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That evening after school, Brad returned, offering a welcome distraction. They roasted chicken, drank wine, and cuddled on the couch as Brad told funny stories about the kids. Maya adored them. She was becoming addicted to hearing all the intricacies of his day, even the boring parts. She wondered if she’d ever let Brad return home. Perhaps she could keep him at the mansion forever.
Toward the end of the night, she received a phone call. It was Phoebe.
“Mom! I’ve hardly heard from you!” Phoebe sounded exasperated.
“Oh, honey. I’m sorry. It’s been so busy here.” Maya smiled at Brad across the couch. With her daughter in her ear and Brad just a few feet away, she was floating. “How is the apartment search going?”
“It’s still going,” Phoebe offered. “I was thinking about coming up to Hollygrove this weekend. Henry is out of town for business, and I’d love to see that mansion of yours.”
Maya thought her heart might explode. “Yes! Please, honey! Come up. Everyone would love to meet you.”
“Everyone?” Phoebe laughed. “You haven’t even been there two weeks yet! And there’s already an entire community to meet?”
“Just come up here,” Maya urged. “It’s paradise.”
Phoebe was set to arrive the following evening. Maya was a flurry of emotions, scampering around the mansion, trying to get everything ready. At the grocery store, she ran into Felicity, threw her arms around her, and told her how much she missed her. “My daughter is coming!” she explained. “You, Conor, Winnie, and Tom should come over for dinner.”
“Oh! Really?” Felicity looked taken aback. “I haven’t spent an evening away from the Hollygrove Bed and Breakfast in a long time.”
“Which means you haven’t had someone else cook for you in all that time,” Maya reminded her.
Felicity blushed. “I can’t say no! I’ll tell Winnie and Tom the news.”
Maya hurried back to the mansion to prepare the feast, half-cursing herself for complicating everything with her reckless invitations. Then again, she wanted Phoebe to experience the warmth of Hollygrove; she wanted her to see how “okay” she was so soon after the breakup with Nick. It now embarrassed her that Phoebe had had to come to New York to drag her from her depression. That had been a different version of Maya altogether.
Brad arrived first with a bottle of wine and private kisses, which he said he wanted to get out of the way before everyone got there. Maya giggled and scolded him for messing up her lipstick.
“You’re going to love Phoebe,” she gushed as she scurried around the kitchen.
“You’ve told her about us?” Brad sounded nervous.
Maya hesitated. “Until a few nights ago, I didn’t know there was anything to tell. I didn’t want to get my hopes up.”
Brad’s smile widened. “I guess she’ll be able to see it plain as day.”
“She’s going to love you.” Even as Maya said it, she was surprised at how certain she felt. Phoebe had confessed to never liking Nick— but Brad was an entirely different breed. He was impossible not to love.
It was funny to Maya, now, just how the tables had turned between herself and Phoebe. Now that Phoebe was married and secure, she worried about her mother in the same way that Maya had always worried about her. It was tender and still more proof that Maya’s best friend in the world was and always would be her daughter. She was lucky.
Felicity, Conor, Tom, and Winnie arrived not long afterward, babbling happily as they approached the front door of the mansion. Maya whipped it open and embraced each of them. Tom was especially chatty and excited, ambling through the foyer with eyes as big as saucers.
“This is going to be so helpful for my screenplay,” he announced.
Winnie blushed and removed her coat. “He hit a snag in the writing process. He keeps calling tonight’s dinner his ‘breakthrough.’” She used air quotes.
“Absolutely,” Tom said without shame. “Maya, you’re my muse!”
Maya laughed and searched Tom’s face. Had he met Sarah yet? Or was he still lying in wait, writing himself silly, and hoping?
Brad led the bed and breakfast crew into the gorgeous dining room, explaining that they hadn’t yet used it. Frequently, Felicity and Winnie turned their heads to give Maya a “look,” which meant, “Wow, you and Brad have already gotten serious!” Maya just shrugged each time. Sometimes, love fell into your lap. You had to embrace it.
Phoebe arrived a little after eight. Because Maya still had her car, she’d brought up Henry’s Fiat, from which she leaped. She hurried up the walkway and swallowed Maya in a hug.
“Look at this place! It’s huge!”
Maya shook her head. “I have so much to show you, honey. But first, let’s eat.”
Phoebe shimmered with surprise at so many Hollygrove guests around the dining room. Maya made introductions, ending with Brad, whom she touched on the shoulder as he and Phoebe shook hands. Phoebe sensed the difference between Brad and the others immediately.
