Chapter 10
ten
MAYA
Friday morning comes and Ellie, Theo, and Ezra are out the door bright and early to drive up to Burlington. They decided they’ll spend the night with her parents after the appointment since it’s going to be a long day of tests.
I’m thrilled she’s meeting with a specialist there to get her lupus in check, but I’m so sad for her to miss trick-or-treating with Stevie. I laid out the adorable jack-o-lantern costume last night to make sure no pieces were missing, and I promised Ellie I’d take as many photos and videos as humanly possible.
Apparently, Liam already offered to take Stevie tonight, but each day I find myself trying to prove that I have a purpose here. Theo said we could have dual-custody, and honestly, a night with Liam and Poppy doesn’t sound like a bad way to spend Halloween.
For some reason, I feel nervous when Stevie and I arrive at Liam’s place several hours later. That is until I see what he and Poppy have been doing.
In my defense, I did knock. But when no one answered and I already knew the door would be open, I let myself in. He was expecting us after all.
Stevie toddles over to the puppy as soon as I set her down, but my eyes are pinned on Liam and his daughter at the kitchen counter, both of their gazes fixed on a laptop screen, both of them braiding their own hair.
The sound of the video they’re watching hits my ears, a tutorial on Elsa’s braid from Frozen .
My first instinct is to laugh, but then I notice how deep their concentration is. Not only is Poppy determined to have the perfect voluminous French braid, but Liam is too. He’s doing a horrible job, basically just tying his hair in a chain of knots, but the sentiment still makes my heart burst.
What a good man , I think. Is that the magic of this place? Of Sugar Valley? When Ellie first told me she was moving here to be with Theo, I was shocked she’d want to leave San Francisco for this tiny mountain town. But maybe she was on to something. Is this where all the good ones are?
It also hasn’t gone unnoticed how long and beautiful Liam’s hair is. I’ve only ever seen it tied back in a bun. I had no idea it fell past his shoulders. He’s like an Irish Fabio and I am here for it .
“Can I help?” I interrupt, walking into the kitchen. Stevie is still preoccupied with the dog, but I make sure to look her way every thirty seconds or so. I take my babysitting responsibilities very seriously, even with a sexy chef doing his best to distract me.
“Oh, sh–umm.” Liam slams the laptop shut and makes a failed attempt at shaking out his braid, if you can call it that.
“Princess Maya!” Poppy cheers. “Help me, please. Daddy said he could do it but he only knows how to braid dough.” She pouts and looks back at Liam with an accusation in her eyes. She’s ruthless.
“Dough?” I ask, more than curious.
“I figured if I could make a challah loaf, hair wouldn’t be that different. But it’s so slippery. My hands are too big or something.”
A giggle rolls out of me at the frustration in his voice. But then my eyes are drawn to those big hands. I wouldn’t mind them in my hair…
“Can you do it, Maya?” Poppy’s question cuts into the thoughts I should not be having. I force another glance at Stevie. Focus .
“Sure, Pop-tart. Sit back on the stool.”
Liam offers many thank you’s, even though I can read his disappointment in not being able to do this himself. I go slowly, letting him watch the process, and I also teach him the magic of bobby pins, feeling lucky that I always carry a small pack in my purse. When you have Medusa-level curls like mine, they’re a necessity.
As soon as we’re done, Poppy runs over to the living room to play with Stevie and the puppy. It was a nice surprise to hear they’d named her Penguin. That’s exactly what Ellie said she looked like.
Poppy fusses over Stevie’s costume, making sure the pumpkin puffs out just right . Then she flips her gaze to me.
“Where’s your costume, Maya?” Poppy has so much fervor every time she speaks, I swear the girl should run for office the minute she turns eighteen. Liam squints at me too, letting me know this is important. I didn’t even realize he was in a pirate costume until now. I guess I was too distracted by his hair.
“Oh, well I didn’t have a costume, so I sort of had to improvise.” I gesture down at my all white crew neck and joggers. I probably look like an ad for the Lululemon lounge collection. “I’m a ghost. Or I will be, once I put the mask on.” I pull out a stack of Korean face masks from my bag. “I even have back-ups if they dry out and fall off.”
“Can I see?” Poppy asks.
“Sure.” I rip open a packet and place the mask on my face. Honestly, I’m very proud of this costume idea. And my skin is going to glow like the sun tomorrow.
As soon as the mask is in place, Poppy starts jumping up and down.
“I wanna be a ghost! Can I be a ghost, Daddy? Please. Pretty please.”
“But we just spent—” Liam cuts himself off, that soft spot for his daughter taking over. “Sure, angel. Why don’t you go find something white to wear so you can match Maya.”
He shakes his head, runs his hand through his hair and ties it back up into his signature bun.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to?—”
“No apologies. Want something to eat before we head out?”
“Oh, thank you. I’m okay though.”
“I made corn cakes.”
“I could eat.”
He pulls open what he explains is a warming drawer. Says he made a big batch earlier but wanted to save me some.
“You’re like a food psychic,” I tell him. “You barely know me but you always know what I want to eat.” And even as I say it, this feels false. Sometimes I can’t decide if I’ve known Liam for two weeks or two years.
“Right. So if I said that I know you like the homemade version better than the restaurant’s…”
I take a bite, and he’s right. “These are better. It’s the…umm…”
“Syrup. We didn’t add any at the restaurant.”
“Really?”
“Come on, Maya. You really don’t remember?”
There he goes again, acting like I’m keeping secrets from him. But that word, remember , has me wondering if I actually am missing something.
Is it possible I went back to Liam’s restaurant a second time? Maybe with the guy I chose to forget? I definitely remember wanting to eat there again. And it wouldn’t be unlike me to ask to meet the chef. In fact, I’m surprised I never did a feature on his restaurant after loving the food so much. I’ll have to go through old photos later and see if I documented anything.
But in the meantime, he’s looking at me like I kicked his dog.
“Liam, I?—”
“How do I look?” Poppy interrupts what I’m not even sure I was going to say. Sorry , probably. But for what, I have no idea.
“Very ghost-like,” I reply. She’s in white leggings, a light pink, glittery tutu that I refuse to comment on not being white because it’s awesome, and a white shirt that’s so big on her, she must have stolen it from her dad. “Want some help tucking in the shirt?”
“Yes, please.”
I end up tying the shirt into a knot at her belly button and help her put on the sheet mask. It’s way too big for her face, but I find another use for the bobby pins in my bag and find success tucking it into her hair.
We take dozens of selfies on our own and then many more with Stevie while Liam watches us silently the whole time. He doesn’t seem upset about being on the sidelines, the opposite actually. His eyes glimmer watching Poppy and it makes my heart swell.
It’s clear as day: when she’s happy, so is he. They are a unit, a family in the best sense of the word. And for tonight, I’m just honored to be a part of it.