by Kay Harris
After the dishes from Christmas dinner had been cleared, they went for a walk to the neighborhood park. The sky was just turning a soft shade of pink tinged with muted orange hovering in the light cloud cover. The air was crisp, but without the distinct bite of cold. Everett was comfortable in his light jacket. Maya wore a pair of dark jeans and was wrapped in a soft fleece. She looked comfortable and cozy, and Everett really wanted to wrap her up in his arms.
He didn’t, of course. Instead, he settled for walking beside her at the end of their little human train. Henny led the way, taking the role as the trek organizer and tour guide. She would occasionally walk backward and shout to them all to look at the beautiful trees in one backyard or the newly painted porch in another. Everett’s mother and Bert walked immediately behind her, Trudy’s arm looped around Bert’s as he steadied her stride. Mica and Roger lagged a little behind the parents, holding hands and talking quietly to one another. And Everett and Maya were even farther back, barely within hearing range of Henny’s shouts.
It took a good twenty minutes to reach the park, and he and Maya didn’t utter a single word to one another on the way. Something about the green grass, tall trees, and darkening sky must have sparked something in Maya because as soon as they reached the park she broke away from the rest of her family.
Everett hesitated as Maya moved to the right while everyone else continued straight toward the shell-shaped amphitheater in the center of the park.
“Come on,” Maya called to him, curling her fingers in a come hither gesture he could not resist.
He followed her over a small hill and into an area covered in sand and stuffed with playground equipment. Maya plopped down onto a seat in the larger of the two swing sets and began to push herself off the dented sand bottom with her feet.
Everett stood in front of her for a moment, watching as she gently swung forward and back, her movement slight and calm. “Do you want a push?”
She smiled up at him and it nearly stopped his heart. “No. I want you to sit down.” She gestured with her head to the swing beside her.
Everett glared at the black rubber seat skeptically. “Will that even hold me?”
She shrugged and continued to smile.
Everett figured he was only going to live once and being able to bask in that smile was worth whatever damage might occur to himself or the equipment as a result of a six-foot-three, two hundred pound man sitting on that questionable looking strip of material hanging from two metal chains. He sat down on the swing and looked over at her.
“You look like you’re in pain.” Maya laughed.
“I don’t remember the last time I sat on a swing.”
She straightened her legs and leaned back, making the swing take her higher. “That’s too bad. I ardently believe that swinging is something all adults should do at least once a year.”
“Once a year, huh? Why’s that?”
“To remind us to have fun,” she said simply. She took three good swings before stopping herself by planting her feet in the sand beneath her. “You’re not swinging.”
“Um. Sorry.” Everett used his legs to move back and forth the length of his calves.
Maya laughed again. “Pathetic.”
“I do know how to have fun without using a swing, you know.”
“Hmmm. I bet you do.”
Everett stopped his motion. “What does that mean?”
“Parties, extravagance, women. Am I wrong?” She grinned mischievously at him.
“Yes.”
Maya stilled. She turned in her seat, twisting the chains so she was facing him. “What do you mean? Your lifestyle is practically documented.”
“Was. I had a bit of a meltdown after…” He stopped, unwilling to say Rebecca’s name in Maya’s presence. Everett ran his hand over his freshly shaved head. “I had a bit of a playboy moment there for a while. But that’s not really what I’m like. And I quit all that several months ago.”
Maya abandoned her swing and stood in front of him. “So, now what do you do to have fun?” She didn’t look angry or put out. In fact a smile danced on her lips, and in the moonlight he could see a sparkle in her eyes.
“I hang out with Carlos mainly. I have a few other friends as well. But mostly, I hang out with Carlos. We go to movies and sometimes a bar. I go to ball games. I coach soccer at the rec center. I like to—”
“You coach soccer?” There was something more than surprise in her tone.
“Yeah.”
“I remember you telling me you played soccer in high school and college, right?”
Everett was shocked she was willing to bring up that night. But he was also relieved. He’d been desperate to talk to her about their shared experience for months now. It was as if by not talking about it, it was fading, like it didn’t exist unless they acknowledged it.
“Yeah. It’s something I really love. My knees don’t love it, though. So I don’t play. Just coach. What about you, Maya? What do you do for fun?” He stood and took a step toward her.
“I paint. But you already knew that.” As if she was embarrassed she looked down and said, “Everyone knows that.”
“What else?” Another step and now he was so close to her he could touch her, but he didn’t.
“Mica and I go to the dollar movies every Tuesday night.”
“I love movies. I’m a bit of a buff myself.” He leaned in so their lips were just inches away. His voice was low.
“What’s your bag?” she asked softly.
“Pretty much anything from the seventies or eighties. Especially cheesy action flicks and sci-fi. Love me some Blaxploitation as well.”
“Me and Mica. We like eighties and nineties rom coms. But we’ll watch pretty much anything.”
“We should watch movies together.” His right hand found its way to her hip. His other hand wound into her hair.
Maya’s hands rested themselves on Everett’s chest. “Would you watch rom coms with me?”
“I would literally do anything for you,” he whispered.
He was definitely on his way to kissing her. But his movement was glacially slow, giving her the chance to back away. Maya had other ideas. She pushed up on her toes and closed the distance between them.
When her lips met his, all the time, space, anger, and pain between them seemed to melt away. He pulled her body against his, and she sighed. Everett took advantage of her open lips and dipped his tongue inside. Maya met his with her own and the kiss turned harder, more frantic. They both made whimpering sounds as they devoured one another. Her hands smoothed over his chest and drifted down. His hand on her hip moved to her back and he pressed her into him while the palm on the back of her head drifted down to cup her neck.
The moment stretched on. The heat between them burned hotter. Then suddenly, Maya pulled away. She launched herself off his chest and wound up a few feet away, her eyes wide, her hands in front her as if warding him off.
“I’m sorry.” Everett’s tone was firm. He tried not to sound angry, but he was. He was angry at himself for moving too fast. He knew the only way to gain Maya’s trust was one step at a time, and here he’d rushed it. It was so stupid.
Maya ran a hand through her dark, thick hair. “No. It was my fault. I started it, and I shouldn’t have.”
He wanted to step toward her, but he stopped himself. “And why shouldn’t you have done it?”
She stepped away from him in the dark of the night. He couldn’t see her as well. He wanted to look into those evergreen eyes and glean what was hidden there.
Maya let out a loud sigh. “Because, as much as I…I find you attractive, I haven’t forgiven you, Everett.” There was a pause, loud with its silence. “I haven’t forgiven you,” she repeated.
Before Everett could make his jaw work to respond, she turned on her heel and moved away in the darkness. “Mom! Dad! Mica! Where are you?” she shouted.
Everett followed her, staying close enough not to lose her in the inky night, but
far enough to stay out of her way. He remained silent as they walked over the hill and rejoined with their families. He didn’t speak another word until they reached the McDonald house and he packed his mother and her cat into the car for the journey back to her house.
He managed to get through the goodbyes and thank yous. He chatted with his mom during the short ride to her house about how nice the holiday had been. But once he had her tucked away in her room, he walked out onto her porch with a beer in hand and finally fell apart.
Everett was certain there was nothing he wanted more than Maya. Tonight she’d made it clear that would never happen.
JANUARY
Chapter 7
Maya shifted her butt on the couch and raised the glass to her lips. Her companion mirrored her actions, taking a large gulp of the light green liquid.
“Best batch yet.” Trudy grinned and raised her drink in salute.
Maya laughed. “Strongest yet. Not that we need it.” If she was feeling the alcohol they’d consumed, her septuagenarian party companion had to be as well.
A rerun of the Eastern Time Zone countdown played on the massive television that sat on the wall of Trudy’s cozy family room. Tucked away beneath the stairs, the space was warm and comfortable and had proven perfect for their two-woman celebration of the New Year. The worn suede couch was practically an antique, covered in grape juice and spaghetti sauce stains from Everett’s childhood. Situated directly in front of it, a well-loved wooden coffee table held their drinks, several bowls and plates half-filled with snack foods, and tissues, which Maya had to use more than once to wipe away her tears of laughter as she whiled away the last hours of the year with her parents’ new friend.
“I know this probably wasn’t how you were planning to spend New Year’s Eve, Sweetie,” Trudy reached over and patted Maya’s knee, “but I sure am glad it worked out this way.”
December thirty-first was Bert and Henny’s wedding anniversary. Tradition had them traveling to a new location each year to celebrate. This year they would be spending the week in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Before leaving they’d begged Maya to keep Trudy company on the holiday. The hospital’s annual celebration had been canceled due to a flu outbreak, Mica was out of town on assignment, and Everett was out of the country on a business trip.
Maya didn’t grumble about having to bow out of plans with some artist friends. She didn’t even roll her eyes at her mother when she practically got on her knees during the overly dramatic request. In fact, she was pretty pleased with the whole thing.
Trudy was a breath of fresh air in Maya’s life. They didn’t talk about art. Her art friends were great, but there was always hidden competition and pressure about who was getting what shows. They didn’t discuss her boring factory job. And they could dish about her family openly and with the love and affection they shared for them.
And most of the time Maya could forget Trudy was Everett’s mother. The two of them had spent hours talking, laughing, and getting lit. Not once had Trudy’s hot and untrustworthy son come up in conversation. Until…
“It’s my fault.” Trudy was staring hard at Maya, her body turned fully toward her, glass held tightly in thin hands.
“What?” Maya was confused by the sudden seriousness in Trudy’s tone.
“The reason you’re mad at Everett. It’s my fault.”
Maya stumbled over her shock, mouth flopped open. She wanted to ask Trudy a million questions, but she’d been rendered incapable of speech.
“You’re probably wondering how I know why you’re angry with him,” Trudy said.
Maya nodded weakly.
“Elias and I had a talk recently.” Trudy said this as if it made perfect sense.
“Elias?” Maya’s voice cracked.
“He was Everett’s best friend growing up. The two of them were inseparable. They started the candle company together, and it was Elias who took off with Everett’s fiancée and tried to sue Everett for a portion of the company.”
Maya nearly hit her forehead with her hand. Of course, she knew about that. But in the time she’d worked there she’d completely forgotten what the second E in E.E.R. stood for. And the man’s name was never spoken at the company. “Forgive me, but he sounds like a dick.”
Trudy threw her head back and barked out a laugh. “Yes. But there’s more to Elias and the entire situation than meets the eye. I realize that now.” Trudy’s face returned to its serious place. “He called me the day after Christmas. Said he wanted me to know the things he knew Everett would never tell me because I had been a like a mother to him and I deserved the whole truth. I have to say, flattery got him everywhere. That boy was always too charming for his own good.”
Trudy put her glass down and folded her hands in her lap. “So, I listened. He filled in a lot of pieces for me. That, together with a few comments here and there from you and Everett and the way you act around each other, I put it together. You knew each other before. Maybe you were even lovers. I don’t know that part for sure. But something was there. Only he left you for Rebecca and you’ve never forgiven him. Am I right?”
Maya took two deep breaths followed by a massive gulp of her drink. She set the glass down on the coffee table and leaned back in the couch. “Pretty close, yeah.”
Trudy leaned toward Maya, her penciled-in eyebrows squished together in concern. “Then let me tell you a story, Sweetie. Starting at the beginning.”
Maya took a deep breath and nodded.
“Everett’s father was the love of my life. I had a career, sure. But it always came second to him. And I left it altogether when our son was born. Rett, that’s what I called my husband, he was the same way. He put us first. Rett doted on me. He loved me so hard, as your brother Mica would say. Losing him was a nightmare.”
Trudy paused and leaned back into the couch cushions like just saying the words exhausted her. “I was lost. So lost. I became so deeply dependent on Everett. I needed him for everything. And he was here for me. His company was just getting off the ground, but he basically abandoned it for me. He left a lot of the strings to Elias. Elias earned some stake in that company, make no mistake. At any rate, this was around the time he finished Graduate school and I suspect when he was seeing you.”
Trudy paused with a question in her eyes. “Yes. It was around then,” Maya confirmed. Though she couldn’t fathom why Everett hadn’t mentioned his father’s death. In all the text messages, he’d never once let on. It stung.
“He was becoming more distant from Rebecca at the time, too. She’d even confessed as much to me. I clung to the idea of fixing their relationship. I didn’t know what was really wrong with it, and I didn’t know about you. All I could see in my mind was my son, married, with children. That’s what I thought I needed to make me smile again.”
Trudy took a deep breath. “My husband was gone and I was lonely and desperate. I wanted a daughter-in-law. I wanted grandchildren. So when Rebecca suggested one night, right here in this room, that she and Everett get married, I jumped up, ran to my jewelry box and grabbed my grandmother’s ring. I practically forced it into my son’s hand. And you know what, that boy loved his aching mama so much he proposed to Rebecca, got down on one knee right there.” She pointed to a spot on the carpet in the center of the room. “But his eyes were on me the whole time.”
Trudy’s face had fallen, her eyes half-closed. “It’s my fault they got engaged. And after four years of engagement, I knew it wasn’t going anywhere. I knew Everett would never actually set the date. But his life and hers were so intertwined by then. She’d moved in with him. She’d become a co-owner of the company. People started to see them as a married couple. He didn’t know how to end it.” Trudy shrugged her thin shoulders. “So she ended it for him. And Elias. Yes, he did the wrong thing. But he loves Rebecca, and he saw what no one else could see, that Everett wasn’t happy. So, yeah, he’s the bad guy. But I’m not so sure I see him that way anymore.”
Maya’s head was spinning a mill
ion miles an hour. But somehow she managed to stay grounded by focusing on Elias and not the other revelations she’d just been privy to. “But he sued Everett.”
“There’s more to that, too. Not that Elias tried to defend himself to me. He didn’t. But I talked to Carlos. Neither Rebecca nor Elias had any back-up plans for money when they left. Elias spent all his time before starting the business training for the Olympics. Rebecca never went to school or had any real jobs outside of the company. Scared they would be destitute or end up living in Elias’ parents’ basement, they were taken in by a lawyer who was a friend of Rebecca’s father. He convinced them to file the lawsuit against Everett to get part of the company. But the two of them eventually switched lawyers and asked for a buyout instead. That would not cripple Everett or the company financially, but would seal it permanently as Everett’s alone when it was all said and done.”
“So, maybe Elias is not such a dick.”
“Guess not.” Trudy let out a breath.
“Jury’s still out on Rebecca, though.”
Trudy chuckled. “I think that’s fair.”
Maya felt as though her world had just crumbled down on her. Everything she’d believed was simple and straight forward was much more complicated. Every bit of anger and pain directed at Everett had faded into something else as its reasoning shattered. She looked at the sweet, sad, lonely lady in front of her and felt everything all at once.
Only a single tear fell from Maya’s right eye. But it was enough. With her own tears falling, Trudy reached out her skinny arms. Maya didn’t hesitate to fall into them.
The next several moments were silent and sweet. Trudy’s breaths were comforting to Maya’s ears as she pulled herself together, promising the meltdown she needed could be put off until she was alone in her bed. Eventually, she sat up and smiled at her companion.
“More drinks if we’re going to make it to midnight.”
Trudy laughed. “In the words of your brother. Hells yeah!”
****
Everett slammed the shot glass down on the mahogany bar and eyed the bartender. Sean laughed and shook his head.