AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I have time,” Rainey said.
Brad’s face was suddenly stony, as though he wanted Rainey to leave them alone. What was going on?
“My Aunt Veronica normally plans it,” Maya went on. “But she’s ill. She wants me to plan the Christmas Festival as a sort of test, I guess.”
“A test?” Rainey raised a single eyebrow. “Don’t tell me it’s for her inheritance?”
Maya laughed, and her heartbeat intensified. There was something strange about the glint in Rainey’s eyes. “It’s all so strange, honestly. But Brad has graciously volunteered to help me plan the festival, which is incredible because I don’t normally celebrate Christmas. I hardly know the first thing about it.”
Brad’s eyes widened with shock. “You don’t celebrate Christmas?”
Maya waved her hand. “It’s a long story.”
“Well. Aren’t you something special,” Rainey said, crossing her arms over her chest.
“We’d better head out,” Brad said. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Ms. Michaels. Thanks again for your help with bus duty.”
Brad walked at a quick pace, leading Maya away from the elementary school. He wore a small, dark-blue backpack as though he were yet another, much larger student at Hollygrove Elementary, and he had a few marker stains on his fingers, presumably from helping his students draw or write. Maya’s heart flipped over. She wanted to ask if he was dating Rainey. She wanted to ask him why he— a clear catch— wasn’t married.
Snap out of it, Maya.
“I was thinking we could get some coffee. And cake?” Brad suggested, opening the door to a quaint coffee shop a few blocks from the elementary school. “I don’t know if you like cake.”
“Who doesn’t like cake?”
Brad’s smile widened.
Behind the counter was a blond woman in her twenties who greeted them with a chipper hello. “Brad, we have your favorite. Carrot cheesecake!”
“Oh, no. Cynthia, you’re going to kill me!” Brad glanced at Maya. “Maybe we should share one?”
But Maya was bent on experiencing as many flavors in this small town as she could, if only for the sake of her blog. “No way. Let’s each get a different kind.”
Brad laughed. “I can’t refuse.”
Maya and Brad carried their platters of carrot cheesecake and a chocolate tart to the table by the window. Soon after, Cynthia appeared with their lattes and then sped back behind the counter. Maya glanced around the ornate little coffee shop, which had been lovingly decorated with paintings by local artists, clay sculptures, and funny photographs of coffee shop regulars. It didn’t take long to find the photograph of Brad and Mr. DeWitt, in which their arms were slung around each other’s shoulders.
“Wow,” Maya said. “You’re famous.”
“It doesn’t take a lot to be famous in Hollygrove,” Brad said. “I’m sure you’ll be famous by the end of the week. You’re Veronica Albright’s niece!”
Maya wrinkled her nose and tore her fork through the chocolate tart. “I wasn’t able to meet her yesterday. All my ideas of her are based on a few articles on the internet.” She took a small bite of chocolate tart, which was gooey with decadent chocolate and punctuated with sharp dots of salt. “Did you know she taught at the elementary school?”
Brad blushed. “She was my second-grade teacher, actually.”
Maya set down her fork in surprise. “Everyone really does know each other around here!”
Brad took a bite of his cheesecake and closed his eyes. Maya understood this; the fact that he needed to take a pause and acknowledge the overwhelming flavors and textures. Nick had done this, too. Then again— Nick had often detested everyone else’s cooking except for his own.
“She was one of the main reasons I got into teaching in the first place,” Brad said, opening his eyes. “She had this way about her. Of acknowledging all of us kids as people, even though we were only eight years old. She was probably thirty when I had her, but that didn’t mean I didn’t have a huge crush on her.”
Maya laughed openly. “I read she only taught for about ten years?”
“I think she got into some kind of dispute with the school board,” Brad said. “That’s the rumor, anyway. But she never needed to be a teacher, as you know. And it sounds like she traveled the world, lending a hand to those in need. I don’t think she liked her husband very much.”
“I read about how he got nothing after the divorce.”
“He cheated on her with her friend,” Brad went on, then blushed. “My gosh. I’m more of a gossip than I thought.”
