by M. S. Parker
“I’ve got an event to go to tonight,” he said, lifting my hand to his lips and brushing a kiss across the back.
Staring at the door across the hall, I made a non-committal noise, even as my heart raced.
“It’s opening night for a friend of mine. He worked on a couple of movies with Cane and me. Plans on doing a talk. He’s…against the war. Anyway, I thought you might want to come with me.”
“What?” I spun to face him. “Because he’s against the war?”
“No. Because I want to spend time with you.” He brought his free hand to my face. “I miss you, Maya.”
Tears sprang to my eyes and I had to fight them back.
“People might recognize me,” I whispered. “They’ll talk.”
“Fuck them.” He tugged me in closer, obliterating the distance between us. “I miss you. I miss us. Will you come with me?”
I should say no.
Staring into his eyes, I thought about all the reasons why I should’ve said no.
Then, softly, I said, “Yes.”
Sixteen
Glenn
My hands were sweaty and slick on the steering wheel as I pulled through the gates of the home where Florence and Astor lived.
I was glad Maya was moving back here.
The apartment where she’d been staying had depressed the hell out of me. I definitely didn’t want that for her.
Having her here made it a little easier to pretend the past few years hadn’t happened.
I was even inclined to do that.
But she wasn’t staying in the guesthouse, and driving up the main drive just hammered down the fact that things weren’t the same.
The cool look in Harrison’s eyes as he met mine was another reminder.
I gave him a steady look and nodded. He was pissed at me and I couldn’t blame him. That realization was just one of many I’d had over the past few days. He’d stood by Maya, not just because she was one of Florence’s friends, but because he’d believed in her. I had no idea if she’d told him what she’d told me, but I didn’t think it mattered. He believed in her.
“Hey, ah…Harrison, listen. I owe you an apology.” Shifting from one foot to the other, I rubbed my neck and looked past him, hoping Maya wasn’t close behind him. “I don’t think I’ve been very fair to you lately. And I know I haven’t been fair to Maya. I’m working things out with her. But I wanted to clear things up between us, too.”
“There’s nothing to clear up between us, sir.” He gave me a polite smile. I can’t say the look in his eyes warmed any, but I no longer felt like there was this giant wall I had to scale to get inside, either.
“Thanks, but I do apologize.”
With a slight nod, Harrison stepped aside to allow me entry, and I followed his gesture toward the sitting room.
I found Maya in there, waiting. She had a cup of tea in her hand and was sipping from it as she looked at the shelf of books in front of her.
“Hello, Maya.”
She turned to face me, the cup at her lips.
She lowered it to smile at me and she might have said something, but the look of her stole away my breath, the ability to think.
She wore a dark, deep green dress that made her skin looking even warmer, even softer. The material skimmed along her upper body, highlighting her breasts—and they were getting bigger. At her waist, the skirt flared out into a full circle, the lacy edge of a petticoat just barely peeking under.
The heels matched the skirt, and her legs looked impossibly long.
“You look beautiful,” I said, hardly able to talk.
“Thanks.” She blushed and smoothed the skirt down. “I had to raid Florence’s closet. I have hardly anything.”
“I…well, you look beautiful.” Thoughts of the clothes she’d left behind burned in the back of my mind. I still had them, locked away in the attic at the house where we’d lived. I could get them, give them back. But I didn’t want to talk about the past, not tonight.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes.” She smiled and moved over to the tea service near the window, taking one more sip. “Harrison, thanks for the tea. It helped a lot.”
“Of course, Miss Maya. Have fun.”
I stepped aside as he came into the room, saying nothing as she went to him and kissed his cheek.
Once we were heading the walk, with her hand in the crook of my arm, I asked, “You two are close, aren’t you? Harrison, I mean.”
“He’s a friend.” She glanced up at me. “I don’t have many of them.”
I nodded, not sure how to respond to that.
“Where is this party?” she asked. There was a note of strain under it.
“A friend’s. Delta Farthing. We worked on a movie together earlier this year, and she just got back from her honeymoon.”
Maya nodded, but I couldn’t tell if she acknowledged that she knew of Delta or what.
“Are you nervous?” I asked, coming to a stop by my car. I’d thought about hiring a limo, but if I drove, I’d have something to do with my hands—so I’d keep them off her.
“What makes you think that?” she asked, reaching for the handle of the door. She avoided my eyes the entire time.
“The fact that you sound nervous,” I said softly. I put my hand on the top of the door to keep her from opening it. “And the fact that you won’t look at me when you talk to me.”
She glanced at me. For all of two seconds. Then her eyes fell away. “Hey, I’ve looked at you. Shouldn’t we go?”
“Why are you nervous, Maya?”
After huffing out a sigh, she finally swung her eyes toward mine. “Because people aren’t going to be happy to see me. They’re going to think the same thing Peter did—that I ruined your life, tried to destroy your career, that I’m bad for you.”
“When did he say that?” I could feel anger burning inside. If he’d come out here to see her…
“When I saw him right when I came back. He made it clear then.” She waved a hand dismissively, like it didn’t matter. “And I get it, okay? But that doesn’t mean I enjoy being around people who glare at me and wish I’d just disappear into the ground.”
“They won’t.” I pulled her up against me and smoothed my hands up then down her arms. Pressing a kiss to her neck, I hugged her gently. “I’m there with you. That should tell people something, right?”
It took less than a half an hour to see just how wrong I’d been.
I tried to stay by her side the entire time, but people kept pulling me away, and then I’d get surrounded.
Even though I was only away from her side maybe ten minutes in all, it wasn’t hard to figure it out—most people most definitely did not want her there.
The one saving grace was Delta.
She greeted me with an enthusiastic kiss—right on the mouth—then turned to Maya and did the same.
A born and bred southern girl from Georgia, she’d transplanted to California just four years earlier. She’d met her husband only a few months ago and married him after all of three weeks.
Everything she did, she did with enthusiasm.
She’d heard about Maya—most people in Hollywood had.
But Delta wasn’t one to judge on the opinions of others.
“Oh, honey…aren’t you just the most gorgeous thing?” Delta said, reaching up to cup Maya’s face in her hands.
Maya blinked, looking a bit dazed.
“Maya, this is Hurricane Delta. She’s pleased to meet you,” I said, laughing and nudging Delta back a bit.
She harrumphed, but it was in good nature.
Her husband came up to meet us, limping, supporting his weight with a cane. “Major Davis,” I said, shaking his hand.
I’d met him once or twice. Delta first saw Major Vince Davis at the hospital, visiting wounded vets returning from Vietnam. The two of them had pretty much fallen head over heels in love.
“It’s Vince,” he said, smiling at me easily. “And this is…”
<
br /> He turned his gray eyes on Maya curiously.
“Maya.” She held out her hand, not waiting for me to introduce her. She smiled at him, then turned her attention toward Delta. “You have a lovely home.”
“It’s a disaster right now, but we’ll get it up to shape.” Delta looked cheerful. “I hadn’t heard you were back in town.”
Immediately, I tensed.
Maya took it in stride. “We’re…taking things slow. Sometimes, it’s the best way.”
“Absolutely. And sometimes, fast is the best way.” Delta turned toward Vince and gave him a smacking kiss on the lips. “Like we did.” A rich laugh escaped her, then she looked back at me. “I have to say, and please excuse me for being so rude, but I’m so glad you didn’t bring that girl Kimberly. She is such a mean old thing. Horrible, really.”
“Baby,” Vince said, taking her hand. “Remember what your manager said.”
“He told me to lie when I needed to. Right now isn’t one of those times.” She waved a dismissive hand, still smiling at me. “Glenn, you look a lot happier. Are you? Happier, I mean.”
“I am.”
Somebody called her name a moment later and as she moved off, Vince in her wake—literally—I looked at Maya. “I call her Hurricane Delta for a reason.”
“I can see why.” She gave me a dazed smile. “She’s…something else.”
“I know.” Taking her hand, I led her out onto the deck. As she walked, though, a few hushed whispers reached my ears, going oddly silent when I looked to see who was talking. “I think I owe you an apology,” I said tiredly, leaning against the balustrade that separated us from the gardens. “You expected to get stares and gossip. I thought it would be okay. Guess I was wrong and you were right. Are you okay?”
Maya shrugged, resting her hands on the stone in front of us. “I can handle talk. Are you okay?”
I ran my tongue around my teeth, my ears burning with some of the things I’d overheard.
They rubbed me raw, filled me with fury inside.
Was I okay?
I wanted to hit something.
Hard.
Turning my attention toward her, I shook my head. “No. I don’t think I am.”
Maya swallowed. “I…I’m sorry. Do you want to go?”
“You’re not understanding me.” I shifted to face her, covering her cheek with my hand. “I hear what they’re saying and it pisses me off.”
Maya closed her hand around my wrist and tugged it away, then she turned and walked a few steps, her back to me. “People are going to talk, Glenn. There are some crazy things in our pasts.”
Crazy…
A few weeks ago, I could’ve agreed with that.
Now…
The realizations that were becoming clear in my head were staggering. I didn’t know how to process them, but they were clear.
People were talking about Maya behind her back, calling her names and being cruel. But if they just knew Maya’s story, they would stop…right? No, they would get meaner. I realized that without even pausing a second to consider it. They wouldn’t believe her. That only made me angrier.
Because…
I believed her.
I finally realized that I believed her. It was the only thing that made any sense unless she was crazy out of her mind. And I’d seen crazy before. Maya was anything but that.
She hadn’t lied.
That meant…
The impact of what I was figuring out hit hard. My knees went a little weak.
My mouth went dry.
She was telling the truth. And not just about the time travel.
A hundred things exploded inside me, including words I should say, things I should do.
The baby…
Shaken, I moved up behind her and wrapped my arms around her.
She stiffened at first.
Not knowing how to start, I just covered her belly with my hand.
The baby.
It was mine.
Seventeen
Maya
“So you get sprung today!” All but sailing into Florence’s room, I took in the sight of her sitting in the chair by the window.
The pins and rods were gone from her leg.
She’d undergone a second surgery last week and was now in a cast.
After nearly three weeks in the hospital, she was going home.
I was staying with her and Astor in the main house. For the past few weeks, while she’d been in the hospital, I’d spent my days here.
Several of my nights, though, had been spent with Glenn.
Things were…changing between us.
I was happy again.
Happy, but now I was afraid to trust it.
Still, I wasn’t going to totally let that ruin everything.
“You're in a good mood.” Florence teased, smiling at me from the chair.
“Absolutely not. Neither is Harrison. Neither is Astor.”
“Why am I not in a good mood?” Astor asked as he came striding into the room. He went straight to Florence and kissed her lavishly before straightening to look from me to her.
“Because Florence is coming home and we have to say so-long to this wonderful place.” I dropped down on the neatly-made bed. Not once had I come in here in the past few weeks and found it in any other manner. Her old nurse wasn’t working on this floor anymore, either. I hadn’t asked why, nor did I care. Florence was being taken care of, and that was what mattered to me.
And best—she was coming home.
“Oh, you’re going to miss it,” Florence said with a wry smile. “Coming out here to visit, eat hospital food…listen to shoes squeaking on linoleum floors all day?”
“I can’t get enough of it.” Rolling my eyes, I took the suitcase Astor had brought in and put it on the chair. I wanted her packed and ready to go—so we could go. Go, be gone, adios…and out of here.
I had a date with Glenn tonight.
Astor had haltingly approached the idea of them spending their first night alone when Florence would be home, and I’d assured him I’d make myself scarce.
Behind me, I heard Astor and Florence talking, voices low. They were already lost in their own world, and I envied them, wishing Glenn and I still shared that.
It was the need to find that again that had driven me to say yes to our first real date since I’d been back.
But, beyond that, I wasn’t ready to plunge back into things with him head-on.
I couldn’t.
“You don’t have to do that, Maya,” Florence said from behind me, gesturing to where I was folding some of her personal items.
I glanced back. “Well, it’s easier for me than it is for you.” Waggling my eyebrows at her, I added, “And I think the two of you are too preoccupied for Astor to do it.”
Waving off her next argument, I went back to thinking about Glenn and our upcoming date.
“I could never be a nurse.” Collapsing into a chair in the living room, I gratefully accept a glass of lemonade from Harrison.
Upstairs, Astor and Florence were alone together—really alone—for the first time since her accident almost three weeks ago.
Three weeks. Wow.
Absently, I rubbed at my slightly rounded belly. Although I had a good eye for clothes, and there were certain styles that were popular that made it a bit easier to hide, I felt like my baby bump was pretty conspicuous. It wouldn’t work for much longer, though. I wasn’t embarrassed about the baby, but this wasn’t the sort of time when a single woman could be pregnant and not have some sort of consequences attached.
But, I’d deal with that when the time came.
Lately, I’d been wondering whether I’d be having a little boy or girl. Sonograms were probably some ways off, but I had no idea. It wasn’t like I’d investigated stuff about pregnancy back in my time. Of course, if I had known expectant mommy tips would be useful, I would’ve done just that.
“You’re thinking some pretty deep thoughts, Miss Maya.”
I looked up to meet Harrison’s eyes just as he sat in the chair across from me. He was rarely informal, and it made me smile. “I guess I am.” The hand on my belly came to a stop and I shrugged, feeling self-conscious. “I guess I’m trying to figure out what to do from here, how I’m going to handle everything. Sooner or later, I’ll look like a whale and…”
“Does he know?”
Caught off guard, I shook my head. “Does he…Glenn? Does he know what?”
Harrison looked at me with a look of such patience, I almost felt silly. “Does he know the baby is his? Has he accepted that?”Gripping the arms of my chair, tight, I shook my head. “I’m…” Pausing to lick my lips, I gathered my thoughts then tried again. “Why do you think it’s his?” I asked calmly. “It seems…well—you do realize I was already pregnant when I got back, right?”
Harrison lifted his eyes to the ceiling and I didn’t have to see his face to know he was having some seriously deep thoughts himself. His big shoulders went up and down, then he met my eyes once more. “You know, I grew up in Louisiana. Just outside New Orleans. My mama…she always believed…well.” He smiled and shook his head, looking away. “Things that might not make much sense to a lot of people. The stories she told us…but it made me always open to seeing things from a rather particular viewpoint.”
He lapsed into silence and watched me.
Waiting.
Mouth dry, I reached for my lemonade. Draining half of it, I put the glass down, then immediately picked it back up just so I’d have something to do with my hands. Twisting the icy glass around and around, I asked, “Just what is it you’re saying? Or asking? I’m not really following, Harrison.”
He nodded and then reached into the pocket of the pristine white shirt he wore under an equally pristine black jacket.
“I didn’t know what to make of these when I picked them up off the floor. Normally, I’d never pry, but I’d been in the hall earlier doing my regular walk through the house, setting things to rights.” He unfolded two small squares of paper.