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Brad drove frantically to the Albright mansion, his heart in his throat. When he stomped up the porch steps, Maya flung the door open and threw her arms around him. She shook violently. Wordlessly, Brad took her hand in his and led her to the kitchen, where he brewed her a cup of tea. She looked weak and pale, and Brad asked if she’d eaten anything.
“I was too distracted,” she said, rubbing her temples.
Brad rummaged through the cabinets to find pasta and pesto sauce. In the fridge was fresh parmesan, which they’d used for another recipe last week. It was marvelous to feel that he and Maya had fallen into a sort of rhythm together. They shared groceries.
“It won’t be long,” Brad assured her, touching her shoulder as the pasta boiled.
Maya sighed. Beside her was a stack of journals, which seemed to be the reason behind her fear. Over the phone, she’d said “haunted.” But she didn’t actually mean “ghosts,” right? Even as he thought this, a gush of wind swelled over the big house, seeming to raise it up and drop it back down again.
Brad prepared two bowls of pesto pasta with fresh parmesan and poured them two glasses of wine. They sat on stools at the kitchen counter, facing the window, where spits of snow went past the window. It was the only thing they could see against the inky night sky.
Maya took a sip of wine and forked several pieces of penne, then closed her eyes. “This is delicious, Brad,” she offered. It seemed to take all her strength to smile. “It’s funny, isn’t it? Sometimes, you think the world is ending. But usually, you just need to eat something.”
Brad laughed. “That happens in second grade often. When kids are having a meltdown, I often have to pass them a granola bar and tell them to take a break.”
Color returned to Maya’s cheeks, and she took several more bites and another sip of wine. “I can’t stop thinking about Olivia,” Maya breathed, then winced. “I’m sorry. I really need to shut up about all this. You must be bored out of your mind!”
Brad put his fork down with a clank. “I’m not bored, Maya.” How could he explain it? She could never bore him. Ever.
Maya took another bite and chewed contemplatively.
“Are those diaries?” Brad dared to ask.
Maya nodded.
“From your Aunt Veronica?”
“My Grandma Diane,” Maya explained. “She left everything in England, including her inheritance and title, to come here with her fiancé, Victor. But she grew impatient and cruel with him. She’d romanticized being poor. But the reality was much different than she’d thought.”
“That’s a surprise.” Brad didn’t lay the sarcasm on too thick.
“I know.” Maya rolled her eyes slightly. “I can’t tell if she was always a sour woman or if the move to America made her that way. But after her daughters were born, she pitted them against each other. She wanted to strengthen them, apparently. But it just sounds very cruel.”
Brad knew the innermost workings of children’s hearts. It broke him up inside, thinking of a mother who would purposefully create this pain.
Maya and Olivia were a result of that suffering.
“I still haven’t made it to 1971,” Maya confessed. “I’m too tired. And Olivia won’t reach out to me, anyway. I feel like I’m in the middle of a horrible, dark labyrinth with no way out.”
Brad touched her thigh. “‘I’m here,” he reminded her. “And I’m not going anywhere. Just remember that.”
After dinner, Maya confessed to being “so exhausted, I could cry.” Brad said they should go to bed early. Upstairs, they changed clothes and cuddled in the darkness. Brad could feel Maya’s brain working overtime. It was as though the ghosts of the Albrights’ past wouldn’t let her rest.
“I have to find a way to explain everything to Olivia,” Maya muttered just before they both fell asleep. “I have to make her understand.”
* * *
The next day, Brad pushed himself through a distracting morning and afternoon. Presumably, because she’d already done her damage with Olivia, Rainey kept her distance, only smirking at him from across the lunchroom, looking as though she owned him. Brad had half a mind to try to get her fired— although that wasn’t his way. They needed teachers. Too many left the profession as it was.
Maya texted infrequently throughout the day. Brad felt a dramatic distance between them, one he knew was a result of the diaries. Still, he wanted to go back to the coziness of that first day he’d slept over. He wanted the cleanliness and euphoria of that time.
Thaddeus texted him to grab coffee after work. Brad agreed, sensing he wouldn’t see Maya that evening. She needed space. If he was honest with himself, he knew better than to jump into romance so quickly. It was just that she was the closest feeling to “home” he’d felt since his wife died. He hated admitting that, but it was true.
Thaddeus was sitting at their usual coffee shop table with a slice of cake and a cappuccino before him. Brad ordered a carrot cake and an Americano and gave Thaddeus a side hug. Thaddeus looked chipper, but his smile immediately fell when he noted Brad’s demeanor.
“What’s up, man?”
Brad did his best to explain that he’d fallen head-over-heels with Maya. Also, Maya was going through a tumultuous time; his school was stressful, and Rainey had double-crossed him to get Olivia into the Albright mansion to steal from Maya. It was a mouthful, but Thaddeus listened with rapt attention.
