AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Maya walked around the building and spotted Brad right away. Her heart lifted, and she charged toward him, revitalized. But when he spotted her, his eyes were glazed, and he took a step away from her. A child distracted him, tugging at his sleeve, and he dropped down to give him his full attention. Maya waited off to the side until he was finished, watching his face as he helped his student.
“Hey,” Maya said when he was finished, her voice cracking.
Brad shoved his hands into his pockets. He looked at her as though he’d never seen her before.
“I just met my aunt,” Maya said, drawing nearer. Maybe he’d had a bad day. Maybe she could carry the weight of his problems, too.
“I’m glad she’s doing better,” Brad said stiffly.
Maya tilted her head. “Are you okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Brad dropped down to talk to another student. His movements were all wrong, jagged. This was the man who’d spent most nights of the week in Maya’s bed. They’d moved too quickly. He’d probably realized she was a stranger. Maybe he needed space to think.
“Do you want to get a cup of coffee?” Maya asked.
Brad arched his eyebrow. “I promised Thaddeus I’d help him with something. Rain check?” He said it as though they were barely friends. As though they’d met in passing once or twice. “I have to run. Ms. Michaels? Are you okay with taking the rest of the bus duty?” He turned to address the other teacher, who grinned mischievously at Maya.
What was going on?
Brad fled the scene before either of them could say another word. May shifted nervously as the winter wind ripped against her coat. Something in Rainey’s expression gave her pause. Had she said something to Brad? Had she somehow destroyed the love building between them?
Maya had underestimated Rainey from the very beginning. It was because of Rainey that Olivia had come into Maya’s life. And it was now probably Rainey’s fault that Brad ran away from Maya at full speed.
“Rainey,” Maya blared. Her tone was angry. “Can I talk to you?”
Rainey kept that horrible smile plastered on her face. She approached, bouncing as she walked.
“How are you, Maya?” Rainey asked, using her teacher's voice.
“You’re friends with Olivia, aren’t you?” Maya didn’t want to beat around the bush.
Rainey blinked. “We’ve been friends for thirty years. That’s how I know the tremendous pain your family has caused her.”
Maya’s heart thumped. “Rainey. I need to talk to Olivia.”
Rainey’s smile fell slightly.
“It’s really important,” Maya continued, her eyes smarting. Now that Brad had rebuked her, her emotions were spiraling out of control. “You have to understand, Rainey. I grew up all alone in an adoptive family who resented me. I never thought I had anyone. But I’ve just been given a tremendous gift. Not the mansion. I could take that or leave it.” Maya cleared her throat. “But I now know I have a sister. It’s beyond my wildest dreams. And I really, really need to talk to her.”
Rainey’s smile was now completely gone, replaced with a grimace.
“Please, Rainey,” Maya begged. “If I had known about her, I would have shared the inheritance without a second thought. Whatever opinion you have of me, it’s wrong. I just want a family. I want love.” Tears fell from Maya’s eyes.
Rainey rolled her eyes slightly and stared out beyond the parking lot, where the sun flirted with the tops of barren trees. Maya remembered the first day they’d met, how Rainey had sized her up, viewing her as the obstacle between herself and Brad and whatever happiness she’d imagined for them.
We are tied up in our fantasies, Maya thought now. She thought of her Grandma Diane, who’d assumed she was fleeing England in pursuit of a happier, gorgeous time in the United States. She’d been wrong. There was just more life over here. And life was always messy.
“She’s across town,” Rainey announced, still unable to look Maya in the eye. “The Nettle Creek Bed and Breakfast. I told her to get out of town a few days ago. She has what she came here for.” She swallowed. “I don’t know what she’s waiting for.”
But Maya knew. She understood, now, that Olivia had been working from a script she’d written for herself before ever coming to Hollygrove. Her plan had been to come here and “ruin” the Albright family. But there was emptiness in that destruction.
Maybe Olivia would welcome Maya. Maybe they would find a way to break through the horrors of the past. Maybe, one day, they would find a way to call one another “sister.” But Maya had to find the bravery to approach her and explain everything. That would take all the strength she had left.
ChapterTwenty-Two
Maya walked to Nettle Creek Bed and Breakfast, tugging her winter hat lower over her ears and allowing tears to draw lines down her cheeks. The walk was no more than twenty minutes, but it felt more like hours. Frequently, people she’d met at the Christmas Festival passed by, waving happily, greeting Maya by name. Maya hardly heard herself interact with them. She was in another world.
The Nettle Creek Bed and Breakfast was yet another beautiful Upstate New York Victorian home, yet slightly smaller than the one where Felicity and Conor took their guests. Maya paused at the front steps and peered through the window at the owner of the bed and breakfast, who worked diligently in the front kitchen, slicing tomatoes. Through the window to the right, the bed and breakfast’s Christmas tree gleamed beautifully.
