Chapter One #2
He couldn’t help but laugh. Everything with Maeve felt so natural.
His cell phone buzzed inside his pocket, and he checked to see it was Nancy on her way. She was not happy with Charlotte yelling at her. He didn’t quite know what was going on with his daughter. She was never this temperamental. His ex-wife and daughter never argued. It was a bond they had.
Maeve held out a coffee for him, and Charlotte was at the dining room table sulking. Rather than talk to his daughter, he followed Maeve who’d gone into her sitting room.
“I thought you’d be off in another city by now,” he said. “You’re always working.”
“I know, but I decided to take a little break.”
“You did?”
She nodded her head and let out a hum. “Yeah, I’m doing what my parents did, and that was working all the time. Don’t get me wrong, I love it, I do, but it’s getting to the stage that I don’t know what to do in between working.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, taking a sip of coffee. She made such a good mug of it.
“My parents worked all the time, and they barely took any time off. When they eventually did take time off, they never knew what to do with Eden and I. We just sort of got stuck. When I’m off, there’s nothing for me to do.
” She shrugged. “I can’t think of anything other than practice my makeup techniques, try out new products, and it’s kind of lame.
” She was taking so many products out of one bag and placing them into another.
“You don’t know what to do with your spare time?” he asked.
“Not a clue. I do need to do some shopping tomorrow. It will be exciting. I do enjoy food shopping.” She held her hands up. “I know. I know. I’m a weirdo.”
“You’re not weird. It’s cool to food shop.”
Maeve chuckled, and her door rang. She got to her feet and brushed past him. Seconds later, his ex-wife, Nancy, stepped into Maeve’s house, and he watched the two women hug.
Charlotte was purposefully taking her time with her ice cream.
“I’m so sorry I didn’t text,” Maeve said. “We got into the makeup, and you know how I get.”
“I also know how my daughter gets.”
“It’s rude to tell someone to talk to your parents,” Charlotte said, finally appearing without her bowl of ice cream. “You know how lame it is, right?”
“It’s not lame,” Maeve said.
Charlotte let out a sigh.
He was starting to get a little embarrassed about his daughter’s behavior. She’d never acted this way, and it was starting to piss him off.
“Here you go,” Maeve said. She rushed back into the sitting room and came back with a very swollen makeup bag.
“What’s this?” Nancy asked.
“You never listen, Mom.”
“Charlotte is considering moving into makeup artistry, and I said before she committed to something, it might be a good idea to get started with a few classes at the local college. They’re not too expensive, and I have plenty of spare makeup for her to use.”
Maeve was a good, kind person. There were so many people that would take advantage.
“If there’s anything she needs, she can holler. I’m here with nothing to do for a couple of weeks.”
She looked so uncomfortable with that.
“You know, there’s this dance party next week for Valentine’s Day,” Nancy said. “Why don’t you take her dancing?” Nancy slapped him on the arm.
Doc glared at his ex-wife.
“Dancing?” Maeve asked.
“It’s Valentine’s Day and I know Doc doesn’t have a date, and I think this would be a good thing. You don’t have to be completely bored, and trust me, he’s a good dancer.”
He was going to kill Nancy. They ended things amicably, and he did consider her a good friend, probably one of the few people he was close to. Right now, she was not a good friend.
“I’d like that. If you don’t have any plans or one of your groupies hanging around your neck,” Maeve said. “It would be fun to go out and dance. I’m in. Even if you’re not, what about you, Nancy? You want to go dancing?”
“Not me. I’ve got a few things on my plate, but you two should go. I know it will get the whole town gossiping.” Nancy let out a little laugh. “Right, I better go and take this one home. What do we owe you for the makeup?”
“Nothing, nothing. It’s all free and if I can help an inspiring makeup artist, I am happy to do that.” Maeve put a finger to her forehead and saluted Nancy.
Charlotte laughed. “Thank you for having me.”
“Next time, tell your parents where you are, and that way I don’t have to be the bad guy.”
Doc didn’t say a word as they walked to the main front door, and they stood together, watching them leave.
Maeve smelled amazing, like cinnamon and chocolate, two of his favorite flavors. She held her hand up and waved toward Nancy.
It was still freezing outside and she turned toward him. “You know, if you don’t want to go dancing, you don’t have to. Nancy kind of put us on the spot there, and I get not wanting to tell your ex no, or anything like that.”
“I’m happy to take you dancing, Maeve. I’ll pick you up at seven.” He handed her the mug, and she took it.
There were two dimples in her cheeks, and he had an overwhelming urge to kiss her, but he held himself back. Dancing first.
Maeve waved him out, and he couldn’t help but look back toward her. Standing in the doorway, he knew she was lonely. He hated to see her like that.
Doc paused at his bike and then turned toward her. “I don’t suppose you want to watch a movie?” he asked. “They’re partying at the club and I’ve got a headache, and I can’t be dealing with their shit.” It wasn’t a total lie.
“A movie? What do you want to watch?” Maeve stepped away from the door, and he smiled.
This was good. This was progress, he thought, as he stepped over the threshold. There was no way he could leave her with her looking so damn sad. He never realized how lonely Maeve was. She’d been there for her sister at every stage of her life. But, no one was there for her.
Closing and locking the door, he kicked off his boots and followed her into the sitting room. “Pick whatever you want to watch,” he said.
He didn’t much care for movies or TV shows. They bored him, but sitting with Maeve made up for it.