar. “Let’s get a drink.”
I drag my feet. “I’m driving.”
“This is Nova’s baby shower. I’m certain she has non-alcoholic drinks.”
Drat. There goes my excuse for staying on the edge of the crowd.
Pretend this is a romance novel. I imagine I’m the youngest daughter of a duke being forced to go to a ball against her will. Her father is ready for her to marry but she’s in love with the gardener. He’s forbidden since he’s a commoner.
By the time Paisley shoves a non-alcoholic beer in my hand, I’m warming up to my story. I bet the gardener is sexy. I imagine he’s over six-foot tall and has bulging muscles. I add blond hair and blue eyes to the image. Maybe a cute dimple to soften his face.
Paisley hands me a pink ribbon and brings me out of my fantasy. “What’s this?”
“Nova and Hudson are doing a gender reveal. Guests are supposed to pick a pink or blue ribbon based on what gender they think the baby is.” She waves her blue ribbon. “There were only two left.”
“The baby is going to be a girl. I know it.”
“Which is why I gave you the pink ribbon. Come on. The reveal is happening outside.”
I hurry to follow Paisley out the back doors. There are just as many people outside, but it doesn’t feel as scary when there are no walls barreling down on me.
Paisley leads me to where Chloe and Sophia are standing. I scan the area for Chloe’s stepdaughter. “Where’s Natalia?”
Chloe points to the pool. “She’s over there.”
“When did Nova get a pool?” Paisley asks.
“Hudson had it built for her as a present for her baby shower,” Sophia says. “You know how she hates to swim in the ocean.”
Chloe giggles. “I accept full credit. Nova has some kick on her. She nearly broke my nose.”
“You shouldn’t have scared her by tugging on her leg,” I say.
Paisley frowns. “Why she was convinced a shark was trying to drown her is a mystery to me. Sharks don’t have hands.”
“She panicked. No one thinks rationally when they panic.”
“Which explains why you ran out of biology class shouting ‘the English are coming’ when you were supposed to give your presentation,” Sophia says.
“I don’t understand why we had to give a presentation anyway. It was biology class,” I mutter.
“Public speaking is a valuable skill,” Paisley says.
I snort. “You fall asleep whenever I start to talk about the quarterly numbers.”
“Numbers are boring,” Chloe declares.
Not to me they aren’t. They’re reliable and dependable. And, best of all, I don’t need to speak to anyone when it comes to my job as the financial manager for Five Fathoms Brewing. Except for those pesky clients who refuse to pay. Lucky for me, an email will often suffice.
Numbers aren’t exciting like romance, though. If I could write romance books, I’d be a writer and spend my days in my head dreaming of ways for the hero and heroine to fall in love. But one creative writing class in college taught me I have no writing skills whatsoever. So, numbers it is.
Chloe claps her hands. “It’s time for the gender reveal. I’m totally popping the balloon with the color.”
She pushes her way through the crowd until she’s in the front. “Me first.”
She throws her dart at the board filled with balloons. Water splashes out of the balloon she hit but there’s no color. She scowls. “I want to go again.”
Sophia shoves her out of the way. “My turn.”
Chloe stomps back to us. “No fair. I’m sure I would have gotten it right with my second balloon.”
I giggle. “You were the one who insisted on going first.”
Sophia throws her dart, but her balloon doesn’t have any color either.
“I believe I have this figured out.” Paisley pushes her glasses up her nose before marching to the front. She picks up a dart, takes aim, and hits a balloon on the bottom row. It bursts and the color pink explodes.
“I knew it!” I shout before rushing to Nova and throwing my arms around her. “A girl. You’re having a girl. I’m so happy for you.”
I step back and she wipes tears from her eyes. “I’ve always wanted a little girl.”
I know she has. I’m so happy for her I’m about to burst. Nova is living her own romance novel. She deserves it after losing her parents at such a young age. She deserves all the good things.
“I’m going to spoil your daughter rotten.”
“You need to get in line.” She thumbs her finger at Hudson. “Daddy is going to spoil his little girl rotten.”
Hudson frowns as he marches to us. “Why are you crying?”
The tender way he gazes at Nova has my stomach cramping with envy. I sneak away. I don’t want to ruin their moment with my jealousy. I want my friend to have everything she’s ever wanted. Including the grumpy resort owner she claimed to hate. I knew she didn’t hate him.
One of Hudson’s brothers – I can’t tell them apart yet – jumps into the pool and several people join them, including my friends. I don’t have my swimsuit on and unlike the other people here, I’m not swimming in my bra and panties.
I find a quiet area to watch the party from. I’m not miserable. I enjoy observing other people have fun.
I’ll make sure to remember it all and then write it in my next letter to Caleb. I frown. I haven’t heard from him in a while. He doesn’t write as often as I do but usually, I receive at least one letter a month. But I haven’t gotten a letter this month.
Speaking of Caleb, the man leaning against the corner of the chalet could be his twin. Same height. Same bulging muscles. Same blond hair. Same blue eyes.
Hold on a minute. It is Caleb.
“Caleb! You’re home!” I shout as I run his way and throw myself at him.
He catches me but immediately sets me back on my feet before retreating. “I knew I shouldn’t have come to this party.” He turns around and marches away without another word.
What? Why is he being a meanie? I chase after him.
“Caleb. It’s me, Maya. Your pen pal,” I explain as I try to keep up. He’s limping but despite the limp, he’s moving way faster than me. “Slow down.”
“Fuck,” he mutters before stopping.
“Why are you limping? Are you injured? Is that why you’re home? When did you get home? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to see you.”
My eyes widen. “What? Why not?”
“It’s not personal.”
“Feels pretty personal when you tell me you don’t want to see me after twelve years of being pen pals.”
He rubs the top of his head. “I meant I don’t want to see anyone.”
“Not anyone? What about your family? They’ve missed you.”
He scowls. “My family is better off without me.”
“What are you talking about? They’re your family. They aren’t better off without you. They love you.”
Unlike my family members who were happy to see the backside of me. We don’t speak. I send birthday cards and Christmas cards but I never receive anything in return. I can’t remember the last time my mother phoned for my birthday.
And I’m not invited to Christmas dinner. Traitors aren’t welcome.
“You’re better off without me, too.”
Pain crashes through my chest at his words. Better off without Caleb? Never. Caleb is everything.
“How about I choose whether I’m better off without you? It’s this new thing I’m trying out. Being an adult woman and making my own decisions. It agrees with me thus far.”
He ducks his head but not before I notice his lips turn up in a barely-there smile.
“I’m trying to protect you here.”
“Protect me from what? Spending time in real life with the person I’ve been writing letters to for over a decade?” I narrow my eyes on him. “Or did you ask someone else to write those letters? Have you been pretending to be someone else? Let me guess. You’re a super secret spy who’s here on a mission because the island has been invaded by aliens.”
“Aliens?” He barks out a laugh. “My shy Maya is funny.”
“Funny and shy aren’t mutually exclusive.”
He shakes his head. “Apparently not.”
“Come on. Let’s go back to the party. Rumor has it they have beer from Five Fathoms Brewing , which I have to tell you is the best beer on the island. Not only on the island but in the US. Maybe in the world. I tried to send some to you but it’s prohibited to send alcoholic beverages to soldiers fighting in Afghanistan, which I learned when some Army dude showed up on my doorstep to ask me if I worked for a terrorist organization.”
He scowls. “Who came to your door? Did they scare you?”
“I nearly peed my pants when he asked me if I agree with Americans being beheaded.” I shiver. “Of course, I don’t. I don’t think anyone should be beheaded. I don’t even agree with the death penalty. I know you do. Let’s not argue about it now.”
“I’ll find out who it is and speak to them.”
I roll my eyes. “No need to go Rambo on him. He left pretty quick after he noticed all the romance books in my house. He seemed kind of scared.”
“You’re still obsessed with romance novels?”
“I wouldn’t say obsessed. More like enamored.”
“Maya!” Paisley shouts. I glance over my shoulder. All of my friends are standing near the chalet watching us.
“I need to go,” Caleb says. “Stay safe, Maya.”
“That sounds like goodbye!” I shout after him.
“Because it is!”
Silly man. As if he can get rid of me that easily. I now have a mission. Find out why Caleb thinks everyone in his life is better off without him. And then convince him he’s wrong.