“I need to go check on your mom,” her dad said. He reached out and touched her hand. “You’re okay now?”
“I am.”
With a nod, her dad got to his feet. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head before leaving her alone in the sunroom. Maya remained at the table long enough to finish her tea, her gaze on the snowy expanse of lawn and the frozen river beyond. The river had frozen early as they’d had some cold spells already, and it hadn’t been above freezing for the past three weeks. It was going to make the winter seem longer than usual unless they had an early spring.
Once her tea was gone, Maya gathered up the dishes and took them to the kitchen. She chatted with Elisse for a few minutes before heading up to her room. Once there, she took her laptop to her bed and opened it up to see if Lainie was online. When she didn’t see her there, she spent the rest of the afternoon doing some reading and then trying to figure out what to wear to church the next day. Her parents headed out to another dinner party, leaving her alone in the house except for Elisse and Thomas. Gabe’s text with information about the church came through around nine.
Gabe: You still able to come tomorrow?
Definitely. I shall be there with bells on.
Gabe: Well, given the holiday season, you could probably get away with that.
Maya laughed. LOL Yes, I suppose that’s true. I’ll have to see if I have any bells stashed away in my closet.
Gabe: I’m glad you’re going to be there. I look forward to seeing you again. Think you might be up for Sunday dinner out here at the house with the family?
Maya bit her lip at the question. She wasn’t sure she could spend that much time away from the house without bringing on another inquisition. And while she didn’t want to let her mom dictate what she did, she wasn’t interested in pushing more than necessary. Church would be one thing. Dinner afterward might be too much. Plus…she wasn’t entirely sure she was ready to be included in a family dinner just yet. Didn’t that mean something? Meeting the parents/family?
Thank you for the invite, but I’m not sure I’m ready for that just yet.
She went for refusal that would bring the least amount of questions. Surely he would understand that there would be some assumptions made if she went to dinner with him. They’d barely known each other a week. Family dinner needed to wait awhile longer. Plus, she was nowhere near ready to invite him to a family dinner of her own. The very thought made her shudder.
Gabe: Yeah. I guess it might be a bit too soon…Although it’s not like you don’t know a good chunk of the family already.
True, but…
Gabe: Okay. I won’t push…this time. ; ) Text me when you get to the church tomorrow, and I’ll come meet you at the doors.
Okay. See you then. Have a good night.
Gabe: You too.
Gabe checked his phone to make sure that even though he’d turned off the ringer, it was still on vibrate. He didn’t want to miss the text from Maya alerting him to her arrival.
“Waiting for someone?”
He turned to find Mitch standing next to him, his hands in the pockets of his pants. “Yeah, I invited Maya to church.”
Mitch’s face was expressionless as he looked at the large glass windows of the foyer. “She said she’d come?”
“Yep. I told her to text me when she got here.” Gabe still wasn’t convinced that Mitch didn’t have a thing for her. Or that he wasn’t bothered by the fact that Maya obviously was willing to spend time with Gabe when she hadn’t been with Mitch. If Mitch had even asked her to. “Did you ever invite her?”
“No. I never did.” Mitch looked back at him. “Not sure if Makayla did either.”
His phoned buzzed in his hand, and Gabe looked at the screen to see a text from Maya.
Maya: I’m here. Are you?
Gabe smiled. You said you were going to be here, so there’s no place I’d rather be. Come on up to the door. I’ll meet you there.
Happy at the thought of seeing Maya again, Gabe strode toward the large doors at the entrance. He spotted her walking through the first set of doors and was there to open the door as she approached the inner set. The dual doors helped to keep the cold air from rushing straight into the building, but there was still a slight cold breeze that accompanied Maya into the building.
Wearing a black wool, double-breasted coat that fit her figure perfectly, Maya looked beautiful. The light purple scarf that was tucked neatly into the neck of the coat complemented her dark hair and eyes. She smiled as soon as she saw him.
“Glad to see you made it safe and sound,” Gabe said as he came to her side.
“My GPS was a good help to get here.” Maya tugged off her gloves then reached up and undid the button at the top of her coat. “So cold out there today.”
“Yeah. Can’t remember it being this cold so early in the season in recent history.” Gabe rested a hand lightly on her back. “You can hang your coat up in there.”
It didn’t take long for Maya to remove her winter wear. Underneath it, she wore an outfit that matched the style of her coat. It was a forest green, long sleeve, double-breasted top that flared out over a fitted skirt ending just above her knee. The color was flattering to her and fit in perfectly with the season. She wore a simple gold chain with a teardrop diamond hanging down into the V of her neckline. Her earrings had matching teardrops.
She had such an elegant style, and Gabe was a little surprised how attractive he found it. Given that the lifestyle he led was anything but elegant, he’d always thought he’d be attracted to a woman who shared his passion for the outdoors and exciting adventures. Even though Maya had come to the gym to climb, Gabe couldn’t picture her in the more extreme environments he was often in.
“Hello, Mitch,” Maya said as Mitch joined them just outside the coatroom.
Mitch gave her a friendly smile. “Good morning. Nice to see you here.”
“Hope you don’t mind me crashing your church after seeing me all week at work.”
“You never have to worry about that. You’re more than welcome here.”
“Should we head on in?” Gabe suggested when he noticed the foyer had begun to empty.
As they walked down the side aisle of the large sanctuary, Gabe noticed people turning their heads to watch them. He and Mitch often drew attention because of their matching looks and height, but adding Maya to the mix with her exotic appearance was attracting even more attention.
Mitch led them to a pew about halfway down. Makayla and Ethan were already seated there with Bennett, and they each showed varying degrees of surprise when they saw Maya. The surprise quickly changed to smiles as they settled into the pew. Mitch was seated on one side of Maya while Gabe took the other.
He hadn’t told anyone he’d invited Maya, not completely convinced that she would show. If she wasn’t a regular church attendee, it had been possible that she might not feel comfortable coming. Though she’d said she would be there the night before, Gabe had realized she might change her mind in the cold light of day. He was glad, of course, that she hadn’t.
Though he tried to find churches to attend wherever he was in his travels, Gabe appreciated coming back to the church that had been his home for most of his growing up years. There had been changes over the years. A new senior pastor. A new worship leader. But it still felt at home to him. And he watched with pride as Dalton and Danica walked onto the stage with the worship team. They were the youngest members of the team, but Gabe knew that they were talented enough to be there.
He leaned over to Maya and pointed the two out to her, explaining who they were in a low voice. When she looked at him with a wide smile, he knew that his pride in his siblings had shown through. There wasn’t time for any further conversation as the worship leader stepped behind the microphone and welcomed them to the service.
Gabe was thankful that given the time of year, Maya would likely know the majority of the songs they sang. He wanted this to be a positive experience for her. Any ho
pe of having a relationship would be gone if Maya was opposed to what Gabe believed in. As it was, not knowing for certain where she stood spiritually came to mind fairly often. He knew his dad would be asking him about that for sure if things started to get more serious between them.
After the welcome and opening prayer, Dalton stepped to the microphone as a young teen made her way down the aisle with a candle. Without a single show of nerves, Dalton began the readings for the third Sunday of Advent. Gabe’s sense of pride in his younger brother grew as he listened to him read the scripture for the Advent of Joy and then moved smoothly into the reading for the day. His tone had a melodious note to it, and Gabe was sure he wasn’t the only one enjoying the reading—well, aside from family.
Gabe remembered when he’d stood at the podium to read one of the Advent readings as a teenager. To his chagrin, he recalled being more interested in the fact that the eyes of a lot of teenage girls would be on him. He’d made sure to look his best that Sunday, spending way more time on his appearance than on practicing the reading. From the look of things, Dalton had spent at least equal—if not more—time on practicing the reading as he had on picking out what he’d planned to wear.
As they stood singing O Come, O Come Emmanuel following the reading and candle-lighting, Gabe found he enjoyed the sound of Maya’s voice as she sang along. He glanced down at her, his heart expanding in his chest at the joy he saw on her face. More than anything, it made him very much want to have a chance at something more serious with Maya. If he could just figure out how to balance his love for adventure with that desire.
Maya was surprised how much she enjoyed the service. Not that she had thought she might not, but it had been awhile since she’d last been in a church. If she recalled correctly, it had been for a wedding of someone who worked for her dad, which meant it had been a completely different experience from the service at Gabe’s church.
She’d appreciated the Christmas music, happy that she could sing along with most of the songs. The décor of the church had been something she’d enjoyed as well. A large tree stood off to the side of the stage at the front. It was decorated with white twinkle lights and what looked like cream-colored ornaments. There were several Poinsettia plants on the outside of the stairs that ran the width of the stage.
As she listened to the minister’s sermon on joy, her current struggle with her mom came to mind. Even when she’d been succeeding in keeping Maya sheltered, her mother had never seemed happy. The life they’d lived together hadn’t brought her mother joy. In fact, the last time she remembered her mom having any sort of joy had been back before her very first cancer diagnosis. But even then, it had all been tempered with sadness that underlaid everything. Maya knew now it was because of the struggle her parents had faced to have more children. Each miscarriage her mom had experienced before and after her birth had seemed to take another piece of her soul. Was it possible for her to get joy back?
Maya really hoped so because both of her parents deserved to be happy with each other. To spend these later years of their life enjoying the time they had together. Right now, her mom’s sadness was hindering that, and it was eating away at her dad too. It was only now as Maya was seeking things that brought her joy that she could see how things were for her parents.
As she listened to the minister, Maya began to frown but then quickly worked to smooth out her expression. His words suggested that no matter what she pursued in life—no matter how much she might enjoy what she was doing—she wouldn’t know true joy without accepting God into her life.
Those words lingered with her as they stood to sing a hymn once the minister had finished with a prayer and stepped off the stage. The concept presented in the sermon wasn’t something she’d heard before—or if she had, she’d heard it as a young teen and it hadn’t sunk in—and Maya wasn’t sure how she felt about it.
“Are you sure you can’t join us for dinner out at my folks’ place?” Gabe said when the service was over and they were making their way up the sloping aisle to the doors that led to the foyer. The others in their pew had exited the opposite end and had stopped to talk to people.
“I’m sure, but thank you for the invitation.” Maya didn’t feel that it was her place to join a family dinner since she still felt more like an employee than a family friend. Regardless of the time she was spending with Gabe.
Gabe nodded, as if he had already anticipated her response. “But we’re still on for a movie this week?”
“Yep. I don’t have any set plans for the week yet, so my calendar is wide open.” Of course, her calendar was usually pretty wide open.
At one point in her life she’d spent a lot of time gaming, and in those situations, her guild had relied on her, so she’d had times she wasn’t available for other activities. She’d been their best healer, and they didn’t normally like to attack the dungeons without her as part of their party.
In the past six months, though, she’d been trying to move from a virtual life to a real one. That meant that while she did log in to help out at times, it wasn’t as often as it had been at one time. Definitely not the daily occurrence it had been a year ago.
“Thank you for coming today,” Gabe said as he held her coat for her.
Maya felt his hands linger on her shoulders after he’d lifted it into place, and she began to button it. Looping her scarf around her neck, she turned to face him with a smile. “I really enjoyed it. Thank you for inviting me.”
With her scarf secure, she tugged on her wool-lined gloves, not all that eager to head out into the cold. She took her keys out and aimed the remote start fob toward the parking lot where her car would hopefully start. When she’d purchased it, she’d made sure it had a long-range remote start for situations just like this.
“I’ll text you later about the movie,” Gabe said as he walked by her side to the large doors. “But I might see you tomorrow.”
Maya couldn’t help but smile. “I’d like that.”
When she walked into the mansion a short time later, Maya was already braced for a meeting with her mom. Because of the security cameras placed along the winding driveway, she could have spotted Maya’s car as it approached the house if she’d been watching. Given how often her mom met her in the foyer, Maya no longer thought that she wasn’t logging into the cameras to watch for her.
Even though she was standing in the foyer, her mom didn’t say a word, but Maya knew it was probably taking every ounce of her control not to. It seemed her dad had had a conversation with her Mom as he’d promised.
“I was at church.” Maya tugged off her gloves and unwound the scarf.
When her mom’s finely plucked brows climbed nearly halfway up her forehead, Maya knew that of all her destinations lately, this one had surprised her mom the most.
“Church? Why would you go to church?”
Though she hadn’t really been all that excited about it as a teen, they had attended church fairly regularly. But when they had stopped going, Maya hadn’t really cared. Now she wondered if it had been more than just the struggle of attending church when she’d been undergoing treatment and trying to stay clear of germs and illness while doing so.
“I was invited by someone from work and thought I’d go. It’s not like I had anything else going on this morning.”
“Did you enjoy it?”
Her mom’s question surprised Maya, but she went ahead and answered. “Yes, actually, I did. It was nice to sing the Christmas songs, and they had an Advent candle-lighting and reading. It was very lovely.”
A smile briefly crossed her mother’s face. “The Christmas music was always my favorite part of this season in church.”
“I’m just going to go get changed then I’ll be back down for dinner.” Though they dressed for dinner when they had company, they were definitely more casual when it was just the three of them.
When she rejoined her mom and dad a few minutes later, Maya was happy to see that her mom seemed more relaxed. As they a
te the meal Elisse had prepared for them, the discussion focused around their schedules for the upcoming week. Not surprisingly, her dad’s was the most hectic with a quick trip to New York mid-week.
“Why don’t you go with him, Mama? It’s been awhile since you were last in New York.” Maya told herself she was being altruistic, but she knew that wasn’t necessarily the case. At least not completely. She did think the trip would be good for her mom, but there was no doubt that having her mom gone when she went on her movie date with Gabe would make her situation easier.
When her mom hesitated, her dad laid his hand on hers. “Come with me, love. I’ll stay an extra day, and we can go shopping or to a show. Maybe I’ll see if Ian and Margot are available to spend some time with us. Would you like that?”
Her mom’s brow furrowed as she looked back and forth between them. “But what if Maya needs me?”
“I’ll be fine, Mama. And if I need you, I’ll call, and you can bring the jet back. You’d be home within hours.”
“She’s right,” her dad said. “I’ll make sure the jet is available if you need to come back in a hurry.”
Maya knew her mom was tempted, she could see it on her face. New York at Christmas time was her mom’s favorite, and it had been a few years since she’d last been there.
She turned her gaze to Maya. “You have to promise me you’ll call if you need me. If you need me and you don’t call, you’ll never get rid of me again.”
Maya didn’t doubt those words at all. “I promise, Mama. If I need you for anything, I’ll call.”
And she would. She knew that in order for her mom to trust her judgment, Maya would have to call her if something happened. If she didn’t, her mom would never trust her, and their relationship would continue to be strained.
“I have to be there for all of Wednesday, so we have to leave Tuesday, but we can stay until Friday. If you’d like.”
Her mom seemed to consider it, and Maya held her breath, only letting it out when she nodded. Once that was settled, Maya happily participated in the conversation about what shows they might go see. There was a small part of her that wished she could go along. She loved Christmas in New York as well, but that really was just a small part of her. A much larger part wanted to have a week just on her own, going to work and out on a date with Gabe without her mother watching her every move.
The Love of Her Life: A Christian Romance (The Callaghans & McFaddens Book 3) Page 9