Chapter 47 It’s Georgia Peach
forty-seven
it’s georgia peach
Maya
“You were going to leave? Leave? LEAVE?” Sierra threw her hands up, scanning the diner as though gathering angry villagers to carry torches and pitchforks. “You don’t leave your home for no reason, Maya. You don’t leave me—leave us—for no reason.”
We hadn’t even made it to a booth before she came storming in after us, kicking things off with an indignant, “I can’t believe you,” and she hadn’t stopped since.
I opened my mouth to answer, to apologize, to … something. But Sierra charged ahead before I could think of what to make this better.
“And another thing,” she railed, her eyes blazing with barely repressed rage, “you were going to leave Nana? Without saying goodbye? Nana? The woman who gave you your job? The woman who saved you from the side of the road when your car exploded just outside of town? The woman who took you in and gave you a home and treated you like a treasured family member?”
I recoiled. She was absolutely right about everything.
Sierra shook her head, her eyes hard—but beneath the anger, I recognized something else. Something that felt a lot like … disappointment. But also love. And acceptance.
“You’s leaving, Auntie MyMy?” I looked down, my heart twisting as Carter stared up at me with wide, trusting eyes. “Where’s you going? Can I come too?”
“You were going to leave Carter?” Sierra gasped as though I’d reached inside her and ripped out her soul. “Cute little tiny Carter? How could you, Maya? How could you?”
“She’s right, you know.” Andie stepped up next to Carter, ruffling his hair while glaring at me, her eyes wet with unshed tears.
“You can’t just disappear on us. How would I explain that to him?
‘Oh, Auntie MyMy left and might not come back, but don’t worry about it.
’?” She exhaled a shuddering breath. “Don’t you think he’s had enough of that in his life?
Does he really deserve to have yet another person leave him without a word?
That’s not how you treat the people who love you. That’s not how you treat family.”
The word family sat heavily between us. But she was right.
“You’re right. You’re all right. Nana’s right. Sierra’s right. Liam’s right. Andie’s right—”
“Don’t forget us!” Kai called out from the far end of the counter.
I whipped around to see Greg and Mr. Fluffy settling in next to Kai, who was watching me as if this were the latest episode of Real Housewives.
“We think slinking out in the dead of night like a common criminal and deserting the people who love you without so much as a how do you do is a supremely selfish thing to do.”
I looked around.
Everyone was here. Dottie and Dave. The Pattersons. Every member of the book club. The Hurleys. The entire Get Fit and Die Trying crew. The only person missing was Nana, but that was because she’d already read me the riot act.
These people showed up at the ass-crack of dawn to tell me how much I mattered. To tell me they loved me.
I blinked rapidly at the stinging in my eyes as my feelings threatened to drown me. “What the hell, you guys? Is this an intervention?” With a chuckle, I added, “Do you all have letters you’ll read to me next?”
“I wanted to,” Kai said, “but Andie said that would be too much.”
Sierra snapped her head toward him. “That’s not what she said, Kai. Stop lying. She said that after last night’s trauma, dumping a pile of heartfelt letters on Maya all at once would be overwhelming.” She scoffed. “Why must you always be such a drama queen?”
“I’m a drama queen? You literally said the same thing I did, but you turned it into some sort of dramatic soliloquy. It’s so like you to love the sound of your own voice.”
Sierra’s eye twitched. “Do you always have to be right? You’re such a son of a bit—”
“Okay!” Andie clapped her hands, interrupting their brewing argument. “How about the two of you revisit that later? In private.” She turned her attention back to me. “Maya? You’re staying, right?”
I hesitated. “Oh, I…” I wanted to stay, but should I? After everything I’d put everyone through, it would be better for me to leave. Everyone would be better off if I found somewhere else to live.
Liam, who’d been silent until now, took my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
It was like he could tell where my mind had gone and jumped in to derail my train of thought.
“I hope you’ll stay,” he murmured softly for only me to hear.
“I just found you, and I can’t stand the thought of losing you already.
And besides,” he continued, “Nana’s right.
There’s no way in hell I can take over that book club.
Have you seen the Pattersons’ annotations?
” His whole body shuddered. “Some things can’t be unseen. ”
I snort-laughed. “So you’re admitting you’re a prude?”
He smiled. “If it means I never have to look at Mr. Patterson’s instructional diagrams or read Mrs. Patterson’s margin notes ever again, then yes. I am a prude, and I don’t care who knows it.” He squeezed my hand again. “We can have shirts made. I will let my prude flag fly.”
Greg stepped forward to hand me an oversized manila envelope. “Nana wanted me to give this to you. You’re supposed to open this here. She said once you see what’s inside, you’d know how serious she is about you staying.”
I glanced at Liam for a hint of what was in the envelope, but he just shook his head. “No idea. The deed to the building, maybe? Or a copy of her will?”
I cracked open the envelope and pulled out the first paper, a tattered, coffee-stained sheet of loose-leaf. My eyes widened, and I gasped. “She’s giving me her shortbread recipe?”
“The shortbread recipe?” Liam asked, craning his neck for a better look at the recipe. “She’s never let anyone see that. And she’s giving it to you?”
Hugging the paper, emotion swelled in my chest. It was the most amazing gift anyone had ever given me. I needed to lock it in the safe. No, laminate it, and then lock it up. For now, though, I folded it and tucked it into my pocket for safekeeping.
Reaching back into the still-full envelope, my fingers brushed against a slick paper.
Huh. That’s weird. Not what I imagined a will would feel like.
Unless … My heart skipped with sudden excitement.
Instead of carefully pulling out the remaining papers, like I had the recipe, I ripped the envelope open.
Photos rained down around us in a cyclone; fragments of teenage angst and awkwardness flashed as they spun circles in the air.
Dozens and dozens of photos.
“Oh. My. God,” Sierra whispered, half laughing, half in shock, her hand clamped over her mouth. “You had a perm?”
Andie cackled, waving a photo. “Look! He’s wearing a powder-blue tux with a ruffled shirt in this one.”
“I’ve got a Canadian tuxedo here,” Kai announced, tapping the image in front of him. “All denim everything.”
“Jazz hands.”
“Smoking jacket.”
“Feather boa.”
“Oh my god. Look at this fascinator. Princess Eugenie would weep with envy if she saw this. How on earth did keep that on your head? Did they glue it to your scalp?”
Liam groaned, his head in his hands, but a massive grin peeked through his fingers as he watched our friends gather the photos.
“I assumed she was bluffing when she said she had gotten her hands on the negatives.” He exhaled a nervous laugh, shaking his head.
“I really thought I’d won when I stole the originals. ”
“Bluffing?” I arched a brow, amused. “Does that sound like something she would do?”
Liam groaned again, still grinning. “Not at all. But a man can hope his grandmother will be reasonable.”
“Nana? Reasonable? Ha! It’s like you’ve never met her before.”
“You’re right.” He chuckled. “What was I thinking?”
I grabbed a stray photo from near my feet. In it, Liam and Nana stood back-to-back, arms crossed, decked out in matching velour tracksuits.
“You were right about being a spring,” I said innocently, handing him the picture. “This shade of pink looks amazing on you.”
Liam scoffed, his eyes crinkling. “That thing was itchy as hell. And the colour is Georgia Peach, not pink.”
And just like that, everything became crystal clear. His love for his grandmother, despite how it first appeared, shone through in everything he did, which endeared Liam to me even more than how he’d treated me since we met.
I didn’t like Liam Bishop. I was in love with him.
And I never wanted to leave. Without another word, without waiting for any more surety than I already felt, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss. “I love you.”
He smiled, pressing his lips to mine. “Yeah?”
I grinned so hard my cheeks ached. “Absolutely. I love you.”
His smile widened as if I’d handed him the universe. “I love you too, Maya. So much.”
“I’ll take that,” Andie announced, snatching the photo from Liam’s fingers, ruining the moment. “We’ve got another boy band over here.”
Liam groaned, making me burst into uncontrollable laughter yet again.
“I think I finally get it,” he said with a sigh. “She had something like this in mind all along. That old woman’s just been biding her time.”
“Biding her time? For what? What was she waiting for?”
Liam’s gaze locked onto mine, something unreadable flickering in his ridiculously blue eyes. “You can’t guess?” He tilted his head, his expression softening. “Really?”
My heart pounded. “Liam, what are you talking about?”
He lifted a hand, cupping my cheek, stepping closer. “She was waiting for me to find someone exactly like you.”
My breath caught. “Me?”
His thumb traced gentle circles against my skin. “Yes, you.”
Heat crept up my cheeks. “But why?”
His lips brushed mine, his breath warm against my lips.
“Because she knew that once I did, I’d fall hopelessly, head-over-heels in love. And if you could see these pictures and still want to be with me? Then there’d be no doubt you were in love with me too.”
His hand plunged into my hair as he claimed my lips in a desperate kiss, his tongue tangling with mine roughly before he pulled away.
“So she was testing me?” I asked. “I did not know Nana was so conniving.”
He snorted a laugh, his eyes sparkling. “Come on, Maya. We should both know by now that Nana always gets her way. By any means necessary. I’m just glad that this time, what she wants coincides with what I want.
” He pressed a kiss to my forehead and pulled me into a hug.
“Because I’m so happy with how this turned out.
Carlisle Creek feels more like home with you in it. ”